What can I make with avocado?
Avocado is not only for dessert - it balances salt, chilli, and fat in savoury cooking too. Below are recipes using avocado, then ideas for fruit that is slightly past its best.
9 recipes with avocado
Avocado Toast
Creamy smashed avocado on toasted sourdough with lemon and chili flakes.
American10m1
Poke Bowl
Cubed raw tuna over rice with soy and sesame.
Hawaiian15m4
Cobb Salad
Chopped salad with chicken, egg, avocado, bacon, and blue cheese.
American20m4
Sushi Rolls
Nori-wrapped rice with fish and vegetables.
Japanese25m4
Buddha Bowl
Grain bowl loaded with roasted veg, protein, and tahini drizzle.
American35m4
Avocado dip with new potatoes
step 1 Whizz half the avocado flesh with the yogurt, lime and lemon juice and seasoning.
Australian4
Ají de Aguacate Recipe (Colombian Spicy Avocado Sauce)
Place all the ingredients in a food processor.
4
Chickpea Fajitas
Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6 and line a baking tray with foil.
Mexican4
Cajun spiced fish tacos
Cooking in a cajun spice and cayenne pepper marinade makes this fish super succulent and flavoursome.
Mexican4
Sweet and savoury ways to use avocado
- 1Raw: a squeeze of citrus and a pinch of salt makes avocado taste noticeably brighter.
- 2Roasted or pan-caramelised with a little butter, the sugars concentrate and it turns into a dessert on its own.
- 3Blended into a dressing or sauce, avocado balances chilli, vinegar, and salty cheese.
- 4Overripe fruit is not waste - it is the best candidate for baking, smoothies, and quick compotes.
What goes well with avocado
Avocado is at its best with cinnamon, honey, yogurt, lemon, butter and oats. Any two or three of those, plus avocado, is already a dinner rather than an ingredient list.
Storing avocado
Ripen avocado on the counter, then move it to the fridge to slow things down. Keep it away from bananas and apples, which release ethylene and speed everything nearby toward overripe. Freeze pieces on a tray for smoothies.
Substituting avocado
If you are out of avocado, look for something that behaves the same way in the pan rather than something that tastes the same. Match the moisture level, the cooking time, and the richness, and adjust the liquid slightly if your substitute releases more water. When in doubt, describe what you actually have in the chat and Mr. Chef will rewrite the recipe around it.
Avocado recipes: common questions
- What can I make with avocado and not much else?
- Plenty. With avocado plus an onion, garlic, oil, and salt you already have the base of a skillet dinner, a soup, or a simple sauce. Add a starch - rice, pasta, bread, or potatoes - and it becomes a full meal. The recipes above are ordered so the ones needing the fewest extra items come first.
- What is the quickest avocado recipe?
- Look for the entries above marked 20 minutes or less. As a rule, anything cut small and cooked in a hot pan beats anything roasted whole, and one-pan recipes save more time in cleanup than in cooking.
- Can I substitute avocado?
- In most recipes yes, as long as the replacement plays a similar role - similar moisture, similar cooking time, similar richness. Swapping across roles (a watery vegetable for a starchy one, for instance) usually needs a change in liquid or cooking time too.
- How do I use up leftover avocado?
- Fried rice, a frittata, a grain bowl, a soup, or a quesadilla will absorb almost any leftover avocado without a recipe. If you want something specific, tell Mr. Chef exactly what is in the fridge and it will build a recipe around it.