I was unimpressed the first time I tried avocado toast. After watching friends order it time and again (and stealing bites of it), it grew on me. I started making it for lunch, so it had to be quick and easy to make, and to eat. Avocado toast has a bougie reputation, so I call my un-fancy, no-frills recipe Basic Avocado Toast.
Really, avocado toast makes for a great lunch, what with protein and healthy fats. It's simple enough that it takes just a few minutes to make. It only takes a few ingredients. And it's delicious enough to spend your time making, instead of staring at your phone while you microwave leftovers.
Avocado toast is what it sounds like - toast, with avocado on it. A squirt of lemon juice, a sprinkle of garlic and salt. Nothing mystical. Honestly, it's practically garlic toast with avocado and lemon. (Disclaimer: I love garlic toast.)
Let's be honest - I've made eaten a version of avocado toast for lunch made with just toast and guacamole, and I encourage you to do that if fresh avocados intimidate you. But I do promise you, this is better.
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Ingredients
Avocado toast can be as fancy as you'd like it. Mine isn't. It's just:
- Bread
- Avocado
- Lemon Juice
- Garlic Powder and Salt
With so few ingredients, you want to be sure that they're good.
I use sandwich bread to make toast. Most recently when I buy bread, I've bought Arnold wheat or whole grain bread, Dave's Killer seed or wheat bread, or a generic organic whole grain bread. I want hefty bread to stand up to half an avocado.
So, use something tasty. Gluten-free bread ought to work fine.
You'll want a nicely ripe avocado.
Lemon juice tastes better when it's fresh. You don't have much else here to cover it up. That said, if all you have is bottled lemon juice, it's worth a try. You can also substitute lime juice instead.
I top my avocado toast with garlic powder and salt. Some recipes take freshly minced garlic, but I don't have time for that at lunch. I prefer fine salt over coarsely ground salt; table salt will be fine. A premixed garlic salt will also be okay, but can be very salty.
Instructions
It's almost silly to write a recipe for it, but I wouldn't know the basic components if I hadn't tried Smitten Kitchen's recipe years ago. (You've got to learn somewhere.)
Mine is not like hers, which you eat with a fork. I cut out the olive oil (because avocados are high-fat to begin with), which means the bread isn't drenched and I can eat it with my hands. It's less decadent.
The thing about avocado toast is that it's customizable! Don't like garlic? Skip it! Add raw onion or tomatoes or cilantro if you prefer. Substitute lime juice for lemon juice.
Here's how I like to quickly make avocado toast for lunch, though.
- Toast your bread well. I should have toasted this slice a little more.
- Cut your avocado, and scoop half of it onto the slice of toast.
- Spread avocado on the toast to the edge, and top with a little lemon juice.
- Sprinkle with garlic powder and salt.
Eat immediately!
I usually only make myself one piece of toast at a time. I place the remaining avocado in a glass storage container, and squeeze the rest of the lemon juice over it to keep it from browning. Then, I use it to top another piece of toast later in the week!
Hint: (Lemon juice sometimes seeps over the avocado to get the bread wet; thorough toasting is key!)
Serving
Eat your avocado toast immediately. Every minute you wait is a minute that lemon juice could be soaking your bread.
This is my lunch, so I usually have leftovers alongside it. Some protein, maybe some soup, or a few bites of vegetables from dinner the night before, like the middle-aged mom I've become. Then I follow it up with Key Lime Pie or whatever dessert I'm working on for this website 😆
Since this only takes half an avocado, I store the other half in a glass container and squeeze another quarter of the lemon over it. That'll keep it from browning, and I can have another slice of avocado toast later in the week!
Recipe FAQ
I've definitely used just guacamole on toast when avocados were not ripe and I wanted avocado toast immediately. It's tasty enough, but only as good as the guacamole you buy. Some guacamole has additives, like xanthan gum. You also have to like the additional ingredients in the guac, like raw onion. The advantage of making my basic avocado toast is that you can customize it, adding what you like, and omitting what you don't.
Avocado toast only takes a few minutes to prepare, so you don't save much, if any, time making it ahead of time. I can't recommend making it in advance. Toast is best fresh, and the bread can get soggy if not well toasted and if lemon juice seeps below the avocado.
However, you can cut the avocado and squeeze lemon juice onto it, then store it in the fridge; in fact, I do this with my leftover ingredients. The lemon juice will help prevent the avocado from browning, and it's all just as tasty after a few days.
Most grocery store avocados are either very unripe, or overripe. Avocados should be dark green, but not too dark. Test for ripeness by pressing right next to the stem with your thumb. It should give a little under pressure. Unripe avocados are hard as rocks; be prepared to wait for days for the avocado to ripen. If you find a super-squishy avocado, it's overripe.
If your avocado doesn't feel ripe to the touch yet, don't cut it. You can't ripen it or fix it once it's cut. It's best to wait for it to ripen. I've never found a satisfactory way to make an avocado ripen more quickly.
That said, even unripe avocados are okay to eat; they just won't taste as good or be creamy. Cut it up or smash it as much as you can, and add extra lemon juice and garlic to your toast; adding extra toppings would also be ideal to distract you from suboptimal avocado.
When my avocados are ripe and I'm not ready to eat them, I put them in the fridge. This holds them for 2-3 days.
If they're a little overripe, like a little mushy or brown, they're often still okay to eat. If there's brown "strings," I usually scrape them away; they're safe to eat, but I don't like the texture.
Other Afternoon Treats
Here's some other satisfying treats to have in the afternoon.
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📖 Recipe
Basic Avocado Toast
Ingredients
- 1 slice sandwich bread
- ½ avocado
- ¼ lemon
- garlic powder
- salt (to taste)
Instructions
- Toast the bread.
- Cut your avocado while the bread toasts.
- Spread the avocado on the toast.
- Drizzle with lemon juice, and sprinkle with garlic powder and salt. Serve immediately.
Leona Konkel says
It feels a little silly to write up a recipe for something as basic as avocado toast, but how else can my husband make it for me as a surprise? Really, I enjoy this for lunch most days. And since we already have a mortgage for a house, I think we can afford it 😆