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 both make and eat. Avocado toast has a bougie reputation, so I call my un-fancy, no-frills recipe Basic Avocado Toast.
Avocado Toast at a Glance
- ⏱ Prep Time: 5 minutes
- 🔥 Cook Time: 5 minutes
- ⏳ Total Time: 10 minutes
- 🍞 Serves: 1
- 🍽️ Calories: 245
- 🥑 Main Ingredients: Bread, avocado, lemon juice, garlic powder, salt
- 👌 Why You'll Love It: An unfussy avocado toast made from 5 ingredients, easy to eat with your hands.
SUMMARIZE & SAVE THIS RECIPE ON
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. And I love garlic toast.
Really, avocado toast makes for a great lunch, what with protein and healthy fats. Let's be honest - I've eaten avocado toast for lunch made with just toast and guacamole. It works in a pinch, but I promise you - this is better.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
You'll love my Avocado Toast because it's:
- 🛒 Just a few simple ingredients you'll find at the grocery store
- ⏱ Fast and easy-to-make - just toast, top, and eat.
- 👋 Hand-held - no chopping ingredients, and the avocado stays in place.
- 🔀 Flexible - add in what you like, and swap out what you don't.
Key Ingredients
Bread: I typically use sandwich bread - often Arnold wheat or whole grain, Dave's Killer seed or wheat bread, or generic whole grain bread. Sourdough and gluten-free breads should also work. I want hefty bread to balance eating half an avocado.
Avocado: Be sure yours is nicely ripe; see the FAQ for how to tell. If you only want one slice of toast, use the remaining ½ of an avocado for Barbacoa beef burrito bowls.
Lemon juice: Fresh tastes best here. You can try bottled lemon juice if that's all you have, but with so few ingredients in the recipes, you can't hide any off flavors. You can also try lime juice instead. A slice of avocado toast doesn't take much lemon juice - use the rest up with my Mediterranean Salmon and Baked Couscous.
Garlic powder and salt: I don't have time for freshly minced garlic at lunchtime. I prefer fine or table salt over coarsely ground salt. Packaged garlic salt may work, but can be very salty.
How To Make Basic Avocado Toast
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 eat hers with a fork; however, I cut out olive oil since avocados are already high fat, so I can eat mine with my hands.
The great 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.
One: Toast your bread well. Lemon juice sometimes seeps over the avocado and makes the bread wet, so thorough toasting is key. I should have toasted this slice in the photo longer - yours should be dark, not medium like mine.
Two: Cut your avocado, and scoop half of it onto the slice of toast.
Three: Spread avocado on the toast to the edge, and top with a little lemon juice.
Four: Sprinkle with garlic powder and salt.
Serving and Storage
Eat avocado toast immediately. Every minute you wait is a minute that lemon juice could be soaking your bread, and the avocado will eventually brown.
I usually have leftovers alongside it at lunch. 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 😆
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. Then, I use it to top another piece of toast later in the week! It should be good for 2-3 days.
Basic Avocado Toast FAQ
Yes, I've 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.
While you can prep the ingredients in advance, I don't recommend assembling avocado toast in advance. Toast is best fresh, and even well-toasted bread will become soggy under lemon juice. You can cut the avocado in advance, squeeze lemon juice over it, and store it in glass in the refrigerator; I do this with leftovers. The lemon juice helps prevent browning, and it's still tasty after a few days.
Most grocery store avocados are either overripe or very unripe. 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 speed up that process. That said, even unripe avocados are safe 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 Low-Frills Recipes
Looking for other simple, from scratch recipes? These are my go-tos that I recommend to anyone just starting out. In particular, the brownies are so much better than a mix, and my pancakes are ready in just 15 minutes.
I hope this becomes a recipe you'll return to. If you try it, a star rating below helps others find it - and I'd love to hear how yours turns out in the comments! 💕 Questions or trouble? Drop a note, and I'll do my best to help.
📖 Recipe
Basic Avocado Toast
Equipment
- toaster
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 😆