If you're looking for a healthy alternative to fries, look no further. This fried avocado recipe combines two of my favorite things and makes it super simple to get that crispy crunch as well. The recipe is vegan, oil free, and gluten free.
The post contains helpful tips and tricks to make sure you're successful in your first attempt. But if you're in a rush, please use the link above to jump to the recipe card at the end!
💭 Why you'll love this recipe
My recipe is inspired by Torchy's Tacos, which was the OG fried avocado star in Texas.
- Healthy, vegan and gluten-free: Fried avocado is a great healthy alternative to French fries. Avocado fries have all the crispiness and deliciousness and way less oil. It's also gluten-free and vegan!
- Crispy and great as a snack: They're a great "dipper" and perfect for tacos (like these fried avocado tacos) or just munching on when you want a fun snack that's also healthy
- Convenient and fast: Fried avocado is also a quick and easy recipe, and comes together in just thirty minutes!
📋 Ingredients & notes
This recipe uses five ingredients - avocados, chickpea flour, garlic powder, salt and gluten-free breadcrumbs. You can add a pinch of red chili powder if you want a kick!
Ingredient notes:
- This recipe is vegan - but if you're vegetarian and want to use eggs (or don't have chickpea flour on hand), you can use a traditional egg wash to make fried avocado. Prepare three bowls - one with all purpose flour, one with eggs whisked together, and another with the breadcrumbs. Then coat the avocado in that order.
- To mix up the spices: you can add black pepper, curry powder, oregano, red chili flakes or any other spices - you can adapt to whatever spices you have at home.
🥑 Avocado Tips
Buying the right avocado: At the right ripeness, the avocados are soft, but not mushy. They’re usually a darker color (except for Haas avocados), and if they’re soft like that, perfect to eat the same day. If they’re a bit harder, buy and store in a brown paper bag to make it ripen faster (or add an apple to make it ripen even faster).
Pro tip: Ideally, buy a few different stages of ripeness – this way, you can use one today to make an easy avocado toast, and save the rest for later! Make sure to remove the overly brown bits before mashing.
Slicing avocados: First, slice the avocado into two halves. Twist to pull them apart. Then, carefully use the edge of a knife to dig into the pit, twist and remove. Discard the pit (or save it if you need to store half an avocado).
For avocado fries, you need really thin slices so you can coat the batter evenly. I typically slice each half of the avocado into quarters, and then remove the skin before slicing them into smaller pieces. To maintain the consistency, you can pop them in the fridge before you dredge them.
👩🏽🍳Making Fried Avocado (without getting hands sticky)
Set up a clean "workspace"
Preheat your oven or air fryer to 425F and then set up the following bowls in order (in a straight line so you can avoid dripping batter)
- Dry bowl: Whisk the rest of the chickpea flour with some garlic powder and salt in another bowl for the dry flour station
- Wet bowl: Combine half of your chickpea flour and equal parts water to make a batter that's the same consistency as pancake batter (i.e. fluid but not too thin or watery!)
- Breadcrumbs: Add breadcrumbs to the final bowl.
Prepare your avocado fries
Use your non-dominant hand to toss the avocado in the chickpea flour. Then, use the same hand to pick up the avocado, drop it in the batter and turn it around a few times with your other hand so all the sides are evenly coated with the batter (including the curvy part)
Then, use that same hand to drop the coated avocado in the bowl with the breadcrumbs. Be generous here, and make sure the whole thing is covered.
Finally use a fork to drop the coated avocado on a baking sheet or air fryer tray. I know it sounds like a lot but once you get the hang of it, it goes really quickly!
Arrange additional slices 1-2" apart from each other and you're good to go. Or alternatively, place the avocados on a baking sheet and then transfer each of them with a pair of tongs onto the air fryer basket.
Bake or air-fry the avocados
If you're baking, pop the coated avocados in for 10 minutes, then flip and then throw them in there for another 10 minutes. If you're air-frying, just pop them into the air-fryer for about 15 minutes. The avocados will be crispy and golden brown by the time you're done.
If you're baking: pop the baking sheet into the oven and bake for 15 minutes, then flip and bake 15 more. Ideally, they should be golden brown when done, so this might take more than 15 minutes on each side based on your oven!
If you're using an air fryer: Throw them in there for about 25 minutes total. Check and make sure to increase time in case they're not done - this will depend on the type and size of your air fryer to a large extent!
🍴 Serving Suggestions & Storage
I am convinced that the best dipping sauce for avocado fries is a super simple, two ingredient combination - mayonnaise (I used the vegan version) with hot sauce (like Sriracha or my favorite, Trader Joe's habanero sauce). Or, you can use something fun like this poblano sauce.
I suggest you eat the avocado fries fresh since they're the crispiest then. However, if you want to store them, you can place them in a neat row (and not on top of each other - that'll make them soggy) in an airtight container and store them in the fridge for up to 3 days. When you're ready to eat, preheat your oven to 350F, place the fries on a baking sheet, and pop them in for about 15 minutes.
If you like this recipe, check out my other avocado recipes:
If you try this recipe, please consider leaving a comment and a star rating. Don't forget to tag #urbanfarmie on Instagram or @urbanfarmie on Pinterest!
📖 Recipe
Crispy Baked Avocado Fries (Vegan)
Ingredients
- 3 avocados, large, cut into thin strips
- 1 cup chickpea flour, divided
- ½ cup water
- ¼ teaspoons garlic powder
- ½ teaspoons salt
- ¼ teaspoon red chili powder, optional, if you want some bite!
- 1 cup breadcrumbs, I used gluten-free breadcrumbs
Instructions
- Preheat the oven or air-fryer to 425°F. Then, slice three avocados into thin strips - I typically like to slice them into halves, remove the pits, and then slice each half into three slices. Then, I remove the skins and set aside. You should get at 18 - 20 slices this way!
- Set up your dipping stations: Combine ¼ cup of chickpea flour and half a cup of water to make a batter that's the same consistency as pancake batter (i.e. fluid but not too thin or watery!) Whisk ¼ teaspoon each of garlic powder and salt with ¾ cup of chickpea flour in another bowl. Finally, add breadcrumbs to a third bowl. These are your dipping stations. If using the oven, line a baking sheet with a silicon mat or parchment paper and set aside. If using an air fryer, spray the basket or tray with some oil.
- Take one avocado slice, drop it in the dry chickpea flour, then into the chickpea flour batter, and then shake off excess, and drop it in the bowl with the breadcrumbs. Use a fork to toss and coat the avocado evenly. Place on the baking sheet or air fryer basket or tray. Repeat this for all the avocado slices and arrange them on the baking sheet, spaced 1-2 inches away from each other. Coat evenly with the batter making sure to get the curvy part!
- Baking: If you're baking, throw the baking sheet into the oven and let the avocados first bake for 15 minutes. Then, flip them and let them bake another 15 minutes. Ideally, they should be golden brown when done, so this might take more than 15 minutes on each side based on your oven!Air Frying: Once you arrange the avocado slices neatly in an air fryer basket, making sure to leave enough space between them (depending on the size of your air fryer, you might need to do this in batches). You can air fry them for about 25 minutes in total. Check and make sure to increase time in case they're not done - this will depend on the type and size of your air fryer to a large extent!
- Avocado fries are ready when each side is a nice golden brown and feels "crisp" to touch (i.e. not soggy). Serve hot and enjoy with a creamy dipping sauce of choice!
Notes
- If the batter starts getting a bit "thick" add a few more tablespoons of water and mix so it retains an almost sauce-like consistency
- To avoid getting your hands super messy when you're dipping the fries, use your non-dominant hand for the dry bowls, and the dominant hand for the wet bowl.
- Each oven and air-fryer is a bit different - so please make sure to adjust the timing to your appliance's specifications!
Nutrition
Note: This recipe was originally published on May 31, 2020 and updated on 15 March, 2021 to include better visuals and tips & tricks to get it right every time!
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