These delicious fried avocado tacos are vegan, can be made gluten-free, and have avocado fries in addition to refried beans and a creamy poblano sauce on top of corn tortillas.
½teaspoonred chili powderI use Kashmiri red chili, adjust to spice tolerance!
1teaspoonsalt
Poblano Sauce
3poblano peppersalso called pasilla peppers
3garlic cloves
1tablespoonlime juicefresh
1cupcashew nuts
1cupwater
Other Toppings
½red onionmedium
2tablespoonscilantrochopped
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 425°F. Place three poblano peppers on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or silicon mat. Wrap a couple of cloves of garlic in aluminum foil and place them on the sheet as well. Pop this in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes to roast the poblanos. If the peppers take more than 15 minutes, remove the garlic at the 15 minute mark.
In the meantime, add a cup of cashews, a cup of water water, 1 tablespoon of lime juice, and a teaspoon of salt to a powerful blender (like a Vitamix). Don't blend them yet, just let the cashews soak in the liquid while your Poblano peppers are roasting.
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.
Cut three avocados in half, remove the pits, and slice them into thin strips, typically about four slices per avocado half (so total of eight slices per avocado). If baking, line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicon mat and set aside. If using an air-fryer, get your air fryer basket ready.
Next, take an avocado slice, drop it in the 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 avocado on the baking sheet or air fryer basket and repeat for all other slices.
Baking: Your oven should already be at 425°F. Pop the sheet into the oven and let the avocados bake for 15 minutes, then turn them around 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 fryer: Preheat the air fryer to 425°F and then 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!
While the avocados are being baked or air-fried, prepare the refried beans. Add one tablespoon of vegetable oil to a large skillet and heat it over medium-high heat. Then, add the diced onions and jalapenos and sauté for about 4-5 minutes until they're soft. Then, add three garlic cloves and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant (but not burnt!) Then, add red chili powder and cumin powder, give this all a good mix.
Finally, stir in a 14.5oz can of pinto beans along with half a cup of water (or broth!) and bring to a rolling boil. Once the water starts boiling, add a teaspoon of salt, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 8-10 minutes (uncovered). Add more water as needed for the right consistency.
While the beans are simmering, remove your poblano peppers from the oven. They should be roasted. Remove the seeds and skin from the peppers, slice the stems off and add this, along with the roasted garlic, to the cashews, lemon juice, water in your blender. Blend on high speed or smoothie setting until you get a nice smooth creamy sauce!
Check to make sure most of the water has evaporated from the beans and then mash using a masher or the back of a spatula or a large fork. Remove the beans from the heat, add lime juice and give it a good mix and mash again to desired consistency. Your pinto beans are ready too!
Remove your avocado fries once they're done baking typically 25 to 30 minutes from when you put them in.
Assemble the tacos by adding a generous dollop of the refried beans to the base, followed by a couple of slices of fried avocado. Top this with sliced red onion (or pickled red onion!), some poblano sauce and chopped cilantro. Enjoy the most delicious tacos!
Notes
You can buy refried beans if you wish - Amy's has a good one!
For the optional garnishes, I've used pickled red onions, cilantro and corn - but to be honest, I've had this recipe many times without any of those and it tastes amazing just by itself!