The Hungry MouseOpen-Faced Avocado Sandwich
If butter were a vegetable, it’d be an avocado. (It’s no wonder I love these little green guys so much.) This sandwich is one of my guilty pleasures. It’s a great, no-hassle lunch or dinner in a pinch. I mean, let’s face it: Sometimes, you just don’t feel like cooking.
This is hardly even a recipe. Mash up a ripe avocado with some lemon juice. Sprinkle with salt and freshly cracked black pepper. Drizzle with a little good olive oil. Kick back and enjoy with a glass or two of wine.
If you cut the bread into smaller squares and toasted them in the oven, this would make a great appetizer or tapas.
This article includes:
+A little info on avocados
+A demonstration of how to open and clean an avocado
+A step-by-step recipe with photos for making an Open-Faced Avocado Sandwich
How to tell if an avocado is ripe
Choose avocados that are soft to the touch, without feeling like they’re totally mushy under the skin. It should be firm-ish, but yield when pressed with a finger. A ripe avocado shouldn’t be hard, like a fresh apple. It should feel more like pressing on a piece of semi-firm cheese, like Fontina.
Some markets also put stickers with the word “Ripe” on them. Talk about taking the guesswork out of shopping.
If you buy your avocados on the harder side, ripen them in a paper bag on the counter until they’re ready to eat. Adding an apple or banana to the bag will help speed the process along.
Most medium-sized avocados have about 320-350 calories and 30 grams of fat. A lot of that fat is monounsaturated, which is the kind of fat that’s good for you. One avocado also has about 30% of your vitamin C for the day, as well as smaller amounts of vitamin A, calcium, and iron.
How to keep mashed avocado from discoloring
Avocados discolor rapidly when exposed to air. Adding lemon or lime juice will help keep your mashed avocado greener longer.
Open-Faced Avocado Sandwich
1 avocado
1/2 a lemon
kosher salt
freshly cracked black pepper
olive oil
1 roll or 2 pieces of bread, toasted
Serves 1 lavishly
Open-Faced Avocado Sandwich: Cut and clean your avocado
Toast your bread or roll and set aside to cool.
In case you aren’t sure, here’s an easy way to get into an avocado and get the pit out. Cut your avocado lengthwise down the center. Your knife will hit the pit.
Slide the knife around the avocado, so you’ve cut in a complete circle.
Once you’ve cut completely around the avocado, twist the top half off.
It will unscrew and pivot around the pit.
Whack the pit carefully with a sharp, heavy knife. You want the knife to stick into the pit.
Turn the knife, with the pit attached, and it will pop right out of the avocado.
If you’re a gardening type, you can try to root the avocado pit and grow an avocado tree. More on this in a future post.
Use a large soup spoon to loosen the peel like this:
Pull the peel off gently, and you should be left with the avocado meat. This a good way to do it, particularly if you want to make neat slices.
Repeat with the other half.
Open-Faced Avocado Sandwich: Mash up your avocado
Put the avocado in a medium-sized bowl.
Squeeze half a lemon over it.
With a fork, mash the avocado up. Mix the lemon juice in as you go.
Leave it in larger chunks like this:
Or mash it into more of a guacamole-like paste like this:
Open-Faced Avocado Sandwich: Make your sandwich
Grab your toasted roll or bread.
Divide the avocado between your 2 pieces of toasted bread or both halves of a roll.
Sprinkle with kosher salt.
Crack on some black pepper.
Drizzle with a little good olive oil. Serve and enjoy!
How to grow a tree from your avocado pit: Stay tuned!
Hang tight over the next week or two for detailed instructions on how to try to grow an avocado tree from your pit.
Cheers!
45 Comments on “Open-Faced Avocado Sandwich”
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I loooove avocado on bread just like you would spread butter. It is delicious and so healthy. Also great with tomatoes.
When I was in Costa Rica I learned that keeping the pit in the avocado is a great way to keep it from browning. So if you only use half your avocado on your sandwich, keep the pit in the other, wrap it up and you’ll be good to go tomorrow (if you can wait that long).
Thanks, Amanda! Hmmm, I’ve heard that about the pit, but have never tried it. I’ll have to give it a shot. Thanks for the tip!
+Jessie
Yum! I know what *I’m* having for dinner tonight!
Oh, fabulous!
+Jessie
YUM! I love mashing my avocados with a can of tuna and eating THAT on a sandwich
Oh gosh! I’ll have to try that!
+Jessie
Hey, I used to do that with a can of salmon back in high school! I’d add cumin, though, and use it as a dip for crackers. I probably increased my parents’ grocery bill a lot, seeing as I did it about once a week for a while.
This is a classic, quick snack in the Mexican kitchen. Only, we use tortillas instead of bread. Growing up my mom made avocado tacos for me while I waited for dinner to be done. Totally yummy!
Oh, fantastic! That sounds so good. Less bread to get in the way of all that buttery avocado.
+Jessie
I love this with toasted pita or on the tortillas,it’s a classic at my house!
Yum! So fast and easy!
+Jessie
I know where you are coming from, sometimes there are nights where I do not feel like cooking. I opt to make sandwiches instead. I never had an open faced avocado sandwich before! I should try an open faced guacamole sandwich, I wonder that would taste :p
Oh, I’ll bet it would be delicious!
Sometimes I do add a slice of tomato on top, which is really yummy, too.
+Jessie
We used to grow avocado trees all the time when we were little! Amazing how, even when you don’t feel like cooking, you still manage to put up such great photos and step-by-step instructions…thanks!
-emily
@chicagodining
Wheee! Thanks, honey.
Growing your own tree is so much fun. I love that you did it when you were little. Such a fun project for kids.
I have my pit rooting now, and if it does well, I’ll definitely write about it. We’re a little sunlight challenged at The Mouse House, so I’m a little worried that I won’t be able to keep one long-term. (But hey, they make great gifts!)
+Jessie
Humm, I eat avocado exactly like that too, and i must say, for me the salt crystals at the end really do it for me
It’s hard to find good avocados at the moment, so your post is a bit cruel 
hummm….(drooling)
Hehehe, thanks, Chris! Totally agree about the salt at the end.
+Jessie
I agree with Bunny! I would love this with toasted Pitas!
Party at Bunny’s house!
(OMG, we’d cause such a ruckus!)
+Jessie
Mmmmmm, creamy and yummy. You know, I’m sitting here thinking about how adding some perfectly ripe chopped tomatoes would be yummy, but that’s my issue, always trying to add stuff, when sometimes the simplest things are the tastiest! I wish it was lunchtime now!
Thanks, Alta!
Oh, I can so totally relate to the “I just need to add one more thing” syndrome. That said, I bet this would be really good with chopped tomatoes.
+Jessie
MMmm, I have an avocado right now that I was wondering what to do with. Me thinks this would be great on an English muffin. Thanks for the idea!
Aww, shucks! Happy to oblige, m’dear! Thanks for stopping by!
+Jessie
What a simple, perfect sandwich. I love your quote, “If butter were a vegetable, it would be an avocado” – so true! Avocados rock, and I’m sure this sandwich does, too!
Thanks, so much! (And totally love the name of your site!)
+Jessie
“If butter were a vegetable, it’d be an avocado.” Except that an avocado is a fruit, also known as a “butter pear.”
Heh. Thanks so much for taking the time to correct me.
While you’re technically correct that avocados are a fruit, a lot of folks do think of them as veggies because of how they prepare them.
+Jessie
Jessie sumptuous recipe and photos love avocado and this valuable post..excellent job!
Cheers!
Gera
Thank you, my dear! Love, love, love avocados!
+Jessie
I grew up eating mashed avocado on bread. It’s very common in Chile .. Pan con Palta! YUM!
I want an avocado tree! I love avocados, this simple recipe looks great for a snack on some perfectly-toasted bread.
My grandparents had an avocado orchard in San Diego, so growing up this is EXACTLY what we would eat when we’d visit. I’ve been making this my whole life and it’s amazing!
This probably constitutes my #1 fave sandwich that I have never eaten. Avocados, toasty bread… YUM!!
I have the exact same love for an avocado….’cept I eat it right out of the shell with lemon and spice (chili)…this is a great idea.
Thank You
Here in Japan, they often do avocado “sashimi” for a snack, thinly sliced with a wasabi soy dressing. I now often add wasabi and soy to my avocado open faced sandwiches for a change from lemon juice, salt and pepper. Oh, and if you have some sumac try a sprinkling of that with toasted pita!
Great site! This is one of my favorite sandwiches and I must admit that I add a bit of butter on my toast first. I’m sure I don’t need it, but it sure does taste good.
I was told by the produce man, when picking out your avocado at the store, make sure it has the little seed thingy (?) on the top of the outside is still attached. Not sure of the reason but I always do it now.
My husband and I love Avocado on bread. Yum! I usually put some tasty lunchmeat on top. My darling prefers onion, salt, pepper and loads of leaven flakes as topping.
Hi there! Got here from foodgawker. It’s funny that you should say, “if butter were a veggie, it’d be an avocado…!”
The name for avocado in Cantonese is actually “butter-fruit”. I couldn’t agree more!
Yep! Avocado is as good as or better than butter! The word, the color, the suggestion and I am hungry for it!
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Hi Jessie! I found your website off of my hubby’s blog (Jason’s BBQ Adventures) Really have been been enjoying going through your site. This looks fantastic!! So simple..I love it. I wish we had access to better avocados in our area…for some reason its hard to find good ones in Iowa
My favorite avocado sandwich is a bananacado sandwich! Sounds gross but its delish!
ingredients:
2 slices of whole wheat breat
1 avocado
1 small banana
olive oil
lemon juice
salt
honey
mash one avocado, not finely but leaving some remaining large chunks in it. Drizzle 1/2 tbsp flax seed oil and 1/2 tbsp lemon juice and some salt on it and mix.
Spread half of the mixture on one slice of bread, top it with sliced bananas and drizzle with a bit of honey. Spread the remaining mixture on another slice of bread then close the sandwich and enjoy! YUM! =P
This is a great recipe for beautiful skin complexion. Enjoy!
yum. i often eat avocados this way, but without the olive oil (i find the avo to be rich enough on its own. my favorite bread for this dish is the tomato bread from panera. adds a slightly sour element to the whole mix. gorgeous pics. i’m craving one of these now!
Hello there .. I loved your blog !! I am a first timer hit your blog while searching for Avocado recipes and I was sold over by your intro line: “If butter were a vegetable, …”. Incidentally in Hindi (National Language of India) we call Avocado as Makhan Phal literally translated to Butter Fruit.
Lovely pics and I am going to look for planting the avocado seed
~Vindya
As a kid in Hilo, used to go to the back porch and pick our “alligator pears” right off the tree. Prepared toasted sandwich by spreading sliced pears on sandwich and sprinkling with sugar, real good. Another way, split and avocado, shake Worcestershire sauce in the pit hole and season with pepper and catsup, also yummy.