[I]t’s starting to look like I moved to New Orleans as an excuse to deep fry my California vegetables, make melty cheese dip, live off Red Beans and Rice, and plate after plate of fresh beignets. That’s to say nothing of the sazeracs and oysters.
Truth is, I moved to New Orleans for the suffocating humidity alone.
Not true at all. No one has ever ever done that.
We’ve entered into the 12 most beautiful days of the year here in New Orleans. After living here for one year, I’m talking like I know…
These are the 12 days when it’s perfectly warm with pleasantly bearable humidity, long pink sunsets, and almost cool evenings. It’s the perfection before the wrath of summer. It’s… well, it’s what California is like ALL THE TIME.
Let’s not talk about it anymore… let’s just fry these avocados.
Can I tell you a secret about free avocados?
If you’re in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New Orleans or Brooklyn you can place an order with the awesome people of Good Eggs and receive a free bag of avocados! Seems like the very best idea.
Photographs by the lovely Gabrielle Geiselman with styling (aka throwing food around) by me. Gabrielle is my friend, neighbor, and fellow avocado fiend.
Ripe avocados are sliced in half.
Pit them too. Do you know the trick? Here’s the best way to pit an avocado. It involves a big knife and a bit of gumption.
Lime, to keep avocados bright green and extra tasty.
Here’s what we’ll need to coat and batter the sliced avocados.
Eggs beaten with a bit of water for glue. Flour, combined with chili, spice, and salt. Panko breadcrumbs for an extra crisp fried coating. I mean… if we’re going to fry things they need to be crispy crunchy.
I lightly coat the avocado slices in seasoned flour, moisten them with a bit of egg wash, and then go in for the panko coating.
Nothing too heavy, but every bit of the avocado should be covered in either flour or panko. Take it easy… just fries!
A little flour here. A little panko there.
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need a ton of oil to fry. I used about 1-inch of oil in a medium, heavy-bottom pan. A candy/fry thermometer is key. We need to keep an eye on the temperature of the oil so that the fries to cook to slowly or quickly.
Good and golden brown!
To finish the fries: fresh lime spritzes, Maldon sea salt is lovely, and an extra sprinkling of chili powder. If you have beer on hand, even better. If you feel compelled to make an easy melty queso dip…. I mean… YES!
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Avocado Fries with Queso Cheese Dip
Ingredients
For the Fries
- 2 medium ripe avocados
- juice of 1 lime
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- generous pinch of cayenne pepper
- 1 1/4 cups panko bread crumbs
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper
- salt, lemon, cayenne pepper for sprinkling
For the Queso Cheese Dip
- 3 cups extra-sharp cheddar cheese
- 1 1/2 cups Monterey Jack cheese
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1/4 cup whole milk
- 1 (4 ounce) can diced milk green chiles, juice reserved
Instructions
- Halve, peel and slice the avocados into long spears, itโs okay if they vary in size. Place the avocados on a platter and drizzle with lime juice.
- In a small bowl beat eggs and together water. Set aside.
- In a separate small bowl whisk flour and salt, chili powder, and cayenne.
- In a medium bowl, measure out panko crumbs, salt and pepper. Combine.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, you can set your breaded slices right on the sheet
- Dip the avocado slices lightly in the flour mixture, in the egg mixture, and finally panko crumbs.
- Clip a fry thermometer onto a medium heavy bottomed saucepan and heat oil to 375 degrees F. Using tongs, lower 6-8 avocado slices into the hot oil. Fry until golden brown. Remove from oil and place on lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with a bit of salt.
- Bring the oil back up to 375 degrees before frying the next batch. Continue frying until all avocado slices are golden brown.
- Sprinkle all of the fried avocado with a dash of cayenne pepper and fresh lemon juice. Serve immediately with queso dip.
- To make the dip, place cheeses in a medium bowl, sprinkle with cornstarch, and toss to coat. Transfer cheese mixture to a medium saucepan over low heat and add milk.
- Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture is smooth and melted, about 10 to 15 minutes.
- Stir chiles with reserved juices until well combined. Serve warm with avocado fries.
55 Responses
I made these for my 9 month old and she is just loving them : D
Hey! Looks very delicious. Moreover, itโs not too difficult to make so I will try soon. Thanks for your sharing!
Do you think these would travel well? I’d love to bring these to a fourth of July pot luck!
What are milk green chiles?
Mmmmm delish!!!
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Oh my goodness. Yes, girl. Yes. All day long!
Wicked, evil and very, very good. These are outrageously good.
YES! I got my free bag of avocados from Good Eggs! LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. them. These fries would look amazing with a fresh loaf of bread from them. Thanks for the inspiration (as always)!
Hi Joy! These look too delicious to be true – but since it’s you I believe it is… I’m very tempted to try these out right now, and maybe make them as a party snack this week-end. However, I’m not sure if I can find Monterey Jack cheese here in Austria- if I’d have to replace it by another kind of cheese, would you recommend a rather mild or sharp one?
Thanks for blogging, it brightens my day every time I read it :)
My goodness, what a truly creative recipe that looks fun and yummy! I have to share on my Blog!
Hugs…
This looks delicious!! I would totally put these in a fish taco.
And here I am eating avocados that aren’t fried. I’m such a fool!
http://www.feastofstarlight.com
I love this idea, but I feel like I just want to make them into crispy jalapeรฑo fries instead. Dunked into that melty cheese dip, it’d be like jalapeรฑo heaven on earth.
Look Yummy! lovely!
Oh my dear Lord YES!!!! These look amazing.
What amazing pics – and a novel idea, can’t wait to try them – thanks!!!!
These look absolutely utterly completely delicious, a friend of mine told me they ate avocado fries at a vegan dinner party lately, so happy to have found a recipe!!
Oh my, what a great idea!! This looks delicious. x
We used to get avocado fries at a local brewery for $15 a plate, so we started making them ourselves at home about 3 months ago. We made up our own recipe, but didn’t use Panko which is a great idea, and I’ll try it next time. Usually we dip them in jalapeno ranch dressing, but the queso sounds good too!
I’m not sure I’ve ever commented here before, but I’ve read your blog for years and enjoy your writing and recipes, thank you!
Gosh, I feel SOOOOO boring compared to all of you. I’m 63 and am in a horrible rut . . . what did I do wrong so long ago??? I had all that passion decades ago, but I think I got mixed up with the wrong crowd — average, normal, everyday people. LOL . . . You all sound so “adventurous” . . . I’m SO jealous.
Well these look pretty fantastic if I do say so myself. Queso dip is so mandatory with this.
So (not) funny story about pitting avodacos with a knife – A couple months ago I stuck the knife in, and it went straight through the pit and about a half inch into my middle finger! Fun times explaining to Urgent Care how I got cut . . .
Amazing!! By the way I find that I’m usually able to easily remove avocado pits simply by turning the half over in my hand and gently squeezing – it falls right out :)
Joy, I get the feeling that you are ready to move back to California?
not just yet… but I do miss the avocados.
I LOVE avocados and these made my mouth water!
Keri
http://www.thestylestudiobykb.com
These are perfection. And the photographs are fab!!!
I’m afraid you are going to leave us now that you know the truth about our weather. The good news is that we don’t wrinkle as fast with all this humidity!
hallelujah!
I have never considered turning avocados into chips! What a fantastic idea. I cant wait to try these :) xo Lisa
https://www.strumsimmersip.com/
You are the only person I trust to introduce me to fried avocados. Thank you.
You know what, I’d totally move to NOLA to fry my fave Cali veggies (and for the Sazeracs and crawfish, obvi)!
Wow these look amazing. I’ve tried zucchini and sweet potato fries before but never avocado.
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I’ve only had avocado fries once, a long time ago. I’m really tempted to try making them at home after seeing your post!
Give them a try, Olivia! They’re super easy to make!
Wow, that looks worth the effort! Especially served, as you suggest, with a lime spritzer.
These look amazing! And your picture for this post are beautiful!
Laura
https://laurahager.blogspot.com
Free avocado?! That’s awesome! Thanks for the tip:)
Juju Sprinkles
https://www.jujusprinkles.com
My jury is still out on warm avocados, but dang, you’re making me reconsider!
First, I cannot get over the fact that you made avocado fries!!! This is so exciting to me!! Second, these pictures are gorgeous! Loved the post!! ????
STUNNING! I’d love to know what lens(es) she used. I’m ready to up my photo game and make an investment outside of my trusty 35/1.8.
I’m a native Angeleno and moved to Denver last year…I totally feel you! Some days are just beautiful, in the 70s, nice and dry, and I think–this is the best weather! And then I realize I left a place that has that weather about 10 months out of the year. :|
so these look amazing and all, but i’m completely distracted by what appears to be a ceramic bowl on your KA. is that for real? wowsers!
Avocado FRIES?! Joy, you blow my mind, regularly. Both the dip and the fries I would eat alone. Together? Oh my.
Is this the kind of dish you can have before a meal or is this the meal you just don’t tell anyone was actually a meal rather than a starter? (probably standing up at the counter burning my mouth on still hot avocado fries).
Your photography is simply incredible. Your avocados are also incredible…
http://www.ellebloggs.com
Gabrielle Geiselman did the photography of these avocado fries. She’s incredible!
Enjoy the 12 days and hope it really is 12 and not 10 or 11. They go by fast and don’t come back for a long hot year. I fry avocados for tacos all the time in Austin (where it is also warm and humid just not as bad as NOLA) they are yummy with queso drizzled over them wrapped in a tortilla. Yours look better than mine though so I will have to try it your way.
That cheese sauce looks amazing, I just want to eat it right now!! Awesome idea to pair it with avocado fries. Can’t wait to give this a try, avocados are one of my faves :)
I’d move to New Orleans for the excuse to fry all my vegetables :) These look fabulous!
I have a bag of avocados hanging out in my fridge with nothing to do. What do you think? Crispy avocado fries?
Oooooo that cheese!! I’ve made the avocado fries from your first book MANY times…but now it’s time for these!
ohh avocado fries that’s genius!! crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside yumm
https://aspoonfulofnature.wordpress.com/
These look amazing! May I come visit now?
I love everything about these and want a huge pile, asap! Pinned :)
I’m proudly California biased as well, and don’t have any intention of removing it (I’ve lived in CA my whole life). I’m not sure how I feel about warm avocadoes, but crispy/crunchy outsides + creamy insides may just convert me.