Grilled Avocados
Sunday, June 20, 2010 at 9:35AM 
Avocados have been a mainstay of my culinary life for about as long as I can remember. Growing up in Southern California in the 60's, avocados were locally grown, plentiful and part of just about every party and celebration, usually in the form of guacamole. But all that changed and guacamole became the springboard for a host of dishes, sweet and savory, but for me, nothing beats a plain slice of perfectly ripe avocado. It really needs nothing to enhance its lusciousness, but then....
The other day as I was listening to one of my food podcasts, Evan Kleiman was interviewing an avocado grower who mentioned that one of his favorite ways to eat avocados is to grill them. What?! That's brilliant! Why I hadn’t I thought of that?! The avocado and the grill were simply made for each other.
THAT night I’m so grilling an avocado. Oh. My. Goodness. Really, people. Grilled avocados are the bomb. Just cut your avocado in half, remove the seed, and brush it with some lime juice and olive oil. Place it flesh-side down on your hot grill for about 5 to 7 minutes.
Remove it from your grill and and sprinkle with a little lime juice and salt. Unbelievable. If you want to take it a step further, fill the hole with your favorite salsa and top that with a little sour cream. Sprinkle the whole thing with some chopped cilantro, a good sprinkling of kosher salt and maybe another drizzle of lime juice. The avocado meat gets a little soft and warm and smoky, and you honestly will just want to curl up in it. We scooped it out with a spoon, but it would be just as yummy to scoop it out with some tortilla chips.
Here's a quick and easy salsa recipe. It was divine inside that avocado.
Quick and Easy Salsa
Printable Recipe
1 can fire-roasted tomatoes
1/8 to ¼ cup diced onion
3 cloves garlic
1T white wine vinegar (or lime juice)
¼ tsp cayenne or crushed red pepper(you can also throw in a jalapeno if you want)
½ tsp salt
3 or 4 sprigs of cilantro,
Dump it all in the blender and process until it becomes a harmonious blend of salsa goodness.
Taste and add more salt, cayenne or cilantro if needed.
Reader Comments (68)
Yum! How has it taken this long to learn about these?? I can't wait to try it.
I'm glad you liked the salsa enough to post it! Beautiful photos!
Amazing!
Ok.....I am done! You have sent me over the edge with this recipe and after looking through your site/blog, i am gonna join you in sharing recipe's and stuff. Thank you, Patrice for the inspiration to get started! I love your site! I just needed a boost and the SIMPLE grilled avocado did it! :-D
Thank you Nella! I'm so glad you stopped by and hope you come back often. I think those are the greatest words that a blogger might hear from a reader. You made my day. And BTW, I love your happy face icon :-D
Oh wow, those grill marks are just PERFECT! My boyfriend makes a killer guac, but now I'm curious if he can make it even better by grilling first...
Oh, do I love that idea! Grill your avocados and then use them to make guacamole! Of course! Let me know how that comes out. I'm going to give that a try too. Yum!
I'm so obsessed with grilling fruit right now, and this might just add to my grilling obsession. Looks amazing!
This looks great for a party. Great arrangement and Im sure it tastes great too.
You can always make so delicacy food. I really admire you.
I so have to try this! Avocados are one of my very favorite foods, but I've never had them grilled. Sounds amazing with a nice, cold beer!
Amazing Patti! Your grill marks are so perfect, I just want to take a bite out of this photo. We tried the grilled avocados last night with fish tacos and they were sooooo good!!
Those grill marks are perfection Patrice! Guess what will be gracing my grill very soon?
I just found a site that ships out the biggest and best Reed Avocados known to man!
I will probably not prep them any other way! Thanks for the amazing idea, and ChefShop
for getting me Reed Avocados in SD
It's also great on a grilled baguette!
Hmm... I've never even tried avacado before, but this... this makes me want to give it a try.
I must be the only person in the world that doesn't like avocados. I find the texture pasty and off-putting. I understand certain fruits benefit from being served at the edge of ripeness like papayas. While papayas have a similar texture to avocados, at least it has flavor. I find avocados to be quite tasteless.
I neeed to try this! Especially since I am on a huge avocado kick these days...
Ive tried them un-grilled with salsa...but this seems like the next step up!
Well StumbleUpon once again delivers - this is perfect. I'm having a kegger/BBQ this weekend and was looking for some additional side dishes to flesh out the menu.
Thanks!
Ok, you mentioned how to make guacamole "the right way" so what is it? Please share your father in law's recipe if it's not an ancient secret. If it IS an ancient secret, please share whatever details you have on the mythic quest I need to follow to solve the riddles and claim the holy guacamole!
great presentation! i love avocado, so i know i'll love it!
amazing vegetarian dish! you have a great talent! :)
it's the middle of winter in here in south africa - which is also avo season. and i just HAVE to have a barbecue as soon as possible to try this out! and i agree - please, please share the guacamole recipe asap....
Ah, Tim, the holy grail of quacamole... the ancient secret lies in the fact that one must pursue one's own guacamole destiny. Since those ancient times of the sixties, when guacamole was in its infancy, we were satisfied with much less than is required today. My father-in-law believed that garlic powder was the key to a good guacamole. He mashed his avocados and added a good bit of salt, some garlic powder and green taco sauce. We loved this immensely and that's how I made my guacamole for years. I find that original recipe is still quite tasty, but we have moved on from there. One of our favorite guacamole renditions is on my website in the form of a pico de gallo guacamole. My other version goes like this.... mash your avocados and add a good amount of salt, some lime juice and chopped cilantro. Some days I will add some tomatillo salsa. Some days I will roast a poblano chile and chop it up in there. It's all good, and I cannot tell you how you must prepare yours.... the quest for the perfect guacamole is a personal one and requires patience and good tortilla chips. I wish you well in this journey.
HEAVEN!!!!!! I posted a link to this on my facebook, and my Mother in law commented:
"it.is.sooooo.happening!! Happy Fourth of Avocado!"
I love how the simplest things in life can be the most succulent!!
Found you on foodgawker.com Thanks for sharing!
I love that! Thanks, Holly! Happy Fourth of Avocado back at ya!
You officially topped Julia Child with this one.In her book the joy of cooking she said that there was no way to cook an avocado.You proved her wrong!Thank you so much for the recipe.Growing up in San Diego, I know exactly what you mean about picking avocados in the summer.Imiss California so much!!
Patrice, I HAVE to share this video with you of our experience grilling the avocados. It was way more focused on the steaks, but we just about cried the avocados were just the most beautiful thing ever!!!! We tried this thing called "Primal Grilling" with "Caveman T-Bones" It was the most unforgettable food experience I've ever had. It sounds outrageous, and risky for that expensive meat, but oh.my.goodness. everything just MELTED in your mouth!!!
My Husband is working on the video right now, (this all just happened today) so it might not be up on his youtube for a couple days, but here is the link if you would like to check it out when it's up there:
http://www.youtube.com/user/leavesweepersopen
just when you thought avocados couldn't get anymore amazing, "TA-DAAAA!" :)
Thanks again for the wonderful idea!
I tried it. It was unbelievably good. I'll be making more for the fourth of July.
You're welcome, Holly, and I look forward to seeing your video. So glad you guys liked the grilled avocados! We're now calling it Happy 4th of Avocado!!
Damn right we call 'em soda crackers! This looks so delicious!
What?!?? This looks amazing. So adorable and it sounds so delicious. I'm undoubtably going to try this. I bet it would be good paired withs some grilled stone fruit that is oh so in season right now!
I LOVE avocado and I LOVE grilling so I will have to try this! I recently started playing with grilled fruites like peaches and pineapple. I have a fantastic recipe for grilled pineapple salsa that you might like. Its on my blog. I am glad I discovered your blog since we seem to like the same topics. I will be back soon to check out what other yummy recipes you share. I also really like your photos...Thanks! ~Kelly
that looks like a great vegetarian bbq idea! i am 13 and learning a lot about cooking and i also recently declared myself vegetarian. i started a blog as a summer project to chronicle my culinary adventures...this looks like awesome!
Well, welcome to the blogging world, Matisse! I started cooking when I was about your age. Stay with it! It's lots of fun! You might like to check back in every Monday for our Meatless Monday series.
Avacados are my daughter and myself's favorite food by far and I too have never grilled an avocado and can't wait to grill them! We are trying this tomorrow night (if I don't wake up in the middle of the night and start grilling in my sleep)! Avacados were the first solid food that I introduced to my daughter as a solid food and has remained her favorite. She is now 3 and when we go to restaurants she will ask for an avocado vs. mac-n-cheese or any other unhealthy option that they seem to put on the kids menus! Thank you for sharing!
Wow, this post caught my eye and my mouth started to water. I love food, avocado, and new recipes! I actually have a blog of my own that you may want to check out: http://foodlovenews.blogspot.com/.
wow great amazing vegetarian dish!
You are my new foodie hero. So simple, but so delicious. I am an avocado maniac (probably since I am originally from So. Cal myself) and love to find new ways to use them! Thanks for this post.
Hey:
I want to post this recipe in a blog im working for, so I was wondering if i could use the main picture in this post to put it in mine.
Thanks
Sounds OK, Mexerg, but maybe you could should me an email with the website info. Thanks!
Don't forget about the left over grilled burgers... crumble them up and use them in chili or tacos.. FABULOUS!
I was at my friends house one day when he asked if i wanted a snack. I said sure and was so confused when he handed me half an avacado topped with sea salt and cracked peppercorns. but Ahh-Mazing!! I can't wait to try this new take on an avacado! Sounds Delicious
Just curious, what is guacamole the "right" way?
Well, Frank, Tim had that question too. If you scroll up to my response to Tim's query, you'll get the answer. But let it be noted that I no longer believe there is a "right" way to make guacamole. My father-in-law had strong ideas about such things. Thanks for stopping by!
Looks yummy!
much love to the avocado. WEST COAST!
That looks so good.
I have been grilling avocados for a few years. I slice them carefully around the seed and separating. Add seasoning and lemon then grill untill lightly crisped.
Now this is my kind of avocado. Thanks for the great idea.
Never had grilled avacodo, but I'd be game to try it. Would probably ne good with a chipotle flavored creme fraiche.