Leave it to a pandemic to inspire us to look at the bits and bobs in our pantry a bit differently! Take these Crunchy Gluten Free Avocado Tacos that I made with Kash recently for example... this recipe, that we will now be making on repeat for the rest of time, was created simply out of an effort to utilize some pantry items we already had on hand instead of going to the store. Man was it a hit, with all 4 of us and I am so excited to share the recipe here with you too!
{{ The recipe and post for these Crunchy Gluten Free Avocado Tacos was made in partnership with California Grown. We received compensation in exchange for it. Opinions are always our own. This post also contains affiliate links. Thanks for your continued support! }}
A few weeks ago my sweet friend K. C., the G Free Foodie, sent us a shipment of the most beautiful avocados from California that I have ever seen! They were fresh picked and sent straight to our door to brighten our day and fill our bellies.
It was such a thoughtful gesture in the midst of a world that feels like total chaos and it inspired us to hop in the kitchen together and see what we could come up with! Let me tell you, aside from the gorgeous avocados the pickin's were slim. We had a half juiced lime in the fridge, barely enough shredded cheese to shake a stick at, a few dried out tortillas, a can of refried beans, part of a head of ice burg lettuce and a handful of arugula.
Let me show you how we pulled all of those ingredients together....
Step 1 || Halve and peel 2 large avocados, they need to be ripe but still firm.
I loved making these tacos with Kash and there was A LOT that he could actually do himself with very little instruction from me to help with dinner prep. I halved the avocados and removed the pits then showed him how to peel them. He happily worked away peeling the remaining avocado halves while I gathered the ingredients we needed for the crispy breading.
Step 2 || Set up an avocado breading assembly line.
I'll admit - this recipe can get a bit messy, but man is it fun! Kid's learn best with their hands in the dirt, so to speak, which helps me to embrace the mess of this kitchen project. Assemble 3 shallow dishes for breading, one for flour, one for eggs, and one for gluten free bread crumbs of some sort. Take this opportunity to talk to your kid's about the basics of seasoning every layer and allow them to pinch and sprinkle in salt, pepper and any other seasonings your heart desires.
After seasoning, I sliced our avocado halves into thirds and showed Kash how to dredge one of the spears in seasoned flour, then egg, then bread crumbs and he happily took over and breaded all of the rest for me while I prepped our taco fixings and heated the oil to fry the breaded avocado wedges.
Step 3 || Leave the ACTUAL cooking to the adults on this one...
You can fry these avocado wedges one of two ways, a deep fry in hot oil that is 350°F like I did or you can shallow fry them in a pan, turning them, as they brown. one method isn't necessarily better than the other. It's all about your cooking comfort level here.
I'm from the South, I like to deep fry things like falafel, donuts, and avocados...but you do you. Also, for what it's worth - I only deep fry in peanut oil or Grapeseed oil.
Step 4 || Assemble the taco filling ingredients
I realized that this step will rely heavily on what you have in your pantry, but if you have all of the ingredients on hand to assemble these Crunchy Gluten Free Avocado Tacos like we did, I highly suggest it.
Refried beans || You can use store bought or you can easily make your own with a can of beans. Just click here to go to the Instagram post where I recently shared how I make DIY refried beans at home.
Greens || We had half a head of iceberg lettuce so we used that and I also had a bit of arugula to use up so we made some versions with that. Both versions were INCREDIBLE! Any greens you have on hand would work with these! You just can't go wrong!
'Frico'-dilla tortillas || Ok, ok these aren't really a thing...but maybe they should be! Basically, we love cheese on our tacos and I knew that I didn't have enough to go around so...I decided to ration everyone's cheese portion by pre-cheesing everyone's tortillas. I thought this process could cause problems, but guess what, they were a HUGE hit and I've been getting requests for Frico-dillas every day since!
'Frico'-dilla tortillas || Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Rub one side of corn tortillas with the cut side of a lime, set aside. When the pan is heated very lightly spray with olive oil cooking spray and sprinkle 1 tablespoon of cheese across the entire surface of the pan. The cheese will immediately start to melt and bubble, add a tortilla to the pan and use tongs or your finger tips to quickly move the tortilla around in circles, essentially gathering all of the melted cheese on the tortilla. Once the cheese has adhered to the tortilla and is crisped, flip to warm the other side. Once warmed through, transfer to a towel lined basket or pan to keep warm and repeat the process with the remaining tortillas and cheese.
Step 5 || Assemble, enjoy, and watch your kiddo's face beam with pride when they love what they created!!
No instructions for this step really - just schmear warm refried beans on a frico'dilla tortilla, sprinkle on some greens, and nestle in a crispy avocado spear! Of course, you can add garnishes if you have them like cilantro, salsa, or even hot sauce for us parents that like to bring the heat.
If you’ve made our Crunchy Gluten Free Avocado Tacos or any of the other recipes on our site, don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know what you thought in the comments below, we love hearing from you! Share the images of the recipes you make with us by sharing your pictures on INSTAGRAM and tagging us @thismessisours. You can also share your pantry friendly recipes and inspiration with us and others by adding the hashtag #pantrypower to your Instagram posts!
PrintCrunchy Gluten Free Avocado Tacos
The gluten free rice crumbs from Trader Joe's I used in this recipe really makes the avocado spears SUPER crunchy, if don't have those on hand you can use any gluten free or regular breadcrumbs you have.
- Prep Time: 20 min
- Cook Time: 25 min
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: serves 4-6 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Deep fried
- Cuisine: Mexican
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
- 1 jumbo avocado or 2 regular size avocados, halved, pitted, peeled and sliced into wedges.
- vegetable or peanut oil for frying
- ½ cup gluten free all purpose flour
- 2 large eggs, beaten or egg substitute
- 1 cup gluten free rice crumbs or panko
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 (15-ounce) can of vegetarian refried beans, warmed through, or make your own
- 8 white corn tortillas
- half a lime
- ¾ cup shredded Mexican or cheddar cheese
- 2 cups shredded iceberg lettuce or greens of choice
optional garnishes: cilantro leaves, pico de gallo, hot sauce
Instructions
For the crunchy avocado wedges:
Set up a dredging station by placing the all-purpose flour in a shallow bowl, the eggs in a separate shallow bowl, and the rice crumbs or panko in a third shallow bowl. Season all of the bowls liberally with salt and pepper then beat the eggs until the whites and yolks are completely combined.
Working with one avocado spear at a time, dredge in flour, shake of excess, dip in egg, shake off excess, then coat in rice crumbs. Transfer to a plate then repeat with remaining avocado spears.
Heat a small pot of peanut or Grapeseed oil filled to a depth of 2-inches over medium heat until a kitchen thermometer reaches 350°F alternatively, heat a ¼-inch of oil in a frying pan over medium heat until shimmering - see notes**
Line a plate with paper towels, set aside. Once the oil is heated through, add a few prepared avocado spears at a time, do not overcrowd the pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes until golden brown - if cooking in a skillet, turn as needed to ensure all sides are golden brown and cooked through. Repeat with all of the avocado wedges.
For the 'Frico'-dilla tortillas:
Heat a dry skillet over medium-high heat. Rub one side of corn tortillas with the cut side of a lime, set aside. When the pan is heated, very lightly spray with olive oil cooking spray and sprinkle 1 tablespoon of cheese across the entire surface of the pan. The cheese will immediately start to melt and bubble, add a tortilla to the pan and use tongs or your fingers to quickly move it around in circles, gathering all of the melted cheese on the tortilla. Once the cheese has adhered to the tortilla and crisped, flip to warm the other side. Once warmed through, transfer to a towel lined basket or pan to keep warm and repeat the process with the remaining tortillas and cheese.
To assemble the tacos:
Spread heated refried beans on the inside of prepared tortilla. Sprinkle with greens and nestle a crispy avocado spear inside. Serve immediately.
Notes
** If cooking in a shallow skillet instead of deep frying || More than likely you will need to wipe up out the skillet from time to time in-between frying avocado wedges with this method. The breading will fall off into the skillet as you turn the wedges and those breadcrumbs can burn, altering the flavor of any avocado spears you cook after that.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 tacos
- Calories: 502
- Sugar: 3.9 g
- Sodium: 1187.3 mg
- Fat: 20.2 g
- Carbohydrates: 63 g
- Protein: 19 g
- Cholesterol: 94 mg
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