California-Style Crunchy Fried Avocado Taco Recipe

Around here, the running joke is that you can tell someone is from California because they eat an avocado daily.

We’re all 100% guilty of that very thing. The caveat is when they’re in season. Well, this year, we’re celebrating the prime avocado season with this recipe we created in partnership with our friends at California Grown.

First, let’s discuss California avocados.

The avocado season in California is from spring through summer, and that’s when you’ll find various avocados in your local stores, farm boxes, or at the farmers’ markets.

Though avocados might as well be the official state fruit (is there such a thing?), the reality is that only 1% of the state has the ideal conditions–sea breezes, sunshine, rich soil–that are suitable for growing them.

It all started with Haas.

Dip your toe into the world of avocados, and you’ll quickly notice that there are many avocado types in California. There are hundreds of avocado varieties out there, but just a handful are grown commercially in the Golden State. Namely, the Bacon, Fuerte, Gem, Gwen, Haas, Pinkerton, Reed, and Zutano.

But the star of the show is the Haas variety. It is the most popular avocado, but all Haas avocados can be traced back about 100 years to one tree in La Habra Heights, California.

Haas avocados have pebbly skin that turns dark green when ripe, and they’re also super versatile for all sorts of recipes.

Why should you fry an avocado?

Here on the site, we prepare avocados every which way: blended with Indian raita flavors in this cooling Avocado Cucumber Soup; smashed with cilantro and tahini on this Asparagus Toast; thrown on the grill for this Green Goddess Salad, and even frozen in this Coconut Strawberry Semifreddo.

But we hadn’t fried avocados until now. If you haven’t had one fried before, it’s worth a try. Once they’re battered in panko crumbs and fried, the avocado slices become crunchy on the outside and cool and creamy on the inside.

California-Style Fried Avocado Tacos

The history of the fried avocado taco isn’t evident, but one thing is for sure: Torchy’s Tacos in Austin definitely brought the idea onto our collective radar. Their avocado tacos are true to the Lone Star state in that they’re unapologetically big: loaded with layers of refried beans, lettuce, pico de gallo, and a charred poblano sauce.

This twist on fried avocado tacos is slightly sunnier and breezier and just a bit more California with loads of freshness. All the garnishes are optional, but we’d recommend including at least topping it with spicy tomatillo salsa and shredded cabbage for a bit of cool and crunch.

We love the tacos topped with the chipotle crema that Brandon created for our Baja-Style Fish Tacos as it adds a kick of all the good things–spice, lime juice, creaminess–similar to what you’d have in a good dipping sauce.

Okay, now it’s time to stock up on all your cooking essentials, then head into the kitchen, make this, and share it with us by tagging @saltandwind and #swsociety on social!