How To Make Crispy Baked Avocado Fries

Get the dipping sauce ready — there’s a new fry in town. Avocados have had their time to shine on toast, but now it’s time to turn these bright-green beauties into dreamy veggie fries. We’re talking super crispy and crunchy on the outside, and rich and creamy on the inside. It’s the instant-gratification way to use up that firm avocado sitting on your counter right now. With a few key steps, you can add a batch of crispy avocado fries to dinner.

While underripe avocados don’t quite cut it for making avocado toast, they are exactly what you want for avocado fries. They hold up better than their soft and ripe counterparts, who prove to be a little too delicate for fry-making.

While the texture of avocado fries starts out firm, you certainly won’t be eating dense, rock-hard fries — they get totally transformed in the oven. The heat softens the avocados, making them super-tender and creamy and enhancing their overall flavor.

More Ways to Use Firm Avocados: 5 Ways To Enjoy An Underripe Avocado

Like most fries, a long and lean cut leads to the best crunch-factor — and avocado fries are no exception. Save the cubes for another time and cut your avocado into slices from pole to pole. I like to start by halving the avocado, then cutting each half into four to six even slices, depending on the size of the fruit. This makes for fries that are just the right size; they’re thin enough to achieve a creamy center, but not too thin that they fall apart.

These fries are all about the texture. It’s the best of both worlds with a soft, creamy inside (just like you’d expect from a super-ripe avocado) wrapped with a crispy, crunchy coating. It’s this contrast that makes them stand out.

The crispy-crunchy exterior requires some consideration every step of the way. From start to finish we’re making choices that lead to The Crunch. Overall, these are the three most important steps to remember.

In order to ensure the crispiest fries, you have to create a base for the panko to stick on. Here, we fully coat the avocado slices with a mixture of flour, salt, and pepper — this base will help the rest of the ingredients stick and begins to build in flavor.

The panko coating is only half of what makes these fries so deliciously crispy. Once the fries are coated and resting on a baking sheet, they deserve a liberal coating of cooking spray. This extra-important step is key to baking up super-crispy fries with a deep golden color. No pale panko allowed.

Because you don’t want avocado fries that are only half crispy, don’t forget to flip the fries halfway through cooking to ensure even cooking and crisping.

Like all other veggie fries, avocado fries are at their absolute best when they come out of the oven. It will take some willpower, but let them cool for a couple minutes — just long enough until they’re comfortable to handle — and then dive right in.

And while I’m sure you’ll enjoy eating them as is, fries are always better when dipping sauce is involved. Stick with your standard ketchup, mayo, or aioli, or branch out with something spicy or filled with herbs.

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• Food styling by Ayda Robana