Creative Ways to Eat an Avocado

If you're anything like me, then you know the avocado is one of the best fruits out there. It's delicious, filling, and healthy for you. Most people tend to think of it mostly as an ingredient in guacamole or as the now infamous "avocado toast." However, there are way more creative ways to eat an avocado than you might think. Here are a couple of my favorites.

Create that perfect summer treat: ice cream.

Ice cream probably isn't the first thing that you think of when you're wondering what to do with the extra avocados that you bought that are about to go bad, but it's a super delicious treat!

Avocado on its own doesn't have too strong of a flavor, so you can mix it with all sorts of different ingredients. It goes surprisingly well with chocolate, and here is a great recipe for healthy chocolate avocado ice cream.

Mix it with pesto.

I love pesto almost as much as I love avocados. I put it on practically every sandwich I eat—so why not mix these two great loves together? Just stick your favorite pesto (homemade or store-bought) in the food processor with the ripe insides of an avocado, and soon enough you'll have a pesto with a delightful, creamy texture.

This is one of the best, most creative ways to eat an avocado for people who enjoy Italian food. You'll get hooked, I swear!

For all your dietary needs, make brownies!

Vegan? Gluten-free? Dieting? One of the fun yet creative ways to eat an avocado is to make avocado brownies. They are way more delicious than they sound and healthier than their butter- and flour-filled siblings. A delicious recipe can be found here.

Use it as a mayonnaise replacement.

This is one of the best ways to eat an avocado if they're a bit overripe. It also is a surprisingly healthy eating habit, even if it's a bit calorific.

You can easily replace mayo with a mashed up avocado in all your favorite recipes, including chicken salad, Caesar salad dressing, or as a dip for your lobster roll! It's also way healthier than mayo, so you can feel less guilty when indulging in that creamy goodness.

Crunch down on some avocado fries.

One taste of these and you'll never want fast food fries again. The best part is they don't actually need to be fried—just roll some avocado slices in flour (optional), eggs, and breadcrumbs and bake them in the oven at 400 degrees.

Sure, fried food isn't always healthy, but it is delicious. It's a forgivable diet sin.

Bake in some eggs.

This is one of the most classically creative ways to eat an avocado. Protein and healthy fat-packed, this makes for an awesome post-workout meal.

Just eat it raw!

All of these different ways to eat an avocado can start to feel complicated and overwhelming. What if you hate cooking? No problem. Go simple! Avocados are perfectly delicious all by themselves. I like to sprinkle a little bit of sea salt on half of the fruit and just eat it with a spoon right out of the skin.

Make homemade baby food.

OK, maybe you won't eat avocados this way, but your baby sure will! This organic alternative to highly processed baby food is easy for babies to "chew" and eat without having to worry about choking. There's also a lot of nutrition in avocados that your baby needs, including Omega-3s.

If you have a baby and want to explore creative ways to eat an avocado with your youngster, this is a great way to do it. And, if you love to have healthy skin, you're in luck — avocados make skin as soft as can be.

Whip up some chocolate mousse.

Avocado ice cream and brownies not fancy enough for you? Then try chocolate mousse made from our favorite green fruit. One of the sweetest ways to eat an avocado, this recipe will have your friends begging you to bring it to the next potluck.

Use it as a base for your soup.

A cold avocado soup is super refreshing and one of the best ways to eat an avocado, especially in the summer. You can put it in almost anything that's best served cold, including cucumbers, crab, or shrimp.

Drink it in an avocado smoothie.

If you're tired of overly fruity smoothies but think kale smoothies are bitter and gross, an avocado smoothie is the perfect middle ground and one of the more creative ways to eat an avocado.

Simply blend it with some milk and honey and you've got a nutrition-packed smoothie perfect for summer.

Create a unique flavor of hummus.

Hummus is super versatile; you can put almost anything in it and someone will like it. Why not avocado? Avocado and chickpeas are a match made in culinary heaven—let some carrots join the party for dipping into this awesome vegan snack. One of the many, many creative ways to eat an avocado.

Craft a chef-approved risotto.

Probably one of the most complicated recipes on this list, avocado risotto is hard to get right. Cook it for just a minute too long and you'll have a goopy mess; neglect to stir it enough and the texture will be off. But if you do it perfectly, even professional chefs will be impressed. This is one of the most advanced ways to eat an avocado, but you can find a somewhat simple recipe here.

Take a muffin in a new direction.

You can make either sweet or savory muffins with avocados, depending on what you're craving. When your sweet tooth is bugging you, toss it into a classic blueberry or chocolate chip muffin recipe as a butter replacement. For those desiring a more savory flavor profile, combining it with cheese and bacon is a great option and one of the most creative ways to eat an avocado.

Grill it when it's being stubborn and doesn't want to ripen.

The one annoying thing about avocados is that they are ripe for about a day and then they go bad. But sometimes you're really craving that green goodness and the ones you bought just won't ripen up fast enough! Turns out one of the ways to eat an avocado is to toss it on the grill which softens it up rather quickly and also gives it a great smoky flavor. Throw them in a salad with grilled chicken, and you're good to go!

Turn it into a creamy pasta sauce.

As you've probably figured out by now, avocados make everything creamier. Creamy pasta sauces are the best pasta sauces, so go ahead and replace that alfredo sauce with avocado sauce!

It's super easy to make, too; just add some olive oil, parmesan cheese, and basil, and you've got yourself one of the most deliciously creative ways to eat an avocado.