In short:
- Count half an avocado per slice, or 60 to 70 g of flesh, on dense bread cut 1.5 to 2 cm thick.
- The bread decides everything. Sliced white bread collapses; sourdough holds the topping to the last bite.
- Let the toast cool for a minute before topping, or steam will soften it from underneath.
- Season in the avocado, not on top: lemon, salt and olive oil, mixed in before spreading.
The avocado toast recipe comes down to three elements and never fails on paper. In practice it often does: soggy bread, bland avocado, toppings that slide off. The problem is almost never the avocado, it is the bread and the seasoning, the two parts nobody looks at.
The proportions, for one slice
| Element | Quantity | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Dense bread | 1 slice, 1.5 to 2 cm | sourdough, wholemeal or rye |
| Avocado flesh | 60 to 70 g, half an avocado | ripe but firm |
| Lemon juice | half a teaspoon | slows oxidation |
| Olive oil | one teaspoon | in the avocado, not on top |
| Salt | a pinch of flaky salt | as it is served |
For four people at brunch, that means two avocados and four slices, plus the toppings. It is a plated dish rather than a centre-of-table one, since it does not survive waiting.
The bread is half the result
This is where avocado toast is won or lost, and rarely the part that gets attention.
Avocado flesh is heavy and wet. Laid on an airy crumb, it soaks through within minutes. That is why avocado toast made with industrial sliced bread collapses at the first press of a knife.
What to look for:
- A close crumb that resists moisture. Sourdough, wholemeal, rye, or a good country loaf a day old.
- A thick slice, between 1.5 and 2 cm. Thinner and it bends. Thicker and the bread-to-topping balance tips.
- Proper toasting, to a golden crust on both sides. That crust is the barrier.
The detail that changes everything: let the slice cool for a minute on a rack before topping. Bread straight out of the toaster gives off steam. Topped immediately, it softens from underneath while you believe you toasted it well.
Choosing and preparing the avocado
A ripe avocado gives slightly under the thumb without the finger sinking in. The most reliable test remains the stem cap: it lifts off easily and reveals a light green patch. A brown patch means stringy, greyish flesh.
A firm avocado will not mash and has no flavour. An overripe one turns to liquid. Between the two, the window is short, around two days.
Mashed or sliced
Both have their case, and the choice is not only about looks.
- Mashed with a fork, roughly, keeping some texture. More interesting than a smooth purée, and the seasoning spreads through the whole mass.
- Sliced into strips laid flat. Neater to look at, but the strips slide at the first bite and the seasoning stays on the surface.
Mashed is the safer option, sliced the more photogenic. On a brunch table where plates sit waiting, mashed holds up better.
Seasoning, the part everyone rushes
This is the most common mistake and the easiest to fix: salt and lemon the avocado in the bowl, before spreading it, never after.
Plain avocado is rich and mild, but flat. Salt does not merely make it salty, it wakes up the fat. Lemon is not only there to stop browning, it brings the acidity that keeps the toast from becoming cloying by the third bite.
The order that works:
- Mash the flesh in a bowl.
- Add lemon juice, salt, olive oil, pepper.
- Mix, taste, adjust.
- Spread, then add a pinch of flaky salt on top as it is served.
That last pinch, on the surface, gives the saline crunch missing from a toast seasoned only through the mass.
The toppings worth adding
| Topping | Quantity per slice | What it brings |
|---|---|---|
| Poached or soft-boiled egg | 1 egg | around 6 g of protein, a runny yolk that binds the whole |
| Smoked salmon | 25 to 30 g | salt and fat, needs nothing else |
| Thinly sliced radish | 2 to 3 radishes | crunch and bitterness |
| Crumbled feta | 20 g | salt, to measure since the avocado is already salted |
| Roasted cherry tomatoes | 4 to 5 | concentrated acidity |
| Toasted seeds | one teaspoon | crunch that lasts |
The rule that applies to all of them: one main topping, plus something crunchy if needed. Stacking egg, salmon, feta and seeds gives a crowded plate that can no longer be eaten cleanly, and where the avocado disappears.
If the choice falls on egg, cooking time is the only variable that counts, and it is a matter of fifteen seconds: the detail is in the article on poached egg timing. To serve several people, creamy scrambled eggs hold better in a warm pan than a poached egg, which has to go out the minute it is done.
The dish that sums up the price of brunch
Avocado toast has become the emblem of restaurant brunch, and it is also the dish where the gap between the price paid and the cost of the ingredients is most visible. The raw material amounts to half an avocado, a slice of bread and an egg.
That is not an argument against the places: a brunch is also paid for the service, the room and having nothing to do. It is an argument for knowing what is easy to recreate at home, and avocado toast qualifies, unlike a pastry. This question of price against contents is taken up in detail in what is brunch.
Then there is the logistics of hosting: avocado toast is topped at the last minute and does not tolerate being made ahead, which places it last in the order of service. The per-person benchmarks and the order of preparation are in the breakfast tray.
Frequently asked questions
How do you make avocado toast?
A ripe avocado is roughly mashed with a fork together with lemon juice, salt and a drizzle of olive oil, then spread on a thick slice of dense, well-toasted bread. Order matters: the bread is toasted first and should cool for a minute before being topped, otherwise steam softens it under the avocado. Count about half an avocado per slice, or 60 to 70 g of flesh.
What bread works best for avocado toast?
A dense, close-crumbed bread, ideally sourdough, wholemeal or rye, cut into slices of 1.5 to 2 cm. Industrial sliced bread collapses under the weight of the avocado and goes soggy within minutes. The choice of bread, more than the choice of avocado, decides whether the toast eats cleanly or falls apart.
How do you know an avocado is ripe?
It gives slightly under thumb pressure without the finger sinking in. The stem cap comes off easily and reveals a light green patch: if it is brown, the avocado is past its best. A firm avocado will not mash and tastes of nothing, while an overripe one turns into grey, stringy purée.
How do you stop avocado from browning?
Lemon or lime juice slows oxidation, at about half a teaspoon per half avocado. It does not prevent it: avocado toast is made at the last moment and eaten within minutes. To serve several at once, the flesh can be prepared up to an hour ahead in a bowl with cling film pressed onto the surface, never spread on the bread.
What can you put on avocado toast?
Egg is the most common topping, poached or soft-boiled, bringing around 6 g of protein per egg. Then come smoked salmon, thinly sliced radish, feta, cherry tomatoes and toasted seeds. One main topping is enough: beyond that the flavours blur and the toast becomes awkward to eat.