Don’t Pay Extra for Guac: 5 Avocado Recipes for Less Than $5
Like many, I didn’t like avocados when I was a kid — a gustatory standpoint that seems like unimaginable blasphemy now.
Acquiring the taste for this delicious, creamy fruit was, for me, one of the very best parts of growing up. And these days, I can’t get enough of it.
Luckily, the avocado’s versatility is matched only by its nutrition and affordability, so I can eat the good green stuff every day with no guilt whatsoever.
But sometimes, it’s good to find ways to eat avocados that are more complex than simply cracking ‘em open and sprinkling them with salt.
Five Delicious Avocado Recipes — for Less than Five Bucks
In case you’ve ever found yourself walking past the mountain of avocados at the grocery store, unsure of how best to use them, we’ve compiled this list of five awesome avocado recipes that’ll leave you drooling — and dashing to the store to grab a few of your own.
Even better? All of the recipes ring in at under $5, and they range from main meals to dessert.
Although the price of the avocados themselves will vary depending on your location, they frequently go on sale in many markets (in fact, you could get them for as cheap as 7 cents each at southeastern grocer Publix today).
And despite the upcharge for guacamole most burrito bodegas levy, the fruit’s really not that expensive, even if you buy it at full price. For the purposes of this post, we’ll use an estimate of $1 per avocado — an average that our trans-continental office staff more or less agrees on.
1. Guacamole
This is my own, personal guacamole recipe, which I’ve made time and time again. (Yes, you should feel privileged.)
It makes enough to serve four, but I’ve been known to demolish the entire bowl myself with just a bag of baby carrots to help me — or, let’s be honest, a spoon.
2 Hass avocados: $2
1/4 fresh red onion, chopped fine: 23 cents
1 teaspoon minced garlic: 13 cents
Juice of 1 fresh lime: varies, but in Florida, usually about 50 cents. You can use the stuff in the squeezy bottle if you have it around and splurging on fresh produce is out of the question.
1 teaspoon of cumin: 2 cents
Salt and pepper to taste: 1 cent
To make the guacamole, simply combine the ingredients until smooth.
Pro tip: If you’ve got some extra hoarded pennies, use them to buy some fresh jalapeno pepper or cilantro to toss in your guac.
Total Price: $2.88, or about 72 cents per serving. Although this price doesn’t include dippers, you can get a whole giant bag of corn chips for $2 or less — and you’re sure to run out of guac well before you run out of chips.
If you do somehow have leftovers, here’s a secret for keeping your guac green (instead of brown): After packing it into a bowl, cover the surface with some cold water before you stick it in the fridge.
It’ll create an airtight seal to keep the avocado’s green flesh from oxidizing — and since it’s such a dense, fatty fruit, the water won’t seep into the mix and ruin your delicious dip!
2. Avocado Toast
This Instagram-friendly food fad is worthy of its band of devotees: Avocado toast is creamy, crunchy, crazy customizable and, best of all, super easy and cheap.
It also works really well as a dorm-room snack.
My favorite thing about this recipe is that it isn’t really a recipe at all. Instead, you just start with the basics, and then let your imagination run wild.
1 slice good bread: 20 cents, tops
1/2 Hass avocado: 50 cents
Since you’ve spent less than a buck so far, your topping possibilities are nigh endless. Finish off your toast with crumbled goat cheese, a splash of olive oil and chopped cherry tomatoes, or — obviously — bacon.
No matter what, you’d have to do some pretty serious snacking to come up with a finished product over $5.
Total price: 70 cents plus toppings
3. Avocado Eggs-in-a-Basket
This low-carb, high-fiber breakfast will keep you satisfied until lunch and possibly beyond — to say nothing of the fact that it’s mega delicious and simple to make.
Rachel’s recipe at A Southern Fairytale serves eight, but I’ve priced out an individual serving below.
1/2 Hass avocado: 50 cents
1 egg: 15 cents
Favorite hot sauce to taste (*can vouch: Sriracha goes eggscellently with this dish): 5 cents
Salt and pepper to taste: 1 cent
Optional extras:
1 tortilla: 19 cents
1 slice bacon, cooked and crumbled: 40 cents
Total price: $1.30, even with all the fixings — and less than a buck without ‘em.
4. Avocado Tuna Salad
Perfect to spread on a sandwich or dollop onto a bed of lettuce for lunch, or just to eat by itself with a fork.
Dre’s recipe calls for just a quarter of an avocado and a 2.6-ounce packet of tuna, which she cleverly mixes in the avocado shell itself — but you can scale it up and still come in well under a fiver.
1 Hass avocado: $1
12-ounce can of tuna: $2.44
Salt and pepper to taste: 1 cent
Total price: $3.45 — and you don’t even have to cook anything. Yes. Please.
5. Avocado Dark Chocolate Cookies
Listen, I know it sounds weird. I can feel some of you grimacing at your screen right now.
But I’ve made these bad boys tons of times and, yes, I’ve served them up to lots of unwitting folks… who were none the wiser after they finished every last bite — and even asked for more!
The taste and texture of these is a lot better if they’re refrigerated, so make them the day before and keep ‘em cool.
3/4 cup Hass avocado (about two small ones): $2
1/2 cup sugar: 12 cents (Josefine’s recipe calls for coconut sugar, which is a bit more expensive — and has the same glycemic effect on your body, despite its fancy name. I’d recommend just going with regular old table sugar, or even trying brown — you could also sub in a banana, which would cost about 19 cents, as long as you beat the batter very well).
1 egg: 15 cents
1/2 cup cocoa powder: $1.50
2 ounces dark chocolate: 90 cents
1/2 teaspoon baking soda: 1 cent
Total price: $4.67, or $4.71 if you use a banana instead of sugar. You’ll get about 10 cookies out of the batch, which means they’re less than 50 cents each.
So there you have it: five affordable ways to enjoy avocados at every occasion from breakfast to dessert.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some cooking to do…
Your Turn: What’s YOUR favorite affordable avocado recipe? Let us know in the comments!
Jamie Cattanach is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. If you are what you eat, she’s at least like 20% avocado. Find @JamieCattanach on Twitter to wave hello.
