Stuffed
Stuffed Avocado Recipe (10-Minute Avocado Boats)
Prep
15 minutes
Cook
15 minutes
Yield
3
🥑 These stuffed avocados (avocado boats) are ready in 10 minutes with endless filling options! Healthy, customizable, and perfect for quick lunches or parties!
Whether it’s Taco Tuesday or you’re just looking for a quick, healthy lunch or light dinner, this stuffed avocado recipe is exactly what you’ve been searching for. These easy avocado boats come together in just 10-15 minutes with minimal cooking required, making them perfect for busy weeknights or meal prep. Made with protein-packed tempeh as the meat substitute, fresh vegetables, and your favorite toppings, this recipe is vegan-friendly, hearty, and ideal for any fiesta or casual gathering.
❤️ Why You’ll Love This Stuffed Avocado Recipe
- Lightning Fast: Prep these stuffed avocados in only 10-15 minutes, perfect for busy weeknights or quick, healthy lunches.
- Incredibly Versatile: Customize with your favorite fillings and toppings—from Mexican to Greek to Italian and beyond.
- Nutrient-Packed: Made with protein-rich tempeh or beans, fresh vegetables, and avocados loaded with healthy fats and vitamins.
🍲 Ingredients
Avocados – These nutrient-dense fruits are loaded with vitamins C, K, B, E, and A, plus healthy monounsaturated fats that support heart health and help your body absorb fat-soluble vitamins. Avocados provide dietary fiber for digestive health and satiety, potassium for blood pressure regulation, and antioxidants for eye health. Choose just-ripe avocados that yield slightly to gentle pressure but aren’t mushy—they should hold their shape when halved and provide the perfect creamy base for any filling.
Tempeh – This fermented soybean product is marinated in smoky taco seasoning and creates an incredibly satisfying meat substitute that’s perfect for stuffed avocados. As a fermented food, tempeh is super nutrient-dense and easier to digest than regular soybeans. It’s high in complete protein (about 20g per cup), contains probiotics from fermentation that support gut health, and provides iron, calcium, and B vitamins, making it an excellent plant-based protein choice for vegetarians and vegans.
👩🍳 How to Make This Stuffed Avocado Recipe
Prepare the Jalapeño Ranch (Optional):
1. Combine all jalapeño ranch ingredients in a small bowl. Refrigerate while preparing the filling.
Make the Taco Tempeh Filling:
2. Pulse tempeh in a food processor until it resembles ground meat with small, crumbly pieces.
3. Heat a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat with olive oil (or vegetable stock for oil-free). Cook tempeh for 4-5 minutes until golden and slightly crispy. Remove and set aside.
4. Add onion and garlic to the food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Sauté in the same skillet until translucent, about 3-4 minutes.
5. Add taco spices and tomato paste, stirring until aromatic. Return tempeh to the skillet and cook 3-4 minutes until well combined.
Prepare the Avocado Boats:
6. Halve avocados, remove pits, and immediately squeeze lemon or lime juice over cut surfaces. Season lightly with salt.
7. Scoop out a small amount of flesh to create a shallow well. Pat dry any wet fillings before stuffing.
Assemble and Serve:
9. Stuff each avocado half generously with the warm filling. Top with cheese, pico de gallo, cilantro, pickled onions, or crispy chickpeas.
10. Drizzle with jalapeño ranch, tzatziki, or hot sauce. Serve immediately.
Optional Warm Method: Broil stuffed avocados 1-2 minutes to melt cheese, grill cut-side down 2-3 minutes for char marks, or air fry at 400°F for 2-3 minutes.
🪄 Tips and Tricks
- Ripeness: Choose avocados that yield slightly to gentle pressure but still hold their shape—too soft and they’ll fall apart, too firm and they lack creaminess.
- Prevent Browning: Immediately brush cut avocados with lemon or lime juice mixed with a little olive oil to slow oxidation and browning.
- Shallow Well: Scoop out just a small amount of flesh to create a well—you want enough avocado to maintain structure and flavor.
- Dry Fillings: Pat wet ingredients dry (canned beans, juicy tomatoes) before adding to prevent watery, messy avocado boats.
🥑 Delicious Stuffed Avocado Filling Ideas
- Greek Chickpea Salad: Chickpeas, cucumber, tomatoes, red onion, olives, and crumbled feta with lemon-oregano dressing. (15g protein per serving)
- Southwestern Black Bean: Black beans, corn, diced tomatoes, red onion, cilantro, and lime juice with a drizzle of chipotle sauce. (12g protein per serving)
- Caprese: Diced fresh mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, fresh basil, and balsamic glaze for Italian-inspired boats.
- White Bean Pesto: White beans tossed with basil pesto, sun-dried tomatoes, and pine nuts. (14g protein per serving)
- Quinoa-Corn-Lime: Cooked quinoa mixed with corn, black beans, lime juice, and cilantro for a complete protein. (10g protein per serving)
- Mediterranean: Hummus base topped with diced cucumber, tomatoes, olives, and fresh herbs with a tzatziki drizzle.
- Asian-Inspired: Edamame, shredded carrots, cucumber, and sesame-ginger dressing with crushed peanuts.
- Egg Salad: Classic egg salad or vegan chickpea “egg” salad with celery, dill, and Dijon.
- Tuna or Chickpea Salad: Tuna (or mashed chickpeas) mixed with mayo, celery, lemon, and fresh herbs.
🗒 Variations
- Crunchy Toppings: Crispy chickpeas, toasted pepitas (pumpkin seeds), crushed tortilla chips, chopped pistachios or almonds, everything bagel seasoning, or dukkah.
- Fresh Toppings: Chopped cilantro, diced tomatoes, pickled red onions, fresh lime wedges, jalapeño slices, radish, or microgreens.
- Drizzle Options: Tzatziki sauce, basil pesto, hot honey, chipotle mayo, tahini sauce, balsamic glaze, or your favorite hot sauce.
🗒 Substitutions
- Protein: Replace tempeh with cooked lentils, chickpeas, white beans, black beans, ground turkey, shredded chicken, or leave it out entirely for vegetable-only boats.
- Dairy-Free: Use vegan cheese, nutritional yeast, or omit cheese entirely and add extra herbs and spices for flavor.
- Oil-Free: Sauté with 1-2 tablespoons vegetable stock instead of olive oil for oil-free cooking.
- Heat Level: Adjust or omit spicy ingredients like jalapeños and chili powder if you’re sensitive to heat—the recipe still tastes amazing.
🍽️ Best served with
👝 How to Store Leftovers
Stuffed avocados are best enjoyed fresh and don’t store well once assembled due to avocado browning and texture changes. For meal prep, store fillings separately in airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and assemble fresh avocado boats right before eating. To store cut avocados briefly (up to 4-6 hours), brush the cut surfaces generously with lemon or lime juice and olive oil, keep the pit in one half, press plastic wrap directly onto the surface, and refrigerate. Assemble stuffed avocados just before serving for the best appearance and texture.
🤔 Common Questions
Brush the cut surfaces immediately with lemon or lime juice mixed with a touch of olive oil to slow oxidation. You can also press plastic wrap directly onto the surface to limit air exposure. For best results, assemble stuffed avocados right before serving rather than making them hours ahead.
Yes, but with a smart approach! Prepare your fillings 2-3 days ahead and store separately in airtight containers. Cut and stuff the avocados fresh on the day you plan to eat them. Avocados don’t hold well once cut, so it’s best to prep components separately and assemble just before serving.
Chickpeas provide about 15g protein per cup and require no cooking when using canned. White beans offer 14g protein per cup, black beans give 12g per cup, and canned tuna provides 20g per 3oz serving. Simply drain, rinse, season, and stuff! You can also use pre-cooked quinoa (8g protein per cup) or hemp hearts (10g per 3 tablespoons) for quick protein boosts.
Medium to large Hass avocados work best for stuffed avocado boats. Choose just-ripe avocados that yield slightly to gentle pressure but still hold their shape—they should feel like a ripe peach.
This happens when fillings contain too much liquid. Always drain and pat dry canned beans thoroughly, seed juicy tomatoes, and avoid adding too much dressing or sauce to the filling mixture. Add liquidy drizzles on top just before serving rather than mixing them into the filling.
Yes! Avocados are naturally low-carb and high in healthy fats, making them perfect for keto diets. Just choose low-carb fillings like proteins, cheese, and non-starchy vegetables, and avoid beans or quinoa if you’re strictly keto.
Stuffed Avocado Recipe (10-Minute Avocado Boats)
Ingredients
For The Smoky Meat:
- 170 g of Smoky Tempeh Strips
- 1 medium-sized onion
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 tbsp. Olive oil
- 1 tbsp. Chili powder
- 1 tbsp. Garlic powder
- 1 tbsp. Cumin spice
- 1 tbsp. Oregano
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- Juice of 1 lime
- 2 tbsp. Tomato paste
For the Jalapeno Ranch:
Toppings/Additions:
- 2-3 Large Avocados halve and pitted
- Chopped fresh cilantro and herbs
- Chopped fresh tomatoes
- Crema optional
- Queso Fresco optional
- Jalapeno Ranch
Instructions
- First, prepare the Jalapeno Ranch by adding all the ingredients into a small bowl and stir till combined. Place in the refrigerator while you prepare the rest of the dish.
- To a food processor, add the Smoky Tempeh and blend till a ground meat-like consistency develops.
- Grab a large cast-iron skillet and heat on medium-high heat. To the skillet, add some olive oil. Transfer the ground Smoky Tempeh to the skillet and cook for 4-5 minutes or until golden brown. Once cooked, remove from the skillet and set aside.
- While the Tempeh cooks, to the same food processor as before, blend the onion and garlic till you achieve a fine chop. This shouldn’t take long, try not to over-process. Add the onion and garlic to the previously used skillet and cook down the onions until translucent. To the skillet, add all the spices and tomato paste. Stir till everything is coated. Add the tempeh back to the skillet and cook for another 3-4 minutes or until everything is well coated/combined.
- To prepare the final dish, begin by taking the halved of pitted avocados and removing just a little bit of the inside to create a well for the Taco “Meat”.
- Stuff each generously with the “Meat” and top with your desired toppings and a generous amount of Jalapeno Ranch!
- Enjoy!
