What to use instead of avocado
It depends entirely on what it's doing in the dish. Here's the job, what else does it, and what to skip.
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Cool rich fat against something salty or fried
It is around 15 percent fat with no acid or salt of its own, so it damps down heat and salt the way sour cream does without any tang.
Crema or sour creamRan out
2 tbsp per 1/4 avocado
Tangier and much looser, so it runs on a torta. It cools chilli heat harder than avocado does.
HummusPlant-based
2 tbsp per 1/4 avocado
Savoury, sesame-forward and much thicker. It holds a sandwich together where avocado slides.
Refried beans, loosenedPlant-based
3 tbsp beans + 1 tsp water per 1/4 avocado
Starchy rather than creamy, and it adds real bulk. Warm on the plate, so you lose the cool contrast.
Mayonnaise thinned with limeRan out
2 tbsp mayo + 1 tsp lime juice + a pinch of salt per 1/4 avocado
Richer and it spreads flat. No vegetable flavour underneath, so the sandwich tastes plainly of mayonnaise.
What doesn't work: Frozen avocado chunks thawed and used as slices. Freezing ruptures the cell walls, so they come out watery and stringy. They are fine mashed into a dip and they fall apart the second you try to lay them on a torta.
Mashable body of a dip
The fat carries lime and salt and gives the dip its weight, which is why guacamole tastes seasoned rather than watery.
Frozen avocado, thawed and drainedRan out
1 cup thawed chunks per 2 avocados, drained 10 min
Mashes smoother than fresh because the cells are already broken. Slightly looser, so drain it properly.
Shelled edamame, blitzedPlant-based
2 cups shelled edamame + 3 tbsp water + 2 tbsp lime juice + 2 tbsp olive oil per 2 avocados
Brighter green and much leaner, with a bean flavour that shows through. The oil is doing the work the avocado fat did.
White beans, blitzed with olive oilPlant-based
1 15 oz can drained + 3 tbsp olive oil + 2 tbsp lime juice per 2 avocados
Smooth and thick, tan rather than green, and it holds on a chip better. Tastes of beans and lime instead of avocado.
What doesn't work: Blitzed zucchini or asparagus sold as low-fat guacamole. Fat is what carries lime and salt here, so with it removed the dip tastes thin and green and it separates into water and pulp in the bowl within the hour.
Creamy strip inside something that has to be sliced
Firm-ripe flesh cuts cleanly and holds its shape under a knife, so the roll stays intact and the richness is in a distinct layer.
Firm mango, cut into batonsPlant-based
1:1 by volume
Sweet and slippery instead of rich. It holds a slice as well as avocado and turns a California roll into something else.
Cream cheese in thin stripsRan out
1 oz per roll
Richer and tangy, and it smears if it is warm. Cut the roll with a wet blade.
Marinated firm tofu, cut into batonsPlant-based
2 oz per roll, pressed and marinated in soy 30 min
Firmer and savoury with none of the melting quality. It holds a knife cut better than anything else here.
What doesn't work: Under-ripe avocado, on the grounds that it slices more neatly. It does, and it is waxy and flavourless. A poke bowl or a maki roll ends up with a pale rubbery slab where the richness was supposed to be.
A ripe avocado gives at the stem end. If it gives across the whole fruit it is already past it and will be stringy inside.