Avocado Taco Boats
Avocado Taco Boats take everything you love about taco night and tuck it inside a halved avocado instead of a tortilla. The avocado becomes the shell, the bowl, and the boat all at once, and the filling goes right on top.
In my kitchen, Mexican food is the one category that never gets old. Taco Tuesday is a standing tradition around here, and for years it meant a stack of warm tortillas and a floor covered in crumbs.
Swapping the tortilla for an avocado half changed the whole mood of the meal. The kids pick them up with both hands, scoop out the filling, and never once ask where the shell went.
The healthy fats in the avocado are a bonus I do not have to sell to anyone at the table.
The recipe makes 6 servings, and since it calls for 3 avocados, that works out to one avocado half per person.
Timing is friendly for a weeknight as well, with about 15 minutes of prep and 5 minutes in the oven for roughly 20 minutes total. That short trip to the oven exists for one reason only, to melt the cheese over the top.
What I like most is how flexible the whole idea is. You choose the meat, you choose how generous to be with the salsa, and you decide how much avocado flesh to scoop out to make room. Anyone who wants extra heat can add it to their own boat, and nobody has to negotiate over a shared skillet.
Serve them on plates with a fork for a sit down dinner, or line them up on a platter and let everyone grab their own. Either way, they tend to vanish before the plates hit the table.
Jump to:
- Avocado Taco Boats
- How can you tell if an avocado is ripe?
- Can I use any type of meat?
- Ingredients for our Avocado Taco Boats
- How to make our Avocado Taco Boats
- Ingredients
- Instructions
- FAQs
- How do you keep avocado taco boats from turning brown?
- What type of meat works best in avocado taco boats?
- Can you make avocado taco boats ahead of time?
- Are avocado taco boats healthy?
- Avocado Taco Boats
- Ingredients
- Instructions
- Last Step:
- Nutrition
- Did you make this recipe?
How can you tell if an avocado is ripe?
The whole dish lives or dies on the avocado, so it is worth a minute of attention at the store.
Start with color. A ripe avocado should not be too green. A darker shade is what you want, as long as it has not gone too dark or brown. If the skin is still bright green all over, it usually needs another day or two on the counter.
Color alone is not the whole story, though. Pick the avocado up and squeeze it gently in your palm. A ripe one gives a little, feeling slightly soft, but it should never feel mushy or collapse under light pressure. If it is hard as a rock, it is not ready. If your thumb sinks in, it is past its best.
Use both checks together. A dark avocado that still feels firm is not ready, and a green avocado that feels soft is usually a disappointment inside. When color and feel line up, you have a good one.
With a little practice this becomes second nature. I used to stand in the produce aisle squeezing a dozen avocados and second guessing myself. Now I can tell in about three seconds, and I buy one extra to sit on the counter for the next day.
Can I use any type of meat?
Yes, and this is one of the most forgiving parts of the recipe. Any type of taco meat works.
Ground beef and ground turkey are what I usually have on hand, so those are my defaults. Chicken works just as well, and if you are cooking for someone who does not eat meat, tofu steps in without any fuss.
The recipe itself lists ground beef, chicken, or carnitas as the meat of choice, which tells you how open the door is.
Here is why the swap is so painless. Once a strong seasoning like taco seasoning goes into the skillet, the flavor of the meat takes a back seat. The seasoning and the salsa lead, and the protein mostly adds texture and staying power.
That means you can follow your own preferences, or whatever is already in the fridge, without worrying that dinner will taste wrong. If you are feeding a table of mixed eaters, this is the recipe that keeps everyone happy without a second menu.
Ingredients for our Avocado Taco Boats
The shopping list is short. You need avocado, a taco meat of your choice such as ground beef, chicken, or carnitas, Black Bean and Corn Salsa, cheese, and sour cream.
- Avocados
- Taco meat of your choice (ground beef, chicken, or carnitas)
- Black Bean and Corn Salsa
- Cheese
- Sour cream
How to make our Avocado Taco Boats
Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Next, prepare your taco meat any way you like. This is your moment to use a favorite homemade taco seasoning or a packet from the pantry. In my kitchen it is usually ground beef with a blend I mix myself, but the method does not change with the protein.
While the meat finishes, slice the avocados in half and remove the seeds. Then scoop out a little of the avocado flesh to make a bigger bowl. How much you remove is up to you.
I like a generous hollow so the boats can be stuffed full, and a spoon run just inside the skin does the job in seconds. Save those scooped bits for a snack or stir them into a salad later.
Place a scoopful of the cooked meat into each avocado half. The amount depends entirely on the size of your boat. About 1/4 cup per avocado is a good working number.
Next, add salsa to each avocado, and load it up generously. The Black Bean and Corn Salsa brings sweetness, texture, and a little acidity that cuts through the rich meat.
Top each boat with cheese and slide the pan into the oven just long enough for the cheese to melt. This does not take long, so keep an eye on it. Two to three minutes is usually all you need.
The cheese step is the only place this recipe can go wrong. Stand near the oven and pull the pan the moment the cheese turns glossy and soft. A minute too long and the avocado flesh starts to warm through and lose its fresh, creamy bite.
Remove the pan from the oven and add a dollop of sour cream to the top of each boat. Serve immediately.
Leftovers keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. The avocado will darken a little once it sits, so I press a piece of plastic wrap right against the surface, or store the filling and the avocado separately when I know there will be extra.
This is also the easiest recipe in my rotation to customize. Everyone at the table can top their own boat, which means one dinner can satisfy a picky eater and a heat seeker at the same time. The list of possible toppings is basically unlimited.
Tomatoes, cilantro, queso, and beans all work beautifully, and they are optional additions rather than required parts of the recipe.
If you are feeding a crowd, set everything out on the counter and let people build their own. Keep the avocado halves cut side up on a plate so they do not brown, warm the meat, and chill the salsa. Dinner turns into an assembly line, and cleanup is one sheet pan and a skillet.
Ingredients
- 3 avocados
- 1 pound taco meat of your choice (ground beef, chicken, or carnitas)
- 2 cups Black Bean and Corn Salsa
- 1 cup cheese
- 1 cup sour cream
Those amounts make 6 servings, or one boat per person.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Prepare the taco meat any way you like. Ground beef with a homemade taco seasoning is a favorite here.
- Slice the avocados in half and remove the seeds. Scoop out a little flesh to widen each bowl if you want a fuller boat.
- Place a scoopful of the cooked meat in each avocado. About 1/4 cup per boat works well, depending on the size.
- Add salsa to each avocado.
- Top with cheese and place the pan in the oven just until the cheese melts, about 2 to 3 minutes. Keep an eye on them.
- Remove from the oven and add a dollop of sour cream to the top of each boat.
- Serve immediately.
Leftovers can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.
Nutrition per serving, based on 1 boat: 581 calories, 41 grams of total fat, including 14 grams of saturated fat, 1 gram of trans fat, and 22 grams of unsaturated fat, 103 milligrams of cholesterol, 997 milligrams of sodium, 26 grams of carbohydrates, with 11 grams of fiber and 5 grams of sugar, and 29 grams of protein.
FAQs
How do you keep avocado taco boats from turning brown?
What type of meat works best in avocado taco boats?
Can you make avocado taco boats ahead of time?
Are avocado taco boats healthy?
Avocado Taco Boats
Avocado Taco Boats Avocado Taco Boats take everything you love about taco night and tuck it inside a halved avocado instead of a tortilla. The avocado becomes the shell, the bowl, and the boat all at once, and the filling goes right on top.
- Total Time: 20 min
- Yield: 6 1x
Ingredients
3 Avocados
1 lb Taco meat of your choice (ground beef, chicken, carnitas)
2 cups Black Bean and Corn Salsa
1 cup Cheese
1 cup Sour cream
Instructions
1-Preheat oven to 350: Preheat oven to 350.
2-Next, prepare your taco meat any way: Next, prepare your taco meat any way you like. For this recipe, we love to use ground beef and our own taco seasoning.
3-Then, slice your avocados and remove the: Then, slice your avocados and remove the seed.
4-Place a scoopful of your meat in: Place a scoopful of your meat in each avocado. Your amount will depend on the size of your “boat”. We used about 1/4 cup in each.
5-Next, add salsa to each avocado: Next, add salsa to each avocado.
6-Top with cheese and place in the: Top with cheese and place in the oven to allow cheese to melt. This does not take long, so keep an eye on it! It should only take about 2-3 minutes.
7-Remove from the oven and add a: Remove from the oven and add a dollop of sour cream to the top of each boat.
8-Serve immediately and enjoy: Serve immediately and enjoy!
Last Step:
Please leave a rating and comment letting us know how you liked this recipe! This helps our business to thrive and continue providing free, high-quality recipes for you.- Prep Time: 15 min
- Cook Time: 5 min
- Method: bake
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 581 calories
- Sugar: 5 grams sugar
- Sodium: 997 grams sodium
- Fat: 41 grams fat
- Saturated Fat: 14 grams saturated fat
- Carbohydrates: 26 grams carbohydrates
- Fiber: 11 grams fiber
- Protein: 29 grams protein
- Cholesterol: 103 milligrams cholesterol
