Avocado toast with crispy fried brussels sprouts is brunch goals

Avocado toast is a classic, but been there, done that. So we’re coming to you with a variation on avocado toast to help keep the millennial dream alive. Topping off our avocado toast with these crispy fried brussels sprouts is an absolute game-changer.

Avocado toast is #basic by now. It’s like cereal for millennials. The basic equation for avocado toast is pretty simple. Toasted bread + avocado + salt and pepper = avocado toast. But that version is best kept to your weekday morning routine. With this recipe, we are going for an expert-level, restaurant-worthy avocado toast. So without further ado, here’s how to impress your friends and your taste buds with your next avocado toast endeavor.

Ingredients for Avocado toast with crispy brussels sprouts

• 4-6 slices thick, crusty bread
• 2-3 ripe avocados
• 1-2 tablespoons whole grain mustard
• 1 pound brussels sprouts
• Oil for frying
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Lemon juice

The first thing you need to do is take your brussels sprouts out of the fridge, wash, dry, cover and set them aside outside the fridge well in advance of cooking. I’m talking at least 2 hours in advance. If you are planning to make this dish first thing in the morning, take them out of the fridge the night before. This might worry you, but please don’t worry. The brussels sprouts grew outside of the fridge for several weeks; they can survive outside of the fridge for a few more hours. The reason for this step is the brussels sprouts should be fried completely dry and at room temperature in order to achieve maximum crispiness. Frying wet vegetables is an absolute hazard, and frying cold vegetables usually results in a burnt final product. This is because by the time the core of the vegetable has reached the correct temperature, the outside has already been cooking for too long. This is actually a general rule that applies to most foods we cook (eggs, meats, vegetables, you name it), but it is especially important when deep-frying a vegetable without batter or coating.

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Cut the brussels sprouts into quarters (twice lengthwise) before you start making the toast and set them aside. The brussels sprouts should be the last thing you cook so that they are hot and crispy when you serve the toast.

To assemble the avocado toast, start with a few slices of thick, crusty bread. If you’ve been keeping up with my articles, you know this is my most important step for any recipe involving bread. Don’t use the pre-sliced soft breads from the deli aisle; it just won’t have the same effect. I used a garlic sourdough for this recipe. I grilled the toast because I love the taste of charred grill lines on bread. However, you can put the bread in the oven or the toaster and that will work just fine.

Spread a layer of whole grain mustard onto the bread and then top with a layer of thinly sliced avocado. Helpful hint: An avocado is much easier to slice if you leave the skin on and gently slice from the inside of the skin. That way, your knife will hit the inside of the skin and you can gently glide it along the skin to make your slices more precise. When the avocado is sliced, just use a spoon to scoop it out and lay the avocado slices across the toast. Add salt and pepper over the avocado and set aside.

Once the avocado toast is ready, start cooking the brussels sprouts.

Heat about 3 inches of a light oil (vegetable, canola, sunflower seed, grapeseed) in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. The best way to check the temperature of your oil is to put a wooden spoon in the oil. If the edge of the spoon starts to bubble like fried food would, you’ll know the oil is ready.

Fry a small amount at a time (about a handful), taking care to drop them in the oil carefully with a slotted spoon or spatula so that you don’t splash yourself with hot oil. Let them fry for about 3 minutes, or until the edges are brown but the inside is still green.

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Remove them from the oil and set them on a paper towel for a few minutes while you allow the oil to come back to temperature. After about a minute or so, put the fried brussels sprouts back into the hot oil until they become fully golden brown in color. It is perfectly fine to fry them only once, but if you want the entire sprout to be nice and crispy in texture, you need to fry them twice.

Once you remove the sprouts from the oil for the second time, transfer them to a paper towel-lined plate and salt them immediately so that the salt can dissolve into the hot oil. Then top the avocado toast with the crispy brussels sprouts. Add a squeeze of lemon and serve.

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