Stuffed avocados are a favorite summer lunch around here! Creamy Hass avocados stuffed with a light and fresh tomato + cucumber salad with a vegan creamy dressing. So tasty, loaded with fresh summer flavor, and serving avocado salad in avocado boats always feels so fancy. Give it a try!
This is a gluten-free, nut-free, low-carb vegan recipe.
Vegan avocado salad
One of my favorite easy summer salads is to make a quick avocado salad with chopped tomatoes and cucumbers. I often add chickpeas to the salad to make it more filling, and dress it either with oil + lemon juice, homemade Italian dressing, or a creamy dressing with a vegan mayo base.
When I am feeling fancy, I serve the salad in "avocado boats," meaning I put the salad into halved avocados to make stuffed avocados. It makes for a fancy-looking presentation and doesn't take any more effort on my part! Perfect for a nice summer lunch or to serve to guests when we have people over.
Related recipe: Vegan Mexican Pasta Salad
Vegan creamy dressing
The dressing for these stuffed avocados is made by combining a vegan mayo with garlic powder, salt, pepper, and a little fresh squeezed lemon juice (lime juice works too!). It's super simple to stir together and is always so tasty.
This is my homemade vegan mayo recipe, and I think it makes the tastiest mayo out there, way better than anything store-bought I've tried. I always have a jar in my fridge and make this stuff regularly.
Of course, you can always use store-bought mayo. I prefer oil-based mayo, such as Chosen Foods or Just Mayo (instead of tofu-based or cashew-based), because the oil-based mayo tastes more like an authentic mayo.
The creamy dressing without any added sugars makes this a low-carb vegan salad!
Related recipes: Low Carb Vegan Recipes
Ingredients
This recipe makes 3-6 servings (depending on whether you want one avocado half or two), so it is great for a large family or a dinner party. Of course, you can scale it down if you need to - keep reading below for tips for storing leftovers or how to scale the salad down to less servings!
- 3 ripe Hass avocados
- ½ cucumber, diced (peeled or unpeeled, your choice!)
- 1 celery stalk, diced (about ⅓ cup when chopped)
- 1 tomato, diced
- ½ small red onion, diced
- ½ cup vegan mayonnaise
- 1-2 teaspoons lemon juice or lime juice, to taste (use fresh-squeezed for the best flavor! I love using this lemon squeezer)
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- Black pepper, to taste
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley or 1 tablespoon fresh parsley
Related recipe: Vegan Mexican Quinoa Salad
Optional salad add-ins:
I love switching up the ingredients so I never get bored of this salad. Here are a few of my favorites, but keep in mind that adding some of these will no longer make it a low-carb / keto salad:
- Corn kernels
- Cooked chickpeas
- Black beans
- Fresh cilantro
- Chopped scallions
Related recipe: Curried Vegan Potato Tofu Salad
Optional dressing add-ins:
If you want to spice things up, here are some ideas for this avocado salad dressing:
- A little mustard (1-2 teaspoons)
- Vegan sriracha (a squeeze or two, to taste)
- Pinch of chili powder or cayenne pepper
- Smoked paprika (this is my favorite!!)
- Use a vegan Mexican Caesar dressing instead of the mayo dressing
Related recipe: Vegan Lentil Burgers with Avocado Sauce
Instructions
You can simply mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and call it a day, but I highly recommend marinating the onion for a hot second, like I describe below!!
Step 1: Combine the diced red onion in a bowl with lemon juice and allow it to marinate while you get the rest of the ingredients ready. I use this trick for my vegan broccoli salad too, and it makes for the tastiest dressing!
Step 2: Add the mayo, garlic powder, salt, and pepper, and parsley, and mix well. Stir in any mustard, sriracha, cayenne pepper, or paprika, if using.
Step 3: Stir in the chopped tomato, cucumber, and celery. Stir to combine.
Step 4: Cut the avocados in half. Carefully remove the pit using a knife (NEVER do this in your hand!! Ask me how I know... ouch!). Use a spoon to scoop out half of the avocado from the center, leaving a little in the skin. Chop the scooped out avocado and gently stir it into the salad.
Or another option is to scoop out the whole avocado and keep just the skins for serving the salad. This way you will have more avocado in your salad. I prefer mixing about half of the avocado into the salad, and leaving the other half to scoop out with a fork as I eat, since I can taste the avocado more this way.
Step 5: Spoon the avocado halves with the salad, garnish with more parsley or other herbs, and serve immediately.
Related recipe: Vegan Black Bean Salad
Tips to prep ahead or store leftovers
Avocado turns brown after it has been sliced open. It is still safe to eat, but is not quite as tasty as a fresh avocado, plus it looks really unappetizing. Because of this, I recommend only slicing as many avocados as you want to eat fresh, and storing the creamy tomato + cucumber salad leftovers in the fridge.
This way, when you're ready to enjoy stuffed avocados, you simply slice open an avocado, scoop out some of the flesh, and stir it into your salad.
Related recipe: Vegan Asian-Style Cucumber Salad
Avocado storing tip
If you do need to store a halved avocado, the best way to do this is to keep the pit in the avocado. Even if you took the pit out, place the pit back into the avocado half and store it in a sealed container. And make sure to squeeze a little lemon juice or lime juice on the avocado flesh to keep it from oxidizing!
Related recipe: Vegan Avocado Brownies
More easy summer meals and vegan appetizers
- Cabbage Ramen Salad
- Vegan Pasta Salad
- Mushroom Oat Burgers
- Vegan Dips and Appetizers
- Buffalo Tofu Nuggets
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Vegan Stuffed Avocado Boats
Ingredients
- ½ small red onion, diced
- 1-2 teaspoons lemon juice or lime juice, to taste
- ½ cup vegan mayonnaise
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder, or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper, or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley or 1 tablespoon fresh parsley
- ½ cucumber, diced (peeled or unpeeled, your choice!)
- 1 celery stalk, diced (about ⅓ cup when chopped)
- 1 tomato, diced
- 3 ripe Hass avocados, (see notes!)
Optional ingredients
- Corn kernels, black beans, chickpeas, fresh cilantro, or diced scallion , for the salad
- Sriracha, mustard, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper , for the dressing
Instructions
- Add the diced red onion in a bowl with lemon juice, stir to combine, and allow it to marinate while you get the rest of the ingredients ready and the vegetables chopped.
- Add the mayo, garlic powder, salt, and pepper, and parsley, and mix well. Stir in any mustard, sriracha, cayenne pepper, or paprika, if using.
- Stir in the chopped tomato, cucumber, and celery. Add corn, black beans, or chickpeas, if using.
- Cut the avocados in half. Carefully remove the pit using a knife (NEVER do this in your hand!!). Use a spoon to scoop out half of the avocado from the center, leaving a little in the skin.
- Chop the scooped out avocado and gently stir it into the salad.
- Spoon the avocado halves with the salad, garnish with more parsley or other herbs, and serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
Questions? Feedback? I love to hear from you!