Dutch Oven Avocado Fries
Breaded avocado wedges baked in a dutch oven over coals. Car camping only, and eat them the first night.
- calories
- 330
- weight
- 6 oz
- cal / oz
- 55
- protein
- 8 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 20 min
- total time
- 35 min
- water
- 15 ml cold
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Snack
- Dutch oven
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Vegetarian
- Nut free
- Real dishes
- Pre-mix at home
- Day one only
- Actual cooking
Ingredients
| Ripe avocados | 2 | firm-ripe, not soft; soft ones fall apart in the breading |
|---|---|---|
| All-purpose flour | 1/2 cup | |
| Egg | 1 | carry in a rigid container in the cooler |
| Water | 1 tbsp | |
| Panko breadcrumbs | 1 cup | |
| Chili powder | 1 tsp | |
| Garlic powder | 1 tsp | |
| Salt and black pepper | 1/2 tsp each | |
| Olive oil spray | as needed | |
| Grated parmesan | 1 tbsp | the shelf-stable green can travels fine |
| Cilantro | a handful | optional, skip it if greens will not survive the drive |
| Dipping sauce | 1/2 cup | ranch or a lime-spiked mayo packet |
Method
- Build a fire and burn it down to coals. You want steady heat, not flame.
- Halve and pit the avocados. Cut each half into four or five thick wedges and lift them out of the skin with a spoon.
- Set up three bowls: flour in one, egg beaten with the tablespoon of water in the second, panko mixed with chili powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper in the third.
- Roll each wedge in flour, then egg, then press it into the panko. Press hard. Loose breading burns off in a dutch oven.
- Grease the dutch oven or line it with foil, lay the wedges in a single layer, and spray the tops with oil.
- Lid on. Set the oven over about 8 coals and put 14 or so on the lid. You are aiming for a moderate oven, roughly 350F.
- Bake 10 minutes, flip the wedges, bake 10 more. Pull them when the crust is browned.
- Top with parmesan and cilantro and serve with the sauce while they are hot.
This is a home-oven appetizer dragged out to a fire ring, so it only makes sense at a site where you already have a cooler and coals. Avocados are the reason: they bruise, they will not keep, and they go mealy if you chill them. Cook them the first night or leave them home.
The breading is doing structural work, not just adding crunch. Avocado flesh has nothing holding it together once heated, so the flour-egg-panko shell is what keeps a wedge a wedge. Press the panko on hard and use firm-ripe fruit. A dutch oven with coals split roughly one-third under and two-thirds on the lid gives you top-down heat, which browns the crust instead of steaming it.
Packing
Mix the panko and all four seasonings into one bag at home so camp prep is three bowls, not eight jars. Avocados ride in a hard container on top of the cooler, not inside it; cold turns them mealy. Egg and sauce go in the cooler.
Variations
- No dutch oven: bread them the same way and fry in a skillet over the fire in a half inch of oil, two minutes a side.
- Swap the flour and panko for a gluten-free cornmeal dredge; it browns harder and holds up better.
- Cut the egg and use aquafaba from a can of chickpeas for a vegan version, and drop the parmesan.
https://domesticsuperhero.com/baked-avocado-fries