Avocado Toast with Lemon-Basil Aioli

Each Thursday, Emily Vikre (a.k.a. fiveandspice) will be sharing a new way to love breakfast -- because breakfast isn't just the most important meal of the day. It's also the most awesome.

Today: Kick up mayo with citrus and herbs to take an already perfect dish to the next level.

Avocado toast, avocado toast, to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language. Sorry Henry James. Satisfyingly crunchy and silky, filling, and fairly healthy to boot. These days avocado toast is everyone’s favorite snack, lunch, and breakfast. Even if paying $7 dollars for a slice at a sandwich shop feels a little absurd, still we plunk down the money and eat the toast and feel it was worth it. Avocado toast is clearly deserving of its own week of celebration. 

More: Slice your sourdough for toasting with this serrated bread knife.

In something as simple as avocado toast, small tweaks can make a large difference, like word-smithing one of the words in a seven-word poem. Buttered toast with avocado is different from avocado toast with an olive oil drizzle. A sprinkling of sesame seeds completely changes the character of the toast.

I’ve always been a butter-and-avocado girl myself, with plenty of sea salt of course. But, inspired by a local restaurant that slathers most of its sandwiches with lemon-basil aioli, I’ve recently started making my own aioli to add to my avocado toast. You know how sometimes health magazines tell you to replace mayo with smashed avocado? Well, now think how much better your sandwich will be if you use BOTH mayo and avocado. And then add bright citrusy lemon and fragrant basil to said mayo. It’s the more is more approach to sandwich layering, and it is excellent. I like to eat one slice of toast with half the avocado for breakfast (adding a fried egg is always allowed and encouraged) and then another one later in the day for lunch or a snack. That’s why avocados have two halves, right? 

Avocado Toast with Lemon-Basil Aioli

Serves 1

1 thick piece of sourdough bread, toasted
Lemon-basil aioli (see below)
1/2 avocado, sliced
Sea salt

For the lemon-basil aioli:

2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 large egg yolk
1 small garlic clove, crushed to a paste
1/2 cup (approximately) of a neutral oil (like canola or grapeseed)
3 to 4 large fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
Salt and pepper

See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.

Photos by Emily Vikre