Avocado tempura is a delicious avocado appetizer that is ready in just 10-15 minutes! The light tempura batter makes such a crispy coating for fried avocado. Dip into the easy tempura dipping sauce, spicy mayo, or your favorite dip. A great way to get kids to eat avocado!
2Hass avocados(ripe and easily sliced, but not mushy)
¾cupall-purpose flour
½teaspoonsea salt
1egg
½cupice cold water
½cupcold seltzer water(or sparkling water, see notes for substitutions)
2-3cupsVegetable oil for frying (such as canola, soy bean, or peanut oil)
Tempura sauce or spicy mayo for dipping (see notes for links and recipes)
Instructions
Sift the flour into a medium bowl. Sifting takes out any lumps from the flour and makes a light batter. Add salt and mix well.
In a separate bowl, combine the egg with the cold water and seltzer and mix really well.
Slice the avocado into strips or into bite-sized pieces.
Add the egg and water mixture to the flour and mix well until almost no lumps remain (a few small lumps are OK, you don't want to overmix and pop all the bubbles).
Preheat your cooking oil to 350-360F. (Try the tooth pick test or add a test piece of battered avocado to test the temperature: if small bubbles form around around the toothpick or the test piece starts frying, the oil is hot enough. If the bubbles are too vigorous, the oil is too hot.)
Dip each avocado piece into the batter to coat on all sides. Gently shake off excess batter into the bowl and carefully place into the hot oil. Add more pieces, but do not crowd the pan.
Fry each piece of avocado for about 2 minutes, carefully flipping halfway through. Remove from the oil when the tempura coating is a light golden brown and place on a large plate lined with paper towels to absorb excess oil. Serve warm with dipping sauce.
Notes
→No seltzer or sparkling water? Use a beer (lager or ale), or use ice water and add a pinch of baking powder.→ Don't want to use a dipping sauce? Add a little extra salt to the flour for more flavor.→ Try these optional flavor enhancers: Drizzle a few drops of freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice onto the avocado before dipping into the batter. Add ½ teaspoon onion powder or garlic powder to the flour mixture.→ Dipping sauce: You can use store-bought sauce (tempura sauce, sriracha mayo), or make your own. To make spicy mayo, combine a few tablespoons of mayo with a squeeze of sriracha. To make homemade tempura dipping sauce, combine 2 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce, 1 tablespoon rice vinegar, ½ tablespoon Thai chili paste, and 1 tablespoon honey or brown sugar. Mix well.→ Store and reheat leftover tempura: Leftover tempura will keep well in the fridge for 1-2 days. It will look sad and greasy, but it can be revived to delicious crispiness again! I reheat leftover tempura in my Instant Pot Vortex Air Fryer + Oven Combo. Put it on the "bake" setting at 360F for 3-4 minutes. You can also reheat in an oven. Do NOT reheat in a microwave or even in a pan because it will not get crispy again.→ Nutrition facts are an estimate and will vary on the actual amount of batter used and oil absorbed during frying.