8 Ways to Eat Avocado at Breakfast (If You're Getting a Little Tired of Avocado Toast)

As is true of the incredible, edible egg, avocado can make cameos at every meal. But it may be most famous for starring in avocado toast, the Kardashian of breakfasts, which at last count had 710,000 Instagram posts to its name.

Avocado is an ingredient we’re glad to see spiking in popularity. It’s an excellent source of “healthy” monounsaturated fats, and a great way to get your fiber. It’s also packed with vitamins, minerals, and micronutrients. From a taste perspective, of course, it’s a delight: Silky and unctuous, with that delicately sweet flavor, it melts in the mouth unlike any other food.

It’s obvious but true: Any time a few slices of avocado are nestled next to jammy soft-cooked or fried eggs, the day looks that much brighter. There’s just something about the two foods together; they’re as well suited for one another as peanut butter is to jelly.

Chilaquiles

Any time you have leftover Mexican food, whether it’s a half torta or a pile of spicy black beans, consider adding avocado. The fruit—yep, it’s a fruit!—pops up throughout Mexican cuisine for a reason. This chilaquiles recipe is an excellent way to use up extra tortillas, and chicken delivers a kick of protein.

RELATED: 26 Amazing Avocado Recipes for the Avo-Obsessed (Yeah, You)

Wrap your head around this: You can combine kale, avocado, and cacao in a blender for a chocolatey avocado smoothie. Here’s how to do it.

Leftover rice

When chefs season a dish to get it just right, they tend to consider four elements: Salt, fat, acid ,and heat. (There’s an excellent cookbook of the same name devoted to this topic.) Take advantage of avocado’s lush texture when you’re considering how to revamp your leftovers, and consider it as a possible fat to add in addition to salt, hot sauce, and a squeeze of citrus. Anything with rice as a base tends to particularly benefit from this, especially from cuisines as eclectic as Indian, Mediterranean, and Mexican. Just take your leftover rice and add seasoning; heat it in a small skillet; add any sauce, heat, or acid it needs; and dot it with avocado. It’ll often deliver the luxe mouthfeel you’re craving.

Polenta is a marvelous breakfast starch, particularly when cooked quickly in an Instant Pot. Consider eating it with poached, soft-cooked or fried eggs, plus avocado and maybe chopped, salted tomatoes, chopped cilantro or parsley.

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Hard-boiled eggs masala

In her book Quick and Easy Indian Cooking, Indian cuisine doyenne Madhur Jaffrey has all sorts of excellent recipes, but one of the best is a super-simple, spicy, enormously flavorful dish that’s sort of like a shakshuka. As is true of chilaquiles, its flavors are a natural match for buttery avocado. Here’s the recipe.

Bagel with cream cheese, tomato, and red onion

Avocado works just as well as smoked salmon—or go for both!—on a bagel. Definitely toast the bagel; cool, creamy avocado is a dream against toasty bagel. (We’re partial to everything bagels for an extra wallop of flavor.)

Breakfast tacos

Always have a stack of corn tortillas in your fridge. It’s such a great shortcut way to snag veggies, starch, and protein in about 20 minutes. Heat the skillet carefully over an open flame on the stovetop, or set a seasoned or nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Wait till the tortilla bubbles on each side and is lightly golden, then remove to a plate. Add shredded cheese, hot scrambled eggs, and buttery avocado, in that order. Season with salt, pepper, and hot sauce. Love your life.