A grilled avocado sandwich with fresh tomato and arugula and rich, spicy sriracha mayo. Lunch is served, y'all.
I've been missing my favorite grilled cheese sandwich in the world lately. It's from Dulce Vegan here in Atlanta, and it stars my friend Allison's amazing cashew cheese, slices of Daiya mozzarella, and generous slices of avocado.
More Easy Sandwiches: 20-Minute Vegan Breakfast Sandwich, Spicy Tofu Sandwich
Dulce Vegan has been closed for renovations since May, and I've tried recreating this sandwich many times. It's not the same as having it at the cafe with a side of pickles and my kid across from me, but it has led me to have a summer of grilled cheese sandwiches that's been pretty fun.
One thing that I realized in all of this sandwich-making is that a grilled avocado sandwich is a freaking delicious and easy lunch. You don't even really need cheese to make it decadent.
This sandwich is proof of concept.
You don't need a grill to make this sandwich. The avocado gets cooked a-plenty inside the sandwich. Besides, if I had you grilling the avocado first, this wouldn't be the quick lunch that I'm aiming for.
Choosing Your Mayo
I made my own sriracha mayo for this recipe, but you could also use Just Mayo's pre-made sriracha mayo as a substitute. If you're making your own, I think we need to talk about vegan mayos, because they're not all created equally.
Y'all, some vegan mayo out there is gross. For real. I'm not going to name names. Instead, I'm going to give you a list of the vegan mayos that my omnivore, mayo-loving mom approves of:
- Earth Balance Mayo
- Vegenaise
- Just Mayo - Mom isn't a fan of tangy mayos, but mixed with sriracha, gave this one the thumbs up.
There are probably other good vegan mayos out there, but I don't want to recommend any that I haven't tried. If you have a fave that isn't listed, drop a comment! I'm always looking to expand my horizons.
Pressing Your Grilled Avocado Sandwich
Aside from the mayo, pressing this sandwich is key. If you don't press it before you throw it in the pan, it's almost guaranteed to fall apart when you flip it.
When you press, apply even pressure, and use your free hand to kind of nudge anything that tries to escape back in. Nice try, sneaky piece of tomato!
Grilled Avocado Sandwich with Sriracha Mayo
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon vegan mayo
- ½-1 teaspoon sriracha sauce - or more, to taste
- 2 slices of your favorite bread
- 2 slices tomato
- ¼ cup fresh arugula
- ½ a Haas avocado - sliced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Instructions
- Whisk together the mayo and the sriracha sauce. BOOM! Sriracha mayo!
- Spread the mayo on both slices of bread, then layer on the tomato, arugula, and avocado. Close up your sandwich and use the palms of your hands to gently press it as flat as you can without making the goods fly out.
- Heat the oil in a skillet on medium heat, and drop in your sandwich into the pan. Cook for 4 minutes, flip with a spatula, and cook for 3 minutes more. You can use the spatula to gently flatten the sandwich a bit more while it’s in the pan. Just don’t press hard – you want it to be nice and compact, but you don’t want it sliding apart or pushing the tomato out.
- If you like a toastier sandwich, you can do another minute per side at the end (that’s two extra flips).
- Flip the sandwich onto a cutting board, cut it in half, and serve.
Alison
Made this for dinner last night and tonight...my new fave sammie!! Yum!
Becky Striepe
So great to hear, Alison!
Lupe
Searched for the "Siracha mao RECIPE "at the bottom of the page" and could NOT FIND it.
Please send me a DIRECT link. Thanks
Becky Striepe
Hi! It's the second recipe on the page linked. I hope that helps! :)