Smashed Avocado on Toast

This is the smashed avo that made Australian brunch culture famous: ripe avocado crushed with lemon and sea salt, piled onto thick sourdough and finished with crumbled feta and a hit of chilli. It's fresh, generous and endlessly adaptable, and it comes together in the time it takes your toast to brown.

Australia turned avocado on toast into an art form, and the trick is restraint: keep the avocado chunky, season it hard with lemon and flaky salt, and let good bread do half the work. This is the café version you can make at home for a fraction of the price, ready in the time your toaster takes.

Ingredients

• 2 large ripe avocados — they should yield to gentle pressure
• 4 thick slices sourdough bread — or good seeded bloomer
• 1 lemon — zest and juice of half, wedges to serve
• 60 g feta
• 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil — plus a little for drizzling
• 0.25 tsp dried chilli flakes — or a pinch more to taste
• 0.5 tsp flaky sea salt — such as Maldon
• 1 handful fresh coriander or mint leaves — roughly torn
• 1 pinch freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Halve the avocados, remove the stones and scoop the flesh into a bowl. Add the zest and juice of half the lemon, the olive oil and the flaky sea salt.
2. Crush with a fork until you have a rough, chunky mash. Don't overwork it: you want texture, not a smooth purée. Taste and adjust the lemon and salt, keeping the seasoning bright and punchy.
3. Toast the sourdough until deeply golden and crisp at the edges. Thick, well-toasted bread is what stops the whole thing going soggy.
4. Pile the smashed avocado generously onto the hot toast and spread it right to the crusts, roughing up the surface with the back of your fork.
5. Crumble the feta over the top, then scatter with the chilli flakes and torn coriander or mint.
6. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil, a grind of black pepper and a final pinch of flaky salt. Serve straight away with lemon wedges on the side.

Serve it with

• a poached or fried egg on top
• crispy streaky bacon (drop the meat-free label)
• grilled halloumi
• sliced ripe tomatoes with sea salt
• a flat white or strong coffee

Why this works

Salting and acidulating the avocado while it's chunky seasons every bite and keeps it from oxidising, while thickly toasted bread gives a sturdy, crisp base that holds up under a generous topping.

Common swaps

• Swap feta for a dollop of thick Greek yoghurt or vegan feta
• Use lime instead of lemon for a sharper, fresher hit
• Rye or seeded bread works well in place of sourdough
• Add a pinch of dukkah or sesame instead of chilli for crunch

Common mistakes to avoid

• Using an underripe avocado, which stays hard and bland: buy ahead and ripen in the fruit bowl
• Mashing to a smooth paste, which loses all the texture that makes it good
• Under-seasoning: avocado needs plenty of salt and acid to taste of anything
• Assembling on cold or thin toast, so it goes limp before it reaches the table

Storage, freezing & reheating

Storage: Best eaten immediately. If you must keep smashed avocado, press cling film onto the surface and refrigerate for up to a day, though the colour and texture will suffer.

Allergen notes: contains Milk, Gluten. Always check individual product labels.

Estimated nutrition

Per serving, estimated from typical ingredient values — not a substitute for precise dietary calculation.