Grilled Avocado with Herbed Goat Cheese and Chimmichurri are a creamy, flavorful side dish that’s destined to become your new summertime grilling favorite!
Grilled Avocado with Herbed Goat Cheese & Chimichurri is a super easy summer side dish that you’ll be making over and over again throughout grill season! This dish also does double-duty as you can use the chimichurri sauce to marinate meat and grill up while cooking the avocado! #dinnermadeeasy
The key to this recipe is finding the perfect avocado — the Goldilocks avocado — not too firm, not too ripe, but jusssttt right!
Now, I know you’re not supposed to go squeezing all the avocados at the grocery store but for this recipe, it’s pertinent!
I prefer Haas avocados (specifically, Avocados from Mexico!) because they’re typically large and in my opinion, much more flavorful than the other tiny avocados grown from who knows where!
To determine the best avocado for Grilled Avocado with Herbed Goat Cheese & Chimichurri, start by looking for the largest avocados your store has available. Pick them up and begin squeezing.
You don’t want the avocado to be rock hard, where there’s no give when squeezed. Those avocados won’t soften enough once grilled.
You also don’t want the avocados to be too soft, like when you squeeze and your finger leaves a permanent indent in the avocado! Those avocados will be too ripe and not hold up well when put to the high heat of the grill.
My perfect avocado for this recipe is a palm-sized avocado that’s on the firmer side of the scale but has a gentle give that springs back into place when pressed lightly with your fingers. It’s the type of avocado that you’d want to set out for 1 day on the counter before cutting into to smash and smear on your sandwich.
While you’re at the store picking out your avocado, be sure to grab all the fresh herbs, limes and a head of garlic for my go-to chimichurri sauce, you’ll be making this to drizzle on the avocado after it comes off the grill. It’s also great for marinating chicken or drizzling on top of steak — if that’s your jam!
Lastly, before you check out at the grocery store and head home to whip up my Grilled Avocado with Herbed Goat Cheese & Chimichurri — make one last stop by the cheese department to pick yourself out a creamy, herbed goat cheese.
You can definitely make your own herbed goat cheese by choosing a traditional brick of Chevre and mixing in your own dried herbs but there are so many awesome pre-made choices out there that will make this side dish oh-so-easy. My preferred herbed goat cheese is Cypress Grove Herb of Humboldt. It’s flavorful, delicious and seriously spreadable.
When you’re ready to make my Grilled Avocado with Herbed Herbed Goat Cheese and Chimichurri, you’ll need to fire up the grill and preheat it to about 500*F. Slice the avocado in half, brush the inside with lime juice & olive oil, sprinkle it with some smoked paprika, salt & pepper and place it cut-side down on the grill and shut the lid.
Now, listen up! This is important! Leave the avocado and set a timer for 90 seconds! Don’t touch it! Don’t you dare take a peek at it.
After 90 seconds, pick it up with some tongs, rotate it 90 degrees and wait another 90 seconds. By letting the avocado and grill do their thang, you’ll get those beautiful, charred grill marks on your avocado that make it look restaurant-worthy.
As soon as the grilled avocado’s done, place it on a smear of goat cheese, drizzle it with the chimichurri sauce and grab a spoon to dig in to the most delicious, decadent summer side dish. It’s out of this world creamy, salty and flavorful and destined to become your new summertime grilling addiction.
- 1 large avocado
- 2 teaspoons lime juice
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 2-3 tablespoons url:1]chimichurri sauce[/url] or store bought
- 1-2 ounces herbed goat cheese, softened like Cypress Grove
- Preheat the grill to ~500*F (or as high as you can get it).
- Cut the avocado in half and remove its pit.
- Lightly brush the cut side of the avocado with lime juice to prevent browning followed by a light brushing of olive oil.
- Sprinkle the cut avocado with salt, pepper, and smoked paprika.
- Prep the serving plate by smearing the goat cheese across the center of the plate and set aside.
- Using tongs place the avocado cut side down onto the hot grill and cook for 90 seconds with the grill lid down.
- After 90 seconds, rotate the avocado 90 degrees and cook for another 90 seconds with the lid down.
- Using tongs, remove the avocado from the grill and place cut side up on the prepared plate with goat cheese.
- Drizzle with chimichurri sauce and serve immediately.
