Fried halloumi with mashed avocado on toast? Heck yes! This fried halloumi avocado toast is perfect for breakfast, lunch, or brunch. Yummy!
The first time I ever tried halloumi cheese I was in Sibiu, Romania, and a big street food festival was taking place in the town’s main square. At one of the stands they were selling vegetarian burgers with halloumi cheese, and when I mentioned to my friends I didn’t know what halloumi was, they were like: What?!? Girl, it’s delicious! You gotta try it! and so the burger with halloumi cheese was.
And oh boy, they were absolutely right. Gooey in the middle, crispy on the outside, and its natural saltiness paired perfectly with the avocado. There are few things in life as good as perfectly grilled cheese.
So you can imagine how thrilled I was to find halloumi cheese in the fancy supermarket in Chiang Mai, Thailand (where I’m currently based). Halloumi! In Thailand! I remembered how good it was the halloumi with the avocado, and I went on a mission to make the perfect fried halloumi avocado toast.
This recipe is very easy and perfect for breakfast, lunch, or brunch. The mix of avocado and cheese will keep you filled for a good while!
If you’re in a hurry, you can jump to the recipe card at the end of this post, otherwise here below you can find a video with all the steps to make the perfect fried halloumi avocado toast.
WHAT IS HALLOUMI CHEESE?
Halloumi is one of the most wonderful types of cheese ever invented! This Cypriot cheese (most people think it comes from Greece, but it’s indeed from Cyprus!) is a semi-hard brined cheese made of goat’s and sheep’s milk. Sometimes you’ll also find cow’s milk in halloumi cheese, although the original halloumi didn’t contain any as there were very few cows in Cyprus until the 20th century. This is a cheese that goes back all the way to the Middle Age!
The most incredible feature about halloumi is that you can grill it, bake it, fry it… and it never melts. It becomes just the right degree of gooey in the middle, so it’s perfect to be used in all kinds of recipes.
WHAT YOU’LL NEED FOR FRIED HALLOUMI AVOCADO TOAST
Warning: This recipe contains nuts, but if you don’t like them/you are allergic, you can easily skip the nuts, and the result is still delicious.
These are the ingredients you’ll need for the fried halloumi avocado toast:
• whole wheat bread
• mixed nuts
• ripe avocado
• salt
• lime or lemon
• halloumi cheese.
Finding halloumi cheese might be a little tricky as your regular grocery store might not carry it, but specialty food stores usually do. You can find halloumi in Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s, or you can order online on Amazon and Walmart.
HOW TO PERFECTLY FRY HALLOUMI CHEESE
➤ Slice the halloumi into thick slices (around 1 cm/2.5 inches thick).
➤ Heat some coconut or olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat.
➤ Place the halloumi on the pan and cook for a couple of minutes, until the cheese becomes golden.
➤ Flip the cheese and cook on the other side for 1-2 minutes.
Make sure not to use too much oil as the halloumi cheese already has a high fat content and releases the natural fat while cooking.
OTHER WAYS TO COOK HALLOUMI CHEESE
The beauty of Halloumi cheese is that you can cook it other ways and it’ll still be delicious. So, if you prefer not to fry the halloumi, here are two other ways to cook it.
How To Grill Halloumi Cheese
➤ Slice the halloumi into thick slices (around 1 cm/2.5 inches thick).
➤ Heat the grill or the griddle pan at medium/medium-high temperature.
➤ Place the halloumi on the grill and cook for 3 minutes or until golden.
➤ Flip and reapeat for the other side.
How To Bake Halloumi Cheese
➤ Slice the halloumi into thick slices (around 1 cm/2.5 inches thick) and place them on your ovenproof dish.
➤ Season the slices with olive oil and if you want herbs such as parsley or oregano.
➤ Bake for 10-15 minutes at 200 Celsius degrees (gas number 6).
