There are few health foods as trendy, delicious, and nutritious as avocado. It’s a super versatile fruit (yes, a fruit!) that adds texture, flavor, color, and a ton of health benefits to any type of dish. So, as you’re making your grocery list for PCOS-friendly foods that’ll satisfy your health goals and your cravings, definitely put avocados on the list.
We’ll get into the specific health benefits avocados hold for Cysters like you and me. But, first, I’ll share some of my favorite avocado recipes for PCOS. Each one of these meals includes other motivated ingredients that pack in more nutritional value that’ll help you get to your health goals faster. So, without further ado, here are 10 avocado recipes for PCOS:
10 Avocado Recipes For PCOS
Sweet Potato Salad with Avocado Pesto
I love this sweet potato salad because it could be a healthy lunch or a healthy snack! It’s a great idea to add one snack to your day to keep your meals balanced and your tummy full. But, that snack must be motivating, healthy, and filling. Otherwise . . . you’ll be reaching for another snack in an hour.
This recipe is super easy to make and the main ingredients include sweet potatoes, eggs, bacon, and the homemade avocado dressing. Sweet potatoes are high in fiber and antioxidants, and eggs and bacon are all protein. This is a perfectly balanced dish that’s tasty and filling!
Tuna Avocado Sandwich
Those omega-3 fatty acids are so important. This recipe uses another fatty fish, tuna, mixed with avocado to create a yummy and healthy meal! Other ingredients include lemon juice, celery, sweet relish, green onions, lettuce, and your choice of bread. If you’re going gluten-free, use Keto bread or lettuce leaves in place of the whole-grain bread it calls for. It’s still just as tasty, just a little healthier!
Spicy Avocado Wrap
No bland food allowed in your house? No problem. This dish isn’t just packed with flavorful ingredients. It’s also spicy with kicks of chili lime and garlic! The recipe calls for vegan “chicken,” but you could totally use real chicken. Outside of that, you’ll need wraps, avocados, red peppers, coriander, cloves, lime, and chili powder. Yum!
Grilled Salmon with Avocado Salsa
This recipe includes two superfoods: salmon and avocado. Salmon is packed with omega-3 fatty acids and healthy fat. The omega-3 reduces insulin sensitivity, inflammation, and blood pressure – among a slew of other things. And, the fatty acids help with blood sugar! You also get all the benefits from the avocado, so it’s the perfect PCOS meal!
This dish also has no added sugars, and it’s gluten-free and dairy-free. It’s just well-seasoned salmon, with a salsa of avocado, red onion, limes, and fresh cilantro. Yum! You can whip this up super fast and feel no guilt (or discomfort) from this delicious meal.
Avocado Frosting on a Cupcake
What about a good ol’ cupcake? You wouldn’t even notice that you swapped out milk (dairy) when you try this frosting recipe. Don’t tell your party guests either! Grab avocados, and mix them with cocoa powder, vanilla, and a little maple syrup. It makes for a hit at any party, especially when you tell everyone after they’ve eaten it that they just had avocado mousse frosting! Surprise!
Maki Sushi
Sushi rolls are so tasty to eat and super fun to make. This recipe is gluten-free and includes protein and fiber in the form of shiitake mushrooms. Other ingredients rolled into the seaweed include cabbage, cucumbers, brown rice, and avocado, of course!
These veggies are so healthy for you and they taste amazing in the carrot ginger dipping sauce. So no need to go with cucumber-only vegan sushi rolls that don’t fill you up and don’t provide enough health benefits. Try these maki sushi rolls instead!
Breakfast Tacos
Finding tasty, balanced, and easy breakfasts can be so tough. I think it’s one of the hardest parts of diet meal planning! Luckily, these breakfast tacos provide a perfect morning fill-up.
Just fill a tortilla of your choice with scrambled eggs, green onions, cilantro, bacon, avocado, and shredded cheddar cheese. (You could omit the cheese easily for a dairy-free alternative.) There’s tons of filling protein, healthy fats, and helpful fiber.
Black Bean & Avocado Toast
Here’s one more breakfast option. After all, this wouldn’t really be an avocado recipe post without avocado toast on the list. Well, this version is Mexican inspired with black beans, cherry tomatoes, red onions, white onions, avocados, and Mexican seasonings.
Black beans contain ever-important folate as well as fiber and potassium, while tomatoes are anti-inflammatory and rich in vitamins B and E. That mixed with the benefits of the avocados makes this the perfect choice for a PCOS breakfast or snack!
Chocolate Avocado Pudding
Hey, what about dessert? I know. It’s one of the hardest parts about being on a diet, but, Cysters, there are options. This chocolate avocado pudding recipe is vegan, gluten-free, and dairy-free, yet still totally delicious.
The ingredients include avocados, coconut cream, cacao powder, maple syrup, and vanilla extract. And before you say it, no, chocolate isn’t actually bad for you! Sugar is bad for you. Raw cacao powder has tons of antioxidants and vitamins to support your journey to a healthier life. It helps regulate blood pressure and it reduces inflammation! Plus, the other ingredients aren’t bad for you either. That makes this chocolate pudding totally PCOS-friendly!
Salmon Stuffed Avocados
Fish and avocado always make the perfect combo. For this recipe, you make a salmon mixture using nonfat plain Greek yogurt, celery, parsley, lime juice, mayo, dijon mustard, salt, pepper, and salmon. You mix it all together and spoon it into half of an avocado. If you use canned salmon, this dish requires no cooking at all. Fast. Healthy. Delectable.
Avocado Benefits For Females With PCOS
So, why avocados? I’ve discussed the health benefits of the other ingredients in the recipes, but what’s so good about avocados for PCOS? Here’s why you definitely want to add avocados to your diet:
Anti-Inflammatory
First of all, avocados are anti-inflammatory. SO much of our PCOS discomfort comes from inflammation. Digestive issues, headaches, joint pain, weight gain, fatigue, and food sensitivities could all be because you have chronic low-grade inflammation. Eating lots of healthy fats like avocados, nuts, flaxseeds, and olive oil can help relieve a lot of your aggravating symptoms.
Improves Metabolism
A lot of you who are altering your diet because of PCOS are doing so, because you want to lose weight. Losing weight with PCOS is tough, it’s not as simple as working out and controlling your portions. Luckily, avocados improve your metabolism, blood sugar and will support healthy weight loss by making you feel satisfied for longer!
Energy Boosting
I don’t think there are many women in The Cysterhood who would not say they could have used more energy at some point (especially while quitting caffeine!) Of course, we need to get good sleep, but there are only so many hours in the day, especially if you have busy families or demanding careers.
Avocados and other healthy fats, though, are energy substrates! If you’re chronically feeling tired and fatigued, avocados in your diet can help improve your productivity and performance throughout the day. Plus, when you have more energy, you have a better mood to tackle working out (as well as the other challenges of living with PCOS)!
Blood Sugar Balancing
Avocados don’t cause spikes in blood pressure. They’re low in carbs and high in fiber. This is great for women with PCOS since we naturally have an insulin resistance. Keeping your blood pressure in check will fight off cravings and help keep your weight in check!
Hormone Regulating
This is perhaps one of the greatest benefits of avocados. They help regulate hormones, specifically cortisol, and estrogen. Balancing cortisol reduces stress, and balancing estrogen prevents weight gain, fatigue, and mood swings. So, not only will avocados help you feel great physically, but emotionally too.
How To Tell If An Avocado Is Bad?
Avocados ripen quickly due to their high-fat content, which makes them sensitive to temperature changes and susceptible to oxidation and spoilage. When determining if an avocado is ready to eat, look for dark green skin that gives slightly when pressed. Avoid overripe avocados with dark spots or flesh that are turning brown. If you need to speed up the ripening process, keep your avocados stored at room temperature. Try and keep it at room temperature until it reaches a bright green color and gives slightly when pressed.
Once the avocado is ripe, cut it open by slicing lengthwise around the seed and gently twisting the two halves apart. To remove the seed, carefully strike it with a knife and twist it out. Then, use a spoon to scoop out the avocado flesh and enjoy! Remember to check for any brown spots on the flesh before consuming. If you’re afraid to accidentally cut unripe avocados, remember that waiting until they’re fully ripe can help avoid damaging the fruit.
By following these tips, you can easily cut an avocado and enjoy its fresh, creamy goodness.
Avocados are the perfect health food to include in your daily PCOS diet!
Whether you want to feel better, lose weight, or get other PCOS symptoms under control, the food you eat has all the power. This means you can switch up your diet and see better results.
If you are interested in learning about more life with PCOS, check out our blog PCOS and Chill. Or, if you’re a podcast listener, binge all the episodes of Cyster and Mister. All of these resources are here to help you gain relief and joy in your PCOS journey with totally doable lifestyle changes. We can do this together, Cysters!
