How to Soften an Avocado

From avocado toast and avocado fries to guacamole and stuffed avocados, many of our favorite recipes feature the mild-tasting, buttery, remarkably versatile fruit. But what’s an avocado-hungry person to do when the fruit is still rock hard when you’re craving a helping?

We’ve covered how to grow an avocado tree from its pit, how to safely cut an avocado, a TikTok trick to keep a cut avocado from browning so quickly, and even how to freeze an avocado to extend its lifespan extend. But we haven’t talked about how to soften avocado so you can enjoy it sooner. Well now is the time!

Ahead are the best — and worst — ways to quickly tenderize avocados.

The stages of avocado ripening

According to the experts at California Avocados, there are five stages the fruit goes through during ripening. Be patient and you’ll have a chance to naturally soften avocados.

• Difficult: Green to very dark green color; very hard texture.
• preconditioned: Approximately three days removed from the preparation when stored at room temperature.
• Break: Approximately two days removed from the preparation when stored at room temperature; yields slightly when squeezed.
• Hard ripe: Full maturity next day or so when stored at room temperature; gives when squeezed.
• Ripe: Ready to use immediately and should keep in good condition for about two to three days if stored at room temperature; yields slightly when squeezed.

The majority of supermarkets sell avocados at different points on this scale. If you want to use up the fresh avocado in two or three days, you should buy it around the third stage. Select a stage five avocado for same-day use.

To check the ripeness of an avocado in the store, you can not only squeeze the small stalk on top of the avocado, you can also peel it off. When it lifts up easily and the flesh underneath appears green, the avocado should be at or near ideal ripeness and ready to eat. If the stalk doesn’t stand out, it’s not ripe yet (but you can buy it and use one of the following strategies to soften an avocado). If the flesh under the stalk is brown, the fruit is probably overripe or has brown-spotted flesh; neither is ideal.

How to soften an avocado in 4 ways

If your produce section only contains rock-hard avocados, there are four legitimate ways to soften avocados a little faster than they would under normal countertop conditions.

How to soften avocados in a paper bag

With a small brown bag (hat tip for school lunch!) you can soften avocados in 48 to 72 hours.

• Place hard avocados in a paper bag and fold or roll the top down to seal the bag.
• Check ripeness daily by gently squeezing the fruit. Use as soon as the avocado yields slightly when you squeeze it, usually within two or three days.

How to soften avocados around gas-producing products

To speed up the process even more, round up an apple, banana, or kiwi; Each of these fruits produces ethylene gas as it ripens, as does the avocado. Ethylene is a natural plant hormone that causes products to ripen faster. More ethylene; faster maturation! You can ripen an avocado overnight or within 48 hours with a small brown bag:

• In a paper bag, place hard avocados and a banana, kiwi, Red Delicious apple, or Golden Delicious apple (these two varieties produce more ethylene than other apple varieties). Fold or roll the top down to close the bag.
• Check ripeness daily by gently squeezing the fruit. Use as soon as the avocado yields slightly when you squeeze it, usually within a day or two.

How to soften avocados with sunlight

No high ethylene fruit on hand? Ripen an avocado like a tree using sunlight. Just like all of these approaches, this method to soften avocados faster is recommended by the Mexican avocado experts.

• Place hard avocados on a countertop in direct sunlight. The warmer temperature should help speed up the natural ripening of the avocados.
• Check ripeness daily by gently squeezing the fruit. Use as soon as the avocado yields slightly when you squeeze it, usually within two or three days.

How to soften avocados after they are cut

If you cut open an avocado and realize it’s not ripe yet, leave the pit in its original position and follow these steps to soften an avocado.

• Rub the flesh of each half of an avocado with lemon or lime juice.
• Place the avocado halves back together (pit in the middle) and press firmly to seal both sides as best as possible.
• Wrap the avocado tightly in a layer or two of plastic wrap.
• Refrigerate the wrapped avocado and check daily. Use as soon as the avocado yields slightly when squeezed.

Two hacks for softening avocado experts Not Recommend

To follow the lead of certain social media chefs and try these methods for tenderizing avocados, you would…

• Ripen avocados in the microwave: Cut an avocado in half, pit the avocado, and then wrap each half tightly in plastic wrap. You would then microwave the avocado in 30 second intervals until the fruit is soft enough to use. Plunge the avocados into a bowl of ice water to pause the cooking process.
• Ripen the avocado in the oven: Preheat oven to 200°F. Wrap a whole avocado in foil and bake until avocado is soft enough to use, checking its level of tenderness every 10 minutes.

Produce avocados from Mexico and California avocados pros agree that these are two popular cooking tricks for softening avocados should not Give it a try if you want to retain the flavor and texture of the fruits you know and love.

When all else fails, know that there’s nothing unhealthy or unsafe about eating an unripe avocado. It might not be as rich in flavor or creamy texture as usual.