1. For perfectly ripe avocados year-round, coat the halves in lemon juice then freeze them.
When avocados are in season, halve them, pit them, coat them in lemon juice, and put them in the freezer cut-side down on parchment paper. Once solid, you can store the avocado halves in a plastic bag and defrost one whenever you're craving it. Find the full instructions here.
2. Or freeze pureed avocados in ice trays for quick smoothie starters.
Pulse avocados and lemon juice in a food processor, then freeze the mixture in ice cube trays. That way you always have a small amount of avocado set aside for your morning smoothie. Find the full instructions here.
3. Instantly ripen avocados in the oven.
Is there anything worse than preparing to make guacamole only to discover your avocado is hard as a rock? There's a solution: Tightly wrap the whole avocado in foil and bake it in the oven at 200°F for 10 minutes. The avocado won't be 100% perfectly ripe, but it will definitely be softer and ready to eat. Find the full instructions here.
4. Or store avocados in a plastic bag with apples or bananas to ripen them faster.
Fun fact: Bananas and apples contain lots of ethylene gas, which naturally speeds up the ripening process in other fruits and veggies.
5. Once you’ve cut your avocado, store it in an air-tight container with a sliced red onion to help keep it from browning.
Onions give off sulfur gases, which stop the avocado from oxidizing once it's halved. Don't fret: The smell of the onion won't have any effect on the taste of your avocado.
6. Or keep halved avocados from going brown by brushing olive oil on the flesh.
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Rubbing a thin layer of tasteless olive oil on the flesh of halved avocados creates a layer between the produce and the air, which reduces oxidation.
7. Check under the avocado's stem to see how ripe it is.
When you're selecting your avocado, peel off the stem and look underneath. If it's bright green, the fruit is perfectly ripe and ready to eat. If it's brown underneath, your avocado is probably overripe and a little bit brown all over. Find the full instructions here.
8. Use avocado as a dairy-free substitute for butter.
9. Use avocado and lemon to make a delicious pasta sauce.
If you're tired of the same old marinara sauce, consider this a godsend. Get the recipe.
10. Save the pit to grow your very own avocado tree.
You've always wanted an avocado tree, right? For the full tutorial, watch this video.
11. Put sour cream or mayonnaise in guacamole for the creamiest dip ever.
It sounds bizarre, but mayo makes creamy guacamole even more luscious and rich. Get the recipe.
12. Use leftover avocado to make a nourishing hair mask
Not only do avocados taste like heaven, they make you even more beautiful! All you need to make this shining and strengthening hair mask is very ripe avocado, coconut oil, and egg. Learn how to make it.
13. Save yourself the dirty dishes and bake eggs right inside avocados.
Edible bowls are way more exciting than ceramic bowls. All you have to do is cut an avocado in half, scoop out a bit of the fruit, and crack an egg right inside each half. Bake at 425ºF for about 20 minutes, and say hello to a mess-free meal. Get the recipe.