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Creamy, perfectly ripe avocados are a gift from Mother Nature. Mashed into festive dips for cookouts and potlucks, tossed into fresh-tasting summer salads (such as this scrumptious, full of flavor chickpea salad), or sliced and diced and used to top a Tex-Mex taco casserole or cheesy turkey burger, there are so many downright delicious avocado recipes. But what happens when you have too many avocados and not enough time to eat them? While a triple batch of guacamole doesn't sound like a bad problem to have, sometimes an excess of avocados can result in them turning into brown, mushy messes right before your very eyes. Many people already know that the best place to store ripened avocados is the fridge. Once they're sliced into, there are a few tricks to keep avocados fresher for longer, but these methods only last so long. Avocado fans begin to wonder—is there a better way?
When it comes to saving foods, the freezer is an obvious choice. You can freeze everything from full freezer meals to blocks of cream cheese to even eggs. But can you freeze avocados? The answer is yes, but should you? Keep reading for all you should know about how to freeze avocados.
Can an avocado be frozen?
While freezing avocados may sound like the perfect food-saving trick, it's important to understand that the beautiful, buttery avocados that you shove into the freezer will not be so beautiful and buttery when you decide to thaw them days, weeks, or months later. Avocados have a high water content, so when they freeze, that water crystallizes. Then, when it's thawed, the water transforms the avocado's smooth flesh into something sort of slimy and spongy. Trust us—you don't want to slather toast in thawed avocado. But that's not to say there aren't other uses for frozen avocado. Many grocery stores even sell bags of frozen of avocado chunks.
Does frozen avocado taste the same?
In short, no. Unfortunately, avocado not only loses its smooth, creamy texture, it also loses much of its fresh flavor in the freezer. Frozen avocado typically loses some of its vibrant color and turns a bit brown or grayish in the freezer, too.
What is the best way to freeze an avocado?
You can freeze them whole by wrapping an avocado in plastic wrap and placing it in a zip-top bag or you can freeze halves by cutting the avocado, then wrapping and storing the halves the same way. Some insist on spritzing the flesh with lemon or lime juice before freezing to keep it from browning.
You can also chop or slice avocados, spread the pieces onto a sheet tray, spritz with citrus juice and flash-freeze the chunks separately before combining them all into a zip-top bag to continue freezing. Mashed avocado works, too! There's no right or wrong way; it depends on how you plan to use the avocado later. While it's a little more work on the front-end, dicing or slicing and flash-freezing the avocado is a helpful method because it allows you to use a few chunks at a time rather than defrosting an entire avocado every time you need just a bit.
How do you use frozen avocado?
Skip the guacamole and instead make recipes like salad dressings, smoothies, or ice pops! Green goddess chicken salad dip is a vibrant snack perfect for summertime. Using frozen avocado is a-okay because there are plenty of fresh herbs to make up for the brightness—both in color and flavor—that frozen avocado lacks. Green goddess potato salad is another herby delight dressed in a fantastic, avocado-filled sauce. Frozen avocado is also a delicious addition to smoothies of all kinds for a dose of healthy fats and fiber, or you can make use of extra avocado by transforming it into a creamy, chocolaty ice pop!
How do you thaw a frozen avocado?
It's easy—just transfer the frozen avocado to the fridge to thaw overnight or let it sit on your countertop for a few hours. Since it'll be watery, it's best to use the avocado the day you thaw it.
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Food 101
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