Can You Eat Underripe Avocado?

Avocado is one of the most versatile fruits. So many people enjoy guacamole or avocado toast, but avocado is also a popular ingredient in salads, sandwiches, and even smoothies. When enjoying an avocado in various recipes, we want it to be ripe and creamy, scoopable, and at optimal flavor. But sometimes when slicing open an avocado, it’s not yet ripe, and it’s hard to know what to do next. Is it still OK to eat an avocado when it’s underripe?

Meet The Experts

• Chayanin Pornsriniyom is a plant-based culinary arts chef-instructor at the Institute of Culinary Education

• Kristi Ruth RD/RDN, CNSC, LDN is a recipe developer, photographer, and founder of Carrots & Cookies

How To Know If An Avocado Is Underripe

All avocados are hard when underripe and have an underdeveloped flavor. “Like bananas, avocados ripen off the tree and it can take up to two weeks from picking to peak ripeness, “ said Chayanin Pornsriniyom. So if you get an underripe one, be patient. “Color depends on the cultivar and not the ripeness. Hass avocados (the most common type) are deep brown when ripe, but Reed and Pinkertons remain green,” said Pornsriniyom.

Determining ripeness requires practice. Give a squeeze. “If the avocado is hard and has no give, it is underripe. If it gives a little, it is close to ripe,” said Pornsriniyom.  If it is straight up squishy, then it is overripe (and good for guacamole!). “Overripe avocados may have unpalatable black sections, just cut those out. The green flesh will still be safe to eat,” said Pornsriniyom.

There are a few strategies you can use to determine if an avocado is underripe:

• Appearance: The first is to look at it. “A ripe avocado should be dark green, not bright green,” said Kristi Ruth RD/RDN, CNSC, LDN of Carrots & Cookies.

• Firmness: It's good practice to feel the avocado. “Hold an avocado in your hand and apply gentle pressure with the tips of your fingers. If it's hard as a rock, isn't slightly soft to touch, or doesn't give with pressure, it's not ripe,” said Ruth. A ripe avocado feels firm with a slight give, not hard.

• Test the stem: If you're still not sure whether an avocado is ripe after applying gentle pressure to it, try flicking the stem. “If the stem doesn't move when flicked or if it takes a lot of effort to remove it, the avocado is not ripe,” said Ruth.
  

Can you eat underripe avocado?

Aside from being very difficult to cut, scoop out, and prepare, underripe avocados don't have the best taste and texture, especially when compared to a beautifully ripe one. “Technically you can eat underripe avocado, but the only time I suggest doing this is when it's ripe enough to at least scoop out some of the flesh with a spoon. In this case, I suggest mashing the underripe avocado in with flesh from a ripe avocado,” said Ruth.

Related: Should Avocados Be Refrigerated?

Is It safe to eat an underripe avocado?

Eating an underripe avocado is safe. it just may not be as tasty or have that creamy, delicious texture we all crave when we enjoy avocados.

Two Quick Ways To Ripen An Avocado

1. Like bananas, avocados rely on self-produced ethylene gas to trigger ripening. “Place the avocado inside a paper bag (which will trap the ethylene) with an apple (which adds more ethylene) then close the bag,” said Pornsriniyom. Let it sit at room temperature for a day or two, and it will ripen faster.

2. Another way is using heat to soften it. “Bake a whole avocado in an oven around 200 degrees F until soft, it will still taste raw, but the flesh will soften much more quickly than the bag method,” said Pornsriniyom.
   

Related: 14 Creative Ways To Use Avocado for Your Next Meal or Party

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