Yes, you can eat an unripe avocado, but we don't recommend it. The avocado won't have its wonderfully creamy texture and it won't taste as delicious as normal. Check out our other how to videos to learn tips for ripening avocados.
Once you've let the feeling of disappointment wash over you, you may wonder, "Can you eat an unripe avocado?" The short answer is yes — unripe avocados have the same nutritional value, and if you're not allergic to avocados, eating an unripe one is perfectly safe.
After speaking with avocado experts and running some in-house tests, we learned that avocados can continue to ripen after they've been cut. In fact, as long as you store the cut fruit properly and give it a few extra days, it will be just as creamy and rich as if you had opened it at peak ripeness.
How to Ripen an Avocado Quickly. You can speed up the avocado-ripening process with a piece of fruit. Put an avocado in a paper bag with a banana, an apple or a kiwi and fold to seal. These fruits produce ethylene gas, a plant hormone that aids ripening.
Bright green: If your avocado has a bright green color, this means that it is still around four to seven days from being ripe. Avocados this color will typically be hard to the touch and will need to rest on the counter for a few days—maybe even a week—before you can eat them. Underripe avocados tend to lack flavor.
If the avocado is not quite ripe and not hard, you can use plastic wrap and your microwave to ripen them up in two minutes flat. Cut the avocado in half vertically and remove the pit. Wrap each half in microwave-safe plastic wrap and microwave on high for two minutes.
The bottom line: If you need your avocados to ripen sooner rather than later, keep them on the counter. Otherwise, for better quality, you're better off putting them in the fridge and allowing them to ripen slowly. In either case, store the ripened fruit in the fridge to extend shelf life.
Hard, bright green avocados are 4-7 days away from being ripe. Bright green avocados that are very hard when palmed are still underripe and will have 4 days up to 1 week on the counter before they're ready to eat. Don't even try to eat them, as they will be hard and waxy and lack any flavor.
How to "ripen" an avocado in the oven. Preheat the oven to 200°F. Wrap an avocado in foil and bake, checking every 10 minutes, until the avocado is soft enough to use.
For ripe avocados, place them in your refrigerator for 2-3 days to keep them fresh. If your avocado isn't quite ripe, leave it out on your countertop. Over the next 4-5 days, your avocado will ripen and be ready for you to enjoy.
If you're trying the oven method, you don't need any prep; just wrap the avocados in foil and bake them at 200 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes. Technically, both the microwave and oven methods work. Heat can turn a hard avocado into a soft one.
If the avocado yields to firm gentle pressure you know it's ripe and ready-to-eat. Ripe, ready to eat avocados may have a darker color but color can vary so it is best to go by feel as well as color. It will feel lightly soft but it will not feel “mushy” to the touch. Ripe fruit is perfect for that day.
The Lemon Juice Method
Well, this is a great hack for ripening an already cut avocado! Just coat both halves of your avocado with fresh lemon juice (lime will work too), then put back together and wrap tightly in cling film. Whack it in the fridge and check back the next day.
To get your avocado fix early and with maximum flavor, simply place them next to a window in the heat of the sun to help them ripen faster. This allows the fruit to ripen naturally, resulting in the soft, buttery flesh and delicious, nutty flavor we all love.
The secret is in the stem. If you flick the stem and it comes off without any resistance or falls off in your hand, chances are, that avocado is too ripe and will be a mushy, brown mess inside. But when you get the stem to pop off, check the color underneath.
“Aubergines, avocado, nuts and soy sauce all contain an amino acid called tyramine,” Rob Hobson tells the UK outlet Express. “This amino acid may inhibit sleep as it causes the release of a hormone called norepinephrine that stimulates the brain.”
Avocados contain a specific type of sugar that some people cannot absorb easily, so it ferments in the body causing bloating and digestive problems. If you are allergic to latex, you could have something called latex fruit syndrome.
You might gain weight.
If eating large amounts of avocado in a day results in taking in more calories than an individual burns, the excess energy will be stored as fat. More than the recommended amounts of fats in a day does not add any additional nutritional benefit, even if these are considered 'good' fats."
Properly timing the picking is important, as the only reason that an avocado will not ripen is if it is harvested prematurely or stored improperly, in cool conditions. If an avocado is picked too soon, it has a low oil content and will never ripen sufficiently, remaining inedible and rubbery, with poor flavor.
Cut your avocado in half and fill a glass or plastic container near full with water. With the flesh-side down, place the avocado in the container, cover, and place in the fridge. This will keep the avocado from turning brown for about another two days.