With avocados on sale for $0.33 each at Sprouts through October 30th, you might be wondering just how you can take advantage of the sale, apart from eating so many that your skin turns green. Well, I have good news for you:
You can freeze avocados!
Yep, after wondering this for a long time (and being too much of a skeptic to take someone else’s word for it), I tested it out recently and determined that you can freeze avocados with little affect on their taste or texture, as long as you plan to use them in something “smooth”.
A month or two ago, I mashed and froze three small avocados and then froze them. I pulled them out a couple of weeks ago to make guacamole and was pleased to confirm that we noticed no difference in taste and texture. They did seem to be slightly darker green than usual, but they had not oxidized at all.
Since we like our guacamole a little bit chunky, I did mix in small cubes of half of a fresh avocado (the baby ate the other half). If you like smooth guacamole, you likely will have no need to do this.
Here’s how to freeze avocados:
- Cut avocados in half and remove the pit, then remove the flesh. Using a fork, mash the avocados well.
- Place the mashed avocados in a small, freezer-safe bag and press the avocados into all corners of the bag to make sure that none of it is exposed to air.
- Close the bag, making sure to squeeze out as much air as possible.
- Lay flat and place in your freezer.
- When ready to use, allow to thaw, then proceed as usual. You can put the bag in cool water to help it thaw faster, but since avocados are mostly fat, they thaw relatively quickly.
The above is my favorite method of freezing avocados, but I also recently tested out freezing them without any prep work – yes, just putting the whole avocado straight in the freezer!
I simply put the whole avocados in a freezer bag and placed them in the freezer. (I used a freezer bag to prevent the avocados from absorbing smells or drying out through their skin.) I thawed them on the kitchen counter when I wanted to use them – it took about three hours.
Here’s a comparison of the frozen/thawed whole avocado and a fresh one:
As you can see the frozen avocado had noticeable – even in a picture – differences in texture. In some ways, I almost felt that it was mushier than the mashed-and-frozen avocado.
It was also sometime difficult to work with, since you had to slice the avocado that was mushy inside. The texture was OK if you make a very, very smooth guacamole but could not be diced for use as a topping. I personally would choose to mash the avocado first and then freeze it, but if you’re short on time, throwing the whole thing in a freeze could be a good option,
$1.99 for Pantry Essentials (gallon) at Safeway
thank you i always thought about that too, I love making smoothies.
This is fantastic news! We love avocados, but only buy them when they are cheap.
I just told my thirteen year old who was eating an entire avocado from sprouts with a spoon, that no, you can’t freeze avocados.
This should be fun.
Wow, eating it with a spoon, eh? Good for him/her!
Try ripe avocado with a touch of light soy sauce. Sounds weird, but it really plays up the “umami” factor. Man, I wish I had a couple!
I used to mash or put the avocados in a food processor with a squeeze of lime before freezing but, now I cut them in half and freeze them. I don’t even attempt to remove the pit from one of the halves. Then when it’s time to make guacamole or throw them in smoothies I defrost for less than a minute to wedge a spoon between the skin & the avacado. Yum! This is so much easier for me.
Do you brush them with lime juice or anything before freezing? Or do they freeze fast enough that they don’t oxidize?
Nope. Just cut & freeze.
I just bought 12 at Sprouts so I’m going to try it! Thanks for the tip.
I freeze them with all the makings for guacamole and when I want guac I just pull them out, thaw and mush together in the baggie. I usually do a bunch at once to have all football season.
I wondered if that would work! Do the onions get mushy?
Nope, everything stays perfect. I put onions, tomatoes and jalapenos in mine and it always taste fresh. People are surprised that it was frozen.
Do you wait for them to ripen or just put in the freezer anytime? Has any of you put em’ in smoothies, and if so, do they create a funky taste or no?
I put mine in the freezer ripe. I’ve put them in smoothies – no noticeable taste at all, at least not as long as you have enough other stuff with it!
Have you tried one of the avocados you froze whole yet? Dying to know how it worked out! :)
Not yet – hopefully in the next week!
Carrie, did you find out if you can freeze an avocado whole? :) I am all for less work up front but it would probably save me less work in the end if I mashed them up. I’d love to be able to just throw them in the freezer.
Oh, yes, I guess I never updated! I tried it and it worked fine, though I think it was actually mushier and more watery (as compared to a fresh avocado) than when I mashed it up and froze it in a bag.
Oh, good to know! Thanks, Carrie! :)
This is great to know thanks! I had been buying wholly guacamole and using the coupons they have quite often on their web page but the last time i went to king soopers on centennial they said I wasnt allowed to use the coupons with the marked down guacamole anymore. I even checked with customer service before I left and he said the same thing. So I just bought 9 avos at sprouts and the real thing is so much better anyway!
This is kinda wierd – - – but my Mother would cut avocados in half, place a dollup of “Miracle Whip” in the center and salt ‘em up. This was our desert! No wonder I was a chubby kid. LOL Oh well.