Can You Freeze Avocados?

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:

1. Cut avocados in half and remove the pit, then remove the flesh. Using a fork, mash the avocados well.
2. 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.
3. Close the bag, making sure to squeeze out as much air as possible.
4. Lay flat and place in your freezer.
5. 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.

This week, I’ll be testing out whether or not you can freeze a whole avocado. I’d like to find out if I can keep whole avocados in the freezer, so I can use them in applications where I’d like chunks instead of mashed.