How to Ripen Avocados Quickly

We love avocados' creamy texture and taste, their versatility in recipes (especially recipes that are as easy as putting avocados on toast or making guacamole) and all of the stellar health benefits. But finding a ripe avocado at the store is not a sure bet. Avocados don't start to ripen until they're off the tree, so sometimes, we have to wait for them to ripen before we use them. We tested various methods and hacks to quickly ripen avocados and found what works best—and what doesn't.

Is It Ripe?

If you are looking at a Haas avocado, a purplish black color is a great indication that it's ripe. However, some avocados like the Shepard, won't change color. Those are just two varieties of avocados out of maybe 500 types in the world. The best way to tell if any avocado is ripe is by gently squeezing it with the palm of your hand, not your fingertips. This prevents bruising and brown spots. It should be soft but not squishy. (If it's very soft, it is overripe.) If you find an avocado that seems OK, pop off the stem cap at the top of the avocado with your fingernail. If it pops off easily and is green underneath, it's good to go. If the stem cap is tough to remove, the avocado likely needs another day or two to ripen. And if it's brown underneath, the avocado might be overripe—but go ahead and cut into it to see how the flesh looks.

Once your avocado is ripe, cut, slice and dice it. Or if you are not ready to use the avocado, transfer it to the refrigerator to slow the ripening process.

Avocado Recipe Ideas

There are so many ways to use a ripe avocado besides the ever-popular avocado toast. Some favorites include slicing it up and including it smoothies, which will help make it nice and thick. Avocado slices are perfect in sandwiches, salads and fish tacos, and they make a delicious topping for baked potatoes, too. You can use it to make an avocado egg salad. Or you can try baking avocados into crispy fries using panko breadcrumbs. Some people like to use avocados in lieu of bread for sliders—maybe a little messy, but who said you can't use a fork? And it's easy to whip up a ripe avocado into a dressing to pour over a garden salad. For an on-the-go snack, you can simply add toppings to half of an avocado and spoon out the rich fruit.

How Long Until It Ripens

If you've got an underripe avocado, it can ripen up anywhere between overnight or 4 to 5 days after you bring it home. How long it takes depends on how firm it is when you buy it. The harder it feels, the longer it will take. If you can only get avocados that are firm and not yet ripe, you can speed up the process.

Traditional Ripening

The best way to ripen an avocado is good old-fashioned time and patience. Letting an avocado sit in a warm, room-temperature spot out of direct sunlight is the most natural way for it to ripen. But sometimes you need a ripe avocado sooner than it would naturally be ready to eat.

Fast Ripening Tips

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. The closed brown paper bag traps the gas inside to speed up the ripening time. If you don't have any extra apples, bananas or kiwi in the kitchen, you can also place an avocado in a paper bag by itself. This will trap the ethylene gas that the avocado is producing, but it won't ripen quite as fast.

Avocado-Ripening Hacks to Skip

Two other hacks to make avocados ripen faster didn't have as much of an effect as using fruit in a paper bag:

• Covering the avocado with flour in a paper bag

• Covering the avocado with rice in a paper bag

Both methods claim to concentrate the ethylene gas and also wick away moisture that might turn the avocado moldy. Mold is usually not an issue with avocados that are ripening at room temperature, and neither avocado ripened any faster than one that sat out on the counter by itself.

Fast Softening Tips

There are two other hacks that can soften (but not technically ripen) an avocado in minutes. Both of these methods will make the avocado usable to mash into guacamole, but the flavor of the avocado won't be as pronounced, and the texture will not be quite as rich and creamy as it would be if it ripened naturally. It's up to you—how desperate are you for an avocado?

How to "Ripen" 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.

How to "Ripen" in the Microwave

Cut an avocado in half and tightly wrap each half in plastic wrap. Microwave in 30-second bursts until soft enough to use. Submerge the wrapped avocado halves in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process.

The Bottom Line

There is nothing tastier, or creamier, than a perfectly ripened avocado. However, sometimes the avocado doesn't cooperate with your time-sensitive desire for guacamole. To get your avocado to ripen fast, add it to a brown paper bag with a banana, apple or kiwi, seal it and let nature do its thing.