I cannot get enough avocado. In high school, we had an avocado tree in our front yard, and I got avocado whenever I wanted it. In Washington, avocados are freaking expensive! Although various varieties of avocado are available year round, they are typically most affordable in the spring through the fall. When I see a really good deal on avocados (under $1 each for the large size), I buy about ten at a time. But I can’t actually eat that many before they start to go bad, so I have to preserve them. Here’s the technique my mom came up with in Hawaii.My dog Rusty loved avocados. They’d fall from the tree and he’d carefully cradle them in his mouth as if he was holding a little green puppy, carrying them around the yard to gently lay in a pile on our front step. It was so much fun to come outside and find the treasure trove of avocados with little delicate golden retriever tooth marks in them. He was definitely good at retrieving and knew exactly what we would value the most.
Every time we collected his bounty, we’d toss a sacrificial avocado to him as thanks for his good work. He’d roll it around for a little while, joyfully playing with his treat, then curl up around it and begin to nibble it open to get at the sweet buttery flesh.
Not wanting the overripe fallen avocados to go to waste, my mom began preserving them in the freezer. She’d mash them up with lemon juice and store them in airtight plastic bags. Then we had mashed avocado ready to eat whenever we wanted it. We used it for guacamole, mixed it into tuna and chicken salad, spread it on sandwiches.
I have two gallon bags in the freezer right now and could use your help. How do you like to eat mashed avocados?
Preserving Avocado in the Freezer
Ingredients
- 5
ripe avocados - 5 TBS
lemon juice
Cooking Directions
- Slice the avocados in half and discard pits. Scoop the flesh from the peels.
- Mash the avocados, then add the lemon juice. Mix well.
- Spoon into a gallon sized zip top bag, squeezing out all the air before sealing.
- Freeze up to one year.
Thanks to Lifehacker for sharing this post! I’ve been getting several questions in the comments so here are the answers to the most common ones.
1. Can you use lime juice instead of lemon juice? I’d think so but haven’t tried it. We had a lemon tree as well so that’s what we used.
2. Can you freeze it in ice cube trays to have smaller portions? It’s not only the lemon juice that helps with discoloration, it’s also sealing it in the plastic bag which helps keep it from being exposed to air. I’d suggest that if you want to try the ice cube trays, cover them with plastic wrap and press the plastic down on each “cube” of avocado before freezing. You could also try using sandwich or snack sized bags instead of the quart bags I use.
3. How do you defrost it and what happens? I will typically do a small enough amount in the quart sized bag that it freezes into a one inch thick sheet. Then I can easily break or cut off the amount I want (to spread on a sandwich for instance) and it will defrost quickly on the counter. If I want the whole bag defrosted, I’ll move it to the fridge to defrost overnight. It will be pretty much the same consistency that it was before freezing, but you’ll want to use it within 24 hours because it will start to oxidize and change color and flavor after that.
I like mashed avocado best with cold sweetened milk!
Thank you for this! I love avacados as well and will try this! My husband came up with a recipe for guacamole that has beat all other guacamole I’ve tried. Love this stuff. http://mamarazzipages.wordpress.com/2010/08/23/the-best-guacamole-ever/
I eat them any way that I can get them. I never thought to freeze them, so I will start that! YUM!
Thanks for the good information. We will share your post with our customers, who often order 15 or more avocados direct from our California avocado grove.
That’s wonderful, thanks Mimi!
Thanks! It never occurred to me to freeze them. By golly we’ll be buying more avocados now.
Always happy to encourage more avocados!
Very cool. I will do this from now on. I thought it would work doing it like this but now you have confirmed it. Thank you very much.
What have you found to be the best way to thaw the avocado when you want to eat it?
This is amazing! But do you have thawing tips?
I have a wonderful avocado recipe that I have made for my Dining For Women Cause;
It’s a cold soup that’s Avocado & Tequila soup
Will you please forward this recipe. sounds wonderful.
Have you tried raw chocolate mousse made with mashed avacado?
Never knew you could freeze avocados. I’ve got to try this! (Found you via Pinterest.)
What’s the best way to use frozen avocado when it’s in a big bag like that? Just cut off a chunk?
What a great idea! I’ve let too many avocados go bad. It would be easy enough to do just one avocado with the lemon juice in a sandwich bag to portion it out and freeze it. Love it! Thanks for the tip.
How well do they unfreeze? (consistency, look etc) In what ways do you use it after you have frozen it?
I would suggest either sandwich or quart bags for more user friendly portions.
Chocolate. Avocado. Mousse. You’ll never look at avocado’s the same way again… http://sogoodandtasty.blogspot.com/2010/02/chocolate-avocado-mousse.html
Question? How do you unfreeze it? I don’t like warm avocado
Would lime work as well as lemon? (I prefer the flavor of lime over lemon plus it would work well if it’s being used for guacamole). Thanks for sharing this tip.
Lime juice works just as well. I prefer it. We lived in Peru, SA 30 years and seldom had lemons.
This seems to me like a frozen guacamole!!!
just add onion.
I’m wondering if you could initially freeze them in an ice cube tray, then once hardened transfer them to a freezer bag. That way you’d only have to thaw out what your intend to consume
I really like your idea about freezing them in ice cube tray…
Have you tried it yet?
I look forward to your reply!
Bob
How do you recommend thawing them for the best results? I’m afraid they’ll be brown and pithy.
Great Idea!
Question? How do you prefer to de-frost what you scoop from the bag? Do you let it sit until soft again? Does it get too watery? Looking forward to trying this. Thank you so much!
Great idea!
I’d always heard that avocados were poisonous to dogs. I guess Rusty either proved that wrong or had an iron stomach.
Dogs are allergic to avocados in large amounts. They contain Persin, which can be harmful. There is a lot of discussion on this though.
http://reboundhounds.blogspot.com/2009/03/avocados-poisonous-for-dogs-or.html
Thank you for this tip! I never would have thought to freeze avocado. I often misjudge how fast/slow they ripen and end up with more ripe avocados than I can eat, so I will definitely be trying this
I freeze the whole avocado with the skin on, no need for lemon/lime that way. Then defrost before cutting it open when I need to make guacamole, chocolate mouse etc.
love avocado! my mom would mash them add some sugar and milk, she would freeze it or if we wanted to eat it right away serve it with shaved ice. . ohhh sooo good. if you have an icecream maker it’s even better.
When i used to work at quizno’s they had guacamole..it came frozen so we’d always thaw it and just cut a hole in the side of the bad, it never discoloured, except at the tip if it was there for a few days. Just something to consider if you’re worried about discolouring. I love it as a chocolate pudding, you just mix mashed avocado with choco powder and chill it. It’s also good in smoothies.
I’ve never came to the idea of freezing avocados… but why not?!? It’s simply a fantastic idea!
Avocados are poisonous to dogs.
Feeding them avocados can be fatal!!!!!
http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/poison-control/people-foods.aspx
I also grew up with a HUGE avo tree beside our house in South Africa. It bore the large variety about three times the size of the Hass kind that is so popular her in Canada.
We used to give boxes away when in season since it bore sooo much fruit.
Never thought about freezing it- great idea!!
I love to combine it in salsa with mango.
I have 10 avocados on the way in the mail from my aunt in Florida. Thanks so much for this!
Mashed Avocado is a good baby food. I served my daughter mashed avocados plain or mixed with bananas. Far better then processed baby food
I add them to sour cream for our tacos! “Hides” them from the kids
What a great idea!
I like my mashed avo with salt and pepper on buttered toast!
I haven’t tried that Debbie but sounds simple and delicious! Thanks for sharing!
I like making my mashed avacado dip.
you need 4 ingredients and all you do is layer them in this order
2 Avocados(mashed)
3 Spring onions (chopped Finely)
2.5 cups of cheese
1 200mil tub of sour cream
Put mashed avocado on the plate then sprinkle chopped spring onions on top then grated cheese then spread sour cream to finish.
Its so easy and yummy!!
Avacado ice cream is wonderful. Google a recipe.
Chocolate brownies with avocado frosting. They are amazing and very healthy (for brownies). http://glutenfreevegan.me/?p=465
I think this is great idea, but I would rather freeze it in a icecube mold and than transfer it to bigger bag, This way if you just need a bit you can get only one cube if you need a lot you defrost entire bag full of cubes. (I do that with my basil pesto)
This all sounds great. I love the idea of not wasting my avocado. Just one question I haven’t seen answered here. What effect does freezing avocado have on its “nutritional benefit potency”? Thanks.
You may love this pie. I did. It tastes like key lime pie in many ways.
http://www.avocadosfrommexico.com/recipe-Sweet-Avocado-Pie.html
Avocado in berry smoothies…surprisingly creamy & delicious!!!!
or just mashed with frozen berries – soooo tasty you wouldn’t believe it!!
p.s thanks for the info – love your site!!