The Only Way To Ripen Avocados Fast, According to a Food Editor

A perfectly ripe avocado is a thing of beauty. Vivid green, ultra creamy, and rich, the fruit has so many appealing uses. Whether I'm whipping up some guacamole or planning to top my toast or sandwich, I like knowing I have ripe avocados at the ready. 

Because I eat them often, I've tried a few different ways of getting avocados to ripen at a pace that works with my timeline. My favorite method speeds up the ripening time so I can have avocados at different stages of ripeness on deck for meals and recipes.

My Favorite Way to Ripen Avocados

Occasionally I’ll find ripe avocados at the store that are ready to use right away, but that is a rare treat. If the avocados I buy are still hard, I set them on a windowsill or other sunny area of the kitchen. The warmth speeds up the ripening process in a very natural way, yielding an avocado with excellent flavor and texture. Depending on how unripe the avocado is to begin with, this method ripens an avocado in two to five days. I check on them daily to ensure I use them at their peak and they don’t become over-ripe.

One bonus of leaving avocados out like this is that I can quickly and easily check the ripeness of the avocado throughout the process without having to retrieve it from a paper bag, which is another common method to speed up ripening.

How To Spot a Ripe Avocado

There are a few different methods for determining an avocado’s ripeness: skin color and texture, the stem, and the fruit’s firmness. 

Skin color and texture: This method works best for Hass avocados, a popular variety in grocery stores. Their skin turns from green to dark and bumpy as it ripens.

Stem: One method for judging ripeness that works for all varieties of avocados is examining the stubby stem. If you have a ripe avocado, you will be able to easily remove the stem and peek underneath. The exposed flesh should be bright green or yellow. If the stem is difficult to remove, the avocado is not yet ripe.

Firmness: One of the best known and most reliable methods for checking an avocado’s ripeness is to give it a squeeze. Gently grip the fruit and place your thumb at the top near the stem. Gently press. The avocado should give under pressure, indicating the interior is ripe. 

If the avocado is hard, then it is not yet ripe. If the avocado is easy to squeeze and your thumb leaves behind an indentation, then it is over-ripe. An over-ripe avocado tends to have watery flesh and more brown spots than a ripe avocado.

Another Method To Speed Up Ripening

Avocados release ethylene as they ripen, and that trait is the basis for another ripening method I've tried. The logic behind placing them in a closed brown paper bag is that it traps the ethylene, which concentrates its effects and helps speed up ripening. Apples and bananas also release ethylene, so tossing one into a brown paper bag with an avocado means even more ripeness-inducing gas. 

But when I tried this method myself, I didn't find a significant time difference in simply using a brown paper bag and adding an apple or banana. It can’t hurt, though. This method yielded a ripe avocado in two to four days. I found avocados ripened this way were not quite as flavorful and creamy as an avocado I left to ripen on its own, but the difference was minimal.

Not Recommended: Oven or Microwave

You may have seen an avocado hack going around that claims you can ripen an avocado in mere minutes with the help of your oven or microwave. If this seems too good to be true, that’s because it is. While the avocado eventually softened when I tried this trick, it doesn’t ripen, and it didn't have the creamy texture and rich, nutty flavor that I love.

What About Avocados That Ripen Before You Need Them?

If you’re not ready to use your avocado once it has reached peak ripeness, move it from the counter to the fridge. The cold environment helps temporarily hold it at its peak. Stored whole, ripe avocados will keep for two or three days in the crisper drawer.