Avocado Oil Is The Smartest Way To Keep Cut Avocados Tasting Fresh

We're always on the hunt to figure out how to keep our avocados from turning brown. It's not that brown avocado flesh is bad, per se — it may look a little unappealing, but the coffee-colored fruit is still safe to eat. But we eat with our eyes first, as the saying goes, so whether you're serving avocados to a crowd or just digging in yourself, you'll probably want to preserve their mellow green color.

You can try using olive oil, lemon juice, lime juice, sour cream, and more on avocados and guacamole, and there are strategic ways to store an uneaten half to prevent browning; we tested five of them ourselves. And yet, the easiest and quickest method may come from the avocado itself — or avocado oil, more specifically. You may already have the oil on hand, which is useful for cooking at high smoke points or if you want a relatively flavorless, nutritious fat in your dishes. But avocado oil can also be a secret weapon when it comes to keeping your avocados bright and green.

Not only is using avocado oil one of the easiest ways to keep your avocados fresh, but it also may be the most effective. Here's what you'll want to do: Coat a kitchen brush in the oil, then spread it on the exposed fruit flesh, and store the avocado in a sealed plastic bag or plastic container in the fridge. If you have avocado oil spray instead of a pourable bottle, you can simply spray the green part too — just make sure the entire surface is coated.

This tip can work with any type of oil you have on hand — olive or vegetable too. The oil creates a protective layer between the fruit and the air, which prevents the green flesh from oxidizing and turning brown. But we like avocado oil for consistency and flavor reasons. Not only are you simply rubbing the fruit with its own juices, but you aren't altering the flavor of the avocado at all. Olive oil, lemon juice, lime juice, sour cream, and any other ingredient-based hack out there will add fruitiness, tang, or another taste adjustment to your fruit — which may be beneficial if you're making something in line with those flavors, such as guacamole. But if you'd prefer your avocados to taste like, well, avocado, stick with their own oil to keep them feeling fresh.