How Do You Choose a Good Avocado Without Bruises?

Sneak Preview: Do you know how to select a good avocado without bruises, especially from a discount grocery store? Keep reading for secrets that I hope you find helpful.

Perfectly sliced avocado-learning how to pick the right avocado at the storePin

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Sometimes, it seems like buying an avocado is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’ll get.

I used to find it impossible to bring home an avocado without dark spots and bruises under that dark, leathery coat. Talk about frustration, especially when I needed good avocados to round out the menu.


Disclaimer:  My avocado-picking secret will not work in all situations. If you need to make guacamole tonight, go to a more expensive store (with less traffic). Choose a small place where everybody has not already pressed their fingers on the delicate surface of a perfectly ripe avocado. Unfortunately, this innocent crime often leads to bruises.

Avocados without bruisesPin

There’s also no telling how often those tough-looking avocados have rolled out of the bin onto the hard cement or tiled floor and taken a few good bounces.


Avocados ripening on counter topPin

If you like to keep avocados on hand, try my secret and buy them regularly, so you’ll always have perfectly ripe, bruise-less, and ready-to-eat avocados in your fridge.


How To Choose an Avocado Without Bruises

  1. Buy your avocados at least 3-5 days before you anticipate using them.
    This will give your avocados time for the ripening process
  2. Choose the hard avocados at the store. They are often hard at discount grocery stores like Aldi, Winco, or Walmart. If they have no hard ones, I pass. Being hard naturally protects them from over-zealous shoppers/squeezers and bouncing around on the floor. How about the store clerk who dumps a few avocados left in one box on top of those in another container to save room and consolidate? Ouch, ouch, bruise, bruise.
  3. Look for dark green skin on the avocado. Generally, the skin turns black as the avocado ripens.
  4. Bring them home and store them in a bowl in plain view on your kitchen counter. That way you won’t forget about them. Then, apply slight pressure with your fingertips near the stem every day to evaluate the stage of ripeness. Compare the firmness of the avocado to applying pressure with your thumb to the palm of your hand.

    When the ripening avocados start to give a bit under gentle pressure close to the stem, move them to your fridge. Generally, they are soft enough to use in 2-3 days, but this can vary, so test each one. They will stop ripening when chilled.
  5. Once refrigerated, they are usually suitable for a week. I purchased the avocados pictured at the top of this post six days before I sliced them. I didn’t see any bad spots or bruises.

How To Choose an Avocado with the Most Flesh

round avocado split in half showing the small amount of flesh inside.Pin

Avoid round avocadoes. The seeds tend to be huge with less flesh than the pear-shaped avocados. (Thank you to one of my readers who shared this secret that he learned from a Hispanic lady searching for avocados next to him in the store.)

FAQ about Avocados

What is the best way to store half of an avocado?

I’ve tried several methods. A jar of water works best for me. Place a cut avocado half with the seed still in it inside a pint jar or container. Fill the container with water until it covers the avocado, and store it in the refrigerator. Use within 1-2 days.

When you get ready to eat it, you may observe that the very top layer of the avocado flesh seems a bit waterlogged. But when eating mashed avocado on avocado toast, for example, I don’t notice it. storing unused avocado in a jar of waterPin

How can I speed up the ripening process?

Place the avocado in a brown paper bag with an apple or banana. The ethylene gas those fruits release will encourage the avocados to ripen faster.

Occasionally, I get an avocado that won’t seem to ripen.

Oh, this is frustrating. I’m told these avocados were picked from the avocado trees too soon.

Is it safe to eat avocados with a black spot near the surface?

An isolated black spot is usually caused by a bruise, according to Healthline. Black spots throughout mean the avocado has passed its prime.

woman selecting avocados at the grocery storePin

Since I shop about once a week, I pick up several hard avocados every time I go to keep good avocados on hand.

Happy avocado-eating!


Recipes That Use Avocados

If you have questions or suggestions, email me privately for a quick answer: Paula at saladinajar.com. Hope to see you again soon! 

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6 Comments

  1. Thanks for the great tip! Makes sense!

    1. You’re welcome, Pam.

  2. Thanks for the tip, Paula. I eat avocados frequently, but had not cracked the code of buying them. This makes perfect sense. Glad to hear your eye is better. Yes, I bet that vacay at Seaside helped quite a bit!

    1. Thanks Becky! Vacations are a wonderful antidote for a lot of ailments. Right?

  3. Azalee Aldridge says:

    I have often wondered how to pick avocadoes.. thanks!!!

    1. You’re welcome, Azalee. Thanks for writing.