Taylor A. Ritz

Sometimes it seems like the window for eating an avocado is incredibly small. We wait around for our avocados to ripen only to find that in a few short days the inside has turned soft and brown. Though these overripe avocados may not be aesthetically pleasing, they can still be useful. Note that though we want to avoid food waste, if your avocado smells bad or has mold growing inside it, it needs to be thrown away.

Here are a few ways to salvage an overripe avocado.

 1. Substitute For Butter When Baking

Avocado is a healthy substitute for butter in baking recipes. Though technically you can make a 1 to 1 substitution of avocados for butter, avocados do not melt the same way butter does, so many bakers recommend either increasing other wet ingredients in the recipe or simply substitute avocados for half the butter. Either way, you’re left with a recipe that has more good fats and nutritional value and you didn’t have to throw away your overripe avocado.

2. Food Recipes

The list of food recipes that include or are enhanced by avocados is immense. Any food recipe calling for mashed or blended avocado can still benefit from an avocado that has turned slightly brown. A few examples of recipes for which you can use an overripe avocado include:

Spice up your scrambled eggs

When scrambling eggs, mash or blend avocado into the mixture before cooking. In addition to the nutritional benefits avocados provide, this will add an extra-fluffy texture to your morning meal.

Salad Dressing

Avocado dressing is insanely easy to make and takes virtually no time at all. A few do-it-yourself avocado recipes can be found here.

Smoothies

Smoothies are already well-known for and associated with healthy eating and avocados are a nutritional superfruit. Marrying the two together is a no-brainer, and an overripe avocado is even easier to blend. Here are a few recipe ideas for smoothies made with avocado.

3. Avocado Margarita

Simply add a little booze to mashed up avocado, even if it’s overripe, for a delicious avocado margarita. Find the recipe here.

4. Hair and Skin Care

Overripe avocados can pair perfectly well with do-it-yourself hair and skincare recipes.

Body Scrub

Mixing an overripe avocado with a little oatmeal and a few drops of essential oil makes a great body scrub. While the oatmeal acts as an exfoliant to remove dead skin, the avocado provides moisturization. The essential oil simply provides a nice smell.

Hair and Face Masks

Like a body scrub, hair and face masks made with avocados provide ample amounts of moisturization. The healthy fats in avocados make hair and skin cells look and feel softer and smoother.

Soap

Another do-it-yourself skincare item you can make with an overripe avocado is soap. Not only is avocado soap great for your skin, but making your own soap bar also cuts down on waste from the plastic packaging that buying soap products produces.

5. Grow an Avocado Tree

Whether your avocado is simply overripe or even inedible, as long as the seed is salvagable you can grow your very own avocado tree.

Don’t Throw Your Overripe Avocados Away

If you discover your avocado is too brown for an Instagram-worthy avocado toast, don’t throw it away. There are countless uses for an avocado that’s no longer picture-perfect. Not only will you keep more garbage from entering our wast system, but you’ll also save money by not wasting the avocados you purchased.

Do you have any other uses for an overripe avocado not listed here? Let us know!