Avocados have become incredibly popular over the last few years and it’s no real surprise why! Not only do they taste incredibly creamy, but they are also filled with health benefits, including being jam-packed with all the vitamins the body needs.
If you’ve never tried an avocado before then you are in luck! We’re going to tell you exactly how an avocado tastes, as well as some other important things you need to know about this delicious food! So let’s get started.
What Is An Avocado?
So before we even get into how avocados taste, do you know what an avocado actually is? When you first see one, you might think it’s a vegetable, but it’s actually a fruit!
It’s usually used in savory dishes, but lots of people enjoy just eating it as it comes.
Avocados grow on avocado trees that you will find in warmer climates. One of the most well-known places they grow is actually Mexico.
If you are wondering what an avocado looks like, they can be easily identified by their oval ballon-like shape and their peel that is dark-colored.
Cutting open an avocado will reveal a soft yellow-green center and a large, hard seed that is called the avocado pit. You can’t eat the seed, but you can use it to grow your own avocado!
This fruit (see also ‘What Does Dragon Fruit Taste Like?‘) is enjoyed in multiple dishes and different formats, with one of the most popular being guacamole.
What Does Avocado Taste Like?
So, now you know what an avocado is, what exactly does it taste like? Even though it’s a fruit, it’s not really sweet. It’s definitely more on the savory side.
The yellow-green flesh on the inside of the avocado is the part that you can eat. As soon as you bite into it, you’ll notice that it’s incredibly soft and rich in flavor.
Lots of people agree that avocado has a buttery consistency, and it really does melt in your mouth.
Although the avocado is savory in nature because it is a fruit, it does have underlying sweet notes that give it its extra appeal.
Different types of avocados have different levels of sweetness, so some types that you have won’t have any sweet notes at all!
If you wanted to sum up how avocado tastes in two words, they would be “smooth and creamy”. This is one of many reasons why avocados work so well in so many other dishes.
When it comes to an actual flavor though, avocado is quite mild. It’s more the texture that you’ll notice rather than the taste.
What Does Guacamole Taste Like?
Avocados can be enjoyed in so many different ways, but one of the most popular is in the form of guacamole.
Guacamole is basically an avocado dip, but it also includes other ingredients such as onion, tomatoes, cilantro, jalapeno pepper, lime juice, garlic, and salt.
It’s traditionally used in Mexican cuisine, but you can enjoy it with whatever you want! Guacamole is spreadable and works really well with a number of other foods.
It tastes a lot like avocado, but the inclusion of the other ingredients gives it a stronger flavor. If you choose to include spicer ingredients like jalapeno, the flavor will be brought out even more.
Some of the ways you can enjoy guacamole include burgers, tacos, as a dip for nachos, and quesadillas. You can mix it up and add guacamole to whatever you think will work!
Can You Freeze Guacamole?
Guacamole can be a delightful addition to many dishes, but if you’ve made too much and are wondering if you can freeze it for later use, the answer is yes, you can freeze guacamole!
How To Tell If An Avocado Is Ripe
The best time to truly experience the wonders of the avocado is to wait for it to be ripe. But if you have never had avocado before, it can be a little difficult to tell when it’s actually ripe. Luckily, there are a couple of ways you can tell.
The easiest and most obvious way to tell if an avocado is ripe is to look at the peel and see what color it is. If the peel of the avocado is a deep, dark purple, this means that the avocado is ripe.
Before this, the peel is a green color. The darker the purple, the more ripe the avocado is.
It should be noted though that because there are many variations of avocado, there are some species that never turn purple, but rather, they stay green throughout their entire life cycle.
You can search online to see when your avocado is ripe if this is the case.
The other way to tell if an avocado is ripe is to gently press on them. If they yield to the pressure, this means they are ripe and ready to eat. If they don’t yield, then they are not yet ripe.
How To Tell If An Avocado Has Gone Bad
Now you know how to tell if your avocado is ripe, it’s best for you to know when it’s gone bad too.
The biggest sign that an avocado has gone bad is by applying pressure to the avocado. If you apply the pressure and it dents easily and feels mushy, then there is a good chance your avocado has gone bad.
The other obvious way to work out if your avocado has gone bad is to cut into it. If the flesh has turned dark brown in any way, this is a telltale sign that the avocado is no longer fresh.
Sometimes the flesh will also have an “off” smell about it and will taste wrong. It can be stringy in texture too. All of these are signs that the avocado is no longer good to eat.
If you notice any of these things in your avocado, then discard it immediately. If you eat an avocado that has gone bad, there is a very high chance that you will get sick from it.
Health Benefits Of An Avacado
As we have previously mentioned, there are lots of health benefits that avocados will provide for you.
Along with being packed with lots of different vitamins, there are plenty of other reasons you should include avocados in your diet. Some of the health benefits of an avocado include:
Heart Health
Avocados are very high in fat, with 60% of this fat being monounsaturated fats, which have been suggested by researchers to help with protecting the body against heart disease and lowering blood pressure.
On top of this, avocados are filled with potassium, folate, and fiber, which also help with the heart and cardiovascular system.
Rich In Nutrition
Avocados are a nutrient-dense food, with only half of the fruit counting towards your five a day.
As previously mentioned, avocados are full of monounsaturated fat, but they also have a lot of vitamin E, both of which are great sources of folate.
If you are looking for a food source that is filled with iron, copper, and potassium, then this is a great food for you to incorporate into your regular meal plans.
Other nutritional benefits of avocados include vitamins C, K, and B6, riboflavin, niacin, folate, pantothenic acid, magnesium, and potassium.
Good For Vision
If you want to improve your eyesight, it might surprise you to know that avocados actually improve your vision. They contain lutein and zeaxanthin, both of which are phytochemicals that are found in your eye tissue.
These phytochemicals actually provide antioxidant protection to your eyes and also help to minimize any damage to them from UV light.
Good For Pregancies
If you are currently expecting, or you love avocados so much that you don’t want to give them up during pregnancy, then you’re in luck!
Folate is very important for fetuses during pregnancy, and it just so happens that avocados are filled with folate.
When you consume folate regularly during pregnancy, it actually reduces the risk of miscarriages and neural tube abnormalities. There is roughly 160 mcg of folate in one avocado.
When you are pregnant, it is advised that you consume about 600 mcg every day.
Helps Reduce Depression
Going a little bit more into folate, not only does it help during pregnancy, but it’s also great for reducing the risk of depression too.
Folate actually helps to prevent the build-up of homocysteine, which is a substance that can impair rculation and delivery of nutrients to the brain. It is widely believed that homocysteine build-up is liked to depression.
Other things that homocysteine has been linked to include cognitive dysfunction, depression, and the production of serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine, which regulate mood, sleep, and appetite, so if you’re regularly eating avocado, it can drastically help with these issues.
Conclusion
Avocado is one of those foods that not only taste great in a meal but it’s also filled with lots of amazing health benefits that will drastically improve your overall wellbeing.
The creamy and soft texture of the avocado is hard to pass up, and it’s even harder to say no when it’s mashed down to make some delicious guacamole!
If you’ve never tried an avocado before, this is your sign to try it! You’ll be pleasantly surprised by how wonderful it tastes!
Cooking is great for your mental, physical, and emotional health. What’s the worst that could happen? Find a recipe that you like the sound of and cook it along with me. You might even unlock a new passion!
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