6 Hour Pickled Avocados

Intro: 6 Hour Pickled Avocados

A quick and simple way to pickle and preserve your ripe avocados at home.

Avocados just might be a wonder fruit. They complement just about every meal they accompany from salads and tacos to eggs and toast, and they've become more prevalent as bases for things like mousse or ice cream lately. I was recently lucky enough to find myself the owner of ten perfectly ripe avocados, and not enough time to eat them all. I began looking for other ways to use the avocados before they became overripe. With 10 sitting on my hands it seemed like the perfect time to experiment with preservation or life prolonging techniques for those avocados and still have a few fresh ones to accompany every meal and snack. I chose to tackle pickling first, after all we pickle everything else from cucumbers to watermelon, why not avocado?

I decided to go with a quick pickle with the hopes of preserving the ripe avocado's consistency as well as a quick result that I could enjoy in the immediate future. These little chunks of pickled avocados are delicious, and make a great addition to rice bowls, toast, and cheese and crackers. Enjoy!

STEP 1: Ingredients

Gather the following ingredients:

• 1 Cup White Vinegar
• 1 Cup Water
• 4 Avocados
• 1 Tablespoon Red Pepper
• 1 Tablespoon Rainbow Peppercorns
• 2 Teaspoons Pickling Salt

Gather the following materials:

• Mason Jar for Storage

*Note: You could also add other spices or flavors like lemon, juniper berries, or bay leaf to your pickle brine if you'd like. I chose to keep it simple for this first avocado pickling.

STEP 2: Find Ripe Avocados

For this Instructable you'll want ripe avocados on the firm side so that they hold their consistency when you pickle them.

I have found that you can identify a ripe avocado easily by simply checking under the stem. To do this, hold the avocado in your hand and place your thumb on the stem. Roll your thumb against the stem until it rolls out of the avocado. If the stem separates from the avocado easily and leaves a bright green patch of flesh underneath, you've found the perfect avocado.

Conversely, if your stem does not roll away from your fruit, the avocado is not ready. If it rolls away and the avocado flesh that is exposed is brown, your avocado is over ripe, mushy and not ideal for pickling.

STEP 3: Brine

Let's start by making your brine. This way, your brine can cool while you prepare your avocados for pickling. Place 1 cup of vinegar with 1 cup of water in a nonreactive pot on your stove. Add 2 teaspoons of salt and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the salt. Once boiling, reduce to a simmer until all of the salt has dissolved. Remove your pot from the heat and allow to cool.

STEP 4: Halve Your Avocados

Using a sharp knife, cut your avocados in half lengthwise by rotating the knife around the avocado. Once halved, separate the avocado halves by placing a hand on each half and rotate, twisting your hands in opposite directions.

STEP 5: Remove the Pit

To remove the pit of the avocado, hold the avocado half in your non-dominant hand. With your dominant hand, carefully whack your knife into the pit until it sticks firmly. Keeping the knife firmly stuck into the pit, twist the knife until the pit rotates and comes loosely away from the fruit.

The avocado pit should now be stuck to the blade of your knife. To safely remove the knife from the pit, place your fingers against the pit from the back of the blade. This way when you apply force to remove the pit from the blade you are working in a direction with the blade, not against it. Apply force to the back of the pit, until it releases from the knife blade.

STEP 6: Peel Your Avocados

Gently pry away the skin from your avocado fruit using your fingers. The skin will come off in pieces but that is okay, keeping the fruit whole is more important.

You can also use a spoon along the inside of the avocado fruit to loosen it from the skin, but I have found that a little patience and peeling leads to a better end result.

STEP 7: Slice

Place your avocado halves, cut side down on your cutting board. Cut slivers lengthwise and then cut your avocado into cubes by slicing your slivers crosswise. You should finish with a bunch of avocado cubes.

STEP 8: Jarring

Start your jarring process with a clean mason jar. If it is not clean and clear of impurities, boil your jar in water for a minimum of 10 minutes and allow to dry.

With your clean mason jar, add your tablespoon of red pepper flakes as well as your tablespoon of peppercorns. Add your sliced/cubed avocado until it's about an inch below the jar opening.

STEP 9: Add Your Brine

By now, your brine should have cooled and it is safe to add to your avocados. Pour carefully and slowly, taking care to completely cover your avocados with the brine. This will start the pickling process. Place your lid on your jar and store in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours. The longer you store your avocados, the more pickle like they will become, but this is a quick pickle, and your avocados will be done after 6 hours.

Continue to store your pickled avocados in the refrigerator when you aren't currently enjoying them.

STEP 10: Enjoy

You're done! Your pickles have a shelf life of roughly a week--thats the longest they've lasted with me.

Enjoy your pickled avocados. I enjoy putting them on top of kale salads, over rice, or with cheese and crackers.

Comments

[Nadia Rising]

How long are these good for?

[syncsolis]

read the bottom of the recipe

[pattiemelt]

Wonderful idea. I love avocados but never thought of pickling them so I HAVE to try this.

One thought on removing the pit. Instead of 'whacking' it with a knife, I just hold the half with the pit in the palm of my hand (pit side up, of course) and stick the point of a sharp paring knife in to the 'tip' of the pit. Then just lift the knife tip of up & the pit comes right out. No muss, no fuss, no cut fingers! Sometimes you may have to rock the pit back & forth a couple of times to work it loose, depending on how ripe the 'cado is, but it's still simple & safer than whacking.

[DASAUSS MASTA]

I love this, I will make sure to try. I love AVOCADO!!!!

[EulogioE]

you don't need to take the pit with a knife. you can cut the avocado in four parts so that when you split them it will be easier to take the pit and peel from tip to tip without breaking the skin.

[aaevan]

I was just going to suggest the same thing! Definitely my favorite way to prep avocados. Way better than trying to spoon it out: this way only takes the skin.

If you want to peel the avocado when it's a little less ripe (with more tear-able skin), sixths might work a bit better because you're pulling the skin over a less sharp curvature.

[EulogioE]

ah, yes of course but some people are a bit reluctant to have their fingers closer to the blade, hahaha

[HoboTeaParty]

When you say "Continue to store your pickled avocados in the refrigerator when you aren't currently enjoying them." do you mean in the same mason jar you pickled them in or a separate container?

[kelleymarie]

I just meant that you should store your pickled avocados in the fridge. You can keep them in the jar you pickled.

[mhfleenor]

No, no, no. Don't hold the avocado in your hand when you whack the pit with a knife. Lay it on a dish towel or something else. Justification for not holding the avocado when you whack it with a knife should not be required.

[mhfleenor]

For those who have whacked a handheld avocado, without injury, I'm glad for you.

Thanks, kelleymarie for the recipe and 'ible. I didn't mean to detract. Thanks for taking time to share.

[kelleymarie]

Mhfleenor,

Thanks for the input. Safety is always important. The dishtowel idea is a wonderful idea as well, I'll have to try it. I usually don't "whack" the avocado with too much force, but those could also be my famous last words.

[mwbrady68]

This device actually works very well for removing the pit:
OXO Good Grips 3-in-1 Avocado Slicer

http://amzn.com/B0088LR592

[rsfluffy]

I've quartered the fruit and removed the seed intact and without injury.

[dscarla]

excellent idea, wish I could claim I had thought of it independently! I often have more avocados and I can use before they go "off." Meanwhile, the admonition against whacking the pit with a knife for removal while is in your other hand, is clearly well taken, if you are accident prone. Personally, I do it just like that, and I've never, ever had an incident. I have cut myself many times with a chefs knife in other endeavors though.

[GG56]

Are you using table salt and not pickling salt?

[kelleymarie]

Hi GG56,

I did use pickling salt! Sorry I was not more specific in the Instructable. It has been changed now. Thank you!

[suncoaster2]

I've found that a nicely ripened Avocado is one that you can peel easily by simply gripping each half of the fruit's skin at the stem end and pulling toward the other end. If it should come off in one piece and wind up inside out. If it tears in the process, it's a little unripe. If not, it's just right.

[Bittermann]

That's pretty neat. Thank you for the information.

[rafununu]

I cut before peeling, as for a mango,I think this way peeling is easier .

Great instructable, thanks.