Your Ultimate Guide For Picking The Tastiest Fruits and Vegetables
Hey guys!
Does anyone else spend wayyyy too much time trying to pick the best produce at the grocery store?! And it’s THE WORST when you take a bite of what looks like a juicy watermelon and it has no flavor…or you cut into an avocado to find it’s either brown and gross or underripe and impossible to smash for your avo toast.
You don’t have to rely on luck to pick the best and most delicious produce! With a few tips, you can pick the best fruits and veggies every single time you shop. Checking for a few small things can seriously up your produce game and even make your recipes taste better. Fresh, quality produce gives you the best nutrition too!
I put together an all-inclusive guide for picking and storing produce, and for knowing when it’s probably time to toss it.
Veggies
Asparagus: This is a tough one! You want the ones that are bright and firm. No flimsy asparagus stalks. Try to buy a bunch that are around the same size so they cook evenly. Store asparagus in a cup or jar with a couple inches of water. When you’re ready to cook, just break or cut off the purple woody ends. Once they get floppy and limp, they’re no good.
Avocado: Ahhh you know it’s a good day when you slice open a PERFECT avocado. The trick is figuring out how to make this happen alllll the time! So here’s what you do. Find the ones that are slightly soft unless you want to ripen them at home. Avoid the ones that are like rocks! You can also pull back the little circle where the stem was to make sure the inside is green and not brown.
*If you want to keep an avocado you’ve already sliced into, just soak it cut side down in some cold water or squeeze some lemon/lime juice on it! No icky brown avocado the next day! YAY.
Beets: Look at the stem and root. If they look pretty fresh and the actual beet is firm, it’s probably good to go. Skip the ones that have wilted leaves or hairy roots. Once you wash them, you can store beets in the fridge for up to a couple weeks! Don’t forget you can use the greens on beets too!
Eggplant: A perfectly ripe eggplant will be shiny and will give a little when you press into it. But it won’t be so soft that the area you touch stays indented! Some eggplants in grocery stores are HUGE, but picking the smaller one will give you less seeds and they usually taste better.
Peppers: Pick the firm, shiny and heavy ones! Definitely go for peppers when they’re in season. If you cut into the pepper and find black seeds, don’t worry! It’s still safe to eat. Just avoid the ones that have full-on fuzzy mold on/in them.
Potatoes: You want any kind of potato you get to be firm and smooth. Avoid buying any potatoes with bruises or sprouts. If you cut into the potato and find a brown spot, just cut around it and throw that part away.
Have you heard that sprouted potatoes are poisonous?! I’m sure plenty of people just cut away the sprouts and cook them and they’re fine, but this is a real thing! The sprouts produce a toxic compound called glycoalkaloids. Eating too much of this can make you pretty sick. Green spots on a sprouted potato is another indicator that glycoalkaloids are starting to develop. It’s probably best to avoid eating potatoes with sprouts.
Spaghetti Squash: Grab a nice, round firm squash free of any soft spots or cracks. You can store a good spaghetti squash in a cool, dry space for up to a month! However, once it starts to go bad, the seeds inside might actually sprout. If you see sprouts, it might be safe to eat, but it probably won’t taste great.
Summer Squash: Like zucchini and yellow squash! You want these to be firm, shiny, and just pretty (meaning, no blemishes). Once these get wrinkly and soft, toss ’em.
Tomatoes: Find some firm, shiny tomatoes with good color and then smell them! Ripe tomatoes will smell earthy and fragrant. Don’t get any with wrinkled skin, and DON’T store tomatoes in the fridge!
Fruits
Apples: In most places, apples are in season in the fall. But you can store them in the fridge for several weeks! The best-tasting apples will be heavy and firm, and naturally shiny. Also look for an even, deep color (little to no green or yellow on a red apple). It also helps to learn a little about different types of apples to pick the best one for your taste or whatever recipe you’re making!
Apricots: You want these to be a little soft but definitely not mushy. They should smell slightly sweet too.
Blueberries: Blueberries can be realllllly hit or miss. Definitely buy frozen when they’re not in season to save money and avoid flavorless berries. When they’re in season for the summer, pick the firm, dry ones with a nice deep blue color. Grab a container that doesn’t have any smashed or moldy ones in it.
Cantaloupe: Skip the green ones and go for a nice cream or slightly yellow color. Bruises are a no-go too. Ripe cantaloupe will smell a little sweet.
Cherries: Shiny, deep-colored cherries with their stem still intact are best and last the longest. Cherries grow until they’re fully ripe, which means the more plump the better 🙂 Sweet cherries are best for snacking, while tart cherries are best in baked goods or jams/jellies.
Grapefruit: Look for a heavy grapefruit that is slightly soft. The skin should be smooth and on the thin side.
Kiwi: Look for the happy medium between rock hard and mushy for the best kiwi. And yes, you can eat the skin!
Mango: You don’t really have to pay attention to color for mangoes! A good one will be slightly soft and fragrant.
Peaches: Use your hands and nose to pick a good peach. The perfect peach will be slightly soft (not mushy!) and smell sweet. You also want them to have nice, deep color with no green left on the skin.
Pears: Perfectly ripe pears will be juuuuust starting to get soft at the base of the stem. Avoid pears that have bruises. A lot of pears at the store won’t be ripe quite yet, but you can ripen them at room temp or in a paper bag.
Pineapple: If it feels heavy, looks fresh, and smells sweet, grab it. You can usually smell a pineapple’s sweetness right off the bat! If it is more yellow, it will riper.
Strawberries: These seem pretty self-explanatory since it’s pretty easy to find the ones that aren’t mushy or moldy. But the key to the juiciest, sweetest strawberries is to pick the beautiful red, small berries that are in season. Those giant ones at the grocery store pretty much always lack flavor.
Watermelon: A ripe watermelon will have a nice yellow spot on one side that shows where it sat long enough to get nice and sweet. Pick one that is heavy for its size and sounds hollow when you tap it. This means there’s a lot of juiciness waiting in there for you!
Any fruits or vegetables I missed? What are your fun ways to test when things are ripe?!
18 thoughts on “Your Ultimate Guide For Picking The Tastiest Fruits and Vegetables”
There are 18 comments posted by our users.
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Tomatoes are fruits not veggies
Do you snack on them like cherries and berries and do tomatoe compote on your toast and do you slice them up and eat them in a bowl of yogourt? Technically speaking tomatoes are fruits but let’s be real they are considered by far veggies.
Why shouldn’t I store tomatoes in the fridge? I like them cold lol
It’s because they will loose their good taste. 🙂
How about onions? Some of the best ones are also the ones that make my eyes sting the most, but sometimes I open it and half the onion is rotten— despite no obvious external blemishes. I’m not sure what to think anymore when I’m picking out onions, especially yellow ones.
I understand that you wouldn’t recommend something that COULD be unhealthy if you ate an enormous ammount of it. But keep in mind that only buying fruits and veggies that look perfect, really add to the first world waste problem. If you would just slice off the spot on your mango, or cut off the imperfect parts of your potatoes, you end up throwing away little bits and pieces. If you advocate(o) for only buying perfect stuff, I (work on the veggie-market) need to throw away the whole mango/potato etc. at the end of the day.
What about drangonfruit? I love getting it because it can be used so many ways, but it is SUCH a hit or miss on if it is good or not. Any suggestions?
I also like Banana a little more on the green side :3 Although mushy bananas are great in pancakes/ banana bread. Freezing bananas once they start to ripen make them perfect for smoothies!!
What can I do to loose weight because I am only 13 years old, and my parents tells me to eat and I don’t need to do exercises but I feel unconfident with my body what can I do to start?
Hey! I just turned 17 yesterday and well, at that age I was pretty unconfident too. It’s an awkward times for our bodies… But! My advice would be to be mindful of what you eat. Less processed food like chips, cookies, fast food, frozen meals, and etc. Home made fresh, whole foods is important. Along with having a colorful plate! (a balanced one. Your grains, protein, fruit, veggies, dairy, etc.) For exercise, don’t overdo it of course, but you can always follow Cassie’s 28- DAY Beginner’s calendar. Your workouts don’t have to be extreme, working out should make you happy and feel confident 🙂 Maybe focus on core and cardio if you’re trying to lose body fat and stuff. But, just go with what feels good!
You should continue to eat, and just make sure to stay healthy. However, you should definitely start to work out. Cardio workouts will do you good since they tend to burn more calories.
If your strawberries don’t have much flavour, grind some pepper on them and leave them to sit for a few hours. You don’t have to shake/wash the pepper off, eat as is and they will taste lovely.
What about bananas?
I remember when I used to buy watermelons I like tapping on them and listening to the bouncy for texture as a sound back as to whether or not it was a good one or not! The bouncy are the sound is when you tap it, the better 🙂
A lot of people like yellow bananas, but I prefer them when they still are slightly green. They’re less mushy and taste fresher, but that’s just my opinion
It’s such a first world problem… But man… there’s nothing more disappointing than being really looking forward to some smashed avocado, only to find that your avocado is too hard and un-smashable. Haha! Great guide Cassey! Thank you 🙂 Xx
Heya.
In order to buy fruit and vegetables this is a list of tried and tested ideas. First of all you can find lots of cheap fruit and vegetables at a farm shop in question here. Alternatively you can buy fresh tomatoes at a local pick your own farm too. Best wishes. You can get a nice subscription box of tasty fruit and veg as well these days. And you can buy fruit and veg at a weekly classic farming market in addition. You can also get fruit and vegetables at a outdoor allotment. Visit horticulture shows. Perhaps they can assist you with your search.
Other places to try your luck at include a country show and from a newsagent. They often stock fruit. If you visit a wholesaler they may sell fruit in any case. I know and recommend contacting shops in advance to inquire. Many different shops will happily sell all kinds of vegetables and fruit. Failing that try friends and relatives. Often times a garden centre has access to a variety of fruit and vegetables. I would typically begin there. Maybe also see if your friends and relatives can provide you with delicious fruit and veg.