I Just Learned My Favorite Way to Keep a Cut Avocado from Browning (It’s Better Than Any Other Hack!)

First, let us be clear: There’s nothing wrong with a brown avocado. Avocados that are browned in spots are simply oxidized; the oxygen in the air causes the enzyme in the homemade guacamole to turn from green to brown. It’s still safe to eat, but let’s be honest — it’s not the most pleasant to look at. Who wants to eat brown guacamole, right? And yet, sometimes when you cut open an avocado, you don’t plan on using the entire thing. So what are you supposed to do to prevent the other half from browning in the fridge? The solution is simple: Grab a lemon.

Here’s what you do: Squeeze half of a lemon into a small bowl, or pour some lemon juice from a bottle into a bowl instead. Using a pastry brush, brush the green flesh of the inside of the avocado with the lemon juice. Then cover the entire half (still in the skin!) tightly with plastic wrap and place it back in the fridge. Depending on the level of ripeness, that avocado will stay green from anywhere between one and three days before it starts to oxidize, depending on the ripeness. The acidic juice in the lemon will slow down the oxidation process by lowering the pH level of the avocado and decreasing the enzyme activity.

Another trick to keep in mind is to leave in the seed of the avocado. When cutting your avocado in half, use the half that doesn’t have the seed, and wrap the other. The seed will protect the avocado surrounding it because it isn’t exposed to oxygen. Hence why you need to wrap the avocado tightly; the less oxygen it’s exposed to, the longer it will stay green.

So what do you do with that other half of avocado? While guacamole is always a great answer, you could also use that avocado in a variety of recipes, like this herbed cheese and avocado flatbread, this avocado corn salad, this fried avocado bánh mì sandwich, or even these avocado brownies.