How To Eat Avocado Pits or Use Them

Ever wondered if there are other uses for avocado pits besides trying to sprout them? Here are some ideas, including ways to eat avocado pits!

Do you eat avocado pits? Turns out they’re very good for you and useful around the house, too!

What to Do with Avocado Pits

Avocado Uses Around the World

Most of us know avocados are the basis for guacamole, but few people realize avocados actually date back to 10,000 BCE where they’ve been traced to the state of Puebla, Mexico. Avocados grow well in tropical and Mediterranean climates, so it’s not surprising to find them used in cuisines throughout the world. What is surprising is how versatile these delicious fruits are.

Although treated primarily as an addition to savory foods in the Americas, avocados have sweeter uses elsewhere in the world. In Southeast Asia, avocados are enjoyed in milkshakes, ice cream, and other desserts. Moroccans and Ethiopians blend avocado with milk and sugars for a sweet beverage, while in Brazil they’re often eaten mashed with lime and sugar.

In the United States, Persea americana (the avocado), is so frequently associated with California that “California-style” means that avocado has been added. Want to see the price of your cheese omelet double? Ask for it “California-style”. The same goes for burgers, Eggs Benedict, grilled cheese sandwiches… and then there’s the California sushi roll which allows people who don’t like raw fish to enjoy sushi.

Avocado Pits are a Health Food?

With avocados being eaten all over the world in a variety of cuisines, it’s not surprising that scientists have started looking into the properties of their seeds.

What they’ve found is that extracts from avocado pits are anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal. They’re also full of antioxidants and soluble fiber that lowers cholesterol.

In other words, that slimy brown avocado seed we’ve all been throwing out is actually a nutritional powerhouse if you know how to make use of it.

How To Eat Avocado Pits

1. Chop it up

If you’ve ever eaten an avocado then you know you can’t just bite into the pit. If you want to use the pit straight from the fruit you’ll need a blender or food processor. You don’t want to put the whole pit in, though.

Instead, carefully cut it into quarters with a sharp kitchen knife then blend or process it until it’s pulverized.

2. Or Dry and Powder It

Wash the pits and pat them dry, then put them on a sunny windowsill to sit for several days. (You can speed this up by cutting them into 1/4″ slices and baking them on a cookie sheet at 180°F/83°C until they’re fully dried out.)

Transfer the dried pits to a thick plastic bag and crush them into smaller pieces with a hammer or rolling pin, then process them in a blender or food processor to fully powder them.

3. Sprinkle or Stir Avocado Pits Into

• Smoothies
• Salads and salad dressings
• Baked goods
• Soups, sauces, and stews
• Oatmeal, quinoa and grain dishes
• Avocado pit tea
• or anywhere else you’d add nuts or seeds.

Other Uses for Avocado Pits

Even if you don’t want to eat avocado pits, there are plenty of ways to use them around the house.

Grow An Avocado Tree

Poke four toothpicks into the widest part of the seed and using these to suspend it over a glass of water.

Make sure the pit’s fat end is immersed at least 1 inch in water and refill it as needed. In 3 weeks or so it will start to sprout.

Make a Wind Chime

Screw an eye hook in the fat end of a dried seed. Repeat with several seeds and hang them from the edges of an embroidery circle suspended from a larger hook.

The seeds will make an interesting woodblock sound when they tap each other.

Make Beauty Products

Make an excellent exfoliant for rough skin by pulverizing the seed into granules and mixing these with olive or coconut oil. Apply in the shower, rubbing in a circular motion, then rinse.

You can also make a moisturizing face mask by mashing together half of the avocado, 2 tablespoons of honey, and the pulverized avocado pit. Apply to face and let sit for 10 minutes, then scrub with warm water to exfoliate before rinsing.

Decorate Stuff

Turning avocado pits into jewelry is a particularly fun craft for kids.

You can even use avocado pits to dye fabric a lovely shade of pink.