You spent 20 minutes sifting through loads of produce and walked away with perfectly delicious gems. Don’t let your prizes spoil: read these pro tips on storing the most popular fruits and vegetables so you can enjoy them when you want to.
Vegetables
- Tomatoes – Always keep at room temperature.
- Cucumbers – If you need to keep these fresh for more than a day or two after buying, wrap in a moist towel and refrigerate.
- Peppers – Store in a plastic bag for 1-2 weeks in the fridge. If flash frozen, peppers will last up to 10 months.
- Green Beans – These keep well with humidity (drape a damp cloth over them) but not wetness.
- Carrots – Keep in a closed contained and wrapped in a damp towel or dip in cold water every few days. For lasting freshness, cut off the tops.
- Squash – Will keep at room temperature for a few days if out of direct sunlight.
- Peas – Place in an open container and refrigerate.
- Onions – Keep in a cool, dark, well-ventilated place.
- Broccoli – Store in the fridge: either wrapped in a damp towel or in an open container.
- Corn – Best to leave these in the husk until ready to be eaten, but more flavorful if eaten sooner. Keep corn refrigerated.
- Garlic – Keep away from humidity, dampness, or direct sunlight.
- Celery – Wrap in foil and place in the fridge or keep in a bowl of shallow water on the counter.
- Lettuce – Keep lettuce damp and refrigerated, preferably in an airtight container.
- Mushroom – These are best stored in their original container. Uncooked leftovers should be covered with more plastic wrap before going back in the fridge.
- Potatoes – Store in a dark and dry place or a brown paper bag.
Fruits
- Bananas – To extend freshness, separate bananas after purchasing and store in a well-ventilated basket.
- Apples – Away from heat, these will keep for about two weeks. For longer storage, place in a cardboard box and refrigerate.
- Grapes – Store in the fridge, but only wash when ready to use to avoid mushiness.
- Peaches – Only refrigerate when fully ripe.
- Pears – A cool environment or brown paper bag is best. Pears will keep for a few weeks on the counter.
- Watermelon – Let ripen at room temperature for 7-10 days. After that, sliced watermelon can be stored in the fridge for several days.
- Pineapples – Can be stored whole in the fridge (cut off the top) or sliced and put in an airtight container (don’t use aluminum foil, as this will alter the flavor).
- Strawberries – Keep away from damp, wet places. Refrigerated strawberries placed in a brown paper bag will keep for a week if the bag is kept dry.
- Oranges – Oranges lose juiciness when refrigerated. For freshest fruit, place in a ventilated basket and keep on the counter.
- Cherries – Store in an airtight container and avoid washing until ready to eat. Keep cherries refrigerated.
- Plums – Store at room temperature until they are ripe, and then keep them in the refrigerator in a plastic bag.
- Blueberries – Store dry in a shallow plastic container in the refrigerator. Do not wash them until you are ready to eat them, because they will quickly mold if they are stored wet.
Creative Commons Flickr photo courtesy of Frann Leach
Thank you, very helpful.
Cherries and Corn: in or out of the fridge? It doesn’t say and it isn’t clear. Thanks!
It DOES say, both in the fridge.
After re-reading both lists (veggies and fruits) I found the suggestion is to keep both cherries and corn refrigerated.
Useful for me thanks
Try this: Buy fresh French bread, and Sour dough. From the bakery. Ask for their bread bags, helps with freshness. Once home, cut in half. Put back into bag. Make sure all air is out, secure with a twist tie. Wrap with foil, and take a half then put into a large zip lock bag. Once again squeeze air out. And you can freeze up to three months. For corn on the cob; BQ: Soak in a large. Tall pot, or roasting pan. Leave on husks.. turn every so often. Can soak up to 2 hours. Get your grill heating, on low. I have a propane. Keep on top rack, cook till. Soft, and cooked through. Turning every 7 minutes. Some husks will turn brown and come off, that’s ok. ( Keep a water spray bottle , near by ). Just in case some husks catch. Means flame is too high. Let them cool to handle, and then under husk. Clean up the mess, if in kitchen.. I use the trash can. Enjoy.
When you are done cooking the corn on the grill, Cut off the stem end and the first row of kernals . squeeze the closed end and the corn will come out of the husk and leave all the silk behind.
haha! Go figure everything I was looking for isn’t here 🙂 Raspberries, garlic, and avocados. That’s my luck though 😉
Oh! I see Garlic now! yay!
Raspberries & blackberries store the same as blueberries. Avocados store on counter 3-4 days to ripen to speed ripeness place in brown paper bag. To slow down ripening place in fridge up to 5-6 days.
I saw on the “Food Channel” a few weeks ago, that you can buy avocados when they are on sale, peal them, cut them in half, take out the pit and freeze them in a zip lock bag for later use. Squeeze out extra air! When taking them out, you can zap them a few minutes in the microwave for immediate use, or take what you need and put in the refrigerator in a closed container for the next day use.
They also froze oranges, grapefruit, lemons, limes, grapes, blueberries and zap them in the microwave before using them. The lady cut the zapped orange and it still had lots of juice. The peeled sliced banana, grapes and blueberries were stored in their own zip lock bag.
The grapes can be used frozen in drinks in place of ice. The lemons can be used frozen to be grated in salads or onto fish and etc.
How to store herbs such as fresh basil, dill, cilantro, I buy them fresh in plastic containers and store them in the refrigerator, but they go bad fast especially the basil. Is there another way to store them that will keep them fresh longer?
Basil is cold sensitive and shouldn’t be refrigerated. Put in water on counter or better, have a plant in the yard or in a sunny window and use as needed. Be sure to pinch off the flower buds.
Basil is crazy easy to grow, in a pot, by a south-facing window!
I’ve had one there for 2 years & it never fails to produce more than I can use… and I use a LOT!
Easy for you to say ? I always kill basil but keep trying both from seed and purchased plants. I do fairly well in the garden but anything inside – not so much.
Daniela;
I’ve heard that if you chop up your fresh herb and put them in ice cube trays with oil, you can freeze them. I’ve done this, but with cilantro but used water instead of oil and it worked great for cooking. If you want fresh herbs to garnish, then I don’t know.
I keep cilantro in water in a coffee cup after trimming bottom ends. Put the produce bag over the top and tighten around the handle . It will last for weeks!!!
Just found this site!,
Do you immerse the cilantro in the water?
So will bunches of fresh parsley! I am never without it now. Before I found this out I was always throwing away spoiled parsley. It has lasted a full month by trimming and changing the water. Worth the effort! Barb
Thanks for the information. We just recently had a big bag of fresh cilantro go bad, which is also very wasteful. Which ;others me tremendously!!!
So, thanks again!!!
I buy fresh herbs and keep them in glasses of water on the door if my fridge. Fresh water every other day and the herbs last quite awhile.
I just bought containers from Ball canning supplies that are made for fresh herbs.They fit in the fridge door and are convenient for when herbs are out of season.
I have always washed cherries and blueberries, then spread them on a clean dishtowel to dry. After they are completely dry I put them in airtight containers. They last the whole week and never get mushy or moldy. As for bananas, I’ve also read that keeping the bunch together and wrapping the whole end in plastic wrap will slow down the ripening process. http://lifehacker.com/5963122/keep-bananas-fresh-longer-using-plastic-cling-wrap
I like to buy the fresh blueberries and freeze them (they are less messy than the pre-frozen ones). Storing them for a long isn’t an issue since my son and I eat them up rather quickly.
I wash berries, then rinse with apple cider vinegar and water mixture. Prevents mold. I forgot some strawberries in fridge for a week once, they looked a bit dried out but not moldy!
How long do they remain nutritious?
Very helpful. I have also found the Debbie Green, produce bags very helpful with preserving the life of fruits and vegetables. They come with recommended use directions. They are not cheap however.
I have found that pulling the bananas apart, rather than leaving them together preserves them a few days longer.
I stopped using plastic bags altogether. I use the waxed paper liners in cereal boxes, raisin boxes…they seem to preserve items better both in the refrigerator and in the freezer. Free and recycled!
Great tip.
I agree with separating bananas. I read just tonight on Pinterest to tightly wrap the stems with Saran Wrap to reduce escaping gases, which might help.
Giving it a try…
This really applies to cooler climates. We live in the tropics in Australia and need to keep just about all vegetables and fruit in the refrigerator or they are spoiled after a few days. I like the idea but could not help thinking this would not work so well where we live.
Thank you so much. ?. These pins have helped me a lot. There is so much info. I love them. Keep up the good work.
You suggest wrapping celery in foil, but I have never heard of that. Why foil?
When strawberries are in season I buy a flat, rinse them off, cut off the top, place them top down in a flat rubbermaid or tupperware container. First place a paper towel in the container, place the strawberries top down (don’t crowd the berries and don’t layer them). Cover with another paper towel and seal the container. I’ve had the berries stay fresh a couple weeks this way. Next time I think I’ll try rinsing them with cider vinegar first.
Your directions on storing mushrooms are horrible. The only time they’re best off being stored in their original container is if that container is cardboard. Very few grocery stores use cardboard, they use plastic and they get slimy and go bad within a few days. If you’re lucky to find mushrooms sold in cardboard, remove the plastic wrapping and store the container with the mushrooms in a paper bag. If you don’t have the luxury of a cardboard container, double bag two paper lunch bags and store the mushrooms in there. With cardboard + paper bag, you can get over a week, with paper bag only, you can get about a week. With original plastic container with plastic wrap, you’re lucky if you get more than 4-5 days.
Mushrooms store best in a paper bag in the refrigerator. In the crisper or plastic they go slimy.
How about grapefruit? What is the best way to store them?
I buy all different kinds of leaf lettuce, wether from farmer’s markets or in boxes from super markets. Those that are not pre washed, I wash in cold waster and spin in a lettuce spinner, or, if pre washed, then just lay out in a single layer of about three untorn sheets of paper towels. I then roll the greens up in the paper towel, so the greens are kept apart, then put the rolls in a giant zip lock bag. When you want to make a salad, your greens are fresh and crisp. I seldom have wasted, slimy greens to sort through anymore!! Big money saver.
What do you mean by last longer? 3 days? x) oookay lmao