Fruits are not only a tasty and sweet snack, but also a healthy alternative to many candies, which is why many people prefer them over industrial, processed, and sugar-filled products. The fruits we buy allow us to enjoy their wonderful taste as well as their benefits, but often, especially on hot days, they tend to over-ripen and sometimes even rot before we have had a chance to eat them. In order for you to fully utilize all the fruits you purchased without throwing them away when they are ripe, it is recommended to try the following 12 surprising and delicious methods. With these tips, you can enjoy healthy and tasty snacks, and prevent waste of fruits that seem like they are about to become inedible in a short time.
1. Make quick baked snacks
When fruits like pears, bananas, or apples begin to over-ripen, you can make a tasty, warm, and healthy snack in just a few minutes. All you need to do is peel and chop the fruits you want to use, place the pieces in a bowl, add a little cinnamon, and microwave for up to 5 minutes, or until cooked to your taste. The snack you prepare will fill you up and enrich your body with vitamins and minerals, while also preventing the waste of a valuable product.
2. Freeze them as puree
One of the best ways to preserve overripe fruits for a long time is to freeze them as puree. Simply place the fruits that are about to spoil into a food processor or blender, blend until smooth, divide into sealed bags or ice trays, and place in the freezer. You can use the frozen purees to make cocktails or healthy and tasty smoothies, or as an addition to soda water or oatmeal.
3. Make naturally sweetened pancakes
There’s nothing like tasty, fluffy pancakes for breakfast, but they often contain quite a lot of sugar, which is recommended to reduce, especially in the morning. To make this beloved dish healthier, use puree from ripe fruits instead of adding sugar to the pancake batter, or spread it on the finished product instead of sugar-rich syrups that may harm your health.
4. Bake moist brownies
Ripe fruits are an excellent and especially tasty substitute for oil or eggs in various baked goods, such as brownies, and you can use them when you want to make the beloved chocolate treat. To make the brownies with an oil or egg substitute, use the same amount of mashed fruits such as bananas, apples, or any other sweet fruit in place of the ingredient you're replacing, pour the brownie batter into the oven, bake, and enjoy a moist dessert with an addictive texture that you'll want to make again and again. You can also use this oil and egg substitute when preparing other baked goods and enjoy unique flavors while saving some money along the way.
5. Dry them
Ripe fruits that are about to spoil, such as grapes or pears, present a perfect opportunity to make soft dried fruits at home. To make this beloved snack, slice the fruits and spread them on a baking sheet, place them in the oven at a low temperature between 100-120 degrees Celsius until they reach the desired texture. You can keep the roasted or dried fruits in the fridge and use them as a tasty addition to yogurt, oatmeal, or even in salads you prepare.
6. Make healthy popsicles
Summer days are getting hotter every year, and many of us are tempted to eat tasty, frozen popsicles to cool down. There’s no better way to enjoy them than to make them at home and give the whole family a sweet and healthy treat. To make popsicles, blend ripe fruits you love in a food processor, strain them or leave them as is, pour into popsicle molds, place in the freezer, and patiently wait for the refreshing treats.
7. Make a tasty meat marinade
Sour fruits like kiwi and pineapple contain enzymes that break down meat, making them ideal for tenderizing it and creating special marinades. Marinating meat pieces in half a cup of fruit puree with two tablespoons of olive oil, salt, pepper to taste, and a bit of apple cider vinegar will make them particularly tender and tasty. You can roast them in the oven immediately or after a few hours to create an incredibly delicious meal.
8. Blend a tasty smoothie
Healthy smoothies that contain fruits and vegetables will give your body a much-needed energy boost in the morning and reduce your hunger pangs during lunch hours. Ripe fruits are in perfect condition for making smoothies since their sweetness is highlighted at this stage, so you won’t feel the need to add sugar to the mixture. Simply blend the ripe fruits with your favorite vegetables and prepare a tasty and healthy energy drink that will do you good and sweeten your day.
9. Dry them to make fruit leather
Fruit leather is a dried snack made from fruits and can be eaten as is or added to meat dishes or oatmeal instead of dried fruits. Ripe fruits, or even those on the verge of spoiling, are excellent raw materials for making tasty homemade fruit leather that you can't buy in any store. The recipe for fruit leather is basic for all fruits, requiring you to mash the fruits in a food processor, pour a thin layer onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and place it in the oven at 75 degrees Celsius for 3 hours. You can use your imagination to mix different types of fruits, or simply click here to learn how to make your ownr tasty, homemade, and unique fruit leather.
10. Make sun-dried tomatoes
There’s an ongoing debate among many about tomatoes – are they considered a fruit or a vegetable? Well, the answer is that tomatoes are part of the fruit kingdom, and you can also make delicious treats from them for future use. The best way to preserve overripe tomatoes is to dry them and use the product in salads, sauces, and dishes, or even as a healthy snack. Slice the ripe tomatoes into slices or half slices, spread them in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and place them in the oven on convection mode at a temperature of 60-100 degrees Celsius for 12 hours. You can store the sun-dried tomatoes in an airtight container in the fridge and enjoy them whenever you want.
11. Spice up your salad
Salad dressings make them especially tasty, and with ripe fruits, you can easily and quickly make your own sweet-and-sour dressing. To make fruit dressings, place pieces of the fruit you want in a food processor with olive oil, vinegar, your favorite herbs, a little salt, and pepper, and blend everything together. Drizzle the dressing over your salad, and it will become incredibly and naturally delicious.
12. Make tasty jam
In the past, fruits were preserved by adding a lot of sugar to them, which gave birth to the beloved jam that we all know today. Ripe fruits, especially if there’s a large amount of them, can be used in an especially tasty way to make homemade jams without preservatives. Basic jam cooking requires combining fruits and sugar in equal weight and cooking them on medium heat for a long time until the desired thickness is reached. You can use the jam in a variety of tasty dishes, and it will help you preserve the fruits in a sweet and delicious way instead of throwing them away.
