The Quick-Ripening Avocado Trick You Need

You've probably experienced the disappointment of finding only hard-as-a-rock avocados in the bin at the grocery store, a disappointment compounded by the hope of making fresh guacamole for dinner that night. Luckily, there is a quick-ripening trick that requires only a fork, paper towels, an avocado, and your microwave.

Click here for the 20 Recipes That Will Make You Fall in Love with Avocado All Over Again slideshow.

To be completely upfront about this wonder trick, it is not a replacement for naturally ripening your avocados in a paper bag, hijacking the ethylene gas from a banana to speed up ripening, or just leaving your avocado on the windowsill to more slowly soften and develop flavor. The microwave-ripened avocado will have a slightly different taste (albeit not bad), but with a soft, mash-able texture.

To start, prick your avocado all over with a fork, as you would a potato before baking it. Next, arrange a few paper towels on the tray in your microwave and place the prepped avocado inside on top of the paper towels. Adjust the cooking power of your microwave to medium or 50 percent, depending upon your model. Then, cook the avocado for 30 seconds. Remove the fruit and check the softness of your avocado. If the fruit is still firm, continue cooking at 30-second intervals.

Once your avocado is softened enough to remove the flesh, you can go about your evening making one of our favorite guacamole recipes or using your microwave-ripened avocado for any number of recipe from avocado toasts to avocado sorbet, and every avocado recipe in between.

Angela Carlos is the Cook Editor at The Daily Meal. Find her on Twitter and tweet @angelaccarlos.

Accompanying slideshow provided by special contributor, Milagros Cruz.