How to Keep Fruits and Vegetables fresh Longer

Nothing is worse than having a fridge full of fresh produce that doesn’t get used in time and ends up spoiling before you can enjoy it. Sharing some simple tips to help keep fruits and vegetables fresh longer.

Tip #1 – Plan Your Meals

A lot of people are put off by this answer, but hear me out. If you “roughly” plan your meals, then you can help yourself reduce food waste.

This is what I mean when I say “meal plan” –

• loosely plan what you think you’ll have for meals each week (I only plan lunch and dinner since breakfast is typically the same foods)
• if you buy a bag of lettuce because you need 1/2 for a recipe, then pick another dish later in the week to use up the rest of that lettuce
• this is especially helpful when buying veggies to ensure you aren’t buying 10 different veggies for 6 nights of meals

You don’t have to 100% stick to your meal plan (we almost never do) but it helps you plan out using produce so you don’t buy too much

Tip #2 – Only Buy What You Need

This kind of goes hand in hand with Tip #1 but if you only buy what you think you need then you won’t have so much to use up.

Now this can be hard if you are buying a remeasured bag of something that only lets you buy a certain amount at one time. Obviously you would have to buy the full amount. But if you only have 4 people in your house, you probably don’t need to buy 14 apples for the week.

Tip #3 – Set Aside Time to Prep Fruits and Veggies for the Week

I always joke that grocery shopping me has all kinds of great plans for the week but mid-week me is a whole other person. I like to set aside about 20 minutes after grocery shopping to prep some the fruits and veggies I just bought.

For example, I’ll peel and cut some carrots into sticks, cut up pineapple, slice cucumbers, etc. That way they are easy to grab and go on busy days.

Tip #4 – Keep Fruits and Veggies Front and Center

I used to store some fruits in a basket, tucked into the corner of our countertop. However, I quickly noticed that it wasn’t really in plain site for anyone and would constantly go bad. Instead, I moved it to a fruit bowl that sits right on our kitchen table, where we see it every time we walk by. This really helped us remember that it was there and helped us eat it more.

The same goes with some veggies in the fridge. I try to use clear glass containers for storage whenever possible (and if applicable…see next tip) so that we can see what’s in it rather than wedge into the back of the fridge.

Tip #5 – Store Produce the Proper Way

Did you know that there are proper ways to storage almost every fruit and vegetable? I didn’t until recently and it makes a huge difference.

Check out this comprehensive list of The Best Ways to Store All Your Fruits and Vegetables from Food 52. It’s really helped because I used to just throw everything in the crisper drawer but some last longer when stored other ways.

Tip #6 – The Freezer if Your Friend

Frozen fruits and veggies are great items to help cut back on wasted produce. I like to have a few basics in my freezer in case we need something quick or I didn’t buy enough at the store. We use frozen fruit in smoothies all the time.

We also routinely go through our fridge each week and if something looks like it’s getting bad and we don’t think we can use it up, I’ll freeze it (if it’s something that will freeze). This is what we do with bananas, berries, carrots, or even greens. Frozen carrots and greens get used up in stir fries, soups, stews or simply sautéed another day. Bananas and berries are used in smoothies or baked goods.

Check out some of our favorite frozen fruit and veggie recipes below –

• How to Make a Tropical Smoothie with Frozen Fruit
• Homemade Vegetable Broth from Food Scraps
• 10 Minute Sesame and Garlic Edamame Recipe