We tested Kelly Ripa’s secret to preventing guacamole from turning brown

Nothing’s better than fresh, bright green guacamole and chips. And nothing’s worse than guacamole that’s gone brown from sitting out too long. But there’s no getting around it: oxidization occurs when avocados are exposed to air, which creates that brown color. This can happen within hours, which makes things tricky when you want to prepare it ahead of time for a social gathering.

What’s a party host to do? Kelly Ripa shared her expert tip on an episode of her show, “Live with Kelly.” (It’s now “Live With Kelly & Mark.”) And it couldn’t be simpler. Just top off the bowl with a 1/2-inch of water and put it in the fridge for up to three days. Watch her demonstrate here:

“I know it sounds crazy, [but] you put it in the fridge, and it will prevent the oxygen from entering and browning,” she says. “The water won’t soak in, you can just dump it off the top.”

Kelly Ripa is fun to watch, but honestly? She’s not my go-to expert for advice in the kitchen. And there’s a rule we all ought to live by: Don’t believe everything you see on TV. So I whipped up a batch of my own guacamole and tried the technique myself.

First, I separated my fresh guacamole into two bowls.

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Next, I sealed the two bowls differently. For the bowl on the left, I added the 1/2-inch of water on top. For the bowl on the right, I followed a tip from the Food Network and covered it with clear plastic wrap, pressing down close to the guacamole so no air could get in.

I placed both bowls in the fridge overnight. The next day, when I took them out again, the difference was clear as day. The guacamole with the water was the same fresh green color all the way through, while the one with the plastic wrap had gone brown on top.

Best of all, removing the water from the bowl on the left was easy. After pouring it off, I found the guacamole underneath to be perfectly intact and not at all waterlogged. It was ready to eat! Meanwhile, I had to scrape off the top of the guacamole on the right to get down to the still-green part.

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The folks at Avocados From Mexico also suggest adding a liquid on top of guacamole to form a barrier from the air. But they recommend topping off the bowl with either water or lemon/lime juice. (Citrus juice is known for slowing down oxidation.) So, if you like your guacamole with a lemon or lime taste to it, this is probably the way to go.

By the way, guacamole is safe to eat for up to two or three days when stored in the refrigerator — and that’s even if it’s gone brown. But I think we can all agree that bright green guacamole is much more appetizing. It’s good to know how easy it is to keep it that way!