25 Different Types of Avocados Explained

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Last Updated on May 30, 2023

Hass avocado is known as the most popular variety in the world, although there are hundreds of types of avocados! Let’s take a look at some of the types of avocados you might come across at the store.

Types of Avocados

The buttery flesh and irresistible creaminess of avocados make them a great food to add to your diet. You’ll likely be familiar with Haas avocados and some of the other varieties, but we’ll take a look at some of the other common avocado types below.

But first, let’s learn why adding avocados to your diet is great thing to consider!

Health Benefits of Avocados

Avocados are full of nutritious natural fats and are sometimes referred to as nature’s butter. Avocados contain healthy fats, fiber, and vitamins such as C, B, and E. Avocados are a staple in the autoimmune protocol diet and other vegan diets and are one of many superfoods. They are also a great alkaline food and make a delicious AIP snack!

Avocados are also great to add to smoothies for health benefits.

How to Choose the Healthiest Avocado

The nutrition factors of avocados are similar across the board. Some contain more fat content, but they are all high in the good fats, along with several vitamins and minerals.

When choosing an avocado, you can rest assured that no matter what type of avocado you eat, you are getting great healthy fats.

How to Pick the Perfect Avocado

When I purchase avocados at the store, I look for smoothe skin (even if it’s pebbly, you can find some with a smooth skin). If it’s got lots of hard bumps or looks deformed a little, I pass that one by.

I prefer to purchase Haas avocados because some avocado varieties have more of a watery flesh, not my favorite.

I like to buy my avocados unripe and then let them ripen on my counter. Once the avocado has ripend, I put it in the crisper of my fridge to prolong the life and slow down the ripening process.

Tip: If you plan to only use half of an avocado, you can freeze ther other half to add into smoothies. Since frozen vegetables maintain nutrients, it’s a great way to save that avodado!

How to Tell When an Avocado is Ripe

Avocados only ripen once they are picked from the tree. Most avocados are bright green when unripe and turn a darker shade when fully ripened.

There are some types of avocados that do not turn a darker shade when ripe though.

When the type of avocado you are hoping to eat turns dark, it’s easy to know when it’s ready to eat. But, what about the other types of avocados that don’t change colors when ripened?

In that case, you have to depend on the feel of the avocado. If you give it a slight squeeze and it’s firm, it’s not ready. It should give a little, but not too much. Learning when an avocado is ready to eat is kind of an art. You learn through trial and error.

Types of Avocados

Read on to learn more about the different types of avocado.

Hass Avocados

The Haas avocado is the world’s most popular type of avocado and the one you are most likely to find at the grocery store. It has a a rich creamy flesh and buttery taste, with a high fat content. The Haas has an oval shape and pebbly skin, along with a medium-sized pit.

The Haas has skin that turns from green to black with a purple hue when fully ripe.

Color when ripe: purplish-black

Lamb Hass Avocados

The Lamb avocado is a hybrid of the Hass and Gwen varieties. The Lamb Haas has a large oval shape, pebbly skin, and a medium-sized seed. It has a rich, creamy, nutty flavor and is easy to peel.

Color when ripe: purplish-black

Carmen Hass Avocados

Carmen Hass avocados are similar to Hass avocados, but have a smaller fruit. Their skin is thick and pebbly. It has a high oil content and darkens as it ripens.

The seed of the Carmen Hass avocado is medium-large in size.

Color when ripe: black

Bacon Avocados

The Bacon avocado sounds delicious, right? I mean, bacon! Unfortunaltely the Bacon avocado has nothing to do with backon, but it’s a cool name!

The Bacon avocado is a medium-sized ,oval-shaped green avocado with a large pit and smooth skin. This green avocado has a slight sweetness to it, and is and easy to peel.

It has a yellowish green flesh and a good nutty flavor.

Color when ripe: green (it doesn’t darken when ripe)

Fuerte Avocados

The Fuerte avocado is the second largest and most common variety, Hass being the most popular.

The excellent flavor and medium-thick skin produces a good oil content. It has a medium-large seed, smooth skin, and is easy to peel.

The Fuerte avocado is shaped like a pear and can grow up to 1 lb!

This avocado has an inner fruit that is yellow, thick and creamy. It has a nuttier flavor than other avocado varieties and is available 8 months out of the year.

Color when ripe: green (it doesn’t darken when ripe)

Gem^® Avocados

Gem^® avocados are touted as the “gourmet avocado” by the company that grows them.

This avocado has an oval shape, natural gold flecks on the thick pebbly skin, and a medium-sized seed. It’s larger than a regular avocado and has a slight nutty flavor. The Gem^® has a smoother, creamier texture than some of the other types of avocados.

Color when ripe: black with orange specs

Different Types of Avocados

There are still even more main types of avocados. Let’s keep going!

Gwen Avocados

Gwen avocados are similar to Hass, however they are slightly larger and have a rich, buttery, nutty flavor.

This plump, oval-shaped avocado has think skin that is pebbly and easy to peel. With a small seed size and higher oil content than some varieties, it’s a great avocado.

When it’s ripe it’s a dark green rather than black.

Color when ripe: dark green

Pinkerton Avocados

The Pinkerton avocado has a slender, oblong, pear-shape to it. It has a green pebbly-skin, smaller seed, and higher oil content than some avocado varieties.

This avocado can grow to be rather large. It’s easy-to-peel with a skin that doesn’t darken as it ripens.

Color when ripe: green

Reed Avocados

The Reed variety is a large, round, thick-skinned avocado with smoother pebbling. The Reed avocado has a creamy smooth texture and a buttery tasting flesh. The pit in the Reed avocado is rather large, and the oil content is great.

The thick skin of these large avocados makes peeling more of a challenge. They can grow up to 2 lbs and have a bold, rich flavor.

Color when ripe: green

Zutano Avocados

The Zutano avocado is similar to the Fuerte in appearance but is less flavorful. It has a fat, oval shape with lower oil content. These avocados have more of a fibrous texture due to the higher water content.

The shiny, yellow-greenish skin is thin and the seed is medium sized. There are some citrus notes in the Zutano avocado, with a mild flavor.

Color when ripe: green

Mexicola Grande Avocados

The Mexicola avocado has a slight, round shape with dark green, leathery skin. The avocado has a large pit, and the skin darkens as the avocado fruit ripens.

The Mexicola Grande avocados have paper thin skin that’s edible. The flesh is greenish-yellow and tastes rich and creamy with a nutty flavor.

Color when ripe: black

Brogden Avocados

The Brogden Avocado is a hybrid of West Indian and Mexican avocados. It has smooth, dark purple skin.

The flesh is greenish gold and tastes rich and oily with a nutty flavor. Wait until the Brogden avocados have a black skin and are completely soft before eating them.

Color when ripe: black

Wurtz Avocados

Wurtz Avocados are small in size and sometimes called the “little cado” or a “dwarf avocado.” The tree is a cross between the Mexican and Guatemalan species and is one of the type A flower types.

The Wurtz avocado has a bold, creamy flesh.

Color when ripe: dark green to almost black

Monroe Avocado

This large avocado can grow up to 2 lbs or larger. The flesh is less watery and more firm than other varieties of avocados as it has a low oil content.

The Monroe Avocado has a mild taste, a large size, and a round pit. The skin is smooth with a glossy green color.

Color when ripe: glossy green

Maluma Avocados

This dark purple avocado comes from Africa. It’s very similar to the Hass variety, although it’s slightly larger and has a pear shape.

The Maluma avocado has a rough and pebbly skin. The flesh is a yellow-green color. The creamy texture of the avocado is smooth and fiberless.

Color when ripe: dark purple-black

Russell Avocados

This avocado has a shape similar to a zuchinni, with a long-neck. It can grow up to 13 inches long!

They have shiny green skin and a lower fat content than other varieties. This avocado is a bit watery with light green flesh.

Color when ripe: green

Ettinger Avocados

The Ettinger Avocado comes from Israel and dotes a bright green smooth skin. The pear-shaped fruits have a large seed that makes up about 25% of their weight.

The skin of the Ettinger avocado is thin and easily damaged. However, it’s hard to peel. The pale green flesh turns yellow-green as it ripens. The medium-sized fruit has a mild, creamy flavor that’s best used in recipes that require a raw avocado.

Color when ripe: bright green

Sharwil Avocados

This Australian avocado has a rough, green peel. The oily flesh is yellow and has a strong flavor. It’s a small variety of avocado with a buttery flavor without a nutty taste.

The avocado will remain green as it ripens but has a greyish-blue tint. The skin is thicker but easy to peel.

Color when ripe: green with a greyish-blue tint

Joey Avocados

This avocado is oval in shape with a rich, creamy flavor. The egg-shaped fruit’s nutty flesh is bright yellow to yellow-green when ripe. It’s often used in salads, smoothies, and other dishes.

Color when ripe: purple-black

Opal Avocados

This medium-sized avocado has a pear shape with a skin that stays green when ripe. It’s sometimes called a Lila avocado.

The flesh tastes rich and creamy. The avocado’s fruit is a bit large than the Mexican varieties.

Color when ripe: green

Choquette Avocados

This avocado comes from Florida and has smooth and glossy skin. The Choquette avocado contains a lot of water and can even leak a little when cut.

The large fruits of the Choquette avocado trees have a mild, creamy, and nutty flavor that an avocado lover will enjoy in smoothies and guacamole.

Color when ripe: glossy light green

Lula Avocados

This avocado is a bit more watery than some of the oily avocados. It’s also larger than many other types of avocado and can get up to 1 lb. The green glossy skin is smooth.

The flesh has a creamy texture and tastes of butter with a nutty flavor.

Color when ripe: green

Pryor Avocados

A smaller variety of avocado, the Pryor Avocado has an oval or pear-shaped fruit. The skin is thin, green, shiny, and smooth. It’s sometimes called the Fantastic.

The Pryor Avocado doesn’t darken as it ripens. It has a creamy flesh with a delicious, nutty flavor and the perfect oil balance.

Color when ripe: light green

Stewart Avocados

The Stewart avocado is similar to the Mexicola Grande. The Stewart has a pear shape to the fruit. The flesh is yellow, although it may have a touch of green where the flesh and the skin touch.

This thin-skinned avocado darkens as it ripens and will be dark purple/black once ripe and ready to eat. The flesh is creamy with a nutty flavor and is less oily than some of the other avocado varieties.

Color when ripe: dark purple to black

Holiday Avocados

The holiday avocadoes received the name because they ripened during the holidays. The fruit is an avocado pear shape and has a large size. The flesh is dense with a low fiber content.

This avocado variety has thick, green skin that doesn’t darken as it ripens. It has a large round shape and contains a large seed. It has a good flavor with medium oil content.

Color when ripe: green

Sir Prize Avocados

The Sir Prize is a hybrid avocado with a smaller pit and sweeter flesh than some other avocado types. It’s creamy and buttery with an easy-to-peel dark skin.

The ridge down the side of Sir Prize avocados disappears as the fruit ripes. The avocado has a large size and a slightly pebbly skin.

Color when ripe: purplish black

Ripeness Indicators

Many types of avocados will darken as they ripen, but all avocados will get softer. You can eat the avocado when the fruit gives softly after you press gently on it.

The fruit of a ripe avocado is silky smooth with a velvety and nutty flavor.

How many variety of avocados are there?

There are over 500 different varieties of avocados. They vary in size, shape, texture, and color.

Which avocado types don’t darken when ripe?

A few of the avocado types that don’t darken when ripe are the Shepard, Feurte, Reed, and Zutano avocados.

Which variety of avocado is best tasting?

The Reed avocado is often considered the best tasting because of its rich and nutty flavor.

What are the sweetest avocados?

The sweetest avocados are the Bacon, with its mild and sweet taste, and the Mexicola Grande. The Mexicola grande has a slightly fibrous flesh that’s both sweet and juicy.

What kind of avocado is used in guacamole?

Guacamole does best when an avocado with a creamy texture is used. The Hass avocado is the most common type of avocado used in guacamole, but the Brogdon and Fuerte are also used.