Prep and store your fruit for easy eating all week with this simple vinegar fruit wash!
My kids LOVE fruit, especially berries, and for that I am grateful! Strawberries are one of the staples in our house. After a year of cleaning and slicing strawberries multiple times a day, I thought there must be a better way! Now, I do one more thing after grocery shopping that has made my life so much easier.
I spend 20 minutes washing and prepping, then our strawberries, blueberries, grapes, and other fruit are clean and ready to enjoy for the whole week. We love to throw on top of yogurt or use them to make Strawberry Smoothie Bowls or our Favorite Green Smoothie!
We store berries in glass containers and pull them out as needed for snacks, school lunches or as part of our meals at home! My friend introduced me to this practice and I am forever grateful. For more cool tips like this one browse our tips page!
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Vinegar Fruit Wash
Vinegar Fruit Wash works for:
- Strawberries
- Blueberries
- Blackberries
- Grapes
- Apples
- Plums
- Cherries
Do not soak raspberries - keep them refrigerated and wait to wash them until just before eating! They are too fragile and will turn to mush if you wash them too early.
FAQ
Does soaking fruit in vinegar wash make it last longer?
According to Best Food Facts, washing fruit in vinegar does not extend the shelf-life. Removing bacteria and mold spores will help your fruit to last longer, and doing so is better for you! Vinegar does help kill mold spores, so washing in a vinegar bath isn't a bad idea. Washing fruit with clean water will remove 98% of bacteria.
Should I do vinegar wash for Strawberries?
Strawberries tend to get moldy faster if I don't do the vinegar wash, so always wash them right away. If you don't plan to eat strawberries right away, wait to wash them until just before you plan to eat them. The same goes for blueberries.
How to Wash and Prep Fruit
- Add four parts lukewarm or cool water and one part vinegar to a large bowl. You can also use your sink if it is very clean.
- Remove fruit from the vinegar and water and allow it to dry on paper towels. Dry the fruit completely before storing.
- Optional: cut stems off of strawberries and slice them in half.
- Cut off any mushy parts or spots that look like they could be going moldy.
- Store fruit in glass containers that have lids or cover with plastic wrap.
Enjoy fruit all week. It's now ready to be thrown on top of salads, yogurt, smoothie bowls, or onto the plates of toddlers! Hooray!
If you try this, please leave us a comment and a positive review! We love hearing from you.
Vinegar Fruit Wash
Video
Equipment
- Paper Towels
Materials
- 1 part Distilled White Vinegar
- 4 parts Water
Instructions
- Fill a large bowl with three parts cool water, one part distilled white vinegar.
- Add strawberries, blueberries or grapes to the bowl and soak them for 10-20 minutes.
- Lay paper towels or kitchen towels on the counter and spread the fruit out on the towels to dry.
- Dry fruit completely.
- Cut stems off of strawberries and slice them. (optional)
- Store your prepped fruit in glass containers in the fridge and enjoy having them ready to eat at a moment's notice.
Notes
- Instead of soaking in a bowl, you can use your sink if it is very clean.
- Always dry the fruit completely before storing.
- Strawberries
- Blueberries
- Blackberries
- Grapes
- Apples
- Plums
- Cherries
James
Do I need to rinse the vinegar/ water solution off the fruit before drying? The steps say to soak the solution but don’t tell us to remove the soaking mixture off.
Jessica
No, you don't need to!
Cindy
In the glass container, covered or open?
Sarah
Covered!
Meri
Hope this doesn’t sound weird. Can I slice apples and soak to have them last longer? I buy slices and they spoil quickly
Soaking berries for the first time just now
Sarah
I haven't tried doing this with sliced apples, but I have soaked them in a mixture of water and lemon juice for a short time and it seems to work well. That's what I do when I send apple slices in my kids' lunches!
Julie
Cut them up and drizzle some honey and a little bit of water. This prevents them from going brown!
Jessica
Awesome, thanks Julie!
Lee
Awesome thanks!
Jess
You can also cut the apple slices and "rinse" them in pineapple juice. We meal prep and do this with apple slices then put them in containers and they last at least the whole work week... not sure if they last longer, or not, since my kids devour them haha.
Nikki
Can you store washed strawberries and grapes tofu in refrigerator?
Nikki
*together
Jessica
Yes!
Grace Keenan
Can I uses the 4 to1 fruit wash on oranges. I discovered a lump of a spoiled mandarin orange in my refrigerator yesterday. My daughter says use bleach instead of vinegar. Hope you can respond quickly
Sarah
I haven't tried it but I'm guessing that it would work on oranges as well since Vinegar has antifungal and antibacterial properties!
Abbey
This is very helpful!
Marie
A great idea. Beats washing one bunch at a time. Thanks
Lance
The instructions say to use three parts water to one part vinegar, but every other place on this page including the igredients says to use four parts water to one part vinegar.
Jenee
Hi! I have been wanting to try this for a few months because all my fruit goes bad so quickly (hubs buys it from Costco but it doesn't last long enough to eat). I was wondering if you would use the same mixture for more than once in a day? I have berries and then grapes, but it won't all fit in one. I know I can make more, but I can't always run out and get more vinegar. Also, would you keep the grapes on the vine during the soak?
Thank you so much for sharing!
Jessica
Hey Jenee! Yes, you can use the same bath back to back, that should be fine. I typically pick my grapes off before but that is personal preference, keeping them on should work fine as well!
Jenna Munday
This article is so useful! I have been aware that I need to store my fruits (and vegetables) in a more efficient way and this has been one of the few really practical articles that I've come across in my research :)
Jessica
You just made our day! Thanks so much Jenna!
Jodi
The recipe says 4 parts water to 1 part vinegar, but you said 3 parts water to 1 part vinegar above the recipe.
Jessica
Either would work fine, but I do 4 parts water to 1 part vinegar. Thanks for noting that, we will fix it!
Anna McNamara
You saved my fruit thank you!!
Kimberly
This is a great idea and I love doing it all at once.