How to Eat Passion Fruit

The only thing we love more than pairing you with top-knotch fruit is showing you how to enjoy it! Whether you’ve just gotten your first FruitStand shipment of passion fruit or loved them since childhood, we’ll show you how to enjoy passion fruit in tons of easy ways.

Before you can know how to eat a passion fruit, you should have a good idea of what you’re working with. The outer peel of the passion fruit is dark purple and inedible. Passion fruit’s peel is smooth when unripe, then begins to slightly pucker into cute little wrinkles as it ripens. Much like a pomegranate, the inside of passion fruit is a pithy, inedible rind that surrounds hundreds of brightly colored, edible seeds nestled inside sacs of juice.

This brightly colored mass of edible seeds is referred to as pulp. Passion fruit pulp is even easier to remove from the rind than pomegranate and can be enjoyed straight from the peel or with a spoon.

If you’re wondering what the texture of a passion fruit pulp is, just imagine pomegranate seeds but more jellylike and orange with a juicy, sweet-tart flavor. The taste of passion fruit is tart with a musky sweetness that might evoke daydreams of fancy fruit punch.

How to prepare your passion fruit will depend on the recipe you’re using. The good news is, passion fruit is very easy to prepare! Here are a few ways to prepare passion fruit for just about any recipe.

Slicing a Passion Fruit

The first time you see a plummy little passion fruit you may ask yourself, how the heck do I slice this adorable thing? Never fear. The peel is easy to slice with a sharp knife, and separating the pulpy seeds is a breeze. This makes passion fruit perfect to use in countless recipes like smoothies, desserts, pastries and marinades, or as a snack itself.

Here are some of the easiest, most common ways of how to slice a passion fruit:

Slice in half longways or from the middle. Then, scoop the pulp out of the rind using a spoon. Pretty easy, huh?
Using your thumbs, apply gentle pressure until the peel cracks open. Then pull the two halves apart to reveal the juicy seeds inside.

Preparing Passion Fruit

The beauty of passion fruit goes beyond its flashy pulp of black seeds surrounded in thick golden jelly. This versatile fruit can be cooked into countless sweet and savory recipes.

Here are two ways to prepare passion fruit:

With seeds: Slice passion fruit in half and scoop the pulp into a bowl.
Seedless: Place passion fruit pulp in a fine mesh sieve over a bowl. Push the pulp through the sieve with a rubber spatula until only seeds remain.

Once you’ve prepared the passion fruit with or without seeds, you’re ready to use it in sweet and savory recipes. Passion fruit is a popular addition to yogurt, granola and acai bowls. It can be spooned over pancakes or even ice cream! The tartness of passion fruit gives marinades a flavorful acidity that you’ll love for tofu, seafood, chicken, pork or beef. The sky’s the limit with the versatile passion fruit!

Drinking Passion Fruit

Passion fruit lends itself beautifully to all kinds of drinks. Whether you’re a craft cocktail enthusiast or want a way to zhuzh up your juice, passion fruit is a perfect addition to your drink recipes.

Here are some easy ways get the tropical tang of passion fruit into your drink recipes:

Juicing: passion fruit pulp should be removed from the rind before juicing. Then, simply pour the pulp into your juicer. Passion fruit pairs well with fruits like guava, pineapple, strawberry, watermelon, ginger and meyer lemon.
Smoothies: If you’re wondering what to do with ripe or frozen passion fruit, smoothies are a fantastic option. This is a fruit you should enjoy as close to cutting open as possible. Whether you have leftovers or want to use a whole passion fruit, we recommend freezing it for best use. To prepare your passion fruit for smoothies, freeze the pulp in ice cube trays. Then, simply add the frozen passion fruit cubes into the blender when making your morning smoothie!
Non-alcoholic drinks: Spoon the seeds into a pitcher of water, iced tea or lemonade to elevate your everyday beverages and mocktails.
Syrup: Cooking down passion fruit pulp with sugar and water makes a dense syrup that can be used in cocktails, beverages, desserts and snacks. Passion fruit syrup is a surprising and impressive addition to many recipes that’s very easy to make.

We hope you feel like a passion fruit eating expert now! Show us your favorite ways to prepare and eat passion fruit by tagging us @Fruitstandcom in your culinary masterpieces on Instagram!