Fruits and Veggies You Should Peel ⋆ Food Health & Parenting Tips

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Some fruits and veggies carry benefits if you eat the skin, but it’s not always the most nutritious part. Even if it has nutrients, some of these peels are hard, taste bad, and destroy your digestive system. Skip the tummy troubles; here are the top fruits and veggies you should peel before eating.

Peel the Following Fruits and Veggies

1. Onion and garlic

The skin might look paper-thin on these flavorful veggies, but are extremely tough and sometimes impossible to chew through. Don’t spend your meal extracting stringy onion skin from between your teeth.

2. Papaya

Papaya’s skin isn’t’ as tough as some melons, but it’s still not digestible and is very hard to chew.

3. Mango

Mangos are also hard to digest, and its skin is inedible. The good stuff is inside, but make sure you don’t try to eat that huge seed either!

4. Pineapple

Of course, common sense should tell you that the spiky skin of pineapple would wreak havoc in your mouth. Instead, stick to the sweet core.

5. Avocado

Yes, an avocado is technically a fruit, but its skin is something you should never eat. It has a terrible flavor as well, and the nutritional benefits can be found in the creamy flesh, so it’s best to avoid it.

6. Honeydew melon

Both honeydews and cantaloupe house some yummy goodies on the inside, but the outside is tough and butter, making it better to discard. Or use it as a bowl for a parfait!

7. Hard winter squash

Although some squashes might have edible peels, if you boil them down enough, it becomes tough, stringy, and very hard to spread. It will ruin an otherwise creamy and delicious squash – toss it!

8. Lime and other citrus fruits

You might be able to eat the peel of citrus fruits like lemons and oranges if you grate the skin into a fine zest or cook it beforehand to add flavor to something else. Citrus fruits are full of antioxidants – without the peel.

9. Banana

We love bananas because they come in their own portable container – the skin. But don’t try to eat it – that’s a gritty, textured bite that we’re not looking forward to.

Organic vs. Non-organic

Much of the bad stuff in these peels come from pesticides and wax, so if you buy organic and you really want the unique texture of a peel, go for it! However, we’ve found that most people prefer the ingredient’s taste when you remove the peel.

Fruits That Have an Edible Peel

There are, however, other fruits and veggies that contain lots of nutrients in the peels, such as apples and sweet potatoes. And they taste much better than the inedible peels! Here is a list of fruit and vegetable skins that taste good and have many nutritious health benefits.