How do I store vegetables so they last?
Which vegetables belong in the fridge, which don't, and the storage changes that meaningfully extend how long each one lasts.
- Difficulty
- beginner
- Time
- 20 min
- Read
- 2 min
Short answer
Most vegetables last longest cold and slightly humid — fridge drawer, loosely bagged. The exceptions matter: potatoes, onions, garlic, tomatoes, squash and bananas all do better at cool room temperature, and potatoes and onions should be kept apart from each other.
Vegetables deteriorate through three routes: water loss, chilling injury, and ethylene gas from nearby produce. Nearly every storage rule is managing one of those. Once you know which one applies to a given vegetable, the right place to put it becomes obvious.
Step by step
- Put most vegetables in the fridge crisper drawer, loosely bagged rather than sealed.Cold slows deterioration; the loose bag holds humidity without trapping condensation, which causes rot.
- Keep potatoes somewhere cool, dark and airy — never the fridge.Cold converts potato starch to sugar, which affects flavour and causes darkening when fried. Light turns them green.
- Keep onions and garlic dry, airy and dark, and away from potatoes.Onions release moisture and gases that sprout potatoes; potatoes release moisture that rots onions. They're a bad pair.
- Keep tomatoes at room temperature, out of direct sun.Refrigeration below about 12°C permanently damages tomato texture and flavour. Only refrigerate cut or over-ripe ones.
- Store herbs like cut flowers — stems in water, loosely covered, in the fridge.Basil is the exception and prefers room temperature; the fridge blackens it.
- Wrap leafy greens in a slightly damp cloth or kitchen paper before bagging.Greens wilt through water loss. The damp paper keeps humidity up without soaking them.
- Keep ethylene producers away from ethylene-sensitive vegetables.Apples, bananas, tomatoes and avocados produce ethylene. Leafy greens, broccoli, carrots and cucumbers age fast near it.
- Don't wash vegetables until you use them.Surface moisture accelerates rot. Wash at the point of use, not on the way home.
Tips
- Carrots keep for weeks submerged in a container of water in the fridge, changed every few days — they stay crisp rather than going rubbery.
- Trim the leafy tops off carrots, beetroot and radishes when you get home. The leaves keep drawing moisture from the root.
- Asparagus and spring onions keep much better standing in a little water like flowers.
- Mushrooms prefer a paper bag to plastic — plastic traps moisture and makes them slimy.
Common mistakes
- Refrigerating potatoes — Cold converts starch to sugar, changing the flavour and causing darkening when cooked at high heat.
- Storing onions and potatoes together — Each accelerates the other's deterioration. Store them in separate places.
- Washing everything before storing — Residual moisture is what starts rot. Wash when you're about to use it.
- Sealed airtight bags for most vegetables — Trapped condensation causes rot faster than the cold prevents it.
Questions people ask
Why do my vegetables go slimy in the fridge?
Trapped moisture. Either they were washed and stored wet, or they're in a sealed bag with nowhere for condensation to go. Loosely bagged and dry is the fix.
Should tomatoes really not go in the fridge?
Ripe tomatoes lose flavour and turn mealy below about 12°C, and the damage isn't reversible by warming them up. Room temperature until ripe; refrigerate only if cut or if you'd otherwise lose them.