The Best Ways to Eat Passion Fruit

Randi Gollin
·5 min read

Here's how to cut, store, and cook with the sweet-tart tropical fruit.

If you’re looking to gussy up your yogurt, add intrigue to desserts, or an antioxidant boost to smoothies, consider incorporating the juicy delight known as passion fruit (also spelled passionfruit) into your repertoire. Passion fruit is a staple in many tropical and subtropical countries—including Brazil, its largest producer and consumer—but fresh varieties aren't as widely available in the U.S., so for some home cooks, it remains an untapped ingredient.

What does passion fruit taste like and what’s the best way to eat it? We got the lowdown from a California farmer who grows the tropical fruit, and a Brazilian cookbook author from São Paulo.



Meet Our Expert



What Is Passion Fruit?

Round or oval, with a hard exterior and juicy center filled with soft gelatinous pulp and edible black seeds, this small fruit grows on the vines of the Passiflora plant, a type of passion flower. The outer shell is usually purple, green, or yellow, while its rounder relation, called granadilla, tends towards orange. Passion fruit season lasts from around August through April.

Where Does It Grow?

Passion fruit flourishes worldwide, including in Brazil, Ecuador, Columbia, Peru, Indonesia, and Australia, while wild varieties proliferate in the rainforests and tropical jungles of Costa Rica and Hawaii. "Fresh passion fruit is also grown domestically and commercially in Southern California and a bit in Florida," says Nicholas Brown, a sixth-generation farmer and owner of California-based Rincon Tropics, which grows passion fruit, amongst other produce. "You can sometimes find it at a farmers' market in these states when in season."

Flavor Profile

The fruit's flavor depends on the variety and where it’s grown, but the best passion fruit has a balance of sweetness and acidity. While there are hundreds of types of passion fruit plants, just a handful produce fruits, and of those, only a limited number produce edible fruits, says Brown.

"The most common, and what we grow, are the reddish-purple passion fruit," he says. "It has a great balance of sweetness and acidity and packs a powerful flavor punch." Yellow varieties are typically grown in more tropical climates, and some are incredibly tart, while others have very little acidity.

"Passion fruit that is more often found at stores in the U.S. is slightly tangy (less than a lemon or a lime) and sweet," says Olivia Mesquita, a Brazilian cookbook author and founder of Olivia’s Cuisine.

Shopping for Passion Fruit

What to look for, also ingredients to avoid.

How to Choose Ripe Passion Fruit

When mature, the fruit drops from the vine and can be eaten immediately. At this point, the shell is smooth and it resembles a plump plum, and while juicy, it's more tart and acidic.

Brown recommends waiting until the shell has started to wrinkle—generally a week or two after the fruit drops—for the best sweet-to-tart flavor profile. "As they wrinkle the acids are converted into sugar and the pulp inside becomes sweeter."

There is a point where wrinkling has gone too far. "The fruit gets less heavy in this process, so you don't want to choose a fruit that looks like a raisin, as it could have lost most, if not all, of its juice inside, and you'd only be getting a bunch of seeds instead," Brown says. Mesquita agrees, saying, "The super-wrinkly ones are past their prime and might be moldy!"

Frozen and Packaged Passion Fruit

As Brown explains, it is difficult to find steady and reliable sources of passion fruit in many parts of the country. That's where frozen passion fruit pulp comes in. Mesquita notes that even when she can find passion fruit fresh, it’s usually expensive, so frozen pulp, or packaged pulp with seeds, is her fallback, found at local Brazilian markets.

When shopping for frozen or packaged passion fruit pulp, check the labels and beware of ones with artificial ingredients or added syrup.

How to Eat Passion Fruit

Follow our handy tips to enjoy the singular flavor of passion fruit.

Cutting a Passion Fruit

Passion fruit shells can be tricky to break into but all you need is a sharp knife. Brown cuts the fruit in half, then scoops out the pulp and seeds.

Making Juice

"The best way to extract the most juice with minimal waste is to scoop it into a blender or food processor and pulse the seeds and pulp a few times, breaking the juice-containing membrane around each seed," says Brown.

Once the mixture settles, the crushed seeds sink to the bottom. You can then pour the pulsed mixture through a sieve and discard the seeds. No blender? Try whisking the pulp in a bowl to break the membranes, then sieve he suggests.

How to Use Passion Fruit

While passion fruit is a natural in desserts and drinks, it also has savory potential.

Creative Cocktails

Passion fruit is delicious in tropical-leaning cocktails—Mesquita makes use of the juice in caipirinhas, or mojitos, while Brown finds that passion fruit Margaritas and daiquiris are always a hit.

Desserts and More

Passion fruit is also a wonderful addition to yogurt, smoothies, frozen treats—and so much more. "My favorite way to eat passion fruit is in passion fruit mousse,” says Mesquita. "Other favorites are passion fruit cream pie, passion fruit truffles, passion fruit cake, and a savory sauce that I serve with salmon or chicken."

Brown covers both savory and sweet bases as well, using it in marinades for fish, chicken, and pork, and in a vinaigrette for salad dressings. Dessert-wise, he finds infinite uses, from ice cream to passion fruit cheesecake. And he’s fond of one passion fruit product in particular: "Passion fruit curd is a baker's secret weapon because it goes so well with so many cakes and cookies,” he says.

The passion fruit has many possibilities, but don't overlook that one of the best ways to enjoy passion fruit is to eat it in its purest form. All you need is a spoon.