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Gettin’ Figgy With It

Author: be well™ with Big Y^® Registered Dietitian Team

Enjoying the culinary and nutritious gifts of figs.

With a creamy texture and delicate sweet flavor, figs are a prime example of why fruits are Mother Nature’s intended dessert. Enjoyed alone, added to savory dishes or turned into dessert, fresh and dried figs are fantastic additions to your pantry.

Gettin’ Figgy With Nutrition

Fiber is where it’s at with figs. Three to five figs, fresh or dried, provides 5 grams, or 20% the Daily Value for, fiber. One half‍-‍cup dried figs also provides the same amount of calcium as one half‍-‍cup milk. Powerful antioxidant‍-‍acting plant compounds called flavonoids and phenolic acids are present in fresh and dried figs as well.

Although the level of antioxidant compounds found in figs are impacted by the fruit’s color and ripening and drying methods, all figs are nutritious delights.¹

Gettin’ Figgy With All Forms

Although fresh figs may have a short window of availability in our stores, dried figs and those you’ve frozen during the height of harvest, are ready for culinary adventures all year long. According to California Figs, choose fresh figs that are plump, soft and unyielding to the touch with a sweet, not sour, fragrance.

Store fresh figs in the refrigerator for 1‍-‍2 weeks, dried in the refrigerator for 6‍-‍12 months and frozen 3‍-‍6 months. To freeze fresh figs, wash and dry the fruit, remove the stem and arrange in a single layer on a wax paper‍-‍lined baking sheet and freeze solid before placing combined in a freezer‍-‍safe food storage bag.

Gettin’ Figgy With California Figs

Did you know 98% fresh and 100% dried figs sold in the United States come from California? That’s something to nosh about for sure.

Whether you’re new to figs, have only had them in your favorite cookie form or in the spread on a charcuterie board, let these recipes from California Figs take you to a place of figgy bliss!