What is Guava Fruit?

Guava fruit is a tropical fruit that originated in Central America but it is now cultivated in many tropical regions including parts of Asia, the Caribbean, South America, and Florida.

It has grown in Cuba since colonial times, introduced by the Spanish during their colonization of the Americas. Cuba’s warm climate and fertile soil provided an ideal environment for guava trees to thrive across the island.

This tropical fruit has a nutrient-dense fruit packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. It’s an excellent source of vitamin C, vitamin A, potassium, and fiber.

Guava has a special place in Cuban Cuisine for its versatility. We use guava in traditional Cuban desserts, such as pastelitos de guayaba, pastries filled with guava paste. These pastries are often enjoyed as a sweet treat or served alongside Cuban espresso.

Beyond desserts, we also use guava in savory dishes like guava bbq chicken wings. The sweetness of the guava complements the savory flavors of the meat, creating a delicious contrast.

Different Varieties

There are over 30 varieties of guava, each with its own unique characteristics. Some of the most common varieties include the white-fleshed guava and pink-fleshed guava.

• White-fleshed guavas have green to yellow-ish skin with white flesh, similar to an apple. They are the most common variety and more tangy-sweet in flavor, almost like a mix between a strawberry and a lemon.

• Pink-fleshed guavas are known as ‘red guavas’ for their pink-reddish insides. They look like limes from the outside with green skin. However, similar to strawberries, they have a sweet, tart flavor and their flesh is juicy and refreshing.

Oh and in case you were wondering… yes, you can eat the guava seeds. In fact, the seeds are edible and contribute to the texture of the fruit!

Where To Buy

We have fresh guava year-round in grocery stores and farmer’s markets here in South Florida. In general, they are available during the warmer months in grocery stores across the country.

When shopping for guavas, look for fruits that are firm with a bit of give (like when you feel a pear for ripeness). Their skin should be green, yellow, or pink, depending on the variety you prefer. And it should smell sweet and tropical!

Guava vs Other Fruits (apple, papaya, passion fruit)

While apples have a crisp texture and mild flavor, papayas are soft and have a sweet, musky taste. Passion fruits are tart and tangy with edible seeds, similar to guava. However, guava stands out with its unique tropical flavor and juicy texture!

Storage

Guavas should be stored at room temperature until ripe. Once ripe, they can be stored in the refrigerator for a few days to prolong freshness. If you have excess guavas, you can freeze them for longer-term storage. Simply slice the guavas, remove the seeds if desired, and store them in an airtight container or freezer bag.

What is Guava Paste?

Guava paste is essentially like fruit leather made by cooking the guava fruit with sugar and fresh lime juice until it becomes a very thick [delicious] paste. While the jams and marmalade are drippy, the guava paste is a thick, sticky block that’s soft enough to slice. And it tastes oh so good!

What is Yuca?

Yuca (pronounced yoo-ka), also known as cassava root, manioc, mandioca, or Brazilian arrowroot, is a starchy root vegetable from the root of the cassava plant that you often find in Latin American and Caribbean cuisine, and in parts of Asia and Africa.

These versatile tubers are long and tapered with brown skin, similar to the skin of Russett potatoes except more waxy and rough.

On the other hand, yucca is not the same as yuca. Even though they’re spelled almost the same, yucca is an ornamental desert plant with perennial shrubs. They don’t have an edible root like yuca.

How To Cook With Yuca

You can eat these root vegetables boiled, fried, or even mashed, however, it needs to be peeled first before you can cook them. I’ve linked a few recipes below.

Us Cubans love making yuca with mojo, especially for Noche Buena (Christmas Eve) which is made by boiling the peeled and cut chunks of yuca and serving it with a citrusy-garlicky mojo sauce.

Our Christmas1 Day lunch then involves turning that leftover yuca into yuca fries (yuca frita) by cutting the boiled/cooked yuca into fries and frying them until crispy. I enjoy eating the yuca frita with cilantro garlic sauce.

As if that wasn’t enough, this root vegetable is also used to make a dessert! We make Cuban Buñuelos for Christmas which is a pastry made from yuca and malanga that’s mashed then turned into a dough, shaped into a figure 8, and fried to perfection.

What Does Yuca Taste Like?

The insides of the yuca root are a white, cream color. When cooked, yuca has a slightly sweet, mild, and nutty taste with a creamy texture.

Difference between Fresh Yuca and Frozen Yuca

Fresh yuca has a paraffin wax on the outer coat which is harder to peel while frozen yuca is already peeled and cut in chunks.

The fresh kind is found in the produce section. The frozen kind comes in a bag and typically can be found in the frozen Hispanic section of the grocery store.

Personally, I prefer the frozen yuca for 3 reasons:

1. Already peeled (woohoo!)
2. Convenient + saves you time
3. No fibrous core!

Just make sure the frozen yuca is fully thawed before you start cooking.

Nutritional Information

Yuca is dense, full of fiber, low in calories, gluten-free, fat-free, and rich in carbohydrates with a low glycemic index. It’s loaded with vitamin C, vitamin A, vitamin B, magnesium, and potassium.

Storage Tips

You can store unpeeled yuca in the fridge for up to 1 week. If you don’t plan on using it in a week or less, you can peel it, cut into chunks, transfer it to a freezer bag, remove all the air from the freezer bag, and store it in the freezer for no longer than 30 days.

What is Noche Buena?

Noche Buena is Christmas Eve in Spanish which translates to “Good Night”. And that it is, my friends! As in most Cuban families, our holidays revolve around traditional Cuban food.

On Noche Buena, we cook up a storm, open gifts at midnight, party for hours into the morning, and wake up on December 25th only to enjoy leftovers. It’s a nostalgic time to see extended family you haven’t seen all year and laugh at all your childhood memories together.

Cuban Christmas Food

The main course for Cuban Noche Buena always includes lechon asado (Cuban roast pork), frijoles negros with rice or moros, yuca con mojo which turned into yuca frita the next day, and platanos maduros.

As a kid, I remember my uncle would lay the pig completely sliced open on the table and marinate it with mojo criollo. The pig would then roast for hours in la caja china which is a large box, sometimes made of wood, commonly used to make tender, slow-roasted pork. IT IS DELICIOUS!

This Cuban Christmas feast would end with either flan, arroz con leche, or Cuban buñuelos with cafecito for dessert.

Family and food were always at the root of our Cuban traditions. This is how we create memories and stay connected with one another. It’s my favorite time of year!

Feel free to add any of the following recipes to your Christmas Dinner celebrations this year and create Cuban Christmas traditions of your own!

A little background on me (in case you’re new here – hi!)

My background is in digital marketing, where I worked with culinary clients in the ad agency world. Prior to that, I worked in the healthcare industry, climbing the corporate ladder, and then graduated with a safe Bachelor’s degree in Business.

In 2016, I started this food blog after quitting my full-time job because I was in desperate need of change.

I had no idea what I was doing, and considering I had a handful of “failed” blogs and online ventures under my belt, I was nervous about once again giving all this another try.

After going down many rabbit holes of research, I discovered Pinch of Yum’s Income Reports. Those reports inspired me to give food blogging a fair shot, and they’re 10000% the prime reason I am here today.

A lot has changed since then, so in place of detailed income reports, let’s talk about how much money I make as a food blogger at this very moment.

How Do Food Bloggers Make Money?

Before we jump into numbers, let’s first talk about how we actually make money. Food bloggers make money from the following sources:

• Ad revenue (website ads)
• Brand partnerships (sponsored content or content creation for brands)
• Affiliate marketing (commission-based links)
• Freelance work (social media management, ghostwriting, or other client gigs)
• Products & Services (merch, ebooks, consulting, coaching, etc)

I will say, however, that a food blog is the most steady source of income from all the options. It’s also the option that will take the longest to grow and monetize. Something to keep in mind.

What exactly is a food blog?

From the outside, it will look like you’re just “sharing recipes with pretty photos,” but behind the scenes, you’re managing a whole content marketing-based business.

Or… as I like to call it, a small media business where you sell information, ads, and assets.

This is why I’ve always believed the word “blogger” doesn’t properly sum up all that we do and what we sell. We’re business owners after all, and businesses sell products and services.

What do food bloggers sell?

• Recipe content. Our blog is a product (or an asset) and we “sell” free information with the intention of building an engaged audience that will know, like, and trust us.

• Ad placements. Once we have an engaged audience, we can monetize that audience with advertisers and brand partnerships. We partner with advertisers who want to use our blogs as a way to advertise with display ads that pay per page view. Similarly, brands will partner with us as a way to promote their products via sponsored content on our blogs, social media channels, email newsletters, etc.

• Media services like recipe development, food photography, videography, content writing, coaching & consulting services, etc.

But wait, isn’t food blogging dead?

I’d say blogging as a way to tell stories may be dead, but food blogs that are a complete resource offering consistent value to readers – that’s NOT dead.

Long gone are the days of blogging being a Tumblr account or a Live Journal where you simply share about your day-to-day life.

People are looking for solutions to their problems, and a blog/website is a great way to provide solutions for your readers. Every business needs a blog!

My Income Breakdown

Ok, let’s talk numbers. As of December 2023, I average between $24-$30k per month in gross income, which means that number does not include expenses (taxes, groceries, equipment, web hosting, contractors, accountant, tools, subscriptions, education, etc).

Every month is different, and expenses grow as your business grows. From that monthly gross income above, this is the breakdown by income source:

• Ad Revenue: ~75%
• Coaching: ~24%
• Affiliate Marketing: 1%

The majority of my income comes from the display ads on this food blog. That one income stream generates multi-six figures alone. This blog receives over 4 million page views per year.

I share all the behind-the-scenes of running a blog biz with my email list. Interested? Sign up here!

The Best Part About Being A Food Blogger

Since 2016, A Sassy Spoon, LLC (my food blog business) has helped me:

• Pay off $70K in student loan debt in 22 months.
• Become completely debt-free.
• Achieve a multi-six-figure net worth (it was negative for years!).
• Work fewer hours while getting paid more on my terms.
• Reach total and complete freedom & flexibility by working for myself.

This has been years in the making. It was NOT an overnight success. There was A LOT of blood, sweat, and tears involved in growing this business.

And it is completely possible for anyone to work towards making money from their food blog, too. All you need is the right strategy, lots of resilience, and tons of patience.

What makes a food blog successful?

To make a food blog successful in 2025 (and beyond), you need to:

• Fill a gap in the market by doing something different. Having very niche and nuanced content is the best way to stand out in a saturated market.
• Showcase your expertise and build your authority by expanding on topics (and recipes) you know inside and out. This is your E-E-A-T. Doing this builds trust, attracts the right audience, and helps you plan content better.

There’s a lot more where this came from. If you’re an experienced food blogger looking to grow your food blog this year, sign up here!