Food Ingredients Fruits 8 Ways to Use Guava in Summer Dishes, Drinks, and Desserts Make the most of fresh guava, juice, or paste with these sweet, tropical treats. By Ashley Day Ashley Day Ashley Day is Food & Wine's associate editorial director. She's edited and directed food and travel content at USA TODAY, the Institute of Culinary Education, and Chef & Restaurant magazine, and contributed to The Food Institute, The Daily Meal, and the recipe app meez. Food & Wine's Editorial Guidelines Published on May 30, 2024 Close Photo: Photo by Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Emily Nabors Hall / Prop Styling by Lydia Pursell We love including sweet guava in drinks, desserts, and savory dishes. The tropical fruit is grown in India, Mexico, the Caribbean, South America, and Central America, and featured in dishes and drinks from those cuisines and others. We love it fresh, juiced, or cooked down to sweet-tangy guava paste that makes it available year-round. Here are a few recipes to get the most out of guava season, from a couple of bright cocktails to an irresistible barbecue sauce, rich bread pudding, and delectable guava quesitos that come together in minutes (and that we can't stop eating). 01 of 08 Guava Goddess Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling by Lucy Simon Evie Negri-Albert developed this tropical, batchable cocktail for a crowd with bright guava juice and lime juice, bitter Aperol, nutty orgeat, and blanco tequila. Get the Recipe 02 of 08 Guava Quesitos Christopher Testani / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Christina Daley Brandon Ivan Peña fills puff pastry with cream cheese and sweet guava paste for these classic Puerto Rican treats. Get the Recipe 03 of 08 Guava Ponche with Sweet Vermouth DYLAN + JENI Paola Briseño González chills her riff on Ponche Navideño, a spiced tropical fruit punch that's served warm with a shot of tequila in Mexico at Christmastime. She uses guava, apples, hibiscus, and mint for the light, bright, fragrant and refreshing vermouth cocktail with perfectly balanced bitterness. Get the Recipe 04 of 08 Rum-and-Guava-Glazed Spareribs Greg Dupree / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer and Melissa Gray / Prop Styling by Audrey Taylor In the Caribbean, barbecue maestros use tropical fruits like passion fruit, guava, and pineapple to add a layer of fruitiness and sweetness to their barbecue, especially in their sauces. Chef Nelson German of Alamar Kitchen & Bar in Oakland, California, channels memories of guava in sweet and savory dishes in his Dominican household with his barbecue sauce rooted in guava. Get the Recipe 05 of 08 Guava and Cheese Bread Pudding Photo by Jennifer Causey / Food Styling by Emily Nabors Hall / Prop Styling by Lydia Pursell Paola Velez says guava and cheese are as meant to be as PB&J, celebrating the duo in this budin de pan recipe that originated with Velez's husband's 101-year-old grandmother. She uses an excess of evaporated milk for the lavish custard and has tips for the homemade caramel. Get the Recipe 06 of 08 Guava and Cheese Pasteles Photo by Greg DuPree / Food Styling by Ali Ramee / Prop Styling by Christine Keely Velez stuffs squares of puff pastry with guava paste and cream cheese for these creamy, crispy, sweet, and tangy pastelitos, pastelillos, or turnovers. Get the Recipe 07 of 08 Chinese-Style Ribs with Guava Barbecue Sauce © Tina Rupp Raichlen makes a rub with sugar, salt, dry mustard, Chinese five-spice powder, pepper, cinnamon and cloves, and then sprays baby back ribs with sherry in intervals as they grill over a drip pan. The ribs are glazed with a sticky barbecue sauce made with guava paste and rum, inspired by Miami. Get the Recipe 08 of 08 Guava-Glazed Pork Tenderloin with Cilantro-Jalapeño Salsa © Anna Williams A sweet guava glaze is the counterpoint to cilantro-jalapeño salsa in Ruth Van Waerebeek-Gonzalez's perfect pork tenderloin recipe. Get the Recipe Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit