Dates vary from soft and fudgy to firm and chewy, and each type has its best use. Here’s how to pick, cook with, and store the most available varieties.
Two dates and a cup of coffee—it’s a ritual I’ve carried for as long as I can remember. I grew up in Jordan, where even the pavements were lined with date palms, their heavy clusters dangling like lanterns. The palms’ sharp spikes snagged and tore more than a few of my favorite sweaters, yet I loved them anyway.
Across the Arab world, dates are stitched into daily life: a small dessert after dinner, a midday snack to keep you going, or a sweet you serve to guests with post-dinner coffee and tea. They’re also given as gifts, packed in boxes embossed with golden arabesque motifs. The dates are arranged in beautiful rows—sometimes stuffed with walnuts, pistachios, and almonds, dipped in chocolate, or dusted with shredded coconut or crushed pistachios. The pistachios’ bright green and the coconut’s soft white contrast with the deep brown fruit.
During Ramadan, a single date with a glass of water is the first thing to break the fast at sunset, an early Islamic practice that has endured for centuries as a simple, restorative ritual after long hours without food. During Eid, Christmas, and Easter, dates show up in ma’amoul—crumbly semolina cookies often stuffed with spiced date paste and dusted with powdered sugar. In Tunisia, dates are found in makrout—golden, diamond-shaped pastries with a chewy semolina crust, filled with dates and finished with a honey glaze. In Sudan, a date or two is sometimes added to subtly sweeten a batch of ful—stewed fava beans served with bread.
Dates aren’t just a staple in kitchens across the Arab world. In the US, consumption is steadily growing as more people turn to them as a natural sweetener and nutritious snack, according to Cognitive Market Research’s 2025 Date Fruit Market Report. Whether you’re blending them into a smoothie, baking them into bread, or snacking straight from the box, they deserve a permanent spot in your pantry. Below, I’ll walk you through their history in the US, the types you’re most likely to encounter, and the best ways to store and enjoy them.
A Tour of Dates in the US
For thousands of years, date palms have thrived in the deserts of the Middle East and North Africa, with evidence of farming as far back as 7000 BCE in Mesopotamia. Their fruit fueled travelers, fed communities, and became an integral part of rituals and celebrations.
At the turn of the 20th century, the United States developed its own fascination with the date palm. According to NPR’s 2014 Morning Edition report “Forbidding Fruit: How America Got Turned On to the Date,” between 1900 and 1930, Americans were captivated by the imagery of the Middle East—from One Thousand and One Nights to tales of Aladdin and Sinbad—and growers in California’s Coachella Valley leaned into this fascination to market this new crop. Botanists from the USDA’s Agricultural Explorer program traveled to Iraq, Morocco, and Algeria to bring back offshoots of date palms, each weighing up to 60 pounds, since planting seeds wouldn’t guarantee edible fruit. They quickly realized that the blazing sun and cool desert nights of California’s Coachella Valley—and parts of Arizona’s Sonoran Desert—mirrored the trees’ native climate. Those imported palms flourished, and the desert soon became the heart of American date production.
According to the same NPR report, by the late 1940s, growers had doubled down on the fantasy by launching the International Festival of the Dates in Indio, the desert town at the center of California’s date industry. For the duration, the whole community was encouraged to dress the part: There were movie ushers in harem pants, waitresses in bolero jackets, even grocery clerks in genie costumes—not sure how I feel about that. Exoticism and Orientalist stereotypes aside, there’s no denying dates were quickly embraced and became part of American food culture.
California historian Sarah Seekatz told NPR in 2014 that Coachella Valley’s date boom was one of the “most romantic” chapters in America’s experiments with what people in the country considered exotic fruit.
Of course, no dive into the US history of dates would be complete without an honorable mention of the date shake. Palm Springs’ unofficial signature drink was born in the Coachella Valley in the 1920s. Just vanilla ice cream, cold milk, and dates, blended smooth—frosty, creamy, and caramel-sweet. Nearly a century on, you can still find it at date shops and roadside cafés across the desert.
Types of Dates and How to Use Them
Medjool may reign as the most familiar name in American grocery stores, but the world of dates is far richer and more varied, with an array of textures, flavors, and shapes, many of which can be found growing right here in the US. Learning the differences can help you pick the right date for whatever you’re making—and might just inspire you to try varieties you’ve never tasted before.
Dates fall into three general categories—soft, semi-soft, and dry—distinctions shaped both by variety and by how much moisture the fruit has at harvest. While still on the palm, dates pass through several stages of ripeness:
- Balah: the early, firm, and underripe stage, rarely eaten outside the Middle East and quite astringent and less sweet.
- Rutab: from the Arabic word for moist, ripe and high in moisture with a noticeable sweetness.
- Tamar: from the Arabic word for dates, fully ripe, darker, and sweeter, with sugars concentrated as the fruit dries.
Most dates are harvested at the tamar stage, while dry varieties like Thoory are left until the very end of that stage, losing much of their remaining moisture as they sit in the sun until they’re firm, chewy, and highly shelf-stable.
Those differences translate into big shifts in flavor, texture, and best uses. Here are the varieties most commonly grown in the US, and also imported from the Middle East and North Africa.
Medjool (Soft Variety)
The celebrity of the date world, the Medjool date traces its roots to a single oasis in Morocco, Doug Adair, owner of Pato’s Dream Date Garden in Thermal, California, told NPR in 2014. Medjools are huge—often two inches long—with wrinkled, reddish-brown skins that give way to thick, amber flesh. They’re soft but not fragile, lush, and almost fudgy, with a caramel-toffee sweetness and barely any fiber around the pit.
Medjools became the darling of US date growers because they thrive in California’s desert climate and appeal to American palates that generally prefer sweeter flavors. Today, they’re the most widely grown date variety in the US, making them easy to find in most mainstream grocery stores. They’re perfect eaten straight from the box, stuffed with nuts or cream cheese, or blended into smoothies. Their stickiness also makes them ideal for sticky toffee pudding.
Getty Images / ABDULLAH AL MAHDI
Halawy (Soft)
Small and golden-brown, Halawy dates live up to their Arabic name, which means sweet. Native to Iraq, they’re tender and syrupy without being cloying, with flavors that echo butterscotch and honey. Because they’re so delicate, they’re best eaten fresh from the box, or used in desserts like puddings and ice creams where their melt-in-your-mouth softness shines.
Getty Images / Pongasn68
Khadrawy (Soft)
Also native to present-day Iraq, these short, dark mahogany dates are silky and almost melt in your mouth as you eat them. Their sweetness is mellow and deep, more like brown sugar than candy. They’re less widely grown than Medjool or Deglet Noor, but you’ll sometimes find them in Middle Eastern shops. They’re ideal for snacking or pressing into homemade energy bars.
Deglet Noor (Semi-Soft)
Deglet Noor, which translates from Arabic as the “date of light,” glows amber-gold when held up to the sun. The word Deglet comes from a North African Arabic term for date, and Noor means light. These dates have flesh that’s a bit firmer, drier, and slightly chewy, with a nutty, honeyed sweetness that feels more restrained than the Medjool’s. Deglet Noor dates were among the first varieties introduced to the US from Algeria in the early 1900s by USDA researcher Walter Swingle, and they remain, along with Medjools, the backbone of California’s date industry. They are second in popularity only to Medjools, making them among the most commonly available dates in US grocery stores. Their ability to hold shape and store well makes them a favorite for baking into breads and cookies, folding into salads and rice dishes, or braising with meats.
Getty Images / Chuleegorn Jantarataweekul
Zahidi (Semi-Soft/Semi-Dry)
Plump and oval with smooth, golden to light brown skin, Zahidi is another variety that originated in Iraq. They’re chewy and less sticky than softer dates. Their flavor is mild and nutty, sometimes with a whisper of dried apricot. They’re excellent chopped into granola, mixed into oatmeal, sprinkled over yogurt, or baked into breads and muffins—anywhere you want sweetness with a bit of structure.
Getty Images / G A Chandiojpg
Thoory (Dry)
A rare variety in the US, the long, firm, and matte brown Thoory date is the driest of the bunch, with dense, almost crumbly flesh. Native to Algeria, their firm flesh made them a staple for desert nomads, who valued their durability on long journeys. While their dry texture makes them less appealing to eat out of hand, they’re a great choice for hiking snacks since they won’t turn mushy in a trail mix bag. With an almost nutty flavor and a firm texture, they also work well in breads, cookies, and oatmeal, where the fruit holds its structure instead of disappearing into the mix.
Barhi (Very Firm to Very Soft)
Named for the hot summer winds (barh) of southern Iraq, where they originated, the Barhi date is one of the few varieties sometimes eaten before it’s fully ripe. At the balah stage, they’re sold fresh and yellow, often still on the stem. Eaten this way, they can be crisp, with a mouth-drying astringency caused by high tannin levels that decrease as the fruit ripens. The earlier they’re picked, the more firm they are, and the more pronounced that puckery quality will be. At the balah stage, their crisp texture and slight bitterness make them an interesting addition when shaved over crudo or salad.
Left to mature into the rutab stage, Barhi soften into a custardy, almost syrupy texture, with flavors that drift toward honey and butterscotch—a bite I love so much that I search for it every late summer and early fall. I’ve had the luck of finding fresh rutab clusters at Arabic grocery stores along Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, and once at Arax, an Armenian grocery store in Watertown, Massachusetts. At the rutab stage they’re best eaten out of hand to really appreciate their magic.
If left to ripen fully into the tamar stage, Barhi dates dry into a soft, brown, and very sweet fruit. At that point, they can be used in similar ways to medjool.
Getty Images / yodaswaj
Buying and Storing Dates
Medjools and Deglet Noors are widely available in mainstream grocery stores, while lesser-known varieties can often be found at Arabic grocery stores or markets specializing in Middle Eastern ingredients; you can also order them online.
Once you’ve found the right dates, knowing how to care for them is just as important. Proper storage will preserve their texture, flavor, and sweetness. Dates keep best in an airtight container, either at room temperature or in the fridge, depending on the variety and how quickly you plan to eat them.
- Medjools can last at room temperature for a month or two, though they’ll keep longer in the fridge.
- If not eaten within a few days, high-moisture varieties like Halawy and Khadrawy should be transferred to the refrigerator, where they’ll stay plump and fresh for weeks.
- Semi-soft and dry varieties such as Deglet Noor can be stored in a cool pantry for about 3 months, but refrigeration will extend their life.
The temperature of your kitchen will ultimately dictate how long they last outside the fridge. In a hot kitchen, especially during the summer, high-moisture varieties spoil quickly and may go bad within a few days. In general, dates stored in airtight containers in the refrigerator can keep for up to six months. Dates sold at the balah or rutab stage must always be refrigerated if not eaten right away, since they haven’t dried and will spoil quickly at room temperature.
Sweetness That Endures
Dates can be cooked down into glazes, made into chutneys, baked into breads, or blended into smoothies. Or you can do what I do: Enjoy a couple with a bold cup of coffee, the bitterness of the beans sharpening their caramel sweetness. However you take them, dates have earned their reputation as nature’s candy—sweet, versatile, enduring, and carrying centuries of history.
