How to cut, seed and peel an avocado

Cutting an avocado is easy with a sharp knife

Avocados are a delicious pear-shaped fruit which have recently gained more popularity in the United States mainly due to their health benefits. While they may appear to be difficult to cut, seed, or peel, they are actually quite easy once you have the proper knowledge.

A ripe avocado is the key component to making delicious guacamole. They can also be found in sushi, salads, sandwiches, and even with chocolate syrup in smoothies. Avocados are high in fiber, fat, and protein which is why they are a focal point of many vegetarian dishes.

If you've purchased an avocado and it isn't ripe enough yet, try sealing it in a brown paper bag or wrapping it in newspaper to encourage ripening. Add an apple to the brown bag to ripen them even quicker.

Instructions

Step 1

How to hold the avocado before cutting it

Hold the avocado vertically in your hand so the stem is pointing towards the ceiling. If the avocado still has a stem in it, it is best to remove it at this time.

Step 2

Cut vertically around the avocado.

Starting from the top of the avocado, cut down in a straight line to the bottom and then back up to the top. This should form two equal halves.

Step 3

Breaking it into two halves

With both hands, hold the avocado and twist it until it breaks free from the other half. The level of difficulty of this step depends on the ripeness of the fruit. Generally, if the fruit is ripe, it should open up easily.

Step 4

Removing the pit

Hold the half of the avocado which has the seed firmly in one hand and hold the knife with the other. Using the knife, swiftly embed the blade into the seed. The knife should cut and hold perfectly into the seed, and then twist the knife left to right until the seed breaks loose.

Step 5

Peeling or scoring your avocado

With a spoon you can scoop out the middle of the avocado away from the peel. You can also score the inside using a knife by cutting several lines horizontally and several lines vertically. This will create little cubes of avocado which can then be scooped out from the peel.

Nutritional Information

An average avocado has 322 calories, 29 grams of fat (only 4 grams of saturated fat), no cholesterol, 13 grams of dietary fiber, and 4 grams of protein.

How to cut, seed, and peel an avocado

In one minute learn how to cut, seed, and peel an avocado.

You will Need

A cutting board

A sharp knife

An avocado

Tips & Warnings

Be careful when handling sharp knives.

Be sure to check that the avocado is ripe before cutting.

Quick Fact

Save the seed and learn how to grow an avocado, but great patience is needed as the tree may take 7 to 15 years to begin producing avocados.

Comments (1 to 10 of 10)

Daisy Peasblossom

May 27, 10 at 12:37 PM

I like mine a little riper than the one in the video. Interesting way to remove the seed.

Katherine Johnson

May 04, 10 at 02:14 PM

Good one, thank you for the information.

Jana White

Mar 10, 10 at 09:58 PM

Barbi, great tip - I was not aware of this one. Thank you :)

Diane Garrod

Feb 23, 10 at 05:53 PM

There is a third way to remove the avocado from the skin. Take a paring knife and dice the meat into nice little squares horizontally and vertically and then dump pieces out or scoop out with a spoon. Especially good if you need uniform pieces for a salad or other recipe.

Sylvia Page

Feb 11, 10 at 08:35 AM

Here in Sri Lanka we have just 2 types of delicious avocados. One has a green smooth skin while the other is purple. Both are quite large and equally delicious. The purple one is ready to eat when the shin has completely turned purple and is soft to the touch. The green one simply is soft when ripe. Picking these at the right time is the key. When the fruit is ready to pick, the skin in the green variety would take on a slightly rougher look and could be easily twisted off the stem with no trace of stem. While the purple variety would have started to change colour and will also be easy to twist off the stem. Another way to know if the fruit is seasoned enough is to shake it and you are able to hear/feel the seed shaking within.

Colin Morley

Feb 10, 10 at 09:11 PM

Hmm - my local shops never sell Avocados with stems - and they do often have nasty black streaks. That said, the good ones are just delicious mashed up with raw onion and tuna (from a tin or freshly cooked)

Author Name Withheld 203

Feb 08, 10 at 11:25 PM

A very important tip in purchasing avocados is to make sure you buy one with a stem. The avocados with no stem with have steaks of brown inside.

Gail Kavanagh

Jan 28, 10 at 07:16 AM

Avocadoes are ready to eat when the flesh inside is soft. Press gently on the skin. If it feels hard then the avocado is green. If it feels soft but firm, then it is ripe enough to eat.

Raven Lebeau

Jan 15, 10 at 04:26 PM

Nice! Very clear and concise, and the video illustrates the process perfectly.

Jana White

Jan 14, 10 at 07:51 PM

Perhaps you can also tell us how to recognize when the avocado is ripe and ready to eat :)

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Sarah Bedrick
Helium member since Sep 09, 08
Number of Guides: 5

+ Post your Question|> See All Q&A

Do you add anything to your avocado smoothie?

Milk or you can do a dairy-free version with almond or coconut milk. You can also make a fruit smoo...

What do you do if the avocado's are overly ripe?

You can either throw it away or blend it for a thick smoothie.

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