How to Cut and Peel an Avocado

How to cut and peel an avocado, safely and quickly. It's easy!

By
Elise Bauer
Elise Bauer
Elise Bauer
Elise founded Simply Recipes in 2003 and led the site until 2019. She has an MA in Food Research from Stanford University.
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Updated July 30, 2021
Elise Bauer
How to Cut and Peel an Avocado
Elise Bauer

I once observed the mother of a dear friend of mine meticulously peel an avocado whole, and then cut pieces off of it to use in a salad. I hate to say there is ever any "wrong" way to do something; there are, as we know, many paths to Rome. But, the following method is easier, faster, and much less messy.

By the way, if you are buying avocados to prepare a guacamole dip, get them either ripe, with some give to the touch, or get them still firm, a few days ahead of when they are needed, and put them in a brown paper bag to ripen.

How to Cut and Peel an Avocado

Prep Time 1 mins
Total Time 1 mins
Servings 3 servings
Yield 1 avocado

Ingredients

  • 1 medium avocado

Method

  1. Grip the avocado gently on one side with one hand. With a large, sharp knife in the other hand, cut the avocado lengthwise around the seed. Open the two halves to expose the pit.

    how-to-cut-avocado-method-1a
    Elise Bauer
    Slice a ripe avocado in half
    Elise Bauer
    2a

    At this point there are a few ways you can proceed to remove the pit from the avocado half that has the pit. One way is to use a spoon to scoop out the pit.

    One way is to make another cut, lengthwise on the avocado half that has the pit, cutting around the pit, exposing it so that it is easier to remove.

    how-to-cut-avocado-method-3
    Elise Bauer
    how-to-cut-avocado-method-4
    Elise Bauer
    2b

    Another method is a bit tricky, as you'll see. This method is very popular, but you must be careful lest you cut your hand. For safety, fold up a kitchen towel and use that to hold the avocado half with the pit.

    Gently tap the pit with a knife with enough force so that the knife edge wedges into the pit, but not so hard as to cut all the way through it. If unsure, just tap it very gently a few times, each time with increasing pressure, until a cut is made in the pit sufficiently to twist the pit out. Getting the pressure just right takes a little practice.

    removing-avocado-pit-1
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    removing-avocado-pit-2
    Elise Bauer

    With the edge of the knife, twist the pit out of the avocado and discard.

    3a

    At this point, you can either scoop out the avocado flesh with a spoon (for making guacamole), or slice the avocado into segments.

    To make it more easy to scoop out the avocado flesh, take a knife (you can easily use a dull dinner knife) and gently make cuts in the avocado flesh in a cross-hatch pattern, careful not to break through the avocado peel. Then use a spoon to easily scoop out the avocado pieces.

    crosshatching-avocado-1
    Elise Bauer
    crosshatching-avocado-2
    Elise Bauer

    If you are making guacamole, don't worry about slightly discolored or brownish sections. Scoop them up with the rest of the avocado to mash.

    3b

    To make avocado slices, use a knife to slice the inside of the avocado halves into sections. Don't worry if you cut right through the peel.

    slicing-avocado-method-1
    Elise Bauer

  2. Use your fingers to separate the avocado segments from the peel.

    slicing-avocado-method-2
    Elise Bauer
    slicing-avocado-method-3a
    Elise Bauer

Links:

How to Make Guacamole - here on Simply Recipes

What's in a Name? The Avocado Story - how the avocado got its name, from NPR

How to Cut and Peel an Avocado
Elise Bauer
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
214 Calories
20g Fat
11g Carbs
3g Protein
Show Full Nutrition Label Hide Full Nutrition Label
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 3
Amount per serving
Calories 214
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 20g 25%
Saturated Fat 3g 14%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 9mg 0%
Total Carbohydrate 11g 4%
Dietary Fiber 9g 32%
Total Sugars 1g
Protein 3g
Vitamin C 13mg 67%
Calcium 16mg 1%
Iron 1mg 4%
Potassium 650mg 14%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. In cases where multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.