Do you know how to cut peel and slice an avocado?
Slicing an avocado is tricky if you don’t know a few simple tips to keep them from squishing all over the place. Learn how to cut, peel and slice an avocado in the right way.
Since I discovered avocado toast, I think I may have cut more avocados in the past month or two than I ever did when making guacamole. A ripened avocado’s flesh can be easily mashed or squished. It is hard to handle without getting your hands full of slippery green goop that gets all over everything. All of the slippery green goop can be avoided by following this step-by-step process.
HOW TO CUT PEEL & SLICE AN AVOCADO:
STEP 1: Wash the fruit. Be sure to fully wash the fruit as directed below before cutting or slicing.
STEP 2: Cut the avocado in half. Hold the avocado securely with one hand, with a large, sharp knife in the other hand, slowly slice the avocado lengthwise around the seed. Holding the avocado in the palm of one hand, use your other hand to twist and rotate the two halves apart. Open the two halves to expose the pit.
STEP 3: Remove the pit. There are two ways you could remove the pit from the avocado:
A: Scoop it out – Slip a spoon between the seed and fruit and gently work the seed out of the fruit.
B: The knife tap – Carefully tap the pit with a knife with enough force so that the knife-edge wedges into the pit. With the edge of the knife, twist the pit out of the avocado and discard.
Getting the pressure just right takes a little practice. It doesn’t have to be hard but you need enough force that the knife has indention to be able to remain in place while twisting the pit out. 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.
Step 4: Scoop or slice the flesh. At this point, you can either scoop out the avocado flesh with a spoon or slice the avocado into segments.
Slice the avocado inside the skin: Using a knife (can be a butter knife), slice into the avocado flesh. You do not have to pierce the skin. Try to follow the natural curve of the avocado. Repeat until you have cut through the entire avocado. Slices can be as thick or as thin as you want them and the slices can go vertical or horizontal. To make cubes, simply slice the avocado cross-hatched in both directions.
Scoop out the avocado: Gently work a spoon between the flesh and the skin of the avocado, by following the natural curve of the fruit, scooping the slices out of the peel. Discard the peel.
Notes:
The skin may be more difficult to peel away on fruit that is not fully ripe.
Switch to a paring knife for slicing the avocado if that feels more comfortable than using the larger chef’s knife.
I hope these tips help you eat better and healthier. Avocados are slippery little suckers, but just show them who’s boss and tell that avocado that The Mountain Kitchen sent you!
Colleen says
I can’t use the knife technique. Bob has had reactions to avocados in the past, and the only reason we can come up with is that he is allergic to the pit when it contaminates the avocado. I scoop that puppy out gently making sure to not let it come in contact with the knife I am cutting with.
The Mountain Kitchen says
Yikes! David won’t get near them except for guacamole… (Cray-cray)
Cheryl "Cheffie Cooks" Wiser says
BaHa who’s cray-cray???