How to Cut a Tomato

Name: How to Cut a Tomato
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Ingredients: 1 tomato

Updated May 16, 2026

5 from 306 votes

This is an easy tutorial for how to cut a tomato into wedges, slices or dices. Learn the best technique for cutting any shape tomatoes!

Jump to Recipe ▼Email Recipe

Prep Time 5

Servings 1 serving

Comments

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.

Jump to Section

Learn How to Cut a Tomato
How to Cut
Video Tutorial
How to Cut a Tomato Recipe
Tutorial Tips
Recipes to Make with Fresh Tomatoes
More Knife Skills and Tutorials

Learn How to Cut a Tomato

If you want to learn how to cut a tomato, I’m sharing three ways to cut tomatoes that you can use for all kinds of recipes.

Regardless how you want to cut your tomatoes, having a sharp high quality knife will make it much easier! Serrated knives (like a bread or steak knife) work best especially on riper, softer tomatoes. If you don’t have a serrated knife, use the sharpest blade in your kitchen.

Happy Cooking!
– Yumna

How to Cut a Tomato – 3 Ways

You can use the the wedges for salads, slices for sandwiches, burgers or caprese salads, and the diced tomatoes for salads, salsa and so many other dishes.

Tomato Wedges

Tomato cut in half. — **Step 1:** First place the tomato with the stem facing up. Remove any green stems. Now, using your large serrated knife, cut the tomato in half from the stem to the bottom.

Half of tomato laid on the cutting board being cut in half again. — **Step 2:** Then, cut it again in half from the stem to the bottom to create quarters. There’s no need to remove the stem green part, but if it bothers you, you can slice it off.

Tomato Slices

A knife cutting down in parallel slices. — **Step 2:** Then cut the tomato into thin parallel slices working from the top of the tomato to the bottom.

Tomato Dices

Tomato slices stacked on top of each other with a knife cutting downwards. — **Step 1:** Start with the sliced tomatoes from the previous step. Then cut the slices into thin strips.

Video Tutorial

How to Cut a Tomato

Author: Yumna Jawad

5 from 306 votes

This is an easy tutorial for how to cut a tomato into perfect wedges, slices or dice. Learn the best technique for cutting any shape tomatoes for recipes!

Print Review

Prep Time5

Total Time5

Servings serving

Video

Ingredients

▢ 1 tomato

Instructions

For sliced tomatoes: Place the tomato on its side so that the top of the tomato faces to the right. Using a large serrated knife, slice off the top of the tomato to remove the stem. Then cut the tomato into parallel thin slices working from the top of the tomato towards to bottom.
For diced tomatoes: Start with the sliced tomatoes. Then cut into thin strips, then cut them crosswise in the opposite direction.
For tomato wedges: Place the tomato with the stem facing up. Remove any green stems. Using a large serrated knife, cut the tomato in half from the stem to the bottom. Then cut it again in half from the stem to the bottom to create quarters. You can cut smaller wedges by cutting the quarters down the center, making sure to cut through the part where the stem was.

Equipment

Notes

Storage: Store any cut tomatoes in the refrigerator for 3 days. Make sure to tightly wrap them or place in an airtight container. If storing tomato slices, you can try putting a paper towel at the bottom of the container to absorb extra moisture.

Freezing: Unlike fresh greens, tomato slices do not need to be blanched before freezing. Just freeze individual tomato pieces on a sheet pan and then transfer to a freezer bag. The frozen slices should be good for up to 8 months.

My Top Tip: Use a serrated knife. A serrated blade grips the skin and cuts through without squishing the flesh. A straight-edged knife drags unless it’s extremely sharp, if that’s all you have, make sure it’s freshly sharpened.

Nutrition

Calories: 22kcal, Carbohydrates: 5g, Protein: 1g, Fat: 1g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Sodium: 6mg, Potassium: 292mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 3g, Vitamin A: 1025IU, Vitamin C: 17mg, Calcium: 12mg, Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.

Did You Make This Recipe?

Tutorial Tips

Use a serrated knife. A serrated blade grips the skin and cuts through without squishing the flesh. A straight-edged knife drags unless it’s extremely sharp, if that’s all you have, make sure it’s freshly sharpened
Cut on a stable surface. Tomatoes are round and can be slippery. Place a damp paper towel under your cutting board to keep it from sliding.
Remove the core before slicing. Use the tip of your knife to cut a small circle around the stem and pull it out. This removes the tough white core that doesn’t cut cleanly or taste as good as the rest of the tomato.
Seed before dicing if the recipe calls for it. For salsas, chopped salads, or anything where too much moisture might be an issue, halve the tomato first and use a spoon or your fingers to scoop out the seed pockets before dicing.
Let the knife do the work. Don’t press down on a ripe tomato. Use a gentle sawing motion from the tip of the blade back. Pressing smushes the flesh and pushes out the juice.

Recipes to Make with Fresh Tomatoes

How to Cut a Tomato

Learn How to Cut a Tomato