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This is a guide for how to cut an avocado. Below you’ll find tips on how to choose a ripe avocado, and then successfully cut slices or dice cubes for sandwiches, in salads and yes, even, on toast. I’ll share with you my tips for how to safely cut an avocado and minimize waste; because no one wants to waste one precious piece of this pricey fruit – yup, the avocado is actually a berry.
Avocados are delicious and contain an entire vitamin pill’s worth of nutrients. Sliced avocado can be added to smoothies, baked into fries, play a starring role in salads, or be the nicest part of a sandwich. One-third of an average avocado has about 80 calories, 11 percent of a day’s fiber, and helps your body absorb other nutrients.
How to pick avocado
The goal is to buy an avocado that is ripe but not too soft. To pick a ripe avocado, use your sense of touch. Look for an avocado that is has a little give when pressed but doesn’t feel mushy. The popular Hass avocado turns from bright green to almost black as it ripens but other varieties may not show such dramatic color changes.
- Very ripe avocados are best for guacamole but avoid those that feel extremely soft.
- Hard avocados, aka dinosaur eggs, are not ready for eating.
When you’re ready to use the avocado, remove the small stem. It should come off easily, and the area beneath should be green. That is a great indicator that you’re ready to cut the avocado.
If you want to slow down the ripening process, refrigerate your whole avocados. To ripen, leave out at room temperature. To speed ripening, place an uncut avocado in a paper bag with an apple or a kiwi. Both fruits emit ethylene which will speed up ripening.
Step-by-step tutorial
Chose and wash your avocado
Rinse off your perfectly ripe avocado under running water and dry with a paper towel.
Slice and open the avocado
Place on a cutting board, or hold in your palm and carefully insert the chef’s knife in until you hit the pit. The knife should slip easily into the ripe avocado. Run the knife around the circumference of the fruit, turning the avocado as you go. Cut all the way around. If the avocado does not fall into two halves, it is still anchored together by its pit.
To open the cut avocado, hold one half of the avocado in each hand and gently twist. It should come apart.
Remove the avocado pit
To remove the pit, spear it with the length of your knife blade. Try not to go too deep. That will make the pit hard to get off the knife. Use a wooden spoon or the edge of a cutting board to knock the pit off the knife. Don’t use your hands to remove the pit from the knife – that may not end safely!
Score avocado into slices or cubes
The last step in slicing your avocado is to score the flesh with your knife. For slender, sandwich ready avocado slices, cut from top to bottom. For square chunks, slice the avocado from top to bottom and then crosswise.
Scoop it out
Take a large-ish spoon, like a soup spoon, and scoop out your scored slices or dice. Make sure to press again the skin of the avocado to grab all the flesh and minimize wasting any.
Now you’re ready to transfer the sliced or scored avocado to enjoy in salads, on toast or in sandwiches.
How to store avocado
If you have any leftover avocado, whether it’s still in the skin, cut, sliced or mashed, you can store it in the fridge for up to 2 days. Make sure to add lemon or lime juice on top and place the unused avocado in an airtight container or tightly cover plastic wrap.
Frequently asked questions
A ripe avocado will yield slightly to your touch. You can hold in your palm and gently press to gauge its ripeness. Hass avocados, the variety most common in supermarkets, will turn from green to dark green to nearly black as they ripen. Avoid the darkest, mushiest avocados or those with sunken spots.
Like apples, the surface of the cut avocado oxidizes when exposed to air. To avoid browning, sprinkle cut avocado pieces with lemon juice, lime juice, or some white vinegar. Oxidization can also be halted by wrapping half an avocado tightly in plastic wrap or submerging it in water. The avocado will not absorb the water! If all else fails, it is acceptable to scrape off the brown layer and eat what is underneath.
Unfortunately this is a myth, or at least only partially true. The flesh of the avocado that stays in contact with the pit won’t turn brown, true. However the rest of the avocado that is in contact with oxygen will brown. You can try this method and then just shave off the brown layer on top though.
Recipes with avocado
- Avocado Toast with Egg
- Avocado Chocolate Mousse
- Corn Tomato Avocado Salad
- Avocado Pasta Salad
- Avocado Egg Salad
- Mushroom Avocado Toast
- Quinoa Avocado Salad
- Avocado Caprese Salad
- Avocado Fries
- Avoado Chicken Salad
- Shrimp Avocado Salad
Avocados are versatile and packed with vitamins and minerals, there is no reason not to make them part of breakfast toast, lunch salads or dinner entrees. Get cutting!
For more cooking resources, check out:
- How to Cut Tomatoes
- How to Freeze Garlic
- How to Properly Cut an Onion
- How to Cut an Avocado
- How to Cook Dry Chickpeas
- How to Cut a Head of Lettuce
- How to Cut Cauliflower into Florets
- How to Make Oatmeal
If you’ve found this cooking resource for How to Cut an Avocado helpful or if you’ve tried any recipe on FeelGoodFoodie, then don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave me a comment below! I would love to hear about your experience with this technique. And if you snapped some shots of it, share it with me on Instagram so I can repost on my stories!
How to Cut an Avocado
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 ripe avocado
Instructions
- Wash the outside of the avocado and dry with a paper towel.
- Using a sharp chef’s knife, carefully cut the avocado in half lengthwise.
- Gently twist the two halves to separate them and expose the pit.
- Use a paper towel to hold the avocado half with the pit. Carefully aim the knife at the avocado pit and tap into it. Use enough force that the knife wedges into it, but not all the way through.
- Twist the knife to pull out the pit. Use a wooden spoon or the far edge of the cutting board to dislodge the pit from the knife.
- Slice or score the flesh of the avocado without cutting through the peel. Then using a spoon, scoop out the avocado from the peel.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.
I’m sure you’re very good at it and I won’t dissuade you, but…from PubMed:
“There were an estimated 50,413 (95% Confidence Interval: 46,333-54,492) avocado-related knife injuries from 1998 to 2017. The incidence of avocado-related knife injuries increased over this time period (1998-2002 = 3143; 2013-2017 = 27,059).” Most of the injuries come from holding the avocado in your palm while cutting or spearing or sinking the knife into the avocado.
I think for those who don’t already know how to cut one, best bet is to do exactly what you did, but as you first mentioned, on a cutting board. If you don’t need them to be halves, turn it 90 degrees and cut around the length again. The four pieces will fall or come off the pit easily. If you do, use a spoon to gently nudge the pit out.
Thank you for sharing this with me!
Thanks for the how to instructions on opening an avacados! Now to look around to see if I can do anything with the pit! Thanks again
You’re so welcome!
EXCELLENT
Thank you!!
Hello,
I saw the cauliflower potato curry recipe before but im having trouble finding it now. Is there a chance you can send via email?
Thank you for your time,
shannen
Yes, absolutely!
This was really helpful. Thank you for sharing