How to Cut an Avocado Like a Pro

You guys already know this, but my avocado obsession is so real.

Avocados are beautiful and delicious and full of amazing nutrients. Lots of healthy fats, fiber, protein, vitamins, and more. I’ve also been super obsessed with avocado roses, FYI, so I thought I’d give it a go. Not bad for my first try, if I do say so myself!

ANYWAY.

I’m going to tell you a slightly embarrassing story. About a year ago, I woke up with my stomach growling, per usual, so I desperately ran into the kitchen to whip myself up an omelette at rapid speed. While the eggs cooked, I cut my avocado. Very quickly. And not carefully. Then I accidentally sliced my hand open, spent the rest of the day in the ER, and got some stitches. I was pretty pissed that I didn’t get to eat my omelette or my avocado.

The moral of the story is that, like most people, I didn’t really know how to cut an avocado properly in the first place. I do not want to slice my hand open ever again, so I discovered a foolproof avocado-cutting method.

Not only is this method the safe way, but it’s also the best way in terms of getting maximum avocado benefits. The way I used to cut an avocado was really inefficient in terms of getting as much of the flesh out of the skin as possible. A lot of people slice it in half, cut little squares into it, and then squeeze the skin so the chunks fall out. I’ve seen other strategies as well, but that’s probably the most common method I see used. There’s a much better way.

Not only is it messy when you don’t cut an avocado properly, but you’re missing out on the best part! Most people don’t realize this, but most of the “good stuff” in an avo is in the darkest part, the part of the flesh closest to the outer skin. That’s where the highest concentration of phytonutrients (health-promoting nutrients) can be found. Not the lightest part closest to the pit. The problem is that if you don’t cut an avocado the smart way, you usually don’t end up with as much of the dark flesh as you could. Don’t you want the good stuff?!

Today I’m going to teach you what is, in my opinion, the easiest and best way to cut an avocado to get as much of the yumminess out as you possibly can. This might just change your life.

Ya ready?

Start off with a ripe avocado. You can check if it’s ripe by looking under the stem. If it’s green under the stem, it’s ready to go. If it’s brown, its overripe. If the stem doesn’t budge, it’s not ready yet. Ripe avocados aren’t super firm, but they’re not super soft either. They’re right in between.

First, cut your avocado in half. Carefully! Alllll the way around.

Now you should have two pretty, green halves.

Take one half and cut it in half.

Now you’ll have two avocado quarters.

Pick up one of your quarters and carefully grab the skin at the top. Slowly peel it back.

If the avocado is ripe, you’ll get a clean peel. It’s like peeling a banana.

Now you have the peel, which you can throw away, and a nice-looking avocado quarter.

Next you can chop up your avocado quarter into chunks – as small or large as you want. (You can also leave it in quarters if you desire.)

I went for 3 because it’s my favorite number.

Now you have nice and clean avocado chunks! Pick up the next quarter, peel back the skin, and cut that into chunks. Then you can repeat the same steps with the other half, and throw away the pit. (Or grind the pit up and put it in your smoothies!)

There you have it! With this method, you’ll get the maximum amount of avocado out of the skin with minimal mess. And you won’t cut your hand open while doing it.