We eat a lot of avocados in our house. And if we're making guacamole or avocado toast, the means by which we remove the flesh from the shell matters very little. But if we want clean, uniform chunks, this is our go-to method. It's so much easier than "make a grid pattern and then pop out the pieces" (which never worked for us anyway).
We're sure there are others of you who dice your avocados like this, but it's a technique we didn't figure out until we were cutting off a chunk of one half to feed the baby.
We cut off a section, slicing right through the skin, and realized how easy it was to peel off a small piece of skin—clean, smooth, simple. Sometimes we'll try to peel the skin off of an entire half before dicing, and we usually end up smushing part of the avocado or leaving a lot of flesh stuck to the inside.
And sorry, but the trick of scoring a grid into the avocado half, then popping out chunks (the way many people dice a mango) is messy and difficult, in our opinion. This gives us perfect little cubes every time.
Here's how you do it:
• Halve the avocado as you normally would, by cutting around the perimeter, lengthwise.
• With the cut side UP (this is less stable but more effective at getting through the skin without mashing the avocado), cut into slices.
• Peel the strip of skin off of each slice.
• Cut each slice into chunks.
Anyone else cut avocados this way?
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I did this just last night and my bf remarked he'd never seen anyone cut an avocado this way.
I didn't know people cut avocados a different way than this. Although end up cutting the slices vertically instead of horizontally (as shown) before peeling. Seems like both ways are pretty simple.
I love avocados! How about some good recipes including avocados to go along with this post :)
Why don't you just scoop it out with a large spoon? Sheesh.
or, just cut it in half, use a spoon to "peel" the avocado inside it's shell and then dice/chop. Once you've scooped it with the spoon, you can just chop it inside it's shell and dump it into your salad/bowl/etc. so that you never get avocado on your fingers (not that it would be so bad, but chopping avocado is messy). In my experience that technique is easier than removing all of these single sections of shell.
Just scoop out the fruit with a spoon then dice/smash. Why don't you do a tutorial on how to boil water next!
I'm usually able to peel away the skin from both halves, then chop on a cutting board.
And, to the above posters, I don't think using a spoon to scoop it out is as aesthetically pleasing, so I'm sure some people appreciate this post.
I swear, readers of The Kitchn can be such snobs! I love it when there are posts like these. Some of us are still novices, you know?
A tutorial on how to boil water? The post said that scooping out with a spoon was easiest when looks didn't matter, and that this was a good method when aesthetics were important. Maybe next time read the post before you start firing off your witty little insults, yeah?
@jt58612 - Searious Eats already covered the tutorial on how to boil water:
http://www.seriouseats.com/talk/2010/07/boiled-water-recipe.html
Posts on simple but better techniques are always welcome in my book.
This whole commentary is hilarious to me. Mostly because I have never understood why people score an avacado and then use a spoon to pop out pieces. I have found that if nice and ripe, the peel will come off in one quarter. Then you can easily dice. This way, you don't have to peel individual pieces. Also, if you only use a spoon to scoop out first, it's likely that you'll miss a chunk.
Love the snobby comments, though. Very funny.
JMooney, I love the Boiled Water Recipe. Thanks! "Note: DO NOT WATCH THE POT; it will never boil in the event that you do."
I guess I would dice an avocado this way. I have one of those unitaskers called the Flexicado that slices them pretty nicely though. And for all those naysayers, the title is "Dice an avocado," not "Prepare an avocado for gaucamole." JEEZ.
"Posts on simple but better techniques are always welcome in my book."
Seconded. I learn so much from these types of posts that I'd hate to see writers refrain from doing them just because some people apparently already know everything.
I am crazy about avocados (oh, how I lust for my own avocado tree), and I know a dozen different ways to get the separate the peel from the meat, but I'd never seen this technique. It's great---thank you.
Way too much work.
Cut in half, use a knife to cut into squares while still inside the peel (without cutting through the peel), the scoop it out with a spoon. Takes two seconds.
This is so dumb. I can't get over it.
i myself never have a problem just scoring it with the skin on and popping it out. I say, whatever works for you is the method you should use! (:
Good idea for times when you want nice-looking diced avocado. Thank you. Now, what's the best way to remove the pit without mussing up the fruit?
@ellabee: take a sharp chef's knife, sharply tap the blade into the avocado, and twist the knife--the pit pops right out still attached to the knife.
wow, some of you people are jerks. if you dont want kitchen tips of any kind, STOP READING THE BLOG. did you really need to spend time commenting on an article YOU thought was useless? Just because youre a self-proclaimed master chef, doesnt mean everyone else is. geez.
jenawithonen the problem is this is an overdone technique and would be like singing amazing grace when mary had a little lamb was requested. As with others, cut in half, use a knife to assist in pit removal, score into cubes then use a spoon to free the cubes. Easy and pretty.
thank you for this post. i feel so stupid for never figuring it out before. i make such a mess with my avocados - not anymore!
I've never had trouble with the grid method!
I don't think this is easier. The peeling makes it more trouble, I think.
I also just quarter my avo and then peel the skin with my fingers. Then chop into pieces. Clean, easy and quick.
I totally get this. This is exactly the way I cube melons! So much easier and neater than dealing with wedge-shaped slices. Thanks for showing me how to apply it to an avocado!
Another vote for 'cut into grid and pop out with spoon'. works perfectly fine for me, but it's good to share alternatives. different strokes and all.
I score and use a spoon, and have done that for years. Never had trouble. As far as removing the seed, I hit it with my knife to loosen it, and then tap the knife on the trash bin. The pit will fall off into the trash. I think this method sounds more time consuming, and scoring produces nice cubes as well.
cut in half, twist, remove pit, score one half top to bottom, then score cross ways; scoop out with large spoon. Done. And only one cut.