Put Away Your Knife and Save Your Fingers with This Fun Trick for Pitting an Avocado

I’ve eaten a lot of avocados in my life. Not only have I spent significant time in countries where avocados are an everyday staple, but I am also a millennial, and we draw our powers from avocado toast. Recently I was reminded, though, of the dangers of pitting avocados: A few weeks ago I was working with a strangely small avocado, and when I gently pushed my knife into the pit and went to pull it out, the knife rocked forward and glanced off my index finger. Thankfully I emerged unscathed.

Then, as if the algorithm knows my problems, I saw this TikTok video that offers a safer and — let’s be real here — way more fun way to remove an avocado pit. 

The video shows a different pitting method than the standard one I grew up on (hit the pit with the sharp edge of the knife, pull back the knife, and push the pit off). Instead, after you slice the avocado in two, grab the pit half and hold it up vertically. Place your index and middle finger on either side of pit on the cut side and place your thumb directly behind the pit in the center of the peel. Push gently from the back and the pit should pop out. 

“What?” the response video says (and so did I). I was intrigued and wanted to try this new method for myself. 

It worked! When I did the move described in the video, my pit happily jumped right out of the avocado and bounced onto my counter. It was awesome, and I will definitely be using this trick in the future — not just for the safety aspect, but also for the fun pop as it bounces out.

The only downside of this strategy was that I pushed a little too hard and my thumb popped through the peel and pushed a chunk of avocado out of the center. On a second attempt with a larger avocado, I was gentle enough on the back, but my finger on the front squished into the flesh. I was just mashing these avocados up for guacamole, so it was not a big deal, but if you want your avocado pristine, this could be a nuisance. But I’m not sure the risk of slicing a finger is worth it for perfect-looking avocado slices.