This Padma Lakshmi-Approved Technique for Seeding a Pomegranate Is Easy, Fast, and Mess-Free

Pomegranate seeds add a vibrant pop of color and a wonderful tart-sweet flavor to salads, sweet and salty appetizers, and more. The only challenge is getting the small seeds out of the pomegranate — without ending up with a bunch of seeds and their juice all over your counter in the process.

Two popular methods for seeding the fruit include submerging the pomegranate in water and hitting the outside of the pomegranate with a wooden spoon to release the seeds that are packed in. But lately another method has been making the rounds on social media — and when Padma Lakshmi shared it on Instagram, I had to give it a try.

In the Instagram video, Lakshmi shows us how she does it: Place the pomegranate on a cutting board with the blossom end pointing upward. Carefully cut a 1- to-1 1/2-inch square around the blossom using the end of a chef’s knife. Run the knife from each corner of the square all the way down to the other end of the pomegranate, creating four long cuts. Remove the blossom from the top of the pomegranate and then gently spread the fruit open.

Lakshmi says she had previously shared this technique years ago, but many people were curious, especially after she tried this simple hack for pitting a peach.

Not only do you not need any special tools for this technique, but you also don’t have to worry about seeds spilling everywhere or doing any straining. When I tried this technique for myself, it was quite easy and not messy — and, best of all, it made it easy to retrieve the seeds!