Learn the best way to cut an avocado quickly and easily! Step-by-step instructions included, as well as a short instructional video.
Original post: March 2019 | Updated: March 2021
Avocados are one of my all-time favorite food loves. We have a history, the green and delicious food and me. I have enjoyed this fruit (did you know it’s considered to be a fruit?!) in so many ways and with such frequency that I know it pretty darn well. I’ll often boast that I’m an expert avocado ripeness predictor.
Simply by feeling the outside of an avocado, I know exactly how ripe it is. I can also slice and dice my way through avocados at an expert level. So I am exactly the right person to seek counsel on regarding the topic of AVOCADOS!
Read below for tips about selecting avocados, chopping them and also slicing them!
How to pick a ripe avocado
If avocados go on sale, it’s great to pick up a handful and let them ripen at home. There are so many ways to enjoy them that they’ll never go to waste. Selecting an avocado that is ready to enjoy takes a little more knowledge, however. Try these simple tests to select your next avocado batch:
Test 1 – A good test to check ripeness is to use your fingers and push gently into the avocado to see if it yields to pressure near the top where it was connected to the tree. If it gives freely and feels mushy, the avocado is past its prime. If the avocado is rock-solid and there is no give to touch, the avocado needs a few more days to ripen.
Test 2 – Pop off the stem of the avocado where the avocado separated from the tree (see step 1 below for a visual). If a dark brown color is revealed, the avocado is past its prime. If it’s impossible to remove the stem nub, the avocado is not ripe enough to eat. If a green color is revealed, perfectly delicious avocado flesh is ready to be enjoyed!
How to store avocados
If you are not able to enjoy an entire avocado once it’s been cut into, see the following tips in order to keep them fresh until next time (these tips will give you an extra 1-2 days to use the remainder of the avocado):
Option 1 – If the avocado is a complete half, store the half that still has the pit attached. Brush or squirt lemon juice over the exposed portion of the flesh (skip the lemon juice step if you don’t have access to it).
Tear off a small piece of plastic wrap and press it directly onto the surface of the avocado flesh and place it in the fridge for later use.
Option 2 – If the avocado’s skin has been removed, squirt lemon juice over pieces and mix together well. Place in an air tight container or press plastic wrap tightly against the surface and store in fridge.
Step by step instructions: How to cut an avocado
Step 1 – Ensure its ripeness
See section above for tips on how to determine that an avocado is ripe for cutting and enjoying. The below photo shows what color reveals a ripe avocado, found under the stem nub.
Step 2 – Cut in half lengthwise
Cut around the pit by cutting lengthwise down all sides of the avocado. Gently twist the halves to pull them apart. One half will hold onto the pit.
Step 3 – Remove pit
If an avocado is ripe, the pit will come out easily with your fingers. Some people like to use a knife to remove avocado pits, but I’ve cut my hands too many times to do this (and it’s truly not necessary).
Step 4a (chopping) – Cut cross-hatched lines in flesh
If your end goal is to have chopped avocados, hold a half in the palm of your hand and use a paring knife to cut cross hatches into the flesh, being careful not to cut all the way through the skin.
Step 4b (chopping) – Scoop flesh out with a spoon
Use a spoon to separate the flesh from the skin.
Step 4a (slicing) – Cut in half through skin and slice
If your end goal is to have sliced avocados, cut each avocado half in half lengthwise. You’ll want to cut entirely through the skin. Hold each avocado quarter in the palm of your hand and use a paring knife to cut slices through the flesh (do not cut through skin).
Step 4b (slicing) – Peel skin away
Peel the skin away from the flesh to reveal perfect avocado slices.
Recipe Notes
Avocados are one of my favorite versatile foods because they taste amazing in so many different recipes! Here are just a few of my favorite ways to enjoy avocados!
- SOLO! I love slicing an avocado in half, sprinkling sea salt into the flesh and spooning out bites for an easy, healthy snack.
- Scrambled or fried eggs that are topped with avocado slices are an easy and yummy breakfast option!
- Philadelphia Sushi Roll Bowls are one of my new favorite lunches.
- Guacamole is one of the most well-known uses for avocados. Try my classic guac recipe or get crazy and try this yummy Mango Crab Guacamole!
- Throw them on top of your next burger or turn a BLT into a BLEAT.
- Spoon mashed avocado over a piece of toast and sprinkle with Everything But The Bagel Seasoning.
- Throw chopped avocados into your favorite chopped salad!
- Stuff them with other ingredients, such as corn, feta cheese and tomatoes.
I have to stop myself because I could go on and on and on.
Let me know in the comments what your favorite ways are to enjoy avocados!
Best Way to Cut an Avocado
Equipment
- Sharp Knife
Ingredients
- 1 ripe avocado
Instructions
Step 1 – Make sure it's ripe
- Determine that an avocado is ripe for cutting and enjoying.
Cut in half lengthwise
- Cut around the pit by cutting lengthwise down all sides of the avocado. Gently twist the halves to pull them apart. One half will hold onto the pit.
Remove pit
- If an avocado is ripe, the pit will come out easily with your fingers. Some people like to use a knife to remove avocado pits, but I’ve cut my hands too many times to do this (and it’s truly not necessary).
(Chopping) – Cut cross-hatched lines in flesh
- If your end goal is to have chopped avocados, hold a half in the palm of your hand and use a paring knife to cut cross hatches into the flesh, being careful not to cut all the way through the skin.
(Chopping) – Scoop flesh out with a spoon
- Use a spoon to separate the flesh from the skin.
(Slicing) – Cut in half through skin and slice
- If your end goal is to have sliced avocados, cut each avocado half in half lengthwise. You’ll want to cut entirely through the skin this time. Hold each avocado quarter in the palm of your hand and use a paring knife to cut slices through the flesh.
(Slicing) – Peel skin away
- Peel the skin away from the flesh to reveal perfect avocado slices.
Hi Megan,
I was talking with a friend a couple weekends ago about avocados – she’s from the Philippines, and avocados grow everywhere there so they’re a staple. But apparently (probably lots of people know this but I did not!) they eat them like a fruit there – with sweet things, like ice cream. When she buys them here, she mashes them with sugar or with chocolate chips for her kids. It seems so strange to us, but she says the first time she had guacamole she nearly gagged – she was not expecting her precious avocado to be salty and spicy!
She also told me that the best way to ripen avocados is in a bag of rice – they ripen evenly that way instead of in spots as they might if they’re sitting on a counter.
Fun facts for the day 🙂
Lauren
That’s so interesting! Thanks for passing on that information. I do love avocados and not always in guacamole but I would not have thought to add chocolate chips.
Ripening the avocado is something I have done also and I don’t find it’s a science but it’s still useful when you want to encourage the process so you can get to eating them!