The Best Way to Cut an Avocado

Avocado toast for breakfast, half an avocado sprinkled with salt for a snack, salad with avocado for lunch, and black beans and rice with guacamole for dinner sounds like a perfect day to me. To say that I love avocados doesn’t even come close to describing how I feel about them. I take for granted the fact that I live in Southern California and perfect avocados are available year-round. It’s a good thing they’re so healthy, or I’d be in serious trouble.

Eating that many avocados means that slicing into them has become second nature. Until recently, I also took for granted that everyone knew the best way to cut avocados. When a friend offered to help in the kitchen at a recent dinner party I hosted, I tasked her with the easy job of slicing avocados for the salad. She reached for a paring knife and started painstakingly peeling the skin from the fruit, getting ripe avocado all over her hands and smashing the slippery green flesh.

There is a much simpler way to get to the delicious meat of an avocado that gives you perfect, even slices or chunks every time with almost no mess! Just cut the avocado in two, remove the pit with a spoon, slice the avocado while it’s still in it’s shell, and remove all of the slices at once with a spoon. Or, use a spoon to remove the avocado in one large a piece and then slice. In this animated GIF, I show you how it’s done.

Safety Tip: It’s best to avoid using a knife to remove the pit of an avocado. You may have seen people hold the half with the pit in the palm of their hand and give it a swift whack with a knife. But one missed aim, and you’ll be on your way to the emergency room!

Now that you’re a pro at cutting avocados, try these yummy recipes that feature them!

Avocado Toast with Hummus and Cucumber
Turkey Avocado Wrap
Avocado Popsicles
Spinach and Avocado Salad
Mexican Tofu Breakfast Scramble
Guacamole