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    Home » How To (Cooking Techniques) » How to Peel and Cut a Pineapple

    How to Peel and Cut a Pineapple

    Jun 29, 2013 · by Valentina · 9 Comments

    This post may contain affiliate links.

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    They can be daunting to tackle, but it's quite easy to learn how to cut a pineapple. This tutorial will teach you how to peel, core and cut pineapple rings and pieces.

    How to Peel and Cut a Pineapple

    There's not much better than the sweet taste of fresh fruit at the peak of its season.

    Pineapple

    This gorgeous fruit might be daunting to break into, and that might lead to the canned fruit isle of the market.

    Don't do it!

    Once you peel and cut a pineapple for the first time you'll realize how easy it is.

    How to Peel and Cut a Pineapple

    How to cut a Pineapple . . .

    - Cut about an inch off of the top and bottom of the pineapple.

    - Stand the pineapple upright on the bottom base you’ve cut. Then to remove the skin, cut, moving your knife downwards into the fruit, just inside the skin.

    pineapple with outer sking being cut off with Chef's knife

    peeled pineapple standing with peels and stem next to it

    - Remove the “eyes” — the spots of skin on the surface of the pineapple. Use a Paring knife to make diagonal cuts, following the line of the eyes. Then do this on the other side of them, making a "V" shaped line.

    peeled pineapple on its side being cut

    Removing the spots this way allows you to maximize the amount of fruit you can eat. peeled pineapple on its side with diagonal cuts in it

    - Now you can slice the pineapple any way you'd like to. peeled and sliced pineapple

     - The very center of the pineapple is usually quite tough. Use a paring knife or a round cutter to remove this area.peeled pineapple slices with core being cut out with round cutter

    (More detailed instructions are below.)

    Recipes with fresh pineapple:

    • Glazed Pineapple Guava Bread
    • Roasted Hatch Chile Pineapple Salsa
    • Sweet and Spicy Pineapple Pork Chops
    • Tropical Quinoa Salad Bowl with Shrimp
    whole pieapple with skin being removed with Chef's knife

    Peeled and Sliced Pineapple

    Valentina K. Wein
    They can be daunting to tackle, but it's quite easy to learn how to cut a pineapple. This tutorial will teach you how to peel, core and cut pineapple rings and pieces.
    Print
    Prep Time 10 mins
    Total Time 10 mins
    Course Snack, Ingredient
    Cuisine Hawaiian
    Servings 4
    Calories 93 kcal

    Equipment

    • Chef's knife
    • paring knife
    • round cutters

    Ingredients
      

    • 1 approximately (3 pound) pineapple

    Instructions
     

    • On a clean, dry cutting board, place the pineapple on its side. Use a Chef’s knife to cut about ½ to 1 inch off of the top and bottom.
    • Stand the pineapple upright on the bottom base you’ve just created. Then to remove the skin, cut, moving your knife downwards into the fruit, just inside the skin. You’ll curve your knife slightly to follow the shape of the pineapple. Go around until the pineapple until you’ve removed all of the skin.
    • Remove the “eyes” — these are the remaining spots of skin on the surface of the pineapple. Rather than removing each one, one at a time, use a Paring knife to make diagonal cuts, following the line of the eyes.  Then do this on the opposite side of them, making a "V" shaped space. (If you had cut all of these off when you removed the skin, you would have lost a lot of the pineapple. Using this method, you’ll get the maximum amount of fruit possible.)
    • Cut the pineapple into slices. Then use a paring knife, or if you have it, a circle cutter, to remove the hard center core. (Sometimes it's not too tough, but if it is, you'll want to remove it.)

    Notes

    Calorie count is only an estimate.
    Keywords fresh fruit desserts, tropical fruits
    Have you tried this recipe?I'd love to see it on Instagram! Tag me at @cookingontheweekends or leave a comment & rating below.

    Cooking On The Weekends is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. sippitysup

      June 30, 2013 at 8:00 pm

      I always leave the little brown nuggies on because I like to see people squirm. GREG

      Reply
    2. Sandy miller

      July 01, 2013 at 8:16 pm

      Valentina,

      This is how I cut my pineapple, a piece of cake and all the cubes end up about the same size.

      Reply
    3. Susan

      July 04, 2013 at 12:18 am

      I'm a terrible cutter with pineapples. I always end up buying the pre-cut packaged fresh pineapple in my grocery store.

      Reply
      • valentina

        July 04, 2013 at 6:19 am

        You can do it, Susan!

        Reply
    4. Ash-foodfashionparty

      October 02, 2013 at 4:26 pm

      It's exactly how I do it except for the slits, looks so neat.
      Now I want a pineapple slice with salt and cayenne powder(so so good)..have you ever tried that combo?

      Reply
    5. Deb

      October 02, 2013 at 5:40 pm

      Oh my goodness what lush photos! I may "need" to pick up a pineapple at the store today!
      Great tutorial!

      Reply
    6. Coco in the Kitchen

      October 02, 2013 at 10:46 pm

      Didn't know about the spiral slices.
      How very interesting.
      Going to try it this w/end.
      Thanks, V. Have fun in Idaho!

      Reply
    7. David

      October 03, 2013 at 5:50 am

      Great tutorial! And I love the way the diagonal cuts look both before and after cutting out the eyes.

      Reply
      • valentina

        October 04, 2013 at 8:37 pm

        Thanks so much, David! 😀

        Reply

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