Learn How to Peel a Pomegranate the best & easiest way! Cutting a pomegranate can be a bit intimidating, messy and time consuming. This is a simple & quick hack to open and deseed a pomegranate, with little to no mess required!
This entire pomegranate only took about 5 minutes to deseed and the process is pretty painless. You are left with a giant bowl of Pomegranate seeds, also known as arils. These are delicious to gobble up alone or with a variety of recipes, like my Pomegranate Salad.
My husband grew up in California and his family introduced me to the fruit. I thought it was weird at first, but overtime I developed a love for them. One of the great things about them, is they go into season in the Fall and Winter months, when I find it harder to get good fruit. These are always such a wonderful treat!
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Pomegranate Nutrition:
Pomegranate is known to be a superfood for its nutritional benefits.
An article from Healthline.com titled, 10 Health Benefits of Pomegranate states, "Pomegranates are low in calories and fat but high in fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Benefits include antioxidants, heart health, urinary health, exercise endurance, and more."
They are also really fun to eat and absolutely delicious!
What You Need to Cut and Peel a Pomegranate:
- Paring Knife- A sharp paring knife is really helpful for controlling the shallow cuts you need to make in order to not puncture the pomegranate seeds.
- A wooden spoon- Perfect for whacking on the exterior of the pomegranate to knock out all the seeds.
- A large bowl- To catch all of the seeds.
- Colander- I like to have one handy after I fill the bowl with water and remove the membranes. It's easy to get the excess water out this way.
Recipes with Pomegranates:
There are so many ways to eat Pomegranates, with my most favorite being right out of the bowl! Here are some other ideas too:
- Yogurt, Acai Bowls or topped on Overnight Oats
- Salads, like this Pomegranate Kale Salad
- Fruit Salad
- Smoothies
- Sprinkle over Almond Butter or Ricotta Toast
- Try my Pomegranate Cocktail! It uses Pomegranate juice, but you could always toss a few arils on top
- They also look gorgeous on a Charcuterie Board
How to Peel a Pomegranate:
Here are the Step by Step Instructions for How to Cut a Pomegranate.
Step 1: Start by slicing through the rind (being careful not to cut too deep), just under the crown side of the pomegranate. Rotate the fruit with the other hand, while the blade is cutting, in order to remove the top piece.
Step 2: Remove the top piece.
Step 3: Make 4 shallow cuts through the rind, where the white membrane is. Each slice should run from the top to about 2 inches from the bottom. You can see in the photo below, how by choosing those 4 cuts where the membrane is, I didn't puncture any seeds.
Step 4: Pull it open and remove any large pieces of white membrane you can easily pull out.
Step 5: Over a large bowl, hold the pomegranate seed side down and hit the rind with a wooden spoon. Do this over and over until all the seeds (arils) fall out.
Step 6: Once they are all out, fill the bowl with water. The white membrane pieces will float to the top. Remove the pieces with your hands or a spoon. Strain the pomegranate seeds in a colander. You may need to repeat the water process if you have a lot of white membrane in the mix.
Step 7: Time to enjoy or use them in a recipe!
Expert Tips:
- When slicing with the sharp paring knife, be careful not to cut into the actually seeds.
- Try and remove all of the white membrane pieces before eating.
Love Fruit? Try my Mango Pico de Gallo, Banana Peach Smoothies, and Strawberry Ricotta Toast.
Recipe FAQs:
Pomegranates are in season in the US from October to January. I absolutely love this because that gorgeous color is perfect to bring into Holiday dishes for Thanksgiving and Christmas!
Picking a pomegranate is a lot like choosing other fruit. Choose a pomegranate that is firm and free from bruises. Pomegranates will usually taste best when they are in season.
If a Pomegranate is mushy or has brown bruises on the outside, that may indicate it has gone bad. The best way to tell is cutting it open and seeing that the colorful pomegranate seeds have turned brownish. Sad day!
Storing Pomegranates & Seeds:
Whole Pomegranates should last between 1 to 2 weeks in the fridge. If you store them on the countertop, they will only stay fresh for about half that time.
Once you remove the seeds from the Pomegranate, store them in a sealed container in the fridge and use within 3 to 4 days.
More Pomegranate Recipes You Will Love:
If you tried this Hack on How to Peel a Pomegranate or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it goes in the 📝 comments below. I love hearing from you!
PrintRecipe
How to Peel a Pomegranate
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 1 cup of pomegranate arils 1x
Description
Learn how to peel a pomegranate the best way & the easy way. Cutting a pomegranate can sometimes be a bit intimidating, messy and time consuming. This is the simple & quick hack to deseed a pomegranate, with little to no mess required!
Ingredients
- 1 pomegranate
- You also need: a paring knife, wooden spoon, a large bowl, and colander
Instructions
- Start by slicing through the rind (being careful not to cut too deep), just under the crown side of the pomegranate. Rotate the fruit with the other hand, while the blade is cutting, in order to remove the top piece.
- Remove the top.
- Make 4 shallow cuts through the rind, where the white membrane is. Each slice should run from the top to about 2 inches from the bottom.
- You can see in the photo below, how by choosing those 4 cuts, I didn't puncture any seeds.
- Pull it open and remove any large pieces of white membrane you can easily pull out.
- Over a large bowl, hold the pomegranate seed side down and hit the rind with a wooden spoon. Do this over and over until all the seeds (arils) fall out.
- Once they are all out, fill the bowl with water. The white membrane pieces will float to the top. Remove them with your hands or a spoon.
- Strain the pomegranate seeds in a colander. You may need to repeat the water process if you have a lot of white membrane in the mix.
- That's it! Time to enjoy or use them in a recipe!
Notes
*Be careful to cut only through the rind and not into the inside of fruit where the seeds are. That will cause a mess*
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Category: how to
- Method: cut and peel
- Cuisine: american
Lisa
Thanks so much for this! Saves so much time and energy.
Tara Smithson
You're welcome! Happy to help!