Wondering how to cut a bell pepper without wasting any of it, and without creating a huge mess with the seeds? This method was shared with me by a professional chef, and it’s so easy!
Plus, learn how to best slice or dice your pepper for salads, dipping, stir-fries and more.
Truth be told, the professional chef who shared this method of cutting peppers with me… is my husband. Do I may be a tad biased, but truly, this is the post I have been wanting to write for 5 years because it is so exciting to me.
- Cutting a pepper this way leaves the core fully intact, so you will not have any mess with seeds sticking to your fingers, your cutting board, your knife, your kitchen counters… I used to despise cutting fresh peppers, and now it’s the quickest and easiest job, ever!
- You will have the least amount of waste, because you will only discard the seedy core and the stem. Less waste in the compost bin = less wasted money.
- This method is really quick and easy, so by learning this, you’ll become more efficient in the kitchen. And any time saved is always a win in my books.
Jump to:
What you’ll need
The only thing you need for this are your pepper, a decent kitchen knife and a chopping board.
Note about knives
I highly recommend investing in a Chef’s knife if you need to do a lot of cooking in your life (like having to feed growing children!) and are using a lot of fresh ingredients.
We have two 10-year old Chef’s knives (the following are affiliate links and I make a commission for purchases made after clicking through), a similar one to this from Shun and this exact one from Kasumi (we have a full set of the Kasumi knives).
We use them every single day and they have held up extraordinarily well. They do need to be sharpened regularly, but we are terrible at this upkeep and the knives are still working very well. They can’t be place in a dishwasher, so they need to be hand washed (and handled with care/kept away from children very well). But I love them and can’t imagine cooking very day without my knives.
How to cut a bell pepper
1. Start by washing your pepper well, then place it on its side on a chopping board.
Trim off the top and the bottom. Try not too slice off a thick part, only trim the pepper to remove the top stem and the knobbly bottom part.
trim the top trim the bottom
2. Next, sit the pepper on its now-trimmed bottom (it should sit flat and stable since you trimmed it).
Slice off the sides as shown in the photo below. Most peppers have four membranes connecting the core to the outside flesh of the pepper. Try to cut away the flesh in four pieces, each with a membrane roughly in the middle.
Do not cut into the core, or you’ll make a mess.
slice away the sides no seedy mess!
Note: If you wanted to cut rings (I pretty much never do, but I thought I’d mention it), you would take a small paring knife at this point and carefully run it through the four membranes, then pull the core out. Some seeds will scatter, but that’s what you need to do for pepper rings.
3. Remove the green stem part from the top/lid, then discard it along with the seedy core. If any edible parts are still stuck to the core, you can just slice them off and use them, too.
You should only have to discard the white fibrous and seedy core, and the green stem. No waste!
remove the stem no waste, this is the only discard!
Different shapes to cut
Let’s look at a few different shapes to cut your pepper into. for the quarters, you don’t need to do anything else – use them as low carb dippers for queso or chipotle mayo or to top with chicken salad!
Cut sticks
Take your quarters and slice each into 3-4 sticks lengthwise. If any fibrous white parts remain where the membrane was attached, just trim it away with a small paring knife.
slice lengthwise into sticks trim white parts if desired
Dice
To dice your pepper, take your sticks and slice them across to create perfect dice. Easy!
slice sticks across to dice your pepper
Don’t waste the top/bottom!
You can easily dice the top and bottom, too. For me, these are the parts my kids usually come to grab and eat while I’m cooking, so I rarely use them in an actual recipe.
But you absolutely can, just slice into sticks (they won’t be even, but don’t worry about it too much) and then dice across.
don’t waste the top/bottom simply dice them, too!
Cut thin slices
These thinner slices are perfect for stir-fries where you don’t want the large sticks! Instead of slicing your pepper quarters lengthwise, slice them into thin strips across.
This is where having the membrane part in the middle looks pretty and very professional! It creates these double arched slices, and they do really look great.
slice the bell pepper across instead of lengthwise to create thin strips
One thing to keep in mind is that it’s a little more difficult to slice because you can’t lie the pepper fully flat (it’s slightly curved and laying it flat can break it in the middle). I use my left hand to hold the pepper piece together a little while slicing with my right hand.
This sounds like way too many words for a pepper, but it’s really simple. I just want to be through with my explanation to make sure you can pull this off if you’re a beginner in the kitchen.
Tips and tricks
- The pepper skin can be a little more difficult to cut, especially if you don’t have a super sharp knife. I always cut from the inside of the pepper when I get to the slicing and dicing, because it’s way easier to slice through the skin from this side.
- Make sure you don’t slice the top/bottom too generously, you only just want to trim them.
- If you need small dice for a specific recipe, just cut the small strips as describe above, and then dice them across.
Storage tips
Fridge
Store freshly cut bell peppers in an airtight container or in a zip-top bag. Make sure to add a paper towel on top of the peppers to absorb any excess moisture. Keep the bag or container with your cut up bell pepper in your crisp drawer for 2-3 days.
Freezer
Place your cut up peppers in single layers on parchment-lined baking sheets without touching. Freeze until solid (about 1-2 hours), then transfer to labelled and dated zip-top bags, press out any excess air and freeze for up to 6 months.
Recipe ideas
Use freshly sliced peppers in cooked recipes like Chicken Fried Rice, Unstuffed Peppers, Greek Chicken Kabobs or in a Mexican Beef and Rice Skillet.
They are also delicious raw in dishes like Greek Pasta Salad, Shopska Salad or Pineapple Salsa!
PS If you try this recipe, please leave a review in the comment section and add a star rating in the recipe card – I appreciate your feedback! Follow along on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram.
Printable recipe
How to Cut a Bell Pepper
Recipe details
Ingredients
- 1 bell pepper
Instructions
- Wash: Rinse your bell pepper well under running tap water, then dry off with a paper towel.
- Trim: Place the pepper on its side on a chopping board and trim off the top and bottom.
- Core: Place the pepper on the now-trimmed bottom and locate the membranes connecting the core with the bell pepper's outer flesh. Cut away the bell pepper flesh in four pieces, each with a membrane roughly in its middle.
- Discard stem and core: Remove green stem part from the trimmed top, and discard along with seedy core.
- Slice:To slice into sticks, cut each quarter into 3-4 sticks lengthwise.To dice, slice into sticks and then slice sticks across to dice.For thin strips (great for stir-fries), slice each quarter into thin strips across (NOT lengthwise). Thin strips can be diced to create small dice.Don't forget to dice the top and bottom as well, for as little waste as possible.
Notes
Tips and tricks
- The pepper skin can be a little more difficult to cut, especially if you don’t have a super sharp knife. I always cut from the inside of the pepper when I get to the slicing and dicing, because it’s way easier to slice through the skin from this side.
- Make sure you don’t slice the top/bottom too generously, you only just want to trim them.
Don Leighty says
Very clearly described
Tania says
Thank you for sharing this very detailed way of cutting peppers. I have always done it the same way, but this looks so much easier.