How to Cut a Pepper
March 14th, 2007
Stumble it!
There really isn’t a wrong way to cut a pepper, but this way makes it easy to deal with the seeds and the ribs. This method isn’t going to work for you if you want pepper rings, but it’s great for all other types of cuts.
Start by cutting a circle around the top of the pepper, following the top edge all the way around.
Pull the top off by the stem and discard the it. There might be a few seeds left inside the pepper, but the majority of them should be on the top. Look at the inside of your pepper. See the white-ish ribs? That’s where you want to make your cuts.
Slice down the middle of one of those ribs, making sure the point of your knife lands on the bottom-center of the pepper. Continue slicing down each rib, having each slice end at the same point.
Your pepper should be in 3-4 pieces now (depending on how many ribs it had), and the edge of each piece should have part of a white rib on it.
Begin slicing off the ribs from the edges of each piece, starting at the top and slicing in a U-shape all the way around until the rib has been removed. Here is another view. See the piece next to the pepper I’m cutting the rib off of? That’s the finished result.
Had you not sliced down each rib, the ribs would have been in the middle of your pieces instead of at the edges. Since a pepper is curved, it can be had to remove the ribs if they’re in the middle of the pieces. Obviously it’s not a tragedy if this happens, but since it takes no more effort or time to cut them this way, why not do it?
You should now have 3-4 seed-free, rib-free pepper pieces perfect for slicing into strips, chunks, whatever shape you want.
16 Comments Add your own
1. jaxin | March 14th, 2007 at 3:34 pm
Thank you! I am HORRIBLE at slicing peppers. I feel like such a bumbling idiot every time I have to slice one! Sometimes I just stand there looking at it, plotting my next move. This should help for sure!
2. Emily Booth | March 14th, 2007 at 5:47 pm
I just did this and it works great!
3. Lolo | March 14th, 2007 at 6:00 pm
Jaxin – I hope your days of pepper frustration are over!
Emily – Wow, that was fast! I’m glad it worked. :)
4. Danielle | March 14th, 2007 at 9:10 pm
Lazy gal that I am, I just buy the stoplight peppers at Whole Foods, which are frozen sliced bell peppers.
5. Robyn | March 16th, 2007 at 4:16 pm
Instead of soy sauce you could use oyster sauce which is made from oyster mushrooms and is usually vegan.
6. rosie | April 30th, 2007 at 7:14 pm
I am quite allergic to peppers, but your pepper posts make me want to dig in. I don’t know what it is! :)
7. isela | June 11th, 2007 at 1:48 am
Genious! I always have a hard time slicing these peppers, now no more :). thanx
8. Jman | November 10th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
thanks so much for this… my days of mysterious looking pepper cuts are finally over!!!
9. Evanna | April 24th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
Imagine my delight to find your demo on google when I asked how to cut a pepper.
Love from cousin Evanna
10. How to: Bell Peppers | Fr&hellip | August 13th, 2008 at 8:14 am
[...] down the ribs, so that you have three or four pieces of pepper. Check out Vegan Yum Yum’s photo tutorial for great instructions on cutting [...]
11. Pete | September 22nd, 2008 at 6:54 pm
One of my favorite methods (that I learned from a culinary student friend) is cutting off the top and bottom first, like you might do with an onion. Then, keeping the pepper on it’s side, insert the knife horizontally through the middle, with only the pepper between the knife and the cutting board.
Cut through the first rib close to the flesh, (cutting away from your off hand) and roll the pepper like a barrel. Cut the second rib, roll, cut, roll, cut.. until the entire center is loose, seeds and all.
Pop it out and that leaves you with just the flesh, in a form that’s ready for any cut or dice you desire. With a little practice the rolling & cutting goes really quick.
12. george | February 17th, 2009 at 8:18 pm
Waste. If you slice the whole pepper in half first, then with the tip of the knife you can carve out the seeds and the white membranes inside and you don’t waste any of it. They get expensive.
13. Chris | March 17th, 2009 at 6:25 pm
This is great! I have never used fresh produce before. Always frozen, but am getting in to eating healthy. This has helped me tremendously.
Thanks.
14. How To Make A Killer Vege&hellip | March 24th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
[...] stalks. Each vegetable is fairly easy to chop but here are some instructional articles for each: How to cut a pepper, How to cut broccoli, How to chop [...]
15. Carol Duvall | June 9th, 2009 at 9:17 am
The step by step photos along with the written explanations are excellent! Thank you so much.
Carol
16. qingimiss | February 22nd, 2010 at 9:58 pm
off the top and bottom first, like you might do with an onion. Then, keeping the pepper on it’s side, insert the knife horizontally through the middle, with only the pepper between the knife
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