Kitchen Basics: How to Cut a Pepper

I remember the first time I ever watched the Food Network.

My roommate in college used to watch Rachael Ray and I ended up watching an episode of 30 Minute Meals with her one day in between classes. That’s all it took – I was hooked.

I started watching everything. Unwrapped, Emeril, Barefoot Contessa, Food Finds. Good Eats.

Food Network wasn’t the first time I had ever seen cooking shows; I used to watch Julia Child episodes on PBS and remember a few chocolate shows with Jacques Torres. The difference was I was finally starting to think about cooking.

And it wasn’t long before I was completely addicted to the Food Network – and still am. Because I still learn new things on every show I watch.

The first day I watched Rachael Ray, I didn’t know anything about cooking. And I mean – nothing.

I could boil pasta, I could make a grilled cheese, but that was it. I had never even cooked chicken for myself or made oatmeal from anything other than a packet.

I saw these chefs slicing and dicing through vegetables super fast, and they never cut their fingers. How did they do that?

I’m still amazed watching how fast some of them work, but picking up these little tips – like how to cut a pepper or slice an avocado – were the things that gave me that first push to get in the kitchen and really start cooking.

I don’t remember where I saw this method of cutting the pepper, but it’s the easiest for me, so that’s what I’m sticking with. Also…every time I cut any kind of pepper, I end up with pepper juice squirting into my eye. Every time, no lie. I don’t know how this happens – I don’t put my face right over the cutting board. It’s just what happens.

Start with your pepper standing up and slice each side off, leaving the seeds and ribs in the center.

Once the sides are cut away from the core of the pepper, slice each piece into 4 or 5 pieces, then turn the opposite way and dice into small chunks.

And you’re done!

Diced pepper, in seconds.

But I want to know – how do you cut your peppers? This same way? Do you slice it in half, remove the seeds, then slice? Have another method?

9 comments

  1. This is exactly how I cut my peppers! And then I try to get every last bit of the pepper by also cutting as much as I can of the top and bottom that’s left. :)

  2. I slice the pepper in half, gut it , rinse it and then cut in strips and dice.

  3. I’ve only recently learned how many ways there are to cut a pepper, each of which are ingenious on their own.

    I am really greedy with the pepper, but my method probably makes chefs cringe. I cut the pepper in half from the top to the bottom, then use my fingers to detach the stem, seeds and white ribs under cold water on each half. Then I slice the pepper into whichever length the recipe calls for.

  4. I learned to cook by watching Rachael Ray, too. I never really made much of what I saw on the show, but I appreciated that I saw how she did her prep.

    Depends on my mood how I cut it. Either in half lengthwise and just pull out the stem and seeds or I cut the top off and pull out the seeds and then half lengthwise to slice and/or dice. The latter is a bit less messy, but the former is the way I saw it done on 30 minute meals.

  5. i cut my peppers like that! i’ve converted a few people (it’s so easy not having to deal with the seeds), but my boyfriend still insists on cutting it his way… ha.

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