How to Cut a Pomegranate (and Eat One)

Pomegranates are a fabulous fall and winter fruit, filled with tart, ruby red seeds. Here's how to cut a pomegranate, de-seed one, eat a pomegranate, and store them in the fridge.

Prep Time10

Cook Time0

Servings: 1 pomegranate

Calories: 234kcal

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Ingredients

▢ 1 ripe pomegranate
▢ Sharp chef's knife

Instructions

Grab a knife and put on an apron! The pomegranate juice is bright and likes to squirt. You may also want to use a plate for cutting; the juice can stain a wooden cutting board, which will have to be specially cleaned.
PRO TIP: Your pomegranate should be glossy, red, and heavy for its size, without bruising or dull brown color.
Start with clean hands and rinse the pomegranate. It's always a good idea to wash your fruit, and pomegranates are very hands-on.
Use a sharp knife to score a circle around the top of the pomegranate, around the blossom end, almost like you're tracing a lid around the top of the fruit. You want to go through the skin, but no further. Do not go all the way through.
Peel the blossom "lid" off. It should come up fairly easily, revealing lobes of deep red seeds, or pomegranate arils.
See how there's a star shape of white pith inside, with 5 spokes extending to the outer rind like a ridged star? On the outside of the pomegranate, score a knife down the length of each pith line from top to bottom. Peel back each lobe or membrane section.
PRO TIP: Peel each section back face-down into a bowl, colander, or dish, as some arils will fall out and some juice will spray. I prefer doing this over a large bowl, because I do not want to lose any juice.
Keeping each section of pomegranate face down, use your hands to turn each section inside-out, then use your fingers to nudge the seeds from the pith into the bowl. Eat or serve as you like.

Notes

A whole pomegranate will keep in your countertop fruit bowl for about a week, and much longer in the fridge.

Once cut open, the pomegranate seeds, or arils, will keep refrigerated for about one week in an airtight container.

You can freeze pomegranate seeds, but like all fruit, they will thaw out mushy, so I do not recommend this unless you plan to add them to smoothies, for example.

Nutrition

Disclaimer: Nutrition information is provided for courtesy purposes only, and is an estimate not verified by medical or nutrition experts. Read the full nutrition disclaimer.