If your summer is anything like ours, you’re grilling Hawaiian pizza and blending piña coladas like nobody’s business. But between that tough, spiky skin and prickly crown, figuring out how to chop a pineapple without losing a lot of the sweet, juicy flesh in the process can be confusing. Enter this easy guide—it’ll show you how to cut pineapple into rings, chunks and spears. But before you get to slicing and dicing, you’ll have to peel the pineapple first. We can help with that, too.
How to Cut Pineapple in 3 Different Ways
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Published Jun 30, 2020
Sofia Kraushaar
How To Peel A Pineapple
1. Place the pineapple on its side on a cutting board.
Chop the crown and stem end off.
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2. Stand the pineapple up on either flat end.
Slice all the skin off the sides from top to bottom, leaving as much inner flesh as possible.
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3. Remove the eye spots.
You can cut them off one by one or get rid of them in whole rows by slicing a diagonal groove around each line of eyes and removing. You may lose more flesh this way, but it will save you time.
Now that your pineapple is peeled, here are three different ways to cut it.
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How To Cut A Pineapple Into Rings
1. Lay the peeled pineapple on its side horizontally and slice.
Cut from one end to the other, forming large coins.
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2. Cut the core out of each round to turn them into rings.
This step is technically optional, because you can eat the fiber-rich core, but you may want to remove it because it’s tougher and less sweet than the rest of the pineapple. If you decide to core the coins, use a knife or apple corer.
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How To Cut A Pineapple Into Chunks
1. Cut the peeled pineapple down the middle.
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2. Lay each half flat on the cutting board and slice them vertically in half again.
You should have four long quarters now.
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3. Slice each one down the middle.
Start by laying the quarters flat, then cutting them lengthwise.
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4. Chop off the inner white core from each piece.
Again, this is totally optional and up to you.
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5. Slice the pieces horizontally from one end to the other to form chunks.
Save time by lining the pieces up and chopping them all at once.
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How To Cut A Pineapple Into Wedges Or Spears
1. Quarter the peeled pineapple.
First slice it in half, then cut each half down the middle lengthwise.
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2. Remove the inner white core from each piece if you choose.
Position the pieces on the cutting board so their rounded outsides are facing up.
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3. Slice each quarter lengthwise into wedges or spears.
Their thickness is totally up to you.
6 Things You Should Know About Pineapples Before Digging in:
- Squeezing a pineapple can help you determine if it’s ripe enough to buy. If it’s firm but yields a bit, it’s ready to buy. If it’s soft or mushy, keep looking.
- Heavier pineapples have higher water content than light ones, which means they have lots of juicy, moist flesh to sink your teeth into.
- A quick sniff of the fruit can reveal a lot. Ripe pineapples smell sweet and tropical when they’re prime for eating.
- Once picked, pineapples stop ripening. They can get softer after a couple days on the kitchen counter, but not sweeter. That’s why it’s important to choose the sweetest one you can find at the supermarket.
- Whole pineapple can be stored at room temperature for up to two days. If you’re not going to eat it right away, it can be stored in the fridge for up to five days.
- Cut pineapple should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to four days.
Ready to use your pineapple? Try these 6 tasty recipes:
