How to Cut an Avocado: Slices, Cubes and Pit Removal

For clean slices or cubes, keep the avocado supported on the board while you cut around its pit. Use a ripe fruit that yields gently when pressed; if it is firm, let it ripen before cutting. Quarter it, set the knife aside, free the pieces with your fingers, then peel and cut them on a flat side. No knife strike at the pit is needed.

Quarter the avocado around the pit

1. Rinse and dry the avocado, then place it on a stable cutting board. Cut lengthwise through the skin and flesh until the blade meets the pit. Keep the fruit supported on the board and turn it to continue the cut all the way around.
2. Rotate the fruit a quarter-turn. Make a second lengthwise cut around the pit, crossing the first cut at the ends. Set the knife aside.
3. Hold the fruit on the board and gently twist the sections apart. Lift the quarters away from the pit with your fingers. If a piece is slippery, set it back on the board before handling it.
4. Peel the quarters by hand, starting at the stem end. The California Avocado Commission demonstrates this quartering method, removing the pit with fingers and peeling each quarter.

Cut slices or cubes on a flat side

Set a peeled quarter flat-side down. For long slices, cut lengthwise along it. For smaller pieces, cut crosswise; for cubes, make lengthwise cuts first, turn the quarter, then crosscut. Keep the piece supported as you cut, and reposition it if it rocks.

Use a spoon to remove the pit

For the spoon method, stop after the first cut around the pit and twist the avocado into halves. Keep the half with the pit cut-side up on the board, then gently work a spoon between the flesh and pit to loosen it. Mission Produce’s foodservice guide shows this method. Avoid bringing a knife down onto the seed while holding the fruit.

For another fruit cut around a central pit, see our mango cutting guide. The avocado method is simple: cut on the board, separate the quarters with your fingers, then slice or dice the peeled pieces.

Sources: California Avocado Commission, “How to Choose and Use an Avocado” (ripeness, quartering around the pit, removing the pit with fingers, and peeling quarters); Mission Produce foodservice guide (spoon method for removing the pit).