How to Deseed a Pomegranate in about 1 Minute

People. We need to talk about how to deseed a pomegranate. 

You need more pomegranates in your life. Hear me out.

Pomegranate

First of all, the arils (what the edible red juice filled sacs surrounding the seeds are called) inside those pink round fruits are beautiful and we could all use a little more beauty in our lives. They look like tiny rubies or jewels.

Leaving appearance aside, Pomegranate arils taste like sweet bits of heaven.

One last piece of evidence to support my case, and arguably the clincher: pomegranates are a powerhouse of nutrition. The seeds are chock full of dietary fiber, antioxidants, Vitamin C, manganese, B-complex vitamins, Vitamin K, calcium, and potassium and all sorts of other fantastic-for-you-things.

So why do so many people avoid buying them or purchase them and let them slowly dehydrate in their refrigerators? Because pomegranates have a bum reputation for being difficult to break down.

How to Eat a Pomegranate

In order to benefit from all those nutritional goodies tucked inside every pomegranate, you first have the cut open the hard exterior shell. Then, comes the process of scooping out the juicy aril covered seeds.

If you’re not sure what you’re doing the process is messy, to say the least. And getting the shell open can feel impossible without resorting to desperate measures like running over it with your pick up truck.

I’ve tried methods for cutting pomegranates that involve giant bowls of water and cutting the pomegranates into quarters, but no more, folks! It doesn’t have to be that hard.

I have the solution. This is an almost mess-free method on how to deseed a pomegranate in about 1 minute.

I’m not even kidding. It really just takes just about 1 minute to cut a pomegranate using these three steps. Once you get the hang of it, I bet you’ll be doing it in even less time than that.

Remember, that the seeds are edible. And -I dare say- the pop of them is part of the fun of eating , so there’s no need to take them out of the arils once you’ve removed the arils from the fruit.

Besides, if you pulled the seed out of every aril, all you’d be left with is juice. While tasty, pomegranate juice is not my goal when I deseed a pomegranate

How to cut a pomegranate

1. Score about 1/4-inch deep into the pomegranate around the equator of the fruit. Do not cut all the way into the fruit, you really just need to cut through the red exterior to where it begins to turn white.
2. Push your fingers into the seam and use them to pry the fruit apart into halves.

Tips for removing pomegranate arils:

You really only need to score the red outermost layer of the pomegranate fruit! Once you see the white part, you should be good to go to dig those nails in and rip it in half.

(And yes, this WILL make you feel extremely powerful. You’re welcome.)

Make sure to wack every inch of the pomegranate to loosen the seeds. If they don’t come out right away, use a bit more force.

For those of you who are visual learners, I made a little video to show you how easy it is to open a pomegranate.

Seriously, the worst of it is that a little juice splatters; a quick swipe of the counter with a damp washcloth or paper towel, and you’re as good as new!

How to open a pomegranate

How to choose a perfect pomegranate

First, close your eyes. Pomegranates can be pretty un-photogenic even if they’re delicious on the inside.

You want to use your sense of touch to make your preliminary choice. Choose a pomegranate that is a good size, filling your hand comfortably and possibly bigger than your palm. It should feel heavy for its size.

If you don’t know what that entails, pick up a few pomegranates that are roughly the same size and pick the one that feels heaviest. The heavy feel indicates a nice, juicy pomegranate.

Now you use your eyeballs. The skin should be firm and not puckery. Choose a deep coloured pomegranate. It doesn’t matter so much if it is reddish brown or deep red, just don’t choose a pale one.

Now that you have a ton of pretty little pomegranate seeds, what do you do with them?

How to eat a pomegranate

Here are a few ideas for using your pomegranate seeds to get you started.

• Scatter over tossed salads for a pop of flavour and colour.
• Garnish all sorts of dishes for festive holiday flair; take this dish, for example.
• Sprinkle over a bowl of Rice Porridge
• Scoop over a bowl of Greek yogurt or oatmeal to add some nutrition and colour to your breakfast.
• Eat by the handful. (…Or is that just me?)
• Toss a few into a glass of seltzer to add instant color and a hint of flavor.
• Spoon over your bowl of vanilla ice cream. Boom. You just made your ice cream nutritious. Shhh. Don’t tsk me.

Now go out there and get more pomegranate seeds in your life! Now that you know how to cut open a Pomegranate, chances are good you’re going to get full on obsessed with this fruit.

Thankfully, this is one obsession that’s actually good for you!

How to Deseed a Pomegranate

Put one half, cut side down, on your hand over a bowl. Use a sturdy wooden spoon to thwack the pomegranate firmly a couple of times.

Turn the fruit a quarter of a turn and repeat. Repeat with the second half. Clean out any little bits of pith that fell into the bowl.

Serve the pomegranate arils immediately or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

How to Deseed a Pomegranate in 1 Minute

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Rebecca Lindamood

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Ingredients

  

• 1 pomegranate

Instructions

 

• Score about 1/4-inch deep into the pomegranate around the equator of the fruit. Do not cut all the way into the fruit, you really just need to cut through the red exterior to where it begins to turn white. Push your fingers into the seam and use them to pry the fruit apart into halves.
• Put one half, cut side down, on your hand over a bowl. Use a sturdy wooden spoon to thwack the pomegranate firmly a couple of times, turn the fruit a quarter of a turn and repeat. Be sure you smack every inch of the fruit,repeating until all of the seeds have been released into the bowl. Repeat with the second half. Clean out any little bits of pith that fell into the bowl. Serve immediately or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Nutritional information is an estimate and provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe using your preferred nutrition calculator.

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Not Your Mama’s Canning Book: Modern Canned Goods and What to Make with Them is available to order through these fine retailers!

This post was originally published November 15, 2016. It was republished January 8, 2021 with improved notes.