With our captivating visuals and stunning video tutorial, we show you the ultimate techniques for how to cut bell peppers like a professional. You can easily perfect the art of cutting bell peppers with our step by step guide.
If you love cooking with bell peppers, you'll want to check out our sausage, peppers and onions recipe and our copycat Chipotle fajita veggies.
Ingredients
You only need one ingredient for this tutorial: bell peppers. For this photo shoot, we choose red bell peppers, because they are colorful, sweet, and have a slight citrus flavor.
The same cutting techniques will work for any color of pepper. Check your recipe to see which color of bell pepper is best.
How to Select
Choose bell peppers that are smooth and unwrinkled. You want to look for firm, brightly colored peppers with shiny skins. The peppers should feel heavy in your hand, and the stem should be green. You want to avoid ones with blemishes, soft spots, shriveled skin, or discoloration.
How to Cut
In this step by step guide, we'll show you how to cut peppers four different ways. As an added bonus, we'll also provide instructions for 2 more ways to cut bell peppers.
1. Julienned
To julienne peppers, cut off the top and bottom of the pepper. Cut down one side and unroll the pepper so it lays flat, skin side down. Cut out the core, and discard the stem and seeds. Run the tip of the knife between the flesh and the white ribs to remove them.
Now you should have a clean rectangle of bell pepper that you can slice. To safeguard your fingertips while making knife cuts, form a flat fist by tucking your fingertips under your knuckles. Cut the pepper along the shorter side into Ā¼ inch strips.
2. Diced
To dice peppers, do everything you would for cutting them into strips (step #1). Create a stack of the slices, making sure they are lined up from end to end. Cut across the strips to make square chunks. In the photo above, we demonstrated a small dice.
3. Rings
To make rings, cut off the top of the pepper, then remove the core and seeds with your fingers. Tap the pepper cut side down on the cutting board to dislodge any stubborn seeds.
Place the pepper on the cutting board and slice the whole pepper to create uniform rings. Use the tip of the knife to remove any white ribs that may be still attached.
4. Stuffed Peppers
For stuffed peppers, cut around the stem with the tip of the knife, then pull out the stem. Reach into the pepper and remove the core and seeds. Tap the pepper cut side down to dislodge the rest of the seeds.
Bonus #1: Dicing Tops & Bottoms
For no waste, lay the top and bottom of the pepper on the cutting board flesh side down. Cut into strips, then rotate 90Ā° and cut into large chunks. Place in a bowl for another use, eat as a snack, or put in a freezer bag.
Bonus #2: Wide Strips
Wide Strips: To get this cut, follow the instructions in how to julienne (step #1). Once the bell pepper is unrolled and the white membrane has been removed, cut it into large chunks. In the photo, we sliced it into 6 large chunks.
Recipe FAQs
If you want them to last the longest, you would leave them uncut. When they are prepped for recipes, they last only 3 to 4 days. If you can't use them up quickly, it's best to freeze them for longer storage.
Green is the color that lasts the longest because they are picked before they are ripe.
Bell peppers can last 1 or 2 days sitting on the counter if they are uncut. If you store them in your fridge's crisper drawer, they can last 1 or 2 weeks as long as they are stored in a bag that permits air flow.
When you are cutting off the mold, make sure to cut at least 1 inch around the moldy spot. This way the knife will not have any cross contamination.
Make Ahead: All these cutting techniques can be done up to 3 days in advance. Store in an air tight container in the fridge. It makes meal prep so much easier!
Leftovers: Any leftovers can be stored covered in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Freeze: Place leftover cut peppers in a single layer on a baking tray in the freezer for 1 hour, then transfer to a freezer bag and remove as much air as possible. This will keep for up to 3 months.
Thaw: Most recipes can be made with frozen peppers, just make sure your recipe requires cooking, sauteing, roasting, or grilling. Thawed peppers lose their crunch, so they aren't recommended to use in raw dishes.
Serve
Due to their versatility, bell peppers can be incorporated into a wide range of recipes.
- Wide Strips: This choice is best for eating raw with dip, kabobs, or grilling.
- Large Dice: This choice is best for sauteing or using in stir fries like our copycat eggplant tofu.
- Small Dice: This choice is the most popular and can be used in a variety of recipes. Try our muffaletta olive salad or our cowboy caviar.
- Rings: This choice is not used very often, but it makes a lovely presentation as a garnish in salads, sandwich toppers, cruditƩ plates, or fried with eggs. It also can be deep fried as an alternative to onion rings.
- Julienne: This choice is the second most popular. Try it in our bell pepper salad.
- Stuffed Peppers: For this choice, keep them whole or cut in half lengthwise for a different presentation.
If you're looking for other veggie recipes, you'll definitely want to try our recipes for refrigerator dill pickles and giardiniera. Grab our tutorial for cutting green onions.
Expert Tips
- Don't throw away the tops and bottoms. Dice them up to use in a future recipe.
- To get the seeds out of the pepper, firmly tap against the cutting board and wipe away the seeds.
- To safeguard your fingertips while making knife cuts, form a flat fist by tucking your fingertips under your knuckles.
- Flash freeze leftover peppers by spreading them out in a single layer on a tray and flash freezing for 1 hour before transferring to a freezer bag.
Recipes that Use Bell Peppers
Recipe
How to Cut Bell Peppers
Ingredients
- 1 bell pepper
- sharp knife
Equipment
Instructions
- Julienned: Cut off the top and bottom of the pepper, then slice down one side and remove the core and membranes. Unroll the pepper so it lays flat, skin side down, then cut into strips from one of the short sides.
- Diced: Start by julienning the pepper as described in Step 1. Line up the strips into a stack and slice across them to dice.
- Rings: Cut off the top and bottom of the pepper, then remove the core. Tap the pepper cut side down on the cutting board to dislodge any stubborn seeds. Slice the pepper crosswise to create rings. Remove any white membranes with the knife.
- Stuffed Peppers: Cut off the top, slicing as close to the stem as possible. Reach into the pepper and remove the core and seeds. Tap the pepper cut side down to dislodge the rest of the seeds.
- Wide Strips: Follow the julienne instructions in Step 1, except slice the pepper into wide strips instead of narrow ones.
- No Waste: Lay the top and bottom of the pepper on the cutting board flesh side down. Cut into strips, then rotate 90 degrees and cut into large chunks. Discard the stem. Place in a bowl for another use, eat as a snack, or put in the freezer.
Video
Notes
- Don't throw away the tops and bottoms. Dice them up to use in a future recipe.
- To get the seeds out of the pepper, firmly tap against the cutting board and wipe away the seeds.
- To safeguard your fingertips while making knife cuts, form a flat fist by tucking your fingertips under your knuckles.
- Flash freeze leftover peppers by spreading them out in a single layer on a tray and flash freezing for 1 hour before transferring to a freezer bag.
Nutrition
Serving sizes and nutritional information are only an estimate and may vary from your results.
Beth
These are great tips that make cutting bell peppers a lot easier. Thanks for sharing!
Emma
You're welcome, Beth! I'm glad you found these tips helpful.