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How to Cut A Pineapple (Step-By-Step With Video!)

2 ways to cut a pineapple into chunks or rings
Keyword pineapple
Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes

Equipment

  • 1 sharp chef's knife
  • 1 cutting board
  • 1 small paring knife optional to cut out dark spots
  • 1 small ring cookie cutter optional to cut pineapple rings
  • airtight containers if storing

Ingredients

  • 1 pineapple ripe

Instructions

How to cut a pineapple:

  • Cut off the top and bottom. Place the pineapple on its side and cut off the top and bottom of it so you are left with a cylinder of pineapple.*
  • Trim off the skin: Use your knife to cut down the sides of the pineapple, following the curves, until all the skin is removed.
    The deeper you cut, the more fruit you’ll waste but the less “eyes” (the little dark spots that are unpleasant to eat) you’ll have to remove later.
  • Use a small paring knife to cut out any remaining dark spots before continuing.

OPTION 1: Make pineapple cubes

  • Cut the pineapple in half: Standing the pineapple on its flat top or bottom, use your large knife to cut the pineapple in half down the middle of its hard core. You’ll see a pale yellow fibrous core running the length of the pineapple and that’s what we’ll remove before cubing.
  • Cut the halves in half again: Lay the halves on their flat cut side and cut in half again so you have 4 triangle-shaped wedges of pineapple.
  • Cut out the core: Stand your wedge up on the cutting board and slice down to cut off the point of your triangle which has the pale white core section.
  • Cut into cubes: Now you can slice the pineapple into strips and then into cubes whatever size you need for your purposes.

OPTION 2: Make pineapple rings

  • Slice the pineapple into rounds: Cut your pineapple body into rounds about 1/2″ thick (or whatever thickness you want).
  • Use a round cutter or knife to remove core: You can either use a small paring knife to cut out the core from each round section, or to make it easier you can use a round cookie cutter to simply punch out the middle with a perfect circle.

Notes

  • Between cutting the top and bottom off, this is when you can optionally turn it upside down sitting on the cut top on a plate for 30 minutes if you want the juices to drip down to the rest of the pineapple before cutting.
  • You can store a cut pineapple in an airtight container in the refrigerator and it will stay fresh for 3-4 days. If you haven’t eaten it by then, just throw the chunks into a freezer bag and freeze for use in smoothies or frozen cocktails like a pina colada (or Piña Colada Popsicles!).
  • To freeze pineapple, once the pineapple is cut, spread it out onto some parchment paper on a cooking sheet or large plate in the freezer. Freezing them spread out first will keep them from all forming one large frozen clump of pineapple. Once it’s frozen, add them to an airtight freezer bag until you are ready to use.