Alrighty, let me set the scene for you: you come home from grocery shopping and neatly store everything away in its appropriate place. You reach into the fridge and take out some fruit, looking to make a nice healthy snack. But where did you put that peeler? How do you even peel a pineapple? Are you supposed to peel tomatoes?
Coming down from that rollercoaster I just took you on, admit it: fruits are hard to peel sometimes. What may seem like silly questions about how to peel fruit are totally valid and we're here to answer all of them for you.
How To Peel All Kinds Of Fruit Like A Pro
How To Peel An Apple
We've all had an apple at one point or another in our lives. They're great snacks when you're on the go, simple additions to baked goods, and an overall superfood. Reaping all the benefits of a juicy apple is easy as soon as you know how to peel one. There are a few methods you can try:
- A knife. This tool is the faithful little friend we have in our kitchens to help us peel and slice just about anything. All you need to do with this method is to start at the core and work your way down. Use a paring knife to cut out the stem and slice along the sides of the incision you made to peel the skin right off.
- Vegetable peeler. Using a vegetable peeler is another surefire way to get the skin off our beloved apples. The good thing with this method is that you won't slice off as much skin as you would with a paring knife, especially if you're not super well-versed in peeling apples.
How To Peel A Banana
Bananas are an awesome fruit. They, too, can be added into baked goods or smoothies, and oftentimes they're just pretty great on their own. When news first broke out that you could peel a banana from the opposite end people just about lost their mind. But, it is a good way to do it!
- Pinching the bottom. At this point, it's pretty common knowledge that you can pinch the bottom of a banana between your thumb and forefinger before peeling it. But in case you didn't know, well, that's pretty much all you have to do.
- Peeling from the stem. For those who like a more traditional way of doing things, nothing beats snapping the stem and peeling from there. The only thing you need to concern yourself with here is being left with those stringy bits on the flesh. When you peel from the bottom, you seldom need to worry about that.
How To Peel An Orange
Oranges are one of those fruits you want to be careful with when you're peeling them. Yes, you can use knives and such to get the job done but you also don't want to sacrifice any of the flesh or make a juicy mess all over your kitchen. Well, the good news is there are ways to peel an orange without the hassle.
- Using your hands. Really, our hands are ranked among some of the more trusted tools in the kitchen and peeling is no exception. Roll the orange in your palm first and then puncture the skin with your thumb nail at the bottom. From there, remove sections of the skin until you're left with just the flesh.
- Using a spoon. All you need to do here is roll the orange before getting started and then make a small incision with a knife. Scoop the spoon underneath the incision and work the spoon around the flesh of the orange until the peel is lifted.
How To Peel A Peach
This fruit can actually be peeled without a knife believe it or not. I mean, other fruits can as well, but a well-known method for peeling peaches is actually to omit knives altogether. The method is pretty simple too.
- Boiling water. Boil a pot filled halfway with water. Once it reaches a rolling boil, plop your peaches in there for about a minute. In a separate bowl, put ice and water together and stick the peaches in once the minute has passed. After they're cool enough to handle (about 15 seconds) you can use your fingers to roll away the softened skin until the skin is removed entirely.
- Boiling water (again). You can also use boiling water with another method. Heat up another halfway-filled pot of water until it boils. As you're waiting for it to boil, cut a small X-like incision in the peach. As soon as the water boils, put your peaches in there for a minute and then transfer them with a spoon to the ice water bath. When they're cool enough to handle, peel from the X with your fingers until the skin is removed.
How To Peel A Mango
With a fruit this size, it can sometimes be hard to know where to begin with the peeling process. Sure we want to get to the flesh so we can make a delicious smoothie or candied mango, but how do we get in there? The skin is a bit rougher and it's not like a paring knife is going to cut it here. But it's actually not that complicated to peel a mango once you get the hang of it.
- A potato peeler. Really, you can use any vegetable peeler you have in the kitchen, but we like using a potato peeler best. All you need to do here is work around the skin the same way you would other produce in your kitchen.
- Using a knife. Okay, so a paring knife might not do the trick but other knives certainly will. Wash the mango first and then place it on a cutting board. Grab the stem and flip the mango so the stem is on top. From there you'll need to slice the skin off in pieces without making serious dents in the flesh. Keep doing this until the entire peel is removed.
How To Peel An Avocado
Avocados get a bad rap sometimes but that's not exactly fair. They're a superfood loaded with nutrients and vitamins and, hello, they're the star of the show when making a good guacamole. But we want to care for our avocados and the way to do that is to peel them gently to ensure we have the flesh and nothing else when making dinner. There are a few ways to peel an avocado properly.
- Slice, remove the seed, and peel. For this well-known method, all you need to do is first wash it and stick it on the cutting board. You'll want to cut it lengthwise, slicing toward the pit and the narrower end on the bottom. Once it's halved, get a spoon and remove the pit from the inside. After that, things are pretty easy. Pull the skin away from the flesh and repeat until the entire peel is removed from the other half.
- Using a spoon. Since you already have the spoon handy to remove the pit, you might as well keep it around for the skin too. As opposed to pulling the skin away with your fingers, repeat all the steps from the above method until you get to removing the pit. Once it's removed, take the spoon and slide it between the flesh and the peel. Gently move your spoon around the flesh until the peel is removed, sort of like with peaches.
How To Peel A Tomato
Who even wants to peel tomatoes, am I right? Well, actually no, I'm not right because peeling tomatoes is a crucial step for those wanting to make a savory tomato sauce or even a nice Bloody Mary. So, break out the knives and a clean surface to work because here are the best methods for peeling tomatoes.
- Boiling water. Remember when we talked about that crazy boiling water method for peaches? You can do the exact same thing with tomatoes. All you need to do is boil a pot of water and put your tomatoes in there until you see the skin start to peel or for about 30 seconds. After that, transfer them into a nice ice cold water bath and let them soak for 4-5 minutes. All you need to do after that is remove the peel with your hands.
- Stick them in the freezer. On the complete opposite end of the spectrum, you can store your tomatoes in a freezer bag and put them in the freezer until they're solid. Once you're ready to use them, let them thaw out on their own or run them under warm water and remove the peel super easily with your hands. The skin will come right off.
How To Peel A Pomegranate
Good Lord, how do we even peel a pomegranate without making a mess all over the place? Some people don't even like peeling pomegranates because it crushes the seeds and then what's the point? Well, wherever you land on this debate, here are some of the ways you can peel and open one.
- Scoring the sections. Pomegranates have six sections, which can be seen by the bumps along the fruit. All you need for this method is a bowl of cold water and a paring knife. Score the sections and then open the pomegranate with your hands over the bowl of water. As soon as it's halved, break them into further sections along where you've cut. Fork the seeds out with your fingers or a spoon and discard the peel. Easy peasy.
- Score the middle. Another way you can do it is to score down the middle of the fruit over a bowl of cold water. Split it open along the cut you made with your hands and place it in the water. Peel the skin back so the fruit opens. From there you'll want to knock on the bottom of the fruit with your knuckle or a spoon to get the seeds out.
How To Peel A Pineapple
Pineapples can be used in a variety of different ways once you figure out how to peel the death trap spikes off of its flesh and the top of its head. It might seem a little daunting at first, but there is a pretty simple way to do it.
- Using knives. Wash the pineapple first and then place it on the cutting board. Make sure you have a good chef's knife when working with a fruit of the size. Lay it on its side and cut off the stem. From there, slice from top to bottom until the skin is removed. The little brown spots that remain can be removed using a paring knife.
How To Peel A Kiwi
The final fruit on our list is the kiwi. I had a pretty fun time as a kid pretending the kiwi had hair... and then I started giving them names and my mom thought it was weird. The fuzzy skin might have been appeasing to play with, but it's no fun if you have to eat it. There's a simple way to remove it, though.
- Using utensils. The spoon method is a pretty popular one with other fruits on this list, like the orange and avocado. Well, you can do the same here. All you need to do is cut off the top and bottom of your kiwi and then make a small cut with your knife on the side of the skin. Wedge your spoon in between the skin and the peel and work around the fruit until the peel is gone.
- Using a small glass. You can also break out glasses and remove the peel that way. Cut the kiwi in half, place it on the rim of a glass, and push down. Stick the fleshy side on the inside of the glass and use the rim to wedge between the peel and the fruit. Push down so the fruit lands in the glass. That's pretty much all there is to it.
Phew. There you go, folks. This extensive guide on how to peel just about every fruit you could ever want will surely help you in the kitchen when you're craving a snack. No method is too difficult to figure out and soon you'll be peeling like a pro.