The Quickest and Easiest Way to Slice Bell Peppers, According to TikTok
From baked oats and baked feta pasta to pesto eggs and pasta chips, TikTok is home to a growing mountain of food trends. The social media site is also jam-packed with culinary tips and tricks, too.
Even though we feel like we know our way around our home kitchens and the EatingWell Test Kitchen quite well, old cooks can learn new tricks. We still swear by this strategy for removing a pit from an avocado, for instance, and can confirm that this is a quick (and stress relieving) way to break down a head of cauliflower into florets.
And recently, thanks to Smitten Kitchen founder and cookbook author Deb Perelman (who counts Padma Lakshmi as a fan), we've picked up a new method of slicing bell peppers that is ultra-quick and easy.
"I'm on a mission to get everyone to cut peppers my way. It removes all white membrane and the core at once," Perelman says in the caption as she demonstrates the technique on TikTok:
To follow her lead, use a chef's knife to slice off top and bottom ¼- to ½-inch of the pepper. Turn the pepper, so one of the cut sides is resting on your cutting board. Then, simply slice down the sides (avoiding the core and white membrane inside the pepper). Dice or slice these wedges as desired, then do the same for the top and bottom pieces that don't include the stem. Voila: Pepper prepped!
True, this technique won't work for our favorite stuffed peppers recipes or anything that requires bell pepper halves. It's also fairly species-specific; long, thin peppers like poblanos and jalapeños wouldn't be as well-suited for this as rounder bell peppers.
But it does work like a dream for smaller slices and dices, and does seem a lot simpler than other methods. In addition, Perelman's process appears to make it easier to corral all those tiny seeds (and keep them off the kitchen floor).
"Perelman's method is also likely to keep your fingertips safer than the method you may have been using previously. Trying to get a pepper to lay flat while you aim to cut out that white pith can be harrowing. This way is safer and quicker," says EatingWell's senior food editor, Sean Kenniff.
Most often, we use peppers as a vehicle to scoop up hummus or guac anyway, so a thick slice cut this way will work perfectly. We also can't wait to polish up our prep skills using this bell pepper trick for Sheet-Pan Chicken Fajita Bowls, Skillet Lemon Chicken with Spinach and Sheet-Pan Chili-Lime Salmon with Potatoes and Peppers. Is it dinner time yet?!