Chef John's Bell Pepper Cutting Trick Will Save You Time (And Prevents a Seedy Mess)

Plus, it leaves you with a snack!

Cutting a bell pepper, with all of its seedy ribs and stems, might seem like an intimidating task to the beginner cook. But fear not! The bell pepper is actually one of the easiest vegetables to slice and dice. You just need to know what you’re doing.

Luckily for us, Chef John is full of tricks and advice for home cooks of all skill levels.

His new Ultimate Cowboy Caviar recipe features three (count ‘em, three) types of peppers—and he used it as an excuse to share a time-saving tip for cutting bell peppers without the mess.

“What we’re doing here is just creating these nice square pieces of pepper, which are then very simple and easy to cut into strips,” he says. “And then turn and cut into a nice, neat dice.”

You can read the step-by-step instructions below (or watch the video at the top of the recipe) for details, but here’s the gist: He slices the top and bottom off of the pepper, stands it upright, then slices off the sides. From there, he’s able to slice and dice to his heart’s content without those pesky seeds getting in the way.

“What intimidates people without great knife skills is cutting all those curvaceous parts,” according to Chef John. “So you know what I do with those? I eat them. Those make a delicious, refreshing, and pretty good snack as you work.”

How to Easily Cut a Bell Pepper, According to Chef John

Cut the top and bottom off the bell pepper.

Set the pepper on one of the cut ends, then slice the sides off the stems.

Cut each flat side into strips.

Dice the strips into small squares. Discard the top and bottom of the bell pepper, dice them, or eat them as a snack.

Read the original article on All Recipes.