Bell peppers are the building blocks to all sorts of dishes like stews, sauces, casseroles and more. They bring flavor, color and crunch to many of our favorite meals. While they are very simple to cut, a few tips and tricks will ensure you prep your peppers quickly and safely.

Tools and Equipment for Cutting Bell Peppers

• Chef’s knife
• Paring knife
• Cutting board

How to Quickly Seed a Bell Pepper

Use a paring knife to cut around the stem on top of the bell pepper, like you would when carving a pumpkin. Leave about a 1 inch border of flesh around the stem, but make sure it is completely severed from the sides. Carefully lift the stem out of the pepper allowing most of the seeds to come out with the core and stem. Turn the pepper upside down and pat it a few times and the rest of the seeds will fall out. Use the paring knife to remove any seeds or membrane stuck to the sides. Now you have a pepper that is ready to stuff, slice or dice.

Three Ways to Cut a Bell Peper

Sliced Bell Pepper: A Step-By-Step Guide

These are perfect for everything from stir fry to fajitas to tacos.

Step 1: Remove the cheeks. Start by standing the pepper with the stem facing up and notice the different sides, or “cheeks”. Some have three, some four. Use your chef’s knife to cut off each cheek, starting the knife as close to the stem as possible and holding the knife as close to the cheek as possible while you cut downwards to avoid the center seeds and membrane.

Step 2: Clean up around the stem. Now you should have a stem and core with seeds and membrane. Cut any remaining pepper flesh from the bottom and top and discard the stem, seeds and core.

Step 3: Trim the membrane. Trim any remaining white membrane from the inside of the cheeks and discard any seeds.

Step 4: Stack and slice. Neatly stack the cheeks on top of one another with the skin side facing down. The skin can be waxy and tough, which can make your knife slip. It is safer to cut the crisper flesh side. Position the stack with your non dominate hand, fingers tucked under knuckles. Cut the stack lengthwise into long strips about ¼ inch wide, or desired width.

How to Turn the Slice to a Dice

Create the perfect base ingredient for stews, soups and casseroles. Proceed through steps 1-4 of slicing a bell pepper so you’re starting with sliced bell pepper. Then…

Step 1: Dice the slices. Turn your neat pile of slices 90 degrees, so that now they face you crosswise. Cut through the stack of slices at about ¼ inch wide—or desired width—creating an even dice.

Step 2: Dice the pepper scraps. Cut any remaining pieces from the tops and bottoms of the pepper into ¼ inch pieces as close to a dice as possible.

How to Cut a Bell Pepper Into Rings

When thin slices are a little too plain for your main event, these pepper rings bring an extra zest to the presentation.

Step 1: Cut off the top and bottom of the pepper. Hold the pepper so that the long side is facing you. Use a chef’s knife to cut off the top (including the stem) and bottom of the pepper. Cut the flesh off the top and bottom and save for another use. Discard the stem.

Step 2: Remove seeds and membrane from inside the pepper. Use a paring knife to further hollow out the inside of the pepper. Cut any white membrane away from the flesh and cut any links to the stem away, leaving only clean pepper.

Step 3: Cut the pepper crosswise into rings. Position the pepper so that the long side is facing you again. Use a chef’s knife to carefully cut crosswise slices about ¼ inch thick—or desired width. Each slice should be a hollow ring. {Be careful when cutting this way, as the skin of the pepper can be waxy, thick and slightly difficult to cut. Also, be sure the knife if very sharp and hold the pepper lightly or the pepper might split when cutting, as they are crisp and brittle when fresh.

How to Store Cut Bell Peppers

Refrigerate cut bell peppers in an airtight container for up to a week. Adding a paper towel under the peppers to catch any residual moisture will help them to stay crisper longer.