Learn how to de-seed a pomegranate! This quick and easy method will have you hooked on the superfruit.
On one of my trips to the grocery store last week, I had a thicker-than-normal amount of fog in the harbor. I began purchasing all sorts of items that were uncharacteristic for me, like duck, yucca root, and a pomegranate. Pooooooomegranates?! Who buys those? Not me. And I’ll tell you why: pomegranates are a pain in the beehive to de-seed. Or at least, that’s what I thought.
It’s a damn shame that I have a total of zero recipes on my blog that call for pomegranate arils (seeds), because they’re superfruit with fabulous health benefits. Chock full of fiber and Vitamins C and K, pomegranates are immunity building and support digestive health. They are also full of the phytochemicals, polyphenol, tannins, and anthocyanins, which are potent cancer-fighting antioxidants.
So when I arrived home from my foggy trip to the grocery store and was unpacking my belongings, I began questioning my pomegranate purchase. “Sooooo….who should I give this thing to?” I asked myself. Because laaaaaw knows, I don’t have the patience to shove my thumbs in a pomegranate and pluck out each and every one of the arils one by one (which – confession – is what I did in the past).
But then my fight or flight instinct kicked in, and I determined that no – I will NOT give up on this gaaaawforsaken pomegranate. The fog lifted, and I got clever.
I went onto pinterest and looked up tutorials on how to de-seed pomegranates. I found this tutorial from Café Sucre Farine on How to De-Seed a Pomegranate in Less Than a Minute, and for reals guys, it’s the easiest thing ever.
This method involves no water, just you, the pomegranate, and a sturdy spoon. I’ve heard the water method works marvelously too, but I’ve never tried it myself. Since this method literally takes seconds, it will be my go-to from now until doomsday.
How to De-Seed a Pomegranate:
1. Grab your supplies. You need 1 pomegranate (preferably one that has been chilling in your refrigerator), 1 cutting board + knife, 1 big bowl, and 1 wooden spoon or rubber spatula.
2. Cut the pomegranate in half
3. Holding one of the halves in your hand, use your thumbs to stretch the skin. If you get a little too aggressive with this step, the pomegranate will split, but no big deal if this happens.
4. Place the half in one of your palms, cut side-down (if you’re right handed, put it in your left palm) and hold it over the bowl.
5. Take the wooden spoon/rubber spatula, and hit the pomegranate hard multiple times with it. You will feel the seeds begin to come out. After several hits, your pomegranate will be nice and loosened up, at which point you can put down the spoon/spatula and use your hands to gently work the seeds out – they should come out very easily!
6. Repeat for the other half of the pomegranate.
Now that you know how to de-seed a pomegranate, you can use the arils for all sorts of fun recipes. Add them to green or grain salads, sprinkle them on your cooked meat, put them in your yogurt, or on your oatmeal. I’ll be sharing some recipes involving pomegranates soon, so stay tuned!
Tried your method today. First time I’ve had the courage to tackle a pomegranate since I was a teenager – and that was a very long time ago (more than 50 years…). It worked very nicely, though it was a bit of a pain to pick out the non-seed bits; I solved that problem by doing it as I saw the pieces. Definitely won’t fear pomegranates ever again. Thanks for sharing this method.
Smash the seeds in a bowl and use the juice to flavor your next batch of kombucha. Delish fall bucha.
Sounds freaking delicious, girly! Thanks for the brilliant idea!
This method was awesome, AND it was fun beating the seeds out if it! I de-seeded 2 pomegranates in no time! Glad I found your post!
Wahoo! So glad it helped you out! I’m so amazed at how little time the de-seeding took. I seriously used to spend over an hour picking out every individual seed, and most of the time they ended up popping in my fingers, ha! Enjoy your pomegranates!
Soooo I bought a pomegranate last weekend–I have no idea why–and have yet to even look at it because I didn’t know how to open it! Or, I didn’t know…until now!! Thanks for this! You so wise.
YAY! This is how I remove the seeds from my pomegranates too! It’s perfect, quick and simple.
Where was this when I needed it?! I just bought a pomegranate last weekend and spent 15 minutes trying to get the little damn seeds outta that bitch.
That’s what I get for not checkin’ up with The Roasted Root first! This will be so helpful in the future. Thanks lady!
I’ve used the water method, which is simple, but this is even MORE simple! I’m always learning something from you Julia!
funny story: so I was doing a sponsored post that required pomegranates and the person included that exact video to show me how to do it (long story about why the video was included…) so I got right to it and then the boy walked in on me whacking the pomegranate and legit thought I was trying to take out some pent up aggression on it. I’m not gonna lie, I kind of felt pepper after smacking it a few times haha
LOL, too funny! He probably thought to himself, “better the pomegranate than me!” So glad you’re on board with the pomegranate spanking, too 😉
Pomegranates are one of those (delicious) foods that I wonder how anyone ever decided they were okay to eat. Don’t they just look like they’re poisonous?! SO tasty though. I’ve been using the water method, and I tend to make a mess. I’ll have to try whacking mine with a spoon next time 😀
I LOVE pomegranates and buy them because I love them…and then let them go bad because I’m too lazy to deseed them. SHAME ON ME. Need to try this method.
Wow! This is a great tip! Although, I have to say, I did not predict hitting the pomegranate with the spoon. 😀
Iiiii know! The method is so incredibly simple, I wondered why I hadn’t been de-seeding pomegranates on repeat.
Great tips! Also, that pomegranate looks perfect!
Ain’t she a beaut?! The arils were sooooo juicy and sweet!
Go lady, go! I also break it apparent in a bowl of water – all the bits rise to the top! But that method is considerably more wet 😀
Very cool! I’ve heard that’s a fabulous method. Will give it a go on the next pomegranate and see which method I prefer 😀