The Super Fast Hack That Makes Cutting Bell Peppers Effortless

We always love a good restaurant meal prep hack that saves valuable time and trouble when getting dishes moving. Sometimes these hacks are so simple that one wonders how they went so long without having divined that particular twist or method for themselves. There's a huge variety of these time-saving tips out there related to a plethora of ingredients, but there's one particular vegetable that receives an inordinate number of explanatory videos: The bell pepper. Bell peppers can inspire a heavy sigh from a cook when it's time to strip them of their central core and many stubborn, sticky seeds — so it's no surprise that a lot of chefs and home cooks post bell pepper how-tos for hassle–free ways to cut out these sections of the pepper.

Here's a fun twist, though: One hack for coring and seeding a bell pepper doesn't even require you to use a kitchen knife. If you have at least one working thumb, you have all the tools you need to ready your bell pepper for cutting it in a fraction of the time it would take to perform one of the standard core-removing knife cuts. All you need to do is strategically dislodge the core and push it into the bell pepper itself. The hack is gaining popularity on TikTok, and it's easy to see why. Prepare yourself, because this is hilariously easy.

To start, pick up your bell pepper and place your thumbs on the stem bed at the top center. If your pepper has a particularly long stem, feel free to cut it shorter; it's not necessary, though. Then push with your thumbs, using enough force that the core pops out and drops down into the pepper's hollow interior. At this point, you can either reach in and pull out the stem and core with your fingers, or you can pull outward with your thumbs, tearing the bell pepper right in half. If you choose the latter option, just shake the half with the core and seeds over the trash can, et voila. Your pepper is core- and seed-free, ready to be sliced for use in a chicken fajita recipe or just as a fresh, crisp snack.

@halfpinthippie

I don't see the logic in cutting peppers the other way? #cooking #foodprep #howto #pepper #hack #easy #keepitsimple #myway

♬ original sound – Half Pint

Aside from the incredible ease of this hack, another benefit is that you reduce food waste by saving more of the good, usable bell pepper flesh. When coring with a knife, quite a bit of that flesh gets sacrificed. With your thumbs on the job, there will be no more throwing the bell pepper out with the bathwater!