Time Saver of the Week: Scoop Avocados, Don't Chop Them

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If you’re cutting your avocados, removing the pits, and then peeling the skin as you would an orange, you’re doing it wrong. (And you’re wasting time, too!) If you think you’re a pro because you crosshatch your avocado with a knife, you’re not wrong, per se. But you’re still wasting time! Because if you’re as into mashing avocados on toast or into guacamole as we are, there’s a better way:

1. Carefully cut the avocado in half by slicing it lengthwise and around the pit.

2. Cupping the pitted avocado half in the palm of one hand, get rid of that pit by ever-so-gently lodging the heel of your knife into it and then twisting to remove.

3. Holding the pitted avocado half in your hand, use a spoon to remove the avocado meat. Angle it so its edge acts as a knife, and run it, from top to bottom, underneath the meat and against the skin. Or you can take out multiple chunks of meat with your spoon this way, too, essentially de-skinning and chopping in one fell swoop.

This is how you’ll see prep cooks doing it in Mexican restaurants. It’s all the easier for mashing (or moving straight from fruit to mouth), and it’s lightning fast, too.