How to Core, Peel, and Seed a Tomato

Working with tomatoes can be a rather juicy culinary adventure. While some recipes happily welcome the juicy, seedy tomato pulp, other recipes like pizza and tacos are reasonably happy without them. This is why it’s essential to spend a few extra minutes coring and seeding these juicy buddies for the best results.

Learning to core and seed a tomato is crucial for eliminating the rigid, bitter core and getting the maximum flavor. Once you learn how to core, seed, and chop your tomatoes, a whole new world of delicious sandwiches, salsas, and canned goodness awaits you.

How to core a tomato in simple steps:

1. Wash the tomatoes and pat dry.
2. Place the tomato on the cutting board.
3. Use a sharp paring knife to poke into the base of the stem.
4. Cut around the stem at a 45-degree angle.
5. Use your knife to lift out the core when you reach your starting point.

Preparation

Any culinary task begins with the right knife that can best perform the cutlery task assigned. For coring tomatoes, this right knife is a sharp paring knife. The miniature task of coring a tomato is done best by this mini version of a chef knife. If you don’t have one, you may choose a suitable chef knife instead.

How to core a tomato

Without further ado, here are the steps on how to core a tomato:

1. Wash the tomatoes and pat dry with a towel. Dried tomatoes will give you a better grip and prevent your hands from slipping.
2. Place the tomato with the stem side up on the cutting board.
3. Remove the stem from the tomato.
4. Begin by inserting a sharp paring knife at the base of the stem, holding the tomato firmly with your non-dominant hand.
5. Allow your knife to push approximately ½ to 1 inch down below. You may stop when you ascertain that you’ve reached the center of the tomato.
6. With an angle of approximately 45 degrees, cut the tomato in a circular motion around the stem. Moving slightly inwards towards the center to create a funnel-like cut. 
7. As you reach your starting point, lift out the core with your knife and dispose of it. The core of the tomato is not only a little tough but also bitter.

Your cored tomatoes are ready.

How to peel a tomato

Recipes such as stewed tomatoes and fresh tomato sauces call for peeled tomatoes, so you must learn to peel alongside coring. It is quick and easy; follow the steps below:

1. Core the tomatoes (optional: you may core the tomatoes after peeling).
2. Place the cored tomatoes in boiling water using tongs. Let them sit in the boiling water for 15 to 25 seconds. The skin will begin to split.
3. Next, pick up the tomatoes with the help of tongs and immerse them in a bowl full of ice-cold water. Now that the tomatoes have been blanched, they are ready for peeling.
4. Once your tomatoes have cooled down, remove them from the ice water.
5. Using your fingers, peel away the tomato from the cored top. You may also use a sharp knife for this task.
6. If you haven’t, you may core your tomatoes now.

How to seed cored tomatoes

Next, we learn how to seed the cored tomatoes. Here is what you need to do:

1. Place the cored tomatoes with the cored side up onto the cutting board.
2. Hold the tomato with your non-dominant hand and slice it vertically into two halves. A serrated knife works best for cutting through tomatoes with minimal mess.
3. Slice the halves once more to create four equal tomato slices.
4. Using your knife, slice out the seeds and remaining core from the top to the bottom of the tomato, scraping the tomato walls slightly.
5. Discard the seeds and the remaining core.
6. Repeat with the other three slices.

Your cored, seeded tomatoes are ready. Alternatively, you may also slice the tomato in half and scoop out the seeds with a spoon. A few seeds may be left out this way, but they won’t hurt any recipe. As for the seeds, composting them is the best solution.

How to use

Summer tomatoes are a must in many of our favorite delicacies. You may stock up on these summer goodies by peeling, coring, and seeding a large batch in peak season. All you need to do is place the peeled, cored, and seeded tomatoes in zip lock bags and freeze them. Defrost under running water whenever you wish to use them.

How to cut tomatoes

Now that tomatoes are all cored, peeled, and seeded, it’s time to chop them up. There are several ways you can cut up your cored tomatoes. Remember to use a serrated knife for this task. Paring knives and chef knives also work fine but can tear the skin and make a mess.

How to cut cored tomatoes into slices

Tomato slices are a must in your favorite BBQ platters, burgers, and sandwiches. For tomato slices, core as little of the tomato as possible. With the stem end towards your non-dominant hand, begin cutting slices of equal thickness with the help of a serrated knife.

How to cut cored tomatoes into dice

For cutting cored tomatoes into dice, cut the tomatoes in halves. Hold the tomatoes and cut them in half again to make quarters. Scoop out the remaining core and seeds with a knife as you did during the seeding stage.

Once done, cut the remaining tomato into long strips. Next, cut the tomato strips crosswise to create dice. Alternatively, you can cut up tomato slices into strips and cut them crosswise for dice. Your cored tomato dices are ready for use.

How to cut cored tomatoes into wedges

For wedges, slice your cored tomatoes in half and then cut them in half again for quarters. For even smaller wedges, cut the quarters further through the centers.

FAQs

What does it mean to core a tomato?

The center white part of a tomato is its core. Coring a tomato means removing this part of the tomato as it is bitter and not required in most recipes.

Does canning require coring tomatoes?

Please core your tomatoes before canning them. Coring tomatoes is preferable because if you don’t, the cores will exist in your canned tomatoes as hard lumps that won’t be pleasing to look at or eat.

Do tiny tomatoes need coring?

Small cherry tomatoes don’t need to be cored. However, tomatoes that have a hard top need to be cut off.

Conclusion

That’s all for coring tomatoes, folks! We hope this article opened up new horizons in the culinary world for you. Keep following our blog for more.