Pomegranates are healthy and delicious, but they can be tricky to open and messy (they stain!)… until you try this proven method.

The easiest way to open and eat a pomegranate

What you need to easily open a pomegranate

You don’t need much to open a pomegranate easily and safely. All you will need to do so is a sharp knife and a bowl of cool water.

How to open a pomegranate

Pomegranates are sectional fruit, similar to an orange, where the fruit is in a chamber. Look on the outside of the pomegranate—you’ll see ridges along the different sections of the fruit.

This is actually very helpful, because you can use these ridges as a guide. Using your knife, score the skin of your pomegranate along the ridges. Don’t cut too deeply, because you don’t want to cut into the seeds. Just cut deep enough to get through the skin of the fruit.

Now hold your pomegranate over the bowl and break it into pieces

At this point, the pomegranate should come apart easily along the cuts you made in the fruit skin.

Now submerge your pomegranate pieces in the water and pop the seeds off

Use your fingers to work the seeds off of the pomegranate skin. Work the seeds off if all six sections of your pomegranate. If you’re concerned about staining your hands, you may want to wear gloves for this part. But, as long as you wash your hands right away, you should be fine without the gloves.

Here’s the beauty of this method of opening and eating a pomegranate


When you use this method of opening and eating a pomegranate, the seeds will fall to the bottom of the water, whereas the skin and pulp will float to the top. Easy enough, right?

Plus, the bowl of water prevents any pomegranate juice from squirting up and staining things—super helpful, trust me!

Now just drain the water and enjoy

You may need to rinse the seed a few times and roll them around in your hand to get every single bit of pomegranate pulp or skin off of them. This is easier than it sounds though.

Note: If you get pomegranate juice on your hands, counters, of clothes, just be sure to rinse it right away. If left to sit and dry, pomegranate can stain!

How to use pomegranate seeds

There are so many great ways to enjoy pomegranate seeds. Try them atop:

  • Salads
  • Yogurt
  • Oatmeal
  • Cold cereal
  • Quinoa salad

You can also juice pomegranate seeds and use them to make salad dressings, sauces, marinades, and more.

Health benefits of pomegranates

Pomegranates have so many great health benefits, including:

  • Anti-inflammatory effects
  • Reduced blood pressure and lower risk of heart disease
  • Disease-fighting effects
  • Reduced effects of arthritis and joint pain
  • Improved memory

How about you?

Do you love pomegranates? Ever tried this method of opening a pomegranate? Got a better way? Share with us in the comments below.

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