How to peel and chop a tomato

delicious. team

Written by the expert and completely food-obsessed team behind this website, our social channels and our monthly magazine.

The classic technique to perfect for any level of prepping, from finely chopping dice to roughly chopping tomatoes to add to sauces.

You’ll need ripe but still firm tomatoes. Discard the green stems, then use a small sharp knife to cut out the eye of the tomato (where the stalk meets the fruit). Make a cross in the skin at the base of the tomato. Drop the tomatoes in to a bowl of jus-boiled water and leave for around 30 seconds to loosen the skins-don’t leave them in too long as the flesh will go mushy.
Using a small knife to help you, gently pull off the skins. They should come away easily- if not, submerge the tomatoes in the water for another 20-30 seconds.
Slice the tomato in half, cutting through the eye.
Use a teaspoon to scoop out the seeds. Discard the seeds.
Slice each tomato shell into fat or thin strips lengthways, then into dice or chunks.