How To Peel a Tomato Without Boiling It

Playing An Ingeniously "Lazy" Way To Peel a Tomato + How To Slice An Avocado Like They Do In Restaurants

An Ingeniously "Lazy" Way To Peel a Tomato + How To Slice An Avocado Like They Do In Restaurants Aired April 25, 2019

It's our "Foodie 411 show," and Rach, Chef Curtis Stone and Chef Geoffrey Zakarian are taking on your toughest food-related queries.

One viewer named Rebekah wrote to us on Facebook with a great question.

Q: "I love making salsa, but peeling tomatoes is always so tedious. Is there an easier way?"

A: "The problem with peeling tomatoes is that you're always going to chop them," Chef Geoffrey Zakarian says. "I'm kind of a lazy chef — I want to do something once — so I have a method."

You have to have very ripe tomatoes and a sharp knife, he says. "Be careful!"

Cut down four times, essentially "coring" the tomato around the stem. Also, cut the bottom tip of the stem piece off, because it's a very flavorful piece, according to Geoffrey.

Save the core, too — you can use it later for stocks, tomato juice or even to make Bloody Mary mixes.

"You don't want to waste anything," Geoffrey continues.

Then, take each piece of tomato and put the (very sharp) edge of the knife down, under the seeds and just above the skin.

Roll the tomato away from the skin as you carefully peel it using your knife. "It does the work for you. It takes the skin right off," the chef says.

Watch Geoffrey demonstrate his technique for perfectly peeling a tomato in the video above.