How to Cut a Pomegranate (Without the Mess)

Learning how to cut a pomegranate is easier than it looks, and once you know the trick it only takes a few minutes. This simple method makes it easy to open a pomegranate, remove the seeds cleanly, and avoid a big mess in the kitchen. 🙂

"Very thorough directions for juicing."

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Calvin, One Happy Dish reader

Fresh pomegranate arils are incredibly delicious in salads, grain bowls, or simply eaten on their own, and they taste soooo much better than the packaged version from the store. I also share two easy ways to make fresh pomegranate juice at home below, using either a blender or simple kitchen tools.

🌿 Ingredients

The only ingredient you'll need here is a pomegranate! If you plan on making juice, you'll need about 6 to 7 medium pomegranates, which yields roughly 4 cups of juice.

Pro tip: Choose pomegranates that feel heavy for their size with smooth, deeply colored skin. Heavier fruit usually means juicier arils inside.

Pomegranate seeds vs arils

Note that the terms pomegranate seeds and pomegranate arils are often used interchangeably. Technically, the aril is the juicy red outer layer surrounding the small seed inside.

Either way, both are edible and delicious.

📝 Instructions

How to make pomegranate juice

There are two methods to do this, depending on the equipment you have:

1. Juice the pomegranate arils manually, or
2. Use a blender at to extract the juice

Note: There are some sellers on Amazon selling juicers that advertise pomegranate juicing, but I find that the easiest (and cheapest!) way is just to use one of the two methods described here.

The other important thing to know when juicing a pomegranate is that you'll probably want to strain the juiced liquid with a fine mesh strainer as a final step so that it's as smooth as possible.

Method #1: Manually juicing a pomegranate

For this method, all you'll need is a couple tall jars (I like quart-sized Mason jars with wide mouths), a mashing device like a potato masher, and a fine mesh strainer.

Simply place all of the fresh pomegranate arils in one jar and mash until you've released as much of their juices as possible. Then, place your strainer over a second jar and pour the mashed arils through the strainer to catch all of the seed remnants.

Method #2: Juicing a pomegranate with a blender

To juice your pomegranate using a blender, place the arils in your blender and start the blender at low speed for just a second or two. Use a plunger or spatula to push the remaining arils down as you go, and turn the blender on at low speed a few more times for 1-2 seconds until you feel like most of the arils have released their juice.

Then, place your strainer over a quart-sized Mason jar pour the contents from the blender over the strainer to remove any seed pieces.

Pro tip: If you have a professional grade blender such as a Vitamix and prefer to retain the fiber from the pomegranate seeds, you can go ahead and run at high speed to blend everything until smooth. Just make sure to use the plunger as needed, to push down the arils in between blending as above.

🥧 Serving suggestions

Pomegranate arils are delicious and so festive to dress up any holiday dish, or even a simple salad of greens with some apple cider vinaigrette. They can also be eaten by themselves as a snack (they're delicious!), or used in sweet treats like this homemade chocolate bark. I also love using them to garnish fall dishes like this butternut squash soup.