Looking for a way to beautifully cut a pineapple? Here it is! My mom learned this method when she was studying culinary arts like 20 years ago and has been cutting pineapple like this ever sense. I do this when I want to serve an especially beautiful fruit presentation. It looks harder to achieve than it really is and it is so pretty! Definitely worth the effort. Seriously! People always ask how you did it.

How to Cut a Pineapple Video

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Instructions for How to cut a Pineapple

Cutting the Rind

Using a cutting board and a sharp knife, cut off the top and bottom of pineapple. Set the top, or “leaves” of the pineapple aside for later.

Pineapple on cutting board with top and bottom cut off

Pineapple on cutting board with top cut off.

Cut off the rind of the pineapple, starting in one place and going all around. Cut the rind in small strips and be careful not to cut too deep into the fruit. You want to make sure that the black dots, the so-called “eyes” of the pineapple are visible. Don’t worry about any green left overs from the skin as these can be cut off later.

Direction to cut Pineapple

Now, decide in which direction you will cut the grooves. This pineapple will be cut with spirals going down right (first picture). The reason for that is if I cut in the left direction, the dots do not go down in a perfect spiral. There is a point where it’s hard to decide which “dot” to cut off next as it can be any one of two “dots” (second picture).

Amazingly enough, every single pineapple has a perfect spiral either going down to the right or going down to the left. I have cut pineapples like this many times and have not yet met a pineapple where it doesn’t work 😅.

Cutting Grooves into Pineapple

After you find the right direction for cutting the grooves, proceed to cut them out. Using a serrated knife (these Victorinox knives are the best!), cut out the dot at a 45 degree angle on one side. Then, make a 45 degree angle cut on the opposite site. So basically, you are cutting a “V” to the side of each “dot”.

Eye of pineapple being cut out in V shape

Cut all the way around the pineapple until all the dots are cut out, forming grooves as you go. Cut off any left over green pieces of the rind as you go.

Next, lay the pineapple on its side and slice it into half-inch circles doing your best to keep them the same thickness throughout. Then flip the pineapple right side up and line up the grooves to their original places. You might need to play a bit until you get them all straight. You can see on the second picture the individual slices and also how the grooves are perfectly lined up

Transfer the cut pineapple onto a serving plate. Then take the “leaves” of the pineapple that were cut off in the beginning. Break a wooden toothpick in half and insert it with the broken end first into the pineapple leaves. Then insert the head of leaves into the cut pineapple.

A toothpick inserted in the head leaves of pineapple

Leaves of pineapple added to the top of pineapple with a toothpick

After that, you can cut and arrange additional fruits around the pineapple to make a pretty fruit presentation. Something like this.

Cut pineapple with watermelon strawberries and other fruit arranged

Or like this. I am seriously in love. This is so pretty. Make this once and you will definitely be getting compliments and questions on how you did it!

Serving the Pineapple

To serve, remove the pineapple leaves and cut the slices of pineapple into fourths. Each person can use a toothpick or a fork to get some pineapple.

Tip: When serving, cut slices of the pineapple halfway through, at first. Once those pieces are gone, cut the slices further. This will keep the pineapple “towers” from falling apart.

Enjoy!

Lastly, if you cut a pineapple this way, make sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating here! I’d love to hear back from you and will do my best to answer and respond to every comment. And of course, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram if you make this recipe. I’d love to see the photos of the recipes you have made!

Beautifully cut pineapple on platter with fruit

How to Beautifully Cut Pineapple

This is a beautiful way to cut a pineapple. Not too hard and the presentation is gorgeous.

Prep Time30

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American, Fruit

Keyword: How to, Pineapple

Yield: 1 Cut Pineapple

Equipment

1 Sharp Chef's knife
1 Sharp serrated knife
1 Cutting board

Materials

1 Wooden toothpick

Instructions

Cut off the top and bottom of the pineapple. Save the top "leaves" for later.
Slice off the rind of the pineapple using thin stripes and making sure that the "dots" of the pineapple are still visible once the rind is cut off.
Decide which direction to cut the grooves of the pineapple. Double check that the "dots" go down smoothly all the way, i.e. there is no point where it is unclear which "dot" you need to cut off next because it could be two different ones.
Using a sharp serrated knife, make a 45 degree cut to the side of one of the dots. Then, make a 45 degree cut on the other side of the dot. Basically, you are making V-shaped grooves around each dot, always going in the same direction.
Continue cutting until all the dots are cut out.
Lay the cut pineapple on a cutting board and slice it into half-inch thick rings, taking care to keep them even.
Place the pineapple upright and arrange the rings so that the grooves perfectly line up as when you cut them. Transfer to a serving platter.
Take a wooden toothpick and break it in half. Insert the broken end into the pineapple leaves saved from the first step.
Insert the leaves into the pineapple on the serving platter.
Arrange other fruit around the pineapple.
To serve, remove the leaves of the pineapple and cut into fourths. Use toothpicks or dessert forks for serving.