How to Cut Eggplant

Eggplant cut into shapes on a cutting board with a knife.

Learn How to Cut an Eggplant with this easy guide that will help you safely and confidently sharpen your knife skills! We've included step-by-step instructions for cutting an eggplant into rounds, lengthwise slices, and cubes, making this delicious, nutrient-dense vegetable ready to add to your favorite recipes.

Course How To

Cuisine American

Diet Vegan

Prep Time 5

Total Time 5

Servings

Calories 115kcal

Author Aysegul Sanford

Equipment

Ingredients

1 Eggplant

Instructions

Trim: Rinse the eggplant under cold water. Use a sharp knife to cut the stem off the top of the eggplant. Turn it around and cut a small slice off of the bottom of the eggplant. Discard both pieces.
Peel: If desired, use a vegetable peeler to peel the eggplant’s skin. You can either stand it up to peel it vertically or set it down horizontally on the cutting board, supporting it with your hand, to peel it along its length.
To cut into rounds: Lay the eggplant on its side and carefully slice it into ½-inch thick rounds. Continue to slice until you’ve reached the end.
To slice lengthwise: Stand the eggplant up vertically and cut it into thin slices (about ½-inch thick) from top to bottom. For particularly a long or large eggplant, lay it down on its side as you reach the end to finish slicing it horizontally.
To dice: Follow the instructions for slicing the eggplant lengthwise. Stack the slices on top of one another and set them flat-side down on the cutting board. Cut the slices vertically into ½ inch sticks. Rotate the eggplant sticks 90 degrees and cut ½ inch slices widthwise (against the lengthwise slices). Continue cutting until the entire eggplant is diced.

Notes

Globe Eggplant: We used a globe eggplant in this tutorial since it is widely available here in the US. However, you can apply the same techniques to other types of eggplants that have similar shapes or sizes.
Keep it fresh: If you aren’t planning on using your eggplant right away, store it in the vegetable drawer in your fridge. I recommend using it within two days and cutting it up right before you plan to use it. An eggplant will start to oxidize and turn brown soon after cutting it, but you can follow two methods to slow this process and keep it fresh. First, you can store it in the fridge in a bowl filled with cold water and salt. Alternatively, you can brush your slices with lemon juice and store them in a plastic bag in the fridge.

Nutrition