Today I saw a small container of pomegranate seeds at the store for almost $6. There were also fresh whole pomegranates selling for less than half of that price, so I started wondering, why would anyone want to pay 6 bucks for a cup of pomegranate seeds? Maybe because they are delicious, one of the most powerful antioxidant fruit, a natural anti-cancerous, an immune builder, a fruit known to lower cholesterol, blood pressure, and risk of heart disease, but most likely they pay that kind of money because seeding them could be pretty difficult and time-consuming. Never fear a whole pomegranate again! Today I am going to teach you “ The Fastest Way to Seed Pomegranate.”
How to pick a Pomegranate:
- Choose one that is heavy for its size, this means it is full of juice and ripe.
- The larger the fruit, the easier to seed.
- Pick one that is deep red with a smooth skin.
- Avoid the ones with bruises, cracks, flat or soft spots.
What you will need:
- Water
- Ice
- Pomegranates
- A knife
- A bowl
- A wooden spoon or mallet
Steps:
1) Fill the sink with cold water and add plenty of ice to it. (optional step)
2) Soak the pomegranates in the iced water for 10 minutes. This step is optional, the iced water will firm up the pomegranates and loosen up the seeds, but it will still work fine if you don’t
3) Cut the pomegranate in half crosswise (rather than from the stem end). Try to cut along the skin without cutting into the seeds and separate the pomegranate in half
4) Hold the pomegranate half facing down over a bowl
5) Using a wooden spoon or a mallet firmly tap the outside of the fruit to release the seeds into the bowl
6) Fill the bowl with water to remove all the peel remnant and white parts. (these will float at the top)
7) Drain and eat as is or add them to your salads, desserts or smoothies.
If you get any pomegranate juice in your clothes, treat immediately by rinsing under cold water, applying laundry detergent directly on the stain and soak on cold water for 15 to 30 minutes. If the stain is still there, apply hydrogen peroxide and scrub.
Pomegranate will last up to 3 months in the refrigerator, but once they are seeded consume within 3 to 5 days
edibleharmony.wordpress.com 
Fantastic tip – I knew about whacking them with a wooden spoon, but not about soaking them first in the ice water and pouring water over the seeds once they’re out so the white pulp floats up. Thanks!
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Thank you SO MUCH for this tip! I like pomegranate, but being sprayed with that lovely juice while digging out the delicious seeds makes eating them gracefully an impossibility. 😉 I am going to try this method.
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Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful!!! I make a pomegranate salsa with parsley, cilantro, mint, red onion, lime salt and olive oil. I love it but always wear plastic gloves and old clothes to seed the pomegranates. Then know that I’ll have another 20 minutes of kitchen clean-up in order to find all the spots of juice that fly out of the seeds. Thanks for your helpful tip!
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and you just gave me a fantastic salsa idea. Can I steal it and credit you for it?
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Great idea! I cut them out with a teaspoon every time takes me 20 minutes to make a fruit salad.
From now I ll be faster. 🙂
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I like your site-the information is useful-but when use the Print button-it prints off 11 pages, you only 3 of these pages-waste of paper!
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Did you print the entire home page or did you open the blog post alone? All my recipes do have an easy print button that prints only the recipe, but I didn’t use it on the pomegranate post because it is more like a tutorial than a recipe
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highlight what you want to print then hit the print button and choose “selection” to print what you highlighted. (Hopefully I understood your issue)
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Another option when printing is to use print preview, then choose to print only the pages you want, no need to print everything.
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I found what I believe to be an even easier way….. scalp the top of the pom by cutting a shallow circle around the top, careful to cut through the white part but not break any seeds. Remove the “scalp”. Then you should see 5-6 sections to the pom. Cut shallow again down the sides of the pom following each one of the white dividers so that your pom can easily be pulled apart into 5-6 segments. Take each of these wedges and either use your fingers to loosen all the seeds or beat on the back with a spoon. All the seeds should easily fall out and not a drip of juice. We have a pom tree and juices 18 pounds of seeds last year….this method is awesome.
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There’s a step that can make this even easier. Instead of cutting in half, scalp the pom, exposing the seeds, buy not cutting through them. You will also see the the pom is in about 5 sections. Make a shallow cut down these divisions, and then pull apart. Then when you whack with the spoon the seeds come out real easy and there is NO juice lost.
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so you eat the seeds not the fruit the seeds came out of?
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Well I’ll be damned. I’ve got about 30 lbs of these bad boys to seed….and soon. So glad I stumbled across this!!! Thanks!!!
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I love the salsa idea. Thanks!
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I can’t stand the seeds…love the taste though…wish there were some way to eat them with out those seeds!!
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Do you suck the juice out of the seeds and spit the hard bits out or do you eat the whole seeds as well?
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good news I will try it.
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Do you eat the seeds?? Do you chew them very well if you do??
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I eat the seeds
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So it’s ok to eat seed and all? I thought the jelly part was the only part you ate.
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I eat the whole seeds
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I just don’t ‘get it !’ I bought one last year, out of curiousity, and tried it, um, and, had to be careful not to break my teeth cos the big, fat seeds were as hard as rocks, and, the taste ? Na ! Decided there are many other foods with all those nutrients in them……….
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intersting! I have never had a pomegranate like the one you are describing. I would give it one more try in case you got a bad one.
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I bought one just yesterday -before seeing this post- and there was such small reward, we threw most of it away. Seems the only part you consume is the juice the seeds are in. The seeds are too hard to chew.
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After a couple of slices, I put the whole thing under water and peel it, thus reducing the squirting of the juice onto myself.
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What does the ice do for it?
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I assume it firms it up to make it more durable.
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It firms the fruit up and allows the seeds to fall out easier
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I found a great video on how to open a pomegranate.
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Of course you eat the seeds -they are not that hard- why bother to suck the juice and spit the best part of the fruit? LOVE pomegranates but they are rare and expensive in the mid-west
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The seeds would be great in a good blender. You could put them in all sorts of juices too and still get the benefit of the anti-oxidants.
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this is the best way that you said not water or washing them they are heavenly clean.Don’t need to wash them.thanks for sharing. I always doit this way not the ways that they showing above. WOODEN SPOON!!!!!!
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When I was a child I constantly sprayed pom juice all over my mothers kitchen. Now I know the Persian way: In a large pot of cool water, slice off the ends, score the skin several times like an orange, and pull apart the pom by turning sections inside out, and the seeds will sink and white will float. Float the the white away with your hands, strain the seeds, and you will have a bounty of seeds and no stained clothes, hands or kitchen.
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I freeze the arils and use them as a cereal topping every day all year. Two large fruits will fill a quart freezer bag; using about a tablespoon per serving, a quart bag will last about six weeks. I zap them for a few seconds to thaw and they are ready to go. BTW, they stay nice and loose, even frozen.
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good to know! Thanks for the tip!
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