How to Prepare a Capsicum

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Learn how to prepare capsicum (bell pepper) the easy way. Video demonstrating how to slice and dice capsicum ready for your next meal.

how to prepare capsicum

Get slicing and dicing – this is the easiest way (that I’ve found) to chop up a capsicum.

Capsicum (or bell pepper) adds flavour and colour to many dishes.

Capsicum can star on their own if you stuff them with flavoured rice or quinoa.

Or they can be chopped into dishes like chilli beef, nachos, stir fry, spaghetti bolognese, chicken stew, vegetable bake, risotto or ragu.

They can be made into a delicious salsa or roasted and marinated for a variety of Mediterranean dishes.

Capsicums are a great source of Vitamin C and Vitamin A (particularly the red ones) as well as fibre and folate. So they are a healthy addition to your meals.

How to Prepare a Capsicum

Watch the video above to learn how to prepare a capsicum or follow the directions below.

1. Section the Capsicum by slicing down the Indentations

Your capsicum will either have three or four sections with indentations between each section.

Turn your capsicum upside down and run the tip of your knife down each indentation, from the bottom (which is now the top) all the way to the stem. This will separate each section.

2. Break Off Each Section from The Stem

Next, break each section off at the stem, trying to get as close to the stem as practical to reduce waste.

When you come to the last section, grab hold of the seeds in one hand to prevent them from flying everywhere.

If you’ve left some capsicum on the stem like I have in the picture below, you can cut that off and add it to your cooking so you’re not wasting any of the capsicum.

3. Slice Off the Top and Bottom of Each Section

Trim a little bit off the top and bottom off each section if desired.

4. Remove the Pith

If you don’t mind eating the pith (the white part) you can keep it on. But if you don’t like it, slice the pith off each capsicum section.

5. Remove Any Remaining Seeds

To remove any remaining seeds inside the capsicum section, turn upside down on the board and tap gently with the flat of your knife to knock the seeds out.

6. Slice Each Section into Strips

Slice each capsicum section into slices. You can make the slices as wide or thin as you like, depending on the dish.

Curl you fingers under slightly when you slice to protect your fingertips from the knife’s blade and use a dragging motion to slice the capsicum.

If your recipe calls for sliced capsicum, you can stop at this point – you’re all done! But if you need diced capsicum, read on.

7. To Dice: Crosscut Each Strip into Cubes

To dice the capsicum, gather the slices together and hold with one hand. Cross cut the slices making the cuts approximately the same width as you made the slices to get evenly diced capsicum.

The size of your dice will depend on how wide your slices were to start with, so for larger dice, make wider slices and dices.

You’re now ready to add the capsicum to your dish.

Looking for meals that include capsicum?

Here are a couple of our favourite:

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