How to de-pit a cherry

For the past couple years I have tried to avoid buying fresh cherries. Don’t get me wrong! I absolutely love cherries. However, when your a mom of young kids you know that your kids “have” to eat whatever you are eating and cherries are just not that great for 2 year olds. With the large pit in the center it is easy for a child to choke.

I’ve tried cutting them in half and removing the seed but since there is a seed in the center you can’t just slice the cherry in half. You have to cut all the way around the seed and then try to rip the flesh from the seed. This always resulted in a huge mess for me and I always ended up with large chunks of flesh still stuck to the seed.







My other options were to hide the cherries in the back of the fridge and only eat them when the kids were napping, outside, or after they went to bed. Or just not buy them at all.

On our recent trip to the grocery store we discovered cherries on sale and couldn’t pass them up. From the moment the girls saw them go in the cart they were begging to have some. Once we got home I tried once again to cut them in half and remove the pit but after 4 cherries resulting in a pulpy mess I thought there had to be another way. Then I got an idea.

Using a silly straw we had in the pantry I was able to push the pit out of the cherry. It was actually a lot easier than I had expected and left very little mess.

(p.s. In the following photos my hands look really dirty. I promise they are clean! I just finished staining some wood and of course did not use gloves so it stained my hands as well. Please don’t judge me )

Grab a straw.

Place the end of the straw against the side of the cherry where the stem was removed.

Holding the cherry firmly, push the straw through the cherry until the pit pops out the other end.

From here you can easily slice the cherries in half, serve them whole, or freeze them and use for smoothies. (By the way, that’s not dirt on my hands, it’s wood stain.)

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13 thoughts on “How to de-pit a cherry

  1. Thank you! Cherries have never lasted long enough around here for me to even try to bake or cook with them.. and if they do the thought of pitting cherries with a little pit remover stops me cold!

    I am going to give this a try today! I have a bag of yummy cherries calling to me from the fridge as I type!

  2. When I was growing up my friend's family had a cherry pitter. It was kind of like a hole punch…you put the cherry in a little holder and then squeezed and the pit came out the bottom. No idea where you would get one. I love the straw idea though!

  3. Ha! So smart. I keep eyeing the cherry pitters at Williams Sonoma but this is so much easier and uses something I already have at the house.

  4. A straw also works well with popping the tops off of strawberries too! 😀 I never thought of cherries though! Thanks!

  5. Great tip. I gave my 2 year old a cherry the other day and he spat it right out. He didn't like the seeds at all, maybe this will help.

  6. Love this idea. I just need a crazy straw. Weird fact: I had that old folk tune in my head either last night or the night before…I gave my love a cherry that had no stone…and I was wondering what it all meant…but never mind that. The universe gives it's shout outs this way. I love it. Thanks again.

  7. I'm trying to vote, but i don't think I'm doing it right. How do I vote for you?

  8. You. Are. A. Genius!!!! Brilliant idea.. my mother and I were doing it the old fashion way for my 3 year old a few days ago.. cannot wait to show her your way.

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