Kitchen Hack: Hulled Strawberries
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Hulled Strawberries are easier to eat, and you don’t have to worry about wasting any bit of the fruit. But hulling strawberries is a different matter… until I found this handy kitchen hack!! Learn how to hull strawberries in seconds (hint: it’s in the name!), keeping the most flavorful part of the berry while ditching the tasteless pith and stem.
Hulled Strawberries
When trying to get my daughter more involved in the kitchen, I discovered all kinds of kitchen hacks to make it easier on both of us. So, of course, I want to share them with you!
The biggest hurdle we encountered was that our picky Munchkin had strong opinions about how certain food looked or what it was called.
For example, I’d say a recipe had “hamburger” in it instead of ground beef — that just made more sense to her.
I also found that when she was more involved in the process, she was more open to trying new food!
Whether it was picking out what’s on the menu (like my Mexican Rice Skillet), choosing which veggies to add as a side, or learning how to pick out produce at the store, every choice made her more empowered to expand that palette.
That also meant figuring out how to hull strawberries so they “looked” like berries, but with the leaves and pith gone.
It needed to be easy enough for a child and fast enough for the adults.
Plus, this method is not just for snacking. Use hulled strawberries for salads and sauces, in ice cream and pies, and more!
Hulling Strawberries: What You’ll Need
- A Sturdy Straw – I love to use the plastic straw from one of my travel tumblers or a stainless steel straw that I keep on hand for smoothies and milkshakes.
Even fast food straws will work — they just need to be sturdy!
If your berries are particularly large, then a boba straw or something wider than usual will work better. - Fresh Berries – The star of the show! They should be pretty firm, not mushy or bruised, and a gorgeous red hue.
Also, the leaves should be fresh and green, not dry, shriveled, or browned.
Pay close attention to the color near the top as well — the more white there is, the less ripe and sweet the berry will be.
How to Hull a Strawberry: The Best Method
Note: This method works best on classically shaped strawberries, no matter the size.
If they are extra wide (sometimes looking like two berries attached at the hip), then it’s best to use a knife.
- Grab a berry.
After cleaning your strawberries, pick one up and hold it at an angle. The leafy part should be facing down and the pointed end should be facing upwards. - Set a straw against the bottom point.
Line it up so it will go right through the center, removing the pith as it goes. - Push the straw through the top.
Keep it straight and push firmly, especially when you hit the leafy part. The top should pop right off, allowing you to lift the pith out of the straw intact.
Continue hulling strawberries until you’re done!
Helpful Tips to Hull Strawberries
- Wash your berries first.
This goes for any produce you bring home! For strawberries, I like to place them in a large bowl, cover them with cool water, and add a splash of vinegar.
After swishing them around for a few seconds, I quickly rinse them with clean water and lay them out to dry.
If you’re in a hurry, spread them onto paper towels or a clean kitchen towel, then gently pat or roll another towel on top.
- Start slow to get a feel for it.
Learning how to hull a strawberry is pretty easy, but it does take a little finesse. Riper berries require less effort to slide a straw through than less ripe ones.
The shapes can get a little funky too sometimes, so you’ll have to pay close attention when lining the straw up for those.
But once you figure it out, you’ll have a bowlful of hulled strawberries in a minute or less!
- Give it a twist.
Sometimes you can have trouble getting the straw through cleanly, especially if the fruit is too firm or too soft.
Twist the straw back and forth between your fingers while pushing to help it hull the strawberries even more easily — especially when you reach the leaves!
How to Hull Strawberries FAQ
I haven’t had an issue with this, but sometimes it happens with misshapen strawberries.
With the leaves removed, you’ll be able to look right down the center of the berry to see what you missed.
Line up your straw just right and push it through again to get perfectly hulled strawberries!
While those franken-berries sure give you more bang for your buck, they’re a little trickier to hull and slice.
Go ahead and pluck off the leaves by hand so you can see exactly where the hull starts. Insert the tip of a paring knife along the edge of the hull at an angle, then rotate it around to “core” the berry.
From there, you should be able to push a straw through the top to remove the rest of the pith from the bottom!
Absolutely — it’s my preferred tool for the job! While sturdy fast-food straws work just fine, they’re more likely to bend or break if you’ve got a big bowl to work through.
Hard plastic or stainless steel straws are the best choice. Glass ones tend to have more rounded edges, which won’t cut cleanly through the berries, and bendable silicone straws won’t hull strawberries at all.
Don’t worry about cleaning them either! If any of the pith gets stuck in the straw, push a pipe cleaner or skinny bristle brush straight through to pop it out.
Enjoy!
With love, from our simple kitchen to yours.
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Kitchen Hack: Hulled Strawberries
Ingredients
- fresh strawberries
Instructions
- Wash your berries as normal. I place them in a bowl and add water and a splash of vinegar. Then I quickly rinse again with clean water.
- Simply hold a strawberry between your fingertips and hold the straw against the bottom of the strawberry. Line up the straw, so when you press the straw through the strawberry, it will go through the pith (the flavorless center) and come out the stem where the green is removing the entire cap of the strawberry and taking some of the pith with it.
- Repeat until all of the strawberries are hulled.
All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe’s nutritional value will vary depending on the ingredients used, measuring methods, and portion sizes.
Originally published July 2016, updated and republished August 2024
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Read your hack on hulling strawberries which I also do by the way but does the vinegar do when washing the berries?
Thank you
This kitchen hack works great, I hate wasting so much strawberry when doing it the old way!
I have done this for over 40 years
The best part is that the bottom of the part removed by the straw is perfect to bite before discarding the pith and stem/leaves lol