So you’ve brought home a pomegranate or two. But, seriously, how do you eat them? Are pomegranate seeds edible? Start here—and finish with a nutritious snack, an amazing addition to salads, breakfasts and desserts, or a sweet balance to all the savory in your dinner.
Expert tips from the Taste of Home Test Kitchen
- Are you supposed to eat pomegranate seeds? Yes! In fact, the seeds and surrounding juice pods (called arils) are the only parts of the fruit that are edible.
- Call ’em a superfruit: Pomegranates are some of the healthiest fruits on the planet, helping to lower blood pressure, risk of heart disease and cholesterol levels. They also offer anti-inflammatory effects and may help fight some forms of cancer and arthritis.
- Fight free radicals: Pomegranates contain as many antioxidants as green tea and red wine.
- Need an easy way to juice a pomegranate? Cut it in half and juice it like an orange. You can also buy pomegranate juice from most grocery stores. (Bottled juice is interchangeable with freshly-squeezed in most recipes.) You can store your fresh juice in the fridge for 3 days or in an airtight container in the freezer for 6 months.
- Same goes for the seeds: You can refrigerate these for up to 3 days.
- Freezing pomegranate arils: Place in a single layer in a baking pan. Once frozen, transfer to an airtight container. Freeze seeds for up to 6 months.
How to Eat a Pomegranate
What you’ll need
Ingredients
- Pomegranate
- Water
Equipment
- Paring knife
- Bowl
How to Eat/Seed a Pomegranate
1. Cut off the crown of the pomegranate and score the fruit into quarters, taking care not to cut into the red juice sacs or arils.
2. Place the sections in a bowl of water and soak for 5 minutes. Break sections open with your fingers and gently push out the seed clusters. Discard skin and white membrane. Drain water, reserving arils. Dry on paper towels. You can eat the arils whole, seeds and all.
Can you eat pomegranate seeds? Absolutely. Stick with the seeds, and the ruby juice surrounding them, and you’ll get all of the health benefits plus the sweet-tart joy. Bring home the freshest, biggest fruit you can find to get the most out of your produce.