How to Hull Strawberries

We all know how tedious it can be to hull strawberries, but no more. We’re showing you how to hull them the easy way (with less waste).

If you want to eat whole strawberries fresh or add them to a dish (like one of our fabulous strawberry recipes), you’ll want to remove the green leaves and the stem (technically called the calyx). This process is called hulling. Essentially, you’re cutting off the inedible stem and leaves from the berry.

Ways To Hull Strawberries

There are many ways to hull a strawberry, but I know we’ve all thought there must be a way that allows you to remove the stem and leaves quickly, but not waste much of the delicious berry.

For a long time, I hulled my strawberries by slicing straight across the berry then removing the stem and leaves … and about 1/4 of the berry. I was wasting so much berry and it didn’t even save me all that much time.

You can buy a strawberry huller (like this one), but it’s no easier than the two methods I’m sharing with you, and it’s an additional piece of equipment to bulk up your utensil drawer.

The first method comes from Deanna and Serena of Teaspoon of Spice. Instead of a special tool, this method requires a straw. That’s it. The second method uses a paring (or other small) knife. Honestly, they’re equally easy. It just depends on which feels more comfortable to you. I like to use a paring knife to hull a small number of berries, and the straw method for hulling a lot of berries.

Straw Method For Hulling Strawberries

1. Hold a strawberry in your hand.
2. Position one end of the straw so it touches the base of the strawberry (opposite of leaves).
3. Pierce the bottom of the strawberry with your straw, and push up until it comes out the leaf end. You should remove the leaves and stem part with this.
4. Re-align straw if needed to get the center of the leaves.
5. Toss leaves and removed center into bag or bowl. I eat the red part off the bottom too so there’s no waste.

Paring Knife Method For Hulling Strawberries

1. Hold a strawberry in your hand, top/leaves facing up.
2. Point your knife toward the top of the berry.
3. Puncture the berry just outside the leaf line and continue to slice around the leaves that are attached.
4. Remove leaves and toss.

Now, who’s ready to start hulling those strawberries? No matter which of these two methods you use, the first step is to wash the berries before hulling. Give both these methods a try and let us know which one works best for you.

Then get ready to use those berries in some great recipes! If you haven’t snacked on all of them already, that is. Whoops! I’ve been guilty of that before.

This post originally appeared in June 2018 and was revised and republished in April 2022.