Yes, you need to peel them. What are you making that you need to cut them in little pieces? I (armed with a sharp knife) slice them into 'steak fry size'. I don't find them that hard to cut so you could easily do the julienne size (like matchsticks) too. It's kind of like cutting thru a hard apple. I just thought of this: With your food processor shredding blade, you could shred them and then make 'hash browns'. But, you definitely need a sharp knife on this WOE.