Watching professional chefs working their knives like katanas and achieving fantastic results is scary. And there you are, still wondering how you will ever reach that level of efficiency and quality.
Well, it all begins with a solid base, doesn’t matter if you’re Guy Fieri or Anne Burrell. Knowing the basic knife cuts and combining them well with the impeccable technique will get you there.
Today, we’ll take a shot at that and discuss the basic (read fundamental) knife cuts you should know about. Of course, now, there’s an endless number of options.
Therefore, I’ll try to cover knife cuts that also teach you crucial techniques that you can apply throughout your knifing journey.
What are Some of the Basic Cuts You Can Make Using Knives?
I must be honest here. I’ve used a bunch of knives to come up to make sure my cuts were accurate. You’ll find some of these cuts are best handled by a chef’s knife. People can use Nakiri Knives for some. Others can be achieved by using Gyutos or Butcher knives. Without further ado, let’s get to the topic.
Slicing
The slicing technique is one of the fundamentals that you need to learn. Many advanced cuts also require you to slice efficiently to achieve the expected results.
For this cut, you must move the knife in an extended motion from the tip to the blade’s heel so that you can slice through the ingredient. Again, utilizing your claw as a guide for the knife to create a proper cut is essential.
Moreover, the tip of the knife should remain in place while you slightly pull the rest of the knife’s body in a rocking motion.
As with most other cuts, there are different slicing forms — you can go thinner or thicker depending on the ingredient and recipe. I understandably go for a thinner slice when I need to cook something quickly. Everything from meats to vegetables can benefit from this cut.
The Chop
Chopping ingredients is one of the very first tasks you’ll have when using a knife. Unlike many other cuts, chopping doesn’t require the chef to be extremely precise, as long as the pieces are roughly the same size.
This is my go-to cut when I need to process a large volume, and simple, bite-sized pieces of ingredients will suffice.
It’s also pretty efficient and can apply to many recipes and ingredients — let’s stay stews or recipes where it’ll be pureed. This technique doesn’t restrict itself to a specific shape, unlike dicing.
In a typical sense, chopped-up pieces would measure around half an inch, although there’s no standard. Anything smaller is usually called fine chops. On the other hand, bigger and irregular chops can be referred to as rough chops.
To perform a chop, put the ingredients on a chopping board and turn your other hand’s knuckle into a claw to guide the knife. Then, you can start cutting while slowly shifting the ingredient sideways.
Dicing
Dicing refers to what the name suggests — chopping your ingredients into squares or cubes. In contrast to chopping, dicing creates comparatively smaller pieces in most cases, but that’s not set in stone.
Chefs often refer to terms like small, medium, or large dice, which vary a bit in size. But don’t worry, you don’t have to spend hours learning each one — all you need is just a little adaptation and cutting the first slices a bit wider.
If you’re making something like soup, small dices are pretty suitable. And while medium dice can be used for small fries, large ones are better suited when you’re cooking the ingredients for a more extended period (quite common with veggies like celery).
The techniques for dicing can sometimes vary due to the ingredients’ shape, but the fundamentals remain the same.
After prepping the ingredients, cut them into large pieces to make things easier. Then, start cutting the first strips or slices. How thick or thin these slices are can determine how large or small the cubes are.
I often rely on dicing instead of chopping when the appearance of the pieces matters to me. That’s because things look much more uniform once they’re diced.
Mincing
We’ve seen more significant cuts like chops, smaller ones like dice, and now it’s time for the finest one — mincing. Mincing is when you cut the ingredients at the smallest intervals to get them into tiny pieces.
I use this cut whenever I need an ingredient’s taste to be present in the dish, but I don’t want it to scream out its existence. This is an excellent way of adding that extra flavor to your recipe without overpowering the main items.
I like to use the chef knife for this cut, thanks to its rounded belly. The first step is to slice things up pretty finely and then start cutting them up with a rocking motion of the blade.
Cutting in a rocking motion makes it easier for me to make fine cuts without feeling fatigued.
Even when you’re good at this cut, you’ll find that many veggies will stick to the blade’s edge. Just wipe them off with your finger and get back to it!
Juliennes
Now we have the infamous matchstick cuts — the julienne. Essentially, this cut is a finer way of creating a slice (remember how I said slicing will always come in handy?).
However, slicing doesn’t require proper uniformity, and we don’t bother about the length. For a julienne cut, though, that consistency becomes a bigger concern (matchsticks don’t come in different lengths, do they now?).
Usually, juliennes revolve around one-eighth of an inch in thickness — sometimes even thinner. While doing this cut takes significantly longer than slicing, I do it when the appearance of the slices matters. For instance, fries or raw salads can benefit from this.
I prefer cutting the ingredients into the desired length at first. Then, once that’s done, you just need to start slicing the pieces according to your preferred thickness.
Chiffonade
Remember those thin, curly cuts with lettuces that look exquisite? Well, those can be achieved through chiffonade cuts, and they’re not as difficult as they look.
The first step is to get the ingredients and stack them upon each other. If they’re too leafy, stacking them that way isn’t necessary. From there, fold up the veggies into a tight roll — which side you start it from is up to you. Just remember that the orientation will affect the length and width of the cuts.
Now, hold that roll with one hand, and start slicing it with the knife. The thinner you go, the more complex they’ll look.
I use this cut to use as a topping on many of my dishes — from pasta to whatever you have. However, remember not to cut them too early before sprinkling them, or they’ll start turning into lifeless pieces of leaves.
Bias Cuts
In many cases, a recipe requires long, thin slices. But what if the ingredient is a carrot, and you just don’t have the width for it? That’s where bias cuts come in. Plus, they just look a bit more intriguing to me.
Hold the ingredient at an angle to achieve this cut — anything works as long as it’s not entirely straight. This way, the more sharp a curve you take, the wider the cuts can be.
Remember that the first slice will set the trend if you want to create consistent cuts. So, make sure that you’ve got the angle right. You can still fluctuate the thickness with ease, however.
Obliques (AKA Roll Cuts)
Consider roll cuts as a distant relative of bias cuts, as they are mostly used for comparatively longer ingredients. Unlike bias cuts, these cuts have two angled sides, however.
I use this cut primarily for its visual aspects when a lack of uniformity is what I’m going for. Additionally, each piece is cut from two angles, meaning they look way more… attractive.
But there’s an even bigger benefit to this. If I create smaller cuts, the pieces will be cooked easily and quickly as they’re exposed more.
For this, firstly, make an angled cut from one side. Then, roll it and make another slice (hence the name rolling cut). The rest is self-explanatory — just keep rolling and cutting until you’re out of food.
Brunoise
If a small dice isn’t cutting it for you, you could go for something even smaller — the brunoise cut. One could compare them to mincing due to the size, and they’d be almost right.
Now, mincing results in inconsistent, irregular cuts where you don’t worry about the angle or size. Brunoise, however, is a tad larger (around one-eighth of an inch) and cuts the ingredients into consistent dice-like shapes.
To make this cut, you have to follow the same slicing formula as dicing — except they should be very fine like juliennes. From there, the diagonal cuts should also follow that trend, resulting in tiny cubes.
These aren’t ideal for throwing in the pot when you start cooking, as they’ll basically turn into nothing by then. So instead, throwing them in at the latter part of the process is what I like to do.
Are You Holding the Knife Right?
I could go on and on about basic knife cuts, but they wouldn’t matter if you’re not holding your knife correctly.
There are different ways to hold a knife, and people often add their own elements to it as well. However, there are a few key aspects that you should ensure.
First, you should avoid putting your index finger along the blade’s spine. It may seem like an intuitive approach, but it affects stability and accuracy.
Now, the basic approach to handling a knife is holding it by the handle without any contact with the blade itself. It’s comfortable enough, and most beginners easily get used to it. However, it may be limiting if you want more control.
That’s where the blade grip (AKA pinch grip) comes in. In this method, you use your thumb and bent index finger to maintain balance — the fingers start from the bolster and go a bit past it.
Doing this gives you the highest level of control over the knife, and everything from basic to advanced cuts can benefit from it. Moreover, having the blade at a height around your elbow increases efficiency and prevents the need to push too hard.
Secondly, if you’re using your other hand to guide the knife, utilizing it properly is just as essential. Ensure the knuckle sits flush against the knife and stabilizes the ingredients when necessary.
My Last two Cents
Knives can seem intimidating when you’re only starting out. They’re tricky to handle, and there are a thousand different cuts to master.
I compiled a bunch of the most basic knife cuts above, which you will use quite frequently. With a bit of practice, you’ll be making remarkable progress.