Chopping, dicing and slicing ingredients is a vital knife skill that home cooks should master to make their kitchen tasks less time consuming and more efficient. It also helps them create tastier and more appealing meals.

Proper knife technique helps prevent fatigue, wrist issues and even accidents. This visual guide will teach you basic knife skills to reduce your food prep time and improve the look and taste of your homemade dishes.

Dicing

In the kitchen, it’s fun to experiment and express yourself through your food. However, it’s also important to master basic knife skills to ensure that you can prep your ingredients quickly and efficiently. Proper knife technique can help you avoid injuries and make cooking more enjoyable for you and your family.

For example, when dicing, it’s important to hold the knife firmly and curl your fingers of the non-knife hand into a claw shape to keep them out of the way of the blade. This simple trick can prevent your fingers from accidentally getting cut, while ensuring that you’re cutting evenly-sized cubes.

Whether you’re looking to slice like a pro, carve a roast with confidence or learn how to use a cutting board properly, Norman Weinstein’s new book will help you sharpen your skills and cook like a professional chef. This visual guide explains each cutting and chopping method in detail, with step-by-step photographs and easy-to-follow instructions.

Julienne

The tiny matchsticks that appear in many salads and side dishes are the result of a cut called julienne. Also known as the allumette, french cut or matchstick cut, this versatile knife technique allows vegetables, fruits and meat to be cut into fine strips that look like minuscule matchsticks.

When executing this knife cut, it’s important that you use a sharp blade and work slowly to avoid injury. As you cut, keep your dominant hand on the top of the blade and the knuckle of your index finger pinching it just above the tip. Your other fingers should curl comfortably around the handle to steady the food you are cutting.

Julienne can be used to garnish dishes or add flavour in soups, stews and risotto. The uniformity of this cut will also allow your ingredients to cook more evenly, as the number of points of contact with your pan decreases. It’s a great technique to master for a wide variety of homemade meals, including the classic chicken noodle soup.

Mincing

Cutting ingredients is a time-consuming and often frustrating part of cooking, but a few basic knife skills can make it a more enjoyable process. From the satisfying rhythm of dicing to the delicate precision of julienning, mastering these basic knife cuts can elevate your culinary prowess and open up new possibilities for preparing homemade meals.

One of the most important knife skills every cook should know is how to properly grip a knife. The best way to do this is to curl your non-knife hand into a claw shape, and secure the handle with four fingers, far back from your knuckles.

Another key knife skill to know is mincing, which is a finer version of chopping that creates small pieces that almost melt into a dish. This technique is ideal for preparing garlic, shallots and herbs. A good chef’s knife can do a great job of mincing, but a santoku knife is particularly well-suited to this task.

Slicing

Whether you need to cut ingredients into even cubes, julienne them, or slice them thin, this is a fundamental knife skill that will come in handy on a regular basis. Home cooks who have mastered this technique can prepare their food much faster, which means dinner is ready to go in a fraction of the time.

Professional knife skills also include knowing when to use different styles of blades, and how to properly care for them. This includes keeping them clean and sharp, preventing them from getting dull, avoiding rust spots, and ensuring they aren’t bent or twisted.

It’s also important to know how to hold the knife correctly, and to keep your fingers out of the way. Professional chefs tend to curl their fingers into a claw position, called the bear claw, which helps stabilize the ingredient they’re cutting and keeps their fingertips out of the way of the blade. This is a safe and efficient way to work with knives.