The Best Knives for Cutting Vegetables, According to Our Testing

Our Favorite

The Mac Knife Professional 8-Inch Hollow Edge Chef Knife is our top pick for its sharp blade that effortlessly cuts through even soft vegetables or delicate chives, its comfortable handle, and its well-balanced construction.

The Tests

To find the best vegetable knives, we performed a variety of tests as well as looked at the construction and functionality of knives, including blade sharpness and ergonomic handles.

We typically start by slicing the knife through a sheet of paper to assess the sharpness level straight out of the box. We look to see if the knife slices through the paper cleanly or tears it instead. We record how much effort is required to slice through the paper. Next, to gauge how sharp the knives are on a soft food that requires a very sharp, nimble knife to achieve precise, uniform slices, we sliced some of the knives through a tomato. With each knife, we thinly sliced a ripe beefsteak tomato crosswise on a cutting board into very thin slices, observing how cleanly the knife sliced through the tomato, noting if the tomatoes were jagged or had perfect, clean edges. We also report if it struggled against the rubbery tomato skin or smushed the tomato. Other knives were tested with sweet potatoes to see how the knives do with firmer, denser food as well as removed orange segments. 

A dull knife will bruise chives as it slices (the chives will turn darker), so we performed this test next. We also wanted to examine how easy it is to achieve a rocking motion. We then took each knife to an onion to see how well it diced, evaluating if the knife crunched or tore through the onion halves instead of cleanly slicing through them. We repeated the paper test for our last test to gauge how sharp each knife was after testing.

For some of the knives that won this round, we performed a second set of tests to fully determine our favorite knives. This set of testing included slicing another tomato as well as carrots to really evaluate the geometry of the knife — a well-designed knife will cut right through the carrots, leaving flat faces on the vegetable.

With each use, we hand-washed the knives. We looked for any significant cleanup factors to consider, like if it was prone to staining or if the manufacturer required any particularly finicky care instructions. Throughout each test, we evaluated how comfortable the knife was to hold, if it felt balanced, and if the handle was comfortable to hold. We also paid attention to the size of the knife to determine if any were too long or too short. 

Ultimately, the knives that made the cut were easy to use, able to cut precisely and cleanly, and comfortable to hold. 

Factors to Consider

Type of Knife

Think of the tasks you'll use your knife for most often: Small, delicate work, like slicing shallots or segmenting oranges, is great for smaller blades like paring knives, but they can't easily cut through large, tough vegetables like butternut squash. For those, a bigger blade is the best choice, and if you aren't sure, a versatile chef's knife that can handle both may be your best bet. 

Blade Design

You want a thin, sharp edge on your knife for safe and easy cutting. A single-bevel knife blade means it has an angle only on one side, while a double-bevel knife has an angle on both. While single-bevel knives can be great for meat and fish, double-bevel knives are ideal for up and down cuts and for cutting vegetables. Blades are made from different types of metal, too, often steel. Choose something easy to sharpen and clean unless you want to spend time polishing. 

Knife Handle

The blade is important, but it's not the only thing to consider: The handle is just as important for a knife you'll use regularly. Choose one that fits comfortably in your hand and offers a firm grip to prevent slips. The handle length is significant, too. You want a long enough handle to keep fingers away from the blade but not so long that it bumps into your forearm as you work. 

Weight and balance

Weight and balance help determine how comfortable the knife is to use: You want it to be well-balanced so it doesn't feel like it's about to tip forward or back with too much weight in the handle or blade. A smooth rocking motion is also important, as is its weight: If the knife is too heavy for you to comfortably work with for extended periods, you'll be less likely to use it.

Other Vegetable Knives We Tested

Strong Contenders

Shun Classic Chef’s Knife ($175 at Williams Sonoma) 
This knife sliced beautifully with minimal effort, and we loved its great balance and precision. When we cut squash, we noticed some of it stuck to the blade, which made it harder to work with. 

Victorinox 8-Inch Grand Maitre Chef's Knife ($165 at Amazon)
We loved this knife for mincing, and it has enough heft to easily smash a clove of garlic with the side of the blade. However, its slices were less smooth and clean than other knives we tested. 

Oxford Chef Kiritsuke Chef's Knife 8-Inch ($90 at Amazon)
This knife is nimble, precise, and makes accurate cuts with ease. However, we found its design less appealing than the others we tested.

Zwilling Gourmet 6.5-inch Nakiri Knife ($65 at Amazon)
This knife is practical and performs well, even if it's a tad heavier than some others. While we were pleased with its performance, we weren't wowed like we were with our top picks. 

Wusthof Classic Ikon Paring Knife ($115 at Amazon)
This splurge-worthy knife has a simple, hard handle with a slight curve that makes it comfortable to hold. Unlike some other paring knives, it took no effort to cut through whatever we threw at it, including dicing tomatoes and mincing shallots. While it's expensive, we think it's worth the splurge.

Shun Premier Paring Knife ($90 at Amazon)
Shun knives are well-known and tend to perform well, so we weren't surprised that this one does, too. We especially loved its slightly longer than usual 4-inch blade for coring tomatoes. However, it's pricier and weightier for a paring knife, which may take some adjustment, but it may be worth the investment if you want a beautiful, sharp knife.

What Didn't Make the List

Some budget knives we tested, like the Mercer Culinary Millennia 8-Inch Chef's Knife ($22 at Amazon), were not as sharp, precise, or comfortable to use as mid-range and professional-grade options. We weren't impressed with every Japanese knife, either. The Katsu Kiritsuke 8-Inch Chef's Knife ($90 at Amazon) struggled through cuts of vegetables without tearing.

We were surprised that the Wüsthof Classic 8-Inch Knife didn't make the list, but as Lewis notes, it isn't ideal for vegetables: "I don't like the German design of this chef's knife. It's an anachronism from an earlier edge for old-fashioned cooks who didn't have access to Japanese-style chef's knives that are lighter and more elegant and slice more evenly through food. The design of the blade is entirely too wide and thick, which means you can't slice larger, thicker vegetables like sweet potatoes evenly. The knife is good for butchering chickens, however. Given the thick hilt and heavy-duty strength of the blade, you could cut easily and consistently through the backbones and breastbones of several chickens before needing to hone the edge." 

Our Expertise

Julia Skinner, PhD is a food writer, author of Our Fermented Lives, culinary educator, and founder of Root, a fermentation and food history consulting education company, wrote this piece using her expertise and our tested insights. She also spoke with Cian O'Sullivan, Head Chef for Gourmet Pantry in Kinsale and Carrigaline, Ireland. Mike Behemoiras, a Jewish Cuban chef from Miami with experience cooking a variety of cuisines all over the South, also lent his expertise. He has won a Good Food Award and has been featured in various food shows around the South. Finally, Hunter Lewis, Editor-in-Chief of Food & Wine, helped test the best knives for cutting vegetables.