Knife Skills 101: How to Cut Basic Fruits & Vegetables! (2024)

Want to hone your basic knife skills? Here’s a video tutorial for home cooks on how to cut fruits and vegetables: you’ll be chopping like a pro in no time!

Want to hone your basic knife skills? Here at A Couple Cooks, we think that knife skills are invaluable. Knowing how to hold a knife and properly cut fruits and vegetables can drastically speed up your prep time and boost your confidence in the kitchen. So we created this video-based knife skills class just for you!

These 20 video tutorials share everything you need to know about knife skills! In the Basic Knife Skills Overview video, we share our best chef knife, how to hold a knife, and how to care for your knives. Then each video shows exactly how to cut 20 different fruits and vegetables!

Knife Skills videos: How to cut fruits & vegetables!

Video: Basic Knife Skills Overview!

Before you start on those fruits and vegetables knife skills, make sure to watch this Overview video! You can also review the information below. Here we share how to hold a knife, best knives and cutting boards, and an overview of basic cuts. Ready to get started?

Use a good non-slip cutting board

Before you start with your basic knife skills, let’s talk cutting boards. It’s important to have a good cutting board with non-slip feet. Without this, the cutting board can move while you’re cutting, making the knife unstable and increasing the risk of cutting yourself! (If you don’t have a cutting board with non-slip feet, place a damp towel underneath the board.) Here are a few of the best cutting boards we recommend:

• Non-Slip Wood Cutting Board (this is the one we used in the video!)
• Non-Slip Bamboo Cutting Board
• Non-Slip Plastic Cutting Board

Our best chef knife

People ask us all the time, what is the best chef knife you recommend? Here’s our best chef knife: a 7″ chef knife, which fits well into both small and large hands. Alex likes to use a huge knife, so we also have a 10″ chef knife. Keep in mind that a good knife will last quite a long time: ours have lasted over 10 years so far! So it’s a great investment. If you’re looking for a more budget knife, we’ve recommended an 8″ affordable chef’s knife. A few other essential knives for the kitchen are a paring knife and a serrated knife for cutting bread and tomatoes. These recommendations are perfect for outfitting your own kitchen, or great gifts for a wedding registry or someone who loves to cook!

• 7″ Chef’s Knife — our best knife recommendation; the one used in the video!
• 10″ Chef’s Knife — our favorite large knife
• 8″ Chef’s Knife — our favorite affordable knife
• Paring Knife
• Serrated Knife/Bread Knife
• Related: Our favorite vegetable peelers

How to hold a knife

THE MOST important thing you can learn to enhance your basic knife skills is how to hold a knife! Do not place your finger on the blade of the knife, or hold right at the start of the handle. Instead, get a firm grip on the knife handle right where the handle meets the blade. This will give you maximum control over the knife while you’re cutting.

Master the motion of how to cut

Once you’ve mastered how to hold a knife, you can practice the motion of how to cut. This motion is also essential for your basic knife skills! When you’re dicing, mincing, or slicing, you’ll use a circular motion with the knife. Use the end of the knife blade to help balance. You can practice using this type of motion without even cutting anything. Watch the video for this one, since it’s easiest to understand when you see it in action.

How to sharpen a knife

How to sharpen a knife? And how often? Alex and I actually get our knives professionally sharpened: there are a few stores in our city that offer knife sharpening. There is also a knife sharpening vendor that comes to our farmer’s market. Without a home sharpener, get your knives professionally sharpened every 6 months. Ask around to find a professional sharpener in your city.

You also can use a home knife sharpener. Use this sharpener every few weeks, and then get your knives professionally sharpened occasionally. Here is the home knife sharpener that we use:

• Home Knife Sharpener

How to clean knives

Never, never put your chef knife in the dishwasher! Putting a chef’s knife in the dishwasher causes the blade to dull faster. Always wash your chef knife with soap and water and dry it completely before storing it.

The best way to store kitchen knives

So, what’s the best way to store knives? Above all, do not store your chef knives loose in a drawer! This causes the knives to become dull and is a safety hazard! Instead, use a knife block, magnetic strip, or a our favorite option, a drawer organizer. Since we have a toddler, we’ve found a drawer organizer with a child lock is a slick and safe way to store knives. Here’s the drawer organizer that we use:

• Drawer Knife Organizer

What is chopped, diced, and minced?

Here are some basic knife skills and how to distinguish between some common cuts. Chopped refers to cutting into rough, irregular pieces.

Diced refers to cutting into smaller, more uniform pieces, usually about 1/4″ squares.

Minced refers to cutting something into a very small dice.

Want to practice?

Try what we like to call our Knife Skills Soup, which lets you practice several different vegetable techniques and results in a delicious soup!