Introduction: Learn to Chop an Onion the Easy Way!

By Visit my blog! Noel Green Blog
About: I'm the wife to my musical husband and mother to my 5 creative children, whom I also homeschool. I'm also a violinist and, through grace alone, a follower of Jesus Christ.

I've been chopping onions for many years, and have tried lots of different methods. This is they way I have come to use after chopping hundreds (if not thousands!) of onions while preparing meals for my family. Some methods have you cutting toward your hand, which I do NOT recommend. This method, in my opinion, is much safer and easier.



Safety Note: As always, be extremely careful when using a sharp knife. Keeping your fingers curved when you are holding the onion steady can help prevent you accidentally cutting yourself instead of cutting the onion! Also, it's actually less likely for you to cut yourself if your knife is very sharp, because then you won't have to apply much pressure to cut. Be careful! :)

Update Note: I think this is a pretty fast way to chop an onion once you get the hang of it, so I timed myself chopping an onion for my dinner preparations. Time from start to finish? 45 seconds! But that was without rushing and with lots of practice. Don't chop faster than you can do safely!

Step 1: Gather Your Supplies

1. Cutting board
2. Chef's knife
3. Onion(s)

Tip!

I have a large family and often need LOTS of onions for the big cooking I do. Consequently, I try to find the largest onions possible. I've found that Spanish onions are often very large, and one large Spanish onion is sometimes large enough to take the place of 2 or 3 regular size onions ... with less work involved!

Step 2: Carefully Slice Off One End of the Onion.

Step 3: Carefully Slice Off the Other End of the Onion.

Step 4: Now You Have a Non-wobbly Onion With Two Flat Surfaces! Much Easier to Cut Now!

Step 5: Slice the Onion in Half.

Step 6: Take One of the Halves and Peel Off the Outer Layer(s). I Like to Peel Off the Papery Layer, Then One Below That, Because That Layer Is Sometimes Tough.

Step 7: Now You Have Two Halves Ready for Chopping!

Step 8: Make a Cut Like the Photo, Being Careful to Not Cut All the Way to the Other End. Leave a Little of the Far End Intact.

Step 9: Continue Cutting Strips 1/4 Inch or So, Still Not Cutting All the Way From Pole to Pole.

Step 10: This Is What It Will Look Like When You Are Finished the First Set of Cuts.

Step 11: Now Cut Across the Cuts You Just Made.

Step 12: As You Cut, Small Pieces of Onion Will Fall to Your Cutting Board.

Step 13: Keep Going Until You Get to the Place That Wasn't Cut All the Way Through Previously.

Step 14: When You Are Left With Just the Little End of the Onion ....

Step 15: Lay It on Its Side Like So.

Step 16: Chop It From One Side ...

Step 17: ... to the Other Side ...

Step 18: Until Your Onion Half Is Fully Chopped.

Step 19: Repeat With the Other Half.

Step 20: All Done! :)