How To Chop an Onion

Learn how to chop an onion easily and quickly for recipes calling for diced onions with this step-by-step tutorial. This post was sponsored by Cutco.

Did you know the world record for chopping an onion is only seven seconds? Think you can do it faster using our onion chopping guide?

Onions are in almost everything we eat (except deserts of course). They can be caramelized, chopped, and added as the base of many dishes, sliced thin, or even made to look like a flower.

Today we are going to look into a technique to chop an onion fast, safe, and effortlessly. You’ll be all diced before your tears decide to fall out!

How do you chop an onion without crying?

Whenever you chop strong onions (which in my case is any onion because my eyes are really sensitive) you’re bound to shed a few tears. There are several ways to avoid this.

1. Turn on a faucet and put your head above the faucet. I do this and, maybe I’m crazy, but it really seems to clear the fumes. 
2. Perhaps this is a bit drastic, but you can also try onion goggles. Yes, really. These exist as a thing that you can buy.
3. Another way to prevent tears from onions is to use a sharp chef’s knife. The knife will cut through the onion cell walls evenly, resulting in less onion fumes being released.

Now, on to the chopping…

How to Chop an Onion

Step #1

Pick out your onion. Ain’t it a beaut?

Step #2

Slice off the stem.

And slice off a thin part of the root.

Step #3

Make a cut vertically through the middle of the root to the bulb.

A clean cut through the onion.

Step #4

Peel the skin off the onion using your fingers. If you need to, peel off the outer layer of onion if it is soggy or ugly, or if you can’t seem to get the skin off any other way.

Step #5

Once the onion is peeled, take one half and place it on the cutting board. Make vertical cuts, making sure to leave the root intact. I cut each slice about 1/4 inch thick.

This is the onion after the first cuts. It should look like a fan.

Step #6

Next dice your onion using horizontal 1/4 inch cuts. These will go through the entire onion.

Step #7

Repeat with the other half of the onion and use in a recipe that calls for diced or chopped onion.

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Disclosure: This article is sponsored by Cutco. All opinions are ours and honest.

This post originally appeared in September 2016 and was revised and republished in March 2020.