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Dicing an Onion

Ever heard the phrase, The sharper the knife, the less you cry? There is some definite truth there, but knowing how to properly dice an onion will not only make the job easier, it'll be much faster, no tears necessary!
Keyword: Knife Skills, Meal Prep, Onions
Yield: 0

Equipment

  • Plastic Cutting Board preferably PBA free, and definitely not made of wood
  • Damp Paper Towel
  • A Sharp Chef's Knife

Materials

  • Onion

Instructions

  • Before getting started, make sure you have a sharpened chef's knife. Dull knives will struggle to cut through the onions' layers and will undoubtedly bring tears to your eyes, causing irritation and making it difficult to see.
  • Place a damp paper towel on your work surface and lay your cutting board on top. This will keep your cutting board stable, as well as helping to prevent injuries.
  • Take a look at your onion. Regardless of the type of onion you are holding, red, yellow, white, or Spanish (even shallot), on one end, you'll find the root end of the bulb, and at the other the stem. This is important to recognize which is which, as it makes a difference as to how you begin cutting your onion.
  • Carefully holding the onion in place, start by slicing off the bottom portion that severs the 'stem' end, just enough to give you a flat surface from which to work from moving forward.
  • Next, lay the flat end down on the cutting board so that the root end is now facing directly upwards. Using your knife, slice down through the center of the onion vertically. You now have two equal halves with a portion of the root end intact.
  • Peel away the thinnest, paper layers of onion skin away. The remaining top layer should be shiny.
  • Lay the flat side of one half of the onion against the cutting board, with the root end closest to you. Press the palm of your non-dominant hand on top of the onion, with fingers extended. Holding the knife towards you, carefully saw two to three cuts towards the root end, slicing the onion horizontally, but only cutting ⅔ of the way through.
  • Rotate the onion so that the root end is away from you, facing the center of your palm, and the sliced side is facing you. Place your thumb on one side and your forefingers on the opposite side of the onion and hold firmly. Using your knife, slice lines straight down through towards the cutting board, starting in the center and working your way out towards both sides. The larger the space between the lines, the larger the dice. If you slice cuts closer together, you'll have a finer dice.
  • Rotate the onion once again. With the root end closest to you, and the cut end facing away, curl the fingers of your non-dominant hand over the root end, and tuck your nails under. The surface between your knuckles will provide a smooth surface to which you can guide the blade of the knife, without fear of cutting your fingers.
  • Starting at the cut end, begin smooth and even cuts (avoid using a sawing motion), rocking the knife blade back and forth in one swipe across the onion, and repeat. Continue until you have gotten as close to the root end as you have made your cuts lengthwise.
    Voila... perfectly diced onion!

Notes

Notes: The size of your onion will dictate how much yield you can expect.  A small onion will yield approximately 1 Cup of medium dice per half (or 2 cups total), while a medium to large sized onion can yield up to 2 Cups per half, or a total of 4 Cups.
Meal Prep: Don't waste those extras! Toss unused portions of your diced onion into snack sized Ziploc bags and pop them directly into the freezer.  Whatever the recipe, having those pre-diced onions on hand will absolutely come in handy for all kinds of future dishes, saving you both time and money. In most cases, you won't even need to thaw them.