The only reason I’m going to show you how to dice an onion is that I was an embarrassingly advanced age (relatively speaking) before I finally figured it out myself. And I want to share that with humanity! I don’t want you to be clueless like I was for so many wretched years.
Start by cutting the onion in half from root to tip.
Then lop off the top end.
Then peel off the outer layer.
Then make several small, vertical slices all the way through the onion.
Next, rotate the onion 90 degrees and slice again, creating a dice.
Rocket Science: that’s what I have to offer the world.
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Republished from The Pioneer Woman Cooks’ archives.
Michele on Monday, January 11
You taught me something I didn't know. Thanks PW!1
JuliP on Monday, January 11
Thanks PW! Can your next "How to" be a tutorial on how you keep your Le Crueset dutch ovens so clean and new looking? I've had mine for 4 years and it looks like it's been through a war....I noticed in your cauliflower soup recipe, your pans look brand new, maybe they are??? but I have to think that you're not busting out a new pan when you shoot a recipe?2
julia19 on Monday, January 11
Thanks - I love a good How To! And ditto on the above Le Crueset comment. I got a new Dutch oven for Christmas and I haven't used it yet. It's just so clean and purty.3
TR on Monday, January 11
That's how I do it too. :)4
Nicole Bojtos on Monday, January 11
Thankfully my Mom taught me how to cut an onion when I was young because otherwise I think I may never have been able to leave the kitchen (we use MANY onions around here!).5
Stephanie on Monday, January 11
Thanks, Ree. I would like to add something to your instructions... In step 4 (Then make several small, vertical slices all the way through the onion.), be sure to NOT cut the root. Leave about 1/2 inch (1.27cm) of the root end intact. I, too, was "older" (45) when I learned. I found a video on Gordon Ramsay's "How-To" (http://tinyurl.com/HowToCutAnOnion). THEN only a few months later to find when I was thumbing through The Joy of Cooking (which I bought in 1979) there was an explanation with a drawing in the "Onion-Dicing" section! The YEARS I spent crying when cutting an onion were wasted tears! :)6
Sara on Monday, January 11
I've never known how to do that, you made it look easy! Thanks7
Sandra in BC on Monday, January 11
This is why your cooking site and cookbook are so popular. You don't just share recipes, you hold our hands while TEACH recipes. Love it.8
marywether on Monday, January 11
My method is similar at the start, but different mid-way through. I do the thin slices starting at the end that is away from the root end, so that I have semi circles. Then I grasp those together and do a small dice, as if making many cuts across a rainbow. I'll give your method a try though, next time I am cutting an onion!9
Lisa on Monday, January 11
Thanks! You make it look so easy!!10
Betsy in Utah on Monday, January 11
No lie, I was laying in bed last night (not sleeping obviously) thinking I really needed to look that up on your website since I'd made a mess of an onion just the day before. I blamed it on my new cutting board.11
Jenny on Monday, January 11
So long I have wondered how to do this! Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! I feel my culinary mind expanding already.12
hammondbride on Monday, January 11
When my mom needed some diced onion, but she didn't want to use the whole thing she always cut off the root and tip, peeled the skin, and then made vertical and horizontal cuts a few inches into the onion. Then she turned the onion on its side and sliced them the thickness she needed. No tears, no mess, no diced onion you don't need.13
Jesslyn Weaver on Monday, January 11
My father taught us this method as teenagers so that we would know what we were doing when we were on our own. So glad he did! It's still the method I use when I want a really fine mince, but for almost every onion I cut I use Alton Brown's Radial (aka wagon-wheel) method for cutting an onion. It is so slick!! Radial cuts around the outside of the onion (not going all the way through to the board) then turn and chop from top to bottom like normal. Fewer steps and a nice even dice.14
MS Hospitality on Monday, January 11
Thank you very much from kinda clueless in Houston.15
Soyon on Monday, January 11
My problem with onions is peeling them... the papery peel always takes forever to come off. AND the copious tearing! Any help on reducing the tears??16
mrsjaybob on Monday, January 11
Took me a while to figure this out too! Glad I'm not the only one.17
sprucehill on Monday, January 11
I started chopping my onions this way after seeing a recipe over on PW cooks! It makes it so much easier, just makes me want to put onions in everything! http://sprucehill.typepad.com/18
michelle in the rocky mountains on Monday, January 11
I used this method yesterday (I remembered the post on your site) and it worked beautifully! THANK YOU!! Now I just need to figure out how to keep from cutting my fingers. :)19
BelovedAimee on Monday, January 11
I actually knew this one...and I don't even like onions. :)20
janette on Monday, January 11
That is great! It saves so much time and my onions are all the right size now ! Excellent!21
Bill on Monday, January 11
Hmmmmm. Looks as if I'm the only one who cuts the top off first. I figure that it gives me a flat surface that steadies the onion while I cut it in half.22
Angel Wheeler on Monday, January 11
Ree, you are my Julia!!! Thank you!23
Kristin Kunoff on Monday, January 11
I am loving these simple how-to's you are posting. They are simple, easy, and to the point. Thanks for sharing!24
Dawn M on Tuesday, January 12
Now how to stop the tears? I've tried sucking on an ice cube, not too bad. My SIL says to burn a candle next to the cutting board. That didn't work for me. Any other suggestions?25
Whitney on Tuesday, January 12
I love it! I never understood why the professional chefs do the horizontal slice - but you don't so neither will I!26
Astrid Ferrell on Tuesday, January 12
I use the horizontal and the vertical when i dice onions. But this way works too. For the comment about how to stop the tears; If you put the onion in the fridge for at least a couple hours before you cut it the tears will be gone!27
Vicki Carroll on Tuesday, January 12
Just about the same as the way I've done it for years - - and interestingly, I took a Thai cooking class years ago, which was taught by a woman who was the chef at the Bangkok Cafe (not even sure if they're even in business, anymore). She was a fabulous cook and instructor, but she hacked off chunks fo the onion as if it were an apple, in the most random fashion you ever saw. It made me giggle, it was so funny. I couldn't imagine how she had been cooking professionally for so many years, and hadn't learned this technique. It is reassuring, in a way - even the best of us have a few gaps in our knowledge! I didn't think any the less of her, and still love her Pad Thai recipe.28
Faith Self on Tuesday, January 12
Exactly how I do it, & I also figured it out in my own kitchen. Aren't we so smart, Ree? ;)29
Hilary on Wednesday, January 13
I am so thankful for this post! It is sooooo much easier!!!30
Magsie M on Wednesday, January 13
Thanks! I now feel like a professional cook. ;)31
Linda H. on Wednesday, January 13
So many great comments! I'm inspired to go and chop some onion!32
Sheila on Wednesday, January 13
How do you do it without crying? I seem to be REALLY sensitive to them. I find if I put my contacts in BEFORE I chop an onion it helps. Some days it's the only reason I put in my contacts.33
Cindy G. on Wednesday, January 13
...it makes me want to cry!34
ursula purcell on Wednesday, January 13
At last no one will laugh at me again.35
Tiffany on Wednesday, January 13
I would love a how to on keeping my Le Crueset nice and bringt. I sometimes use vinegar and baking soda placed in the Le Crueset and bring that to a low boil for a few minutes. It seems to do the trick, but if there is a better way, I'd love to know.36
mmclassics on Wednesday, January 13
The suggestion about the refrigerator is REALLY a great help to stop the tears. If the onion is cold, the juices and smells don't seem to reach my eyes. I forgot this step the other day and was is so much pain!37
Mindi Gaut on Thursday, January 14
wish I would've read this last night! I didn't cut the onion properly and had to get 4 stitches in my finger last night! OUCH! And dinner was going to be so yummy : )38
pamm on Thursday, January 14
I don't remember where I saw this: try sticking your tongue out the whole time you're chopping to reduce tears. I don't have the foggiest notion why this would help, but it always seems to work for me, even if it does sound and look goofy.39
Cindy on Thursday, January 14
This was a revelation to me when I recently read your post! My life got a whole lot easier and I started using onions a whole more! I even cry less now because it all goes so quickly with this technique. Many thanks as usual......40
rubipumps on Thursday, January 14
Ok - so if we stick our tongues out we won't cry? :) I think we should all post photos of us chopping onions using this technique!41
Lynnette on Thursday, January 14
I find that breathing through my mouth instead of my nose while chopping an onion keeps the tears at bay. If I even take one whif with my nose, it's back to tears, so have to be careful, but it works for me!42
Carmela on Thursday, January 14
This is a FANTASTIC tip. I have ignored this one for awhile on PW, but finally decided to give it a try. WOW. It takes a quarter of the time it used to. I'm so glad you share this with the world, Ree. THANKS!!!43
Leah W. on Thursday, January 14
Alright, for you Le Creuset people! Go out and buy yourself a can of Bon Ami or Barkeeper's Friend. I found a can of Bon Ami at my local hippie foods store (the co-op health food store). It's often sold where organic/earth-friendly cleaning supplies are sold. It took years worth of dried-on crusted burned stuff off of my stainless steel pans AND my Le Creuset french oven. Bonus: You can also use it to scrub the sink and the tub!44
Victoria on Thursday, January 14
I can related, P-Dub. It seemed everyone in my family was a great cook and I could barely boil water, much less dice an onion or cook a perfect egg. I was always singing, playing or shopping. It wasn't until I as married for a few years that I finally figured out a few things on my own too. And that was long before FoodNetwork or food blogs. It was the Galloping Gourmet, Julia Child and a few others on PBS that helped me. So happy you are here! You make it even more fun for the kitchen challenged.45
Helen on Thursday, January 14
My no tear remedy works for me. I put my onion in the refrigerator an hr. or 2 before I need it. Then, I put on the safety googles I had to wear in my college chemistry class ! Yeah, I look like a goon but it totally blocks any and all fumes from my eyes. I have used my sunglasses before but fumes still get in a little. We have safety glasses for mowing the lawn so bet those would work, too. The main concept is to keep the fumes away!46
stellap on Thursday, January 14
Re cleaning your Le Creuset.... The vinegar and baking soda works sometimes. If you really make a mess (like burning food in it - trust me I have done it), and all else fails - after you wash your pan, put about 1/4 cup of bleach in your pan and fill it with really hot water up to the level that needs to be cleaned, and let it soak until the stains are gone. I think I got this method from Martha Stewart's website, but I could be wrong about that. I use the same method to chop onions.47
stellap on Thursday, January 14
Just saw Leah's comment about using Barkeeper's friend or Bon Ami. Barkeeper's friend also is great for cleaning copper bottom pans, stainless steel sinks, and porcelain sinks. It can help with the Le Creuset, but the bleach works if nothing else does.48
Susan in AZ on Thursday, January 14
Oh, I finally get it - you only cut off one end! So you use the other end to hold on to? I tried this the other day (after reading this tutorial over on your other site) and made a mess out of the last 1/2 inch. If only I had paid attention to the small but important detail... Thanks Ree!49
Angela in KY on Thursday, January 14
I tried dicing an onion today and knew you had a better way to do it....couldn't remember it though...then tada here it was today. So next time hopefully I'll do it right.50