How to Chop Veggies

About author / Christine Gable

Culinary enthusiast; kids cuisine and slow cooking; magazine recipe developer; professional writer. Her simple recipes are great for family dinners.

Now that we’re heading back to cover some of the basics in our house, I’ve been reminded that there are quite a few terms used in cooking that may be taken for granted when beginning to cook. Therefore, I thought it would be fun to have a basic prep class. If you have some veggies and fruits languishing in your refrig, go ahead and pull them out.

Remember that it’s smart to wash fruits and veggies well. Rinse them under cool water and pat them dry—that helps to keep them from slipping out from under your fingers (or knife!) when cutting.

It also helps to have a good-quality, sharp chef’s or paring knife. Dull knives require more pressure and can actually be more of a danger; it’s much safer to slice with ease (and not have to force that blade) when cutting and chopping foods. There’s less chance of slipping and slicing a finger by accident—and that’s definitely not the fun part of working in the kitchen.

So let’s take a look at some basic cooking terms you’ll find in recipes, and then we’ll put them to good use making a small batch of vegetable soup:

Chop: Sure, you’ve most likely read countless recipes that need one chopped onion or one carrot, chopped. "To chop" is a pretty common kitchen term and it’s all about cutting. When chopping, you’ll be cutting something—whether rutabaga or celery—into smaller pieces, most often in ½-inch or ¼-inch pieces.

Slice: Think cheese. Just like you might grab a slice of cheese, cutting something into slices is a thin and even way of cutting that turns the item into pieces of equal size. It helps to cut a flat, even surface on round veggies (onions, rutabagas, potatoes) before beginning to slice.

Mix: Yeah, this probably seems like common sense, and to mix is to blend or stir together. You’ll be doing a lot of mixing when cooking anything in the kitchen.

Mince: Think tiny. This is cutting into very, very fine pieces—and it’s often stronger-flavored veggies like onions and garlic that benefit from mincing. Mincing helps them cook quickly, in addition to dispersing and spreading their flavor throughout a dish.

Grate: This takes some muscle. Whether you use a standing grater or an old-fashioned flat grater over a bowl, you’ll be shredding. Carrots, zucchini and cheese are commonly used shredded in recipes. And while you can now buy them all ready-to-go shredded, it’s always smart to know how to use that kitchen grater safely. As my oft-grated youth’s knuckles could attest, it’s best to be careful when approaching and using a grater so that you don’t end up with more band-aids than zucchini for your muffins. Grating your own veggies and fruits will provide the freshest, best flavor also.

Julienne: No, that’s not your mom’s new best friend. Julienne is just a fancy word that means to cut food (like carrots or parsnips) into small sticks. Perhaps you’ve heard someone mention cutting carrots into matchsticks? If so, they could have said to julienne those carrots. Same thing, just a different terminology. The way it’s done is to first slice the carrots thinly—into ¼-inch slices—and then stack about 4 or 5 slices on top of each other and slice again. This double slicing will yield nifty little sticks that cook quickly and make a new and interesting way to gobble down that beta-carotene.

Serves/Makes: 4

• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1 onion, minced
• 1 carrot, sliced into 1/4-inch rounds
• 1 stalk celery, sliced into 1/4-inch pieces (may substitute peas, green beans, etc. as desired)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon oregano
• 1 zucchini or yellow squash, diced
• 2 cups water or chicken stock (more as desired)
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste