How To Chop An Onion

Chopped onion is a necessary ingredient in many recipes.  In fact, it’s one of the most popular cooking ingredients.  We all take chopping an onion for granted – most recipes just list “chopped onion” as an ingredient.  But who will teach the beginner cook how to chop an onion? I will! Follow the step-by-step illustrations below and you too will learn how to cut an onion quickly and easily.

Before you cut an onion, you need to peel an onion.  If you don’t know how to do that, read my step-by-step instructions for peeling an onion.  Once you have a peeled onion, it’s time to start cutting an onion.  Here’s how you do it:

Step 1 Of Chopping An Onion:

Put whole peeled onion on the cutting board

Place it in the same direction as shown on the picture below:

Step 2 Of Chopping An Onion:

Cut the onion in half

Cut the onion in half in the same direction as shown on the picture below:

Now you will have 2 onion halves:

Step 3 Of Chopping An Onion:

Make parallel cuts in one direction.

Place an onion half on the cutting board with the flat side down.  Make parallel cuts close to each other, like shown on the picture below:

Step 4 Of Chopping An Onion:

Make cuts perpendicular to the slices that you made in the previous step

Make new cuts at a 90 degree angle to the old cut lines, as if you are creating small squares.  See the picture below for the illustration:

Now repeat steps 3 and 4 with the second half of the onion, so the whole onion is cut into small pieces.

Step 5 Of Chopping An Onion:

Break apart stuck pieces

If any onion pieces are stuck together, break them apart with your hands.

You are done chopping an onion!