Chop! Chop!: Make Chopping Veggies Quicker With These 5 Hacks

Many people are put off cooking with fresh vegetables because of the time it takes to chop them up. However, chopping up veggies needn’t be time-consuming. Below are 5 hacks that can help to make cutting up vegetables quick and easy.

Learn this hack for finely cutting onions

Some of you may already know this one, but for those that don’t it’s well worth learning. Cutting onions up finely can be difficult without the onion falling apart. One popular trick used by chefs in restaurants is to cut the onion in half and then make multiple vertical cuts leading from the root (but don’t cut into the root). Once you’ve got these vertical cuts, you can then cut along them horizontally in order to cut the onion into fine pieces. This video by Gordon Ramsey explains the cutting technique in greater detail.

Boil potatoes with the skin on

Hate peeling potatoes? This next hack is a gamechanger. Throw away your potato peeler. You won’t need it. Instead, cut a small line in the skin around the center of the potato. Then boil the potatoes with the skin on. When boiled, you should be able to simply pull the skin off either end. Cooking with the skin on also allows some of the nutrients and flavor from the skin to seep into the potato. Below is a video that demonstrates the whole thing. 

When attempting to cut vegetables like green beans, chillies and coriander quickly with a knife, a lot of people accidentally cut themselves. A simpler and safer option is to simply use kitchen scissors to cut these long veggies. Cutting chillies with scissors can also reduce the chance of getting chilli burns on your hands. 

Use a manual chopping machine

Instead of using a knife or scissors, why not speed up veggie chopping by using a chopping machine? Popular options such as the Slap Chop machine famously promoted by Vince Offer can help to make chopping up vegetables easy. There are lots of different designs on the market made for different types of vegetables and chopping styles including mandoline slicers and spiralizers. These are all worth comparing online. 

Use an electric chopping machine Another option is to use an electric chopping machine such as a blender. These machines can allow you to chop and mix up multiple fruits and vegetables together with the simple press of a button. Such machines can also be used for making smoothies, soups and even juices. The downside is that such tools can cost more to buy than a manual chopping machine and may require more cleaning up.

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