Food Choppers & Slicers

Prepping a meal shouldn't mean standing at the cutting board for twenty minutes with a chef's knife. A good food chopper turns onions, peppers and herbs into evenly diced pieces in just a few pulls, while a vegetable chopper with interchangeable blades lets you switch between dicing, julienning and spiralizing without pulling out a different tool for each cut. If you're prepping salads, slaws or stir-fry veggies on a regular basis, a countertop food processor can also pick up bigger batches your chopper isn't built for.

Slicers serve a slightly different purpose. A vegetable slicer gives you thin, consistent cuts for gratins, chips or pickling, while cheese slicers make quick, even work of both soft and hard cheeses without the crumbling you get from a standard knife. For deli meats, breads and thicker cuts, a dedicated meat slicer is worth a look if that's a regular part of your kitchen routine. Don’t forget a meat thermometer to make sure that pot roast or ham you’re slicing up is fully cooked.

Manual choppers and slicers are compact, easy to clean and don't take up outlet space, which makes them a solid pick for smaller kitchens or occasional use. Electric versions handle larger batches with less effort — useful if you're meal prepping for the week or cooking for a crowd — though they do take up more counter and storage room. Blade variety matters too: more interchangeable blades generally mean more textures and cut styles from one machine. And if you’re looking to choose eco-friendly kitchen appliances, a manual chopper or slicer might be the best pick for you.

Our guide on how food processors can chop your prep time in half is a good next stop if you're deciding between a hand chopper and a full-size machine. Once your ingredients are chopped, sliced or shredded, a vacuum sealer is a handy next step for portioning and freezing what you don't use right away. Whatever you choose, you’re sure to add a valuable tool to your kitchen artillery that will make meal prep easier with a quality food chopper or slicer.