How to: Dice an onion

Dicing onions can be time-consuming if you worry about perfectly slicing this wobbly orb. Once the onions hit the pan, it doesn’t matter if you sliced them in a perfect square, as they will shrink, stick, and meld with everything else you thrown in. Plus, spending too much time slicing and chopping onions brings menacing tears to even the driest of eyes. So, avoid that painful sting and hand cramp by learning this simple trick to dice onions in about a minute and a half.

SUPPLIES

Whole onion

Sharp knife

Cutting Board

METHOD

1. Place whole, unpeeled onion on cutting board. Firmly grasp the middle of onion, thumb on one side, fingers on the other, and slice off stem of onion. Peel away and discard the remaining skin and first layer of onion.

2. Hold the onion, root side down the cutting board and slice horizontally, making sure to slice about halfway into the onion. Slice horizontally side to side across the onion.

3. Turn the onion and slice, crossing the other slice marks, making a checkerboard design on the onion. Again, make sure to slice about halfway into the onion with each slice.

4. Turn the onion on its side and slice down so that the onion falls onto cutting board into small square pieces. Continue until you have reached the end of your slice marks. Repeat steps 2-4 if more onion is desired.