Oh, c'mon... who doesn't know how to dice an onion! Well, apparently me! I was at the cooking school happily dicing away, when the Chef commented that I needed an "onion dicing lesson." I was like... Who? Me???
Yes - me! I've been dicing onions for years. Who knew there was a "correct" way.
You all seem pretty young, so I thought I should share and maybe spare you all a lifetime of dicing inadequacy and cooking school humiliation. 
Step 1: Cut the top off the onion. The one that sticks up, not the root-y looking end.
First - cut the top off the onion.
Step 2: Stand the onion on the end that you just cut and cut the onion right down the middle of the root end. Take an onion half and peel back the skin, but leave it hanging on back there, because it gives you more to hold on to.
Now cut the onion in half... cutting right through the roots.
Step 3: Lay the half on its side and make parallel cuts all the way around, but don't go all the way to the root end!
Make parallel cuts all the way around, but don't cut all the way to the root end!
Step 4: Now slice the onion through all the parallel cuts, and stop where your parallel cuts end. Discard this little bit... life's too short!
Slice - and stop when you get to the end of parallel cuts.
And there you have it! A perfectly diced onion... fast, neat, and easy... Use the back of the knife...not the blade to scoop them up. Doesn't dull the knife or cut your hand!
Ha! Look at me now Mr. "She needs a dicing lesson" Chef Man!
A vision of diced onion perfection!
Mantaray
I learned this from Bobby Flay!! Great trick for when you need to dice an entire onion.
Love all the pics, Suzanne!
1I learned it from the Two Hot Tamales! Dicing's been a dream come true ever since!
2I just learned the root thing, where it holds all the pieces for you from my french cooking book. You explained it even better Thanks Suzanne!
3lool i just thought everyone knew this! this is how my mum does it.. and thats how i do it
4I actually recently learned this from playing "Cooking Mama" on my Nintendo DS (I'm not young, I just enjoy games)... it seems pretty logical now, but I never did it that way before either.
5I love onions and this tip will come in very handy.. I wish I could dice an entire onion without needing tissues though!! My eyes tear so badly when I chop them up..
6i didn't know this.... thanks for the great tip!
7That's how I do it too.
8I've heard that lighting a candle will help with the irritated eyes...
Anyone try this? It's not a problem for me, so I have never tried.
9It does help.
10I like all the pics and the step-by-step instructions. Very nice!
Twink--956 subscribers to your suite! ZOINKS! That's BIG TIME.
11Wow, I just learned how to properly cut an onion! Thanks suzanne. Whenever I wear my contacts and cut onions, it seems to not effect me.
12That's cause Kitchen Goddess rocks the cashbah!!!!
13Maybe I should give our 1000th member a prize
Oh and I heard wearing goggles helps too.
14MMMMM, yea, like maybe a post of the most clicked on recipes and tips or something. Kind of like a cook book, OOOoo or maybe that Kitchen Goddess apron you designed Twink!
15Or maybe just an annoying flashing banner that says "Congratulations! You are the 1000th member of Kitchen Goddess".
16
"You DID IT"
17Don't forget the computer animated fireworks!
18Of course Mels
Maybe a picture of money or a gigantic fake check too.
19yeah, ive seen it done on chef shows
20I've heard that chewing gum while you chop keeps you from crying. Don't remember where- it might've been from somebody here on Team. I never tried it though. I only use onion powder because I'm a big cooking cheater.
21i learned this off of a show on the food network but i don't remember which one.
i have heard that if you hold something (like a toothpick) between your top and lower teeth, like bite down on it, that helps prevent you from crying when chopping onions.
22Great tip Suzanne!
23
i learnt this from watching jamie oliver!
24Chewing gum does help!
25Great tip! I could be wrong, but on How to Boil Water, I'm pretty sure Tyler Florence always said "planks, sticks, cubes."
26Hi Yum
??? planks, sticks, cubes?
27he would think of it like wooden boards. you first cut the onion into planks (long wide piece) then sticks (when you make the vertical cuts) and then finally cubes. it was just his way to help the audience remember how to cut the onion like you described above. - although i'm not sure if you did the plank step?
28I know I'm late with the comments here, but I'm new. Just wanted to say thanks for the tip as I didn't know this. I use goggles when dicing big white onions, I look silly but I look worse if I don't.
29Allo, tres jolie
de rien
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