7 Paring Knives We Love for Anyone Who Loves to Chop, Chop, Chop

Somewhere between the first day and second day of culinary school, I quickly realized I was going to flunk my way out if I didn’t have a heck of a paring knife. A paring knife is a versatile kitchen knife that makes things like peeling oranges, mincing garlic, deveining shrimp, coring tomatoes, and testing the doneness of cooked veggies an absolute breeze in the kitchen.

Sure, you could just hope that generic paring knife that came in your $12 discounted knife block will do the trick. Or, you could invest in a stellar paring knife à la carte and thank us later. You're not in your dorm room anymore, and investing in solid kitchen tools from cutting boards to ceramic pans can make a world of difference. When you buy poorly made knives, the blade will go dull quickly, the tip might not be pointy enough for detail work, and/or it can rust in a couple of months.

Ready to get shopping and chopping? Read on.

What to Consider

When buying a paring knife, there are a few key things to consider. First, the blade size should hover at around 3.5 inches, with a handle that’s perhaps a touch longer and comfortable to hold. Paring knives generally cost anywhere from $10 to $60. It's important to note that paring knives come standard in most knife sets.

The sharper a knife is, the easier it will be to work with, so we recommend buying knives made from high carbon stainless steel as they hold a great edge. Carbon steel is also great too and slightly more affordable (say, around $10, as opposed to $15-plus for high-carbon stainless steel). While paring knives' longevity depends on how frequently you use them, it can last for years if you take good care of your paring knife. Speaking of which, yes, you should be honing and sharpening your paring knife regularly (we recommend this sharpener from Mercer with two grit levels).

How We Chose

Over the years, we’ve come to learn what our favorite paring knife is for making potato gaufrettes and mincing garlic from endless hours of cooking in our own kitchens. But for this choppy assignment, we took it to the next level. We spent hours creating pretty garnishes like strawberry fans, chili “flowers,” and radish rosettes that only the best paring knives could achieve. In addition to peeling, slicing, and poking up a storm, we searched the internet high and low for trustworthy reviews on sites like Cook's Illustrated and Wirecutter, along with reading customer reviews online.

We also used the tip of many a paring knife to check the doneness on baked salmon throughout our product testing to ensure the tip wasn’t a dull, rounded flop and practiced making lemon curl garnishes more times than we'd care to admit. Last but not least, we endured the toil that is concassé-ing a tomato (that’s chef speak for peeling, seeding, and dicing the beloved red fruit), all in an effort to give you only the very best paring knives to choose from.