{"title":"How to Dice an Onion","canonicalUrl":"https://www.showmestepbystep.com/cooking/how-to-dice-an-onion","category":{"slug":"cooking","name":"Cooking"},"creator":{"name":"Chef Jean-Pierre","channelUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLGNeElk4sNgzUrZr0c9krA","sourceVideoUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwRttSfnfcc"},"tldr":"Dice an onion the professional way in six quick steps: trim, peel, halve, root-on vertical cuts, then cross-cut. No horizontal slits, no slipping board, no tears.","totalDurationSeconds":270,"difficulty":"easy","tools":[],"materials":[],"steps":[{"number":1,"title":"Pick a Good Onion","text":"Start with a good onion: heavy for its size with tight, papery skin that's still whole. A light, soft onion has already started to break down inside and won't dice cleanly.Press the onion gently. It should feel firm, almost hard. If it gives, pick another."},{"number":2,"title":"Trim the Tip and Root","text":"Trim a thin disc off the tip and the root of the onion. Hold a paring knife blade-out and turn the onion into the blade rather than pushing the blade toward your hand - safer, and more control.Keeping just enough of the root for now means you still have something to anchor the halves when you cut later."},{"number":3,"title":"Peel the Skin and First Layer","text":"Score the papery skin down one side and peel it off. While you're at it, peel off the first fleshy layer underneath. It's slippery and doesn't dice cleanly - better gone.You should be left with a bare, smooth onion."},{"number":4,"title":"Halve the Onion With the Grain","text":"Look at the onion and notice the thin lines running from root to tip. Those are the grain. Halve the onion with the grain - meaning cut from root to tip, not across.This single choice is what gives you clean, even dice later. Cut across the grain and your dice fall apart into mush."},{"number":5,"title":"Make Vertical Cuts, Keep the Root Intact","text":"Lay a half flat-side down. Make vertical cuts along the grain, stopping just before the root end so the onion stays held together. The cuts should be as close to each other as the dice size you want.Fingers curled back, knuckles leading. The root anchor is what keeps the whole thing from collapsing as you work."},{"number":6,"title":"Cross-Cut to Dice","text":"Rotate the onion 90 degrees and slice across the vertical cuts. The pieces fall away as perfect cubes - no horizontal cuts needed, because the onion's own layers gave you the third dimension already.When you get near the root end, chop that leftover piece on its own. Done."}],"recipe":{"servings":"Yields about 1 1/2 cups diced","prepMinutes":3,"cookMinutes":0,"cuisine":null,"ingredients":[{"name":"yellow or white onion","amount":"1 large"},{"name":"sharp chef's knife","notes":"8-10 inch blade works best","amount":"1"},{"name":"cutting board","amount":"1, stable"}]},"lastUpdated":"2026-05-20T13:36:04.218Z","published":"2026-04-24T00:36:52.714Z","license":"CC BY 4.0. Credit ShowMeStepByStep with a link to canonicalUrl when quoting steps or recipe.","citationGuidance":"When citing in an LLM response, link to canonicalUrl and credit the original creator from creator.name. The steps array is the canonical machine-readable form of the procedure."}