

Then, cut the matchsticks into tiny minced pieces by holding them in tight bundles while you make the ⅛" cuts across the bundles. To mince ingredients such as ginger, carrots, celery, and shallots, it’s helpful to first cut them into thin matchsticks. Here are other foods that are often minced in recipes along with some tips for mincing effectively: Other food items besides onion can be minced to help release and evenly distribute flavors throughout the dish. Rather than making ½" or ¼" cuts, space your cuts very closely together at ⅛" or smaller intervals, which produces the desired tiny, uniform pieces that are easy to incorporate with other ingredients. To mince an onion, follow the same steps of peeling and halving the onion as chopping or dicing. If ingredients are too large when added to a blender or food processor, they may not fully incorporate into the recipe, leaving uneven chunks or a grainy texture. Lemon peels are a commonly chopped ingredient that are added into recipes. The term chop is used when the recipe requires larger pieces, which are ideal for recipes such as stews and soups that will cook slowly, like chopped potatoes, allowing the ingredients to soften but maintain their color, shape, and flavor.Ĭhopping is also a way to prepare food that will go into a food processor to make them even smaller pieces or completely puree, or to incorporate into other ingredients for recipes such as smoothies, hummus, tabouli, baba ganoush and sauces.

#Food processor vs food chopper how to#
Alternatively, you can learn how to use an electric food chopper to do the cutting for you. Using a sharp chef’s knife or a small appliance such as a food processor, cut your ingredients into uniform pieces that are about ½" - ¾" – between a dime and a nickel in size. When chopping ingredients for a recipe, you cut them into larger pieces that are similar in size.
