3 Essential Kitchen Knives Every Home Cook Needs

Designed to chop, carve, slice, and dice, knives come in a baffling array of shapes and sizes. Which types of knives do you actually need? For daily use, our food editors say you only require three essential knives. Learn why a chef's knife, serrated knife, and paring knife are the fundamental trio for almost all cutting tasks—and shop our favorite picks. Consider these knives an investment; you'll use them daily, so store them carefully and take care of them to keep their blades sharp.

Serrated Knife

A serrated knife is sometimes called a bread knife because its sawlike edge zips through breads, bagels, and cakes with less crumbling than other knives. The serrated blade gives some bite to the slicing motion and avoids squishing soft baked goods. It is also the best tool for gently slicing soft, juicy produce, such as tomatoes and peaches. Our test kitchen team prefers a serrated knife with an offset handle, which lends more control (and keeps wrists happy) when chopping small ingredients like chocolate and nuts.

Our Picks

• SaniSafe Nine-Inch Scalloped Offset Sandwich Knife, $28, amazon.com
• Shun Classic Eight-Inch Offset Bread Knife, $165, williams-sonoma.com

Chef's Knife

Say hello to the ultimate workhorse; as its name suggests, the chef's knife is the ideal choice for meats, vegetables, and more. It makes cutting, chopping, dicing, and mincing seem less like chores and more like fun. Don't forget to use the flat side to smash garlic! A chef's knife has a wide, rigid, triangular blade. There are many different styles of chef's knives. Take note that longer blades make slicing more effortless, but a midsize 8-inch model is adequate for most home cooks.

Our Picks:

• Misen Chef's Knife, $94, misen.com
• Wüsthof Classic 8-Inch Chef's Knife, $170, amazon.com

Paring Knife

A paring knife is small but mighty. It has a short blade, generally 3 to 4 inches, allowing for precise trimming, coring, and peeling. You'll use it to nimbly hull strawberries, core tomatoes, and devein shrimp, among other prep tasks. There are several types of paring knives; our test kitchen likes one with a straight blade. A distinct type of paring knife is the bird's beak or curved vegetable knife. It has a pronounced concave curve and is used for garnishes. It's also handy for removing potato eyes.

Our Picks

• Victorinox 3 1/4-Inch Paring Knife With Straight Edge, $9, amazon.com
• Wüsthof Classic Three-Inch Straight-Blade Paring Knife, $85, amazon.com

Beyond the Basics: Other Knives to Add to Your Collection

For most cooks, the trio of serrated, chef's, and paring knife will tackle pretty much any cutting task. Depending on what you prep frequently, though, you might want to add these other knives to your collection.

• Boning knife: Useful for cutting up, butterflying, or fileting meat, fish, or poultry.

• Utility knife: This popular knife has a 5 to 6-inch blade. It gets its name because it's a handy allrounder. It's a good addition to your knife collection because it can tackle jobs too large for the paring knife and too small for a chef's knife.