Whether you’re an accomplished chef or casual cook, a universal concern is the amount of preparation time that goes into a meal. Discovering kitchen hacks to speed up smaller tasks can significantly decrease the time between preparation and serving. Look no further for the next great addition to your kitchen than the onion chopper.

Instead of spending time dicing onions into identical pieces, which could take a while if you have several onions, a chopper does it in seconds with the press of a button. And depending on the number of blades, you can alternate between chopping and dicing styles. If you’re someone who’s prone to crying when you chop onions, you’ll be glad to know that onion choppers contain the fumes inside the bowl or box for tear-free slicing and dicing. And speaking of convenience, many of the removable parts of an onion chopper are dishwasher safe, too.

To get a head start on food prep with a staple ingredient, an onion chopper is an essential small appliance. We’ve assembled a simple buying guide with some of our favorites to make your chopper choice an easy one.

• Manual: Manual choppers are operated by either pressing or spinning mechanisms.

  • Press: With a box-style chopper, you push the onion through a sharp grate to dice it into different shapes, usually small cubes. With other models, you place the onions in a bowl and press a button to operate angled blades to strategically dice.

  • Spin: In these choppers, you put the onions in the bowl, secure the lid, and pull a spring that spins the blades. The onions are catapulted around the bowl and sliced by the spinning blades.
     

• Electric: Electric models require little to no effort to operate because they chop with the press of a single button. As this type of chopper is equipped with a motor, it tends to be more powerful than a manual chopper. It’s also somewhat more reliable and creates more uniform pieces of onion. Aesthetically speaking, some electric models are designed to match other kitchen appliances, especially those made of stainless steel.

When it comes to capacity, two things go hand in hand: how many onions you expect to dice at once and the size of the chopper’s bowl. If you only need to chop one onion at a time, a small model is ideal, whether it’s a box-style chopper or a small, one-cup electric one. In these, you can only feed one onion through the grate blades at a time, and the size of the box or bowl that catches the diced onion can only hold a couple chopped onions.

If you’re short on time but need to dice a moderate quantity of onions, such as half a dozen, you’ll need a chopper that can process a larger volume at one time. A chopper with that capability usually comes with a bowl that’s large enough to accommodate plenty of diced onion. For this level of cooking, expect to look at onion choppers that have at least a three- to five-cup capacity.

Basic onion choppers only chop onions into one size dice, so if you’re fine with plain diced onions, you can get away with one of the less expensive models. For a bit of variety in shape and size, you can precut onions into certain shapes before putting them in the chopper, but there’s no guarantee what shape they’ll end up. If you want more options, you’ll need a manual chopper that comes with a variety of blades or an electric chopper equipped with advanced chopping functions.

• Blades: Onion choppers are equipped with sharp stainless steel blades, and like any blades, they can dull over time. The design of grate blades, particularly in box-style choppers, means they can’t be sharpened. If you’re interested in an appliance for long-term use, opt for an onion chopper with individual, removable blades. To make sure they’re sharpened properly, you can take them to a professional knife sharpener to keep them in the best condition.

• Bowl: The bowl or, in some models, box of an onion chopper is made of either glass or food-grade plastic. You’ll find plastic bowls in choppers at all prices, not just inexpensive models. However, you’ll find glass bowls most often in premium choppers. Many of the larger glass bowls, can be removed from the chopper and used as mixing bowls (provided there are no blades attached). Most of the plastic and glass bowls are dishwasher safe, so this part of the chopper is easy to clean and maintain.

• Base: The base is either hard plastic or stainless steel. Most inexpensive onion choppers have a plastic base, though some are rather flimsy and unstable during use. A stainless steel base, especially in an electric chopper, adds a considerable amount of weight to the appliance. These choppers stay put during use and, for the most part, tend to have higher-quality construction than models with a plastic base.

Onion choppers range in price from $15 to $125.

Inexpensive: At the low end, between $15 and $30, you can expect to find choppers with two or three chopping styles. They’re mostly made of plastic with stainless steel blades.

Mid-range: Choppers priced between $30 and $60 include more sophisticated models capable of taking on multiple kitchen tasks. These tend to be heavier because they have more powerful motors and blades. They also have more stainless steel elements incorporated into the base.

Expensive: At the high end of the price range, between $60 and $120, you’ll find large-capacity choppers geared toward cooks who regularly prepare large volumes of food. They’re the most efficient models out there and offer the largest range of chopping and dicing options.

• Chop onions into small pieces. To cook onions more quickly, chop them into pieces that are as small as possible.

• Dry the blades. To keep your blades in pristine condition, dry them with a fresh cloth immediately after washing them and before putting them away.

• Clean a plastic bowl with vinegar. If you still notice an onion smell after washing the chopper’s bowl, let it soak in vinegar and then wash it again. It should remove any remaining smells.

• Store the chopper away from children. To keep little hands and fingers safe, store your onion chopper out of reach, such as on a top shelf in the pantry or overhead cupboard.

• Get creative. Depending on the quality and style of your onion chopper, it can be a multipurpose tool for chopping meat or nuts.

We like the affordability and simplicity of the three-cup Hamilton Beach Mini Chopper. Assembly is quick — you only need to stack the bowl on top of the base and add the blade and the onion. It’s easy to control the pulse with one touch, too. This model is so convenient that you’ll find other uses for it, such as chopping garlic and other vegetables. There’s even an oil slot for gradually adding oil so you can mix dressing or marinade in it as well. The bowl, lid, and blades are dishwasher safe for easy cleanup.

Q. What is the best onion chopper for someone who has dexterity or strength problems with their hands?

A. In that situation, it’s a good idea to stay away from manual onion choppers. Instead, explore your options in electric models. Operation is often as simple as pressing a button, and they’re usually easy to assemble. With that said, it’s important to consider the weight of the item. If you get a heavy-duty stainless steel model, you could have difficulty pulling it out of a cupboard. A happy medium would be a lightweight, small-capacity electric chopper with a plastic base.

Q. Can I chop other vegetables at the same time as onions in my chopper?

A. You should be okay with most vegetables, provided you don’t mind having everything come out the same size. But not all vegetables cook the same way, so once your mixture is chopped together, you’ll need to cook it all together as well. If you’re cooking vegetables in stages, it’s better to chop each one individually.

Q. What happens if I break the bowl? Can I replace it without having to buy a new chopper?

A. You’ll most likely need to purchase a new onion chopper. Even if the manufacturer sells a replacement, the cost could be more than buying a new chopper. If you purchased an inexpensive onion chopper, your best bet is to buy a new one. For more expensive choppers, though, it might be more cost effective to replace the bowl.