“They’re light, they’re sharp, they’re super easy to maintain,” Gurjar says. “And say, if you did lose them, or it breaks, it’s easy to replace, because they’re not very expensive.”

A chef’s upgraded paring knife: Tojiro DP 3.5-inch Paring Knife

What we like: Lightweight, great for precise cuts, helpful customer service
What we don’t: Thinner blade means you should avoid electric knife sharpeners

As a food stylist and chef who loves a bit of intricate fruit and vegetable carving, Thu Pham Buser needs precision in her knives. Growing up in the restaurant her parents owned in Vietnam, Buser first learned knife-work using no-name, but durable knives. When she later went to culinary school in Spain, she started using German steel knives, which tend to be heavier and have thicker blades, like the Wüsthof classic series. While the German knives proved great when tackling mountains of carrots or butternut squash, at this point in her career, away from the massive amount of prep required in a restaurant kitchen, Buser’s fallen in love with Japanese knives.

“They’re lightweight, they don’t hurt my wrist when I use them all day, and they stay super sharp,” Buser says. Over time, she’s found the Tojiro paring knife especially fits this bill. “[The Tojiro knives] are so sharp. You can slice things beautifully. They’re lightweight. You can use them to segment ingredients in your hand or you can rock them back and forth on a cutting board.” The blade length of the Tojiro is also half an inch more than the Mac above, giving you a bit more edge to work with. And despite how thin the blade is, Buser still finds it ultra-durable.

Like any nice knife, a Tojiro will require care—though it’s stainless steel rather than a high-carbon steel like the Mac, you still need to hand wash it immediately after use. Buser also recommends only using a wet whetstone on the Tojiro, as opposed to an electric sharpener. Electric sharpeners might be too rough on the blade and “kill the lifespan” of the knife. Buser also mentions that though the thin blade is easy to wield, it’s more delicate and can be prone to the occasional chipping. But, she says the brand’s customer service is especially top tier and, whenever she has issues with her knife, she’s able to contact them and get a new knife.

How we chose the best paring knives

All the knives we recommend here were used extensively. We relied on regimented testing from the home cooks at our sister site Epicurious, as well from chefs who have spent years honing in on the tools that let them excel in their work.

What to look for in a paring knife

A comfortable handle

You’ll see the term ergonomic tossed around a lot in knife reviews. It has a specific meaning, used by folks like the U.S. Department of Labor, centered on fitting tools to human beings. All people generally mean by ergonomic in the context of a kitchen tool, though, is that it’s comfortable to hold. This is particularly important with a paring knife because it is such a short tool—it’s as much handle as it is blade.

Weight

You’ll need to make very delicate cuts with a paring knife, whether you’re peeling potatoes or segmenting citrus. So a light and balanced knife will help you control that careful knifework.

A sharp tip

Again, because it’s so short, you can really utilize the tip of a paring knife for tasks like deveining shrimp or scoring a steak in a way that’s harder with bigger knives. So you want the kind of pointy tip that Gurjar loves about her Opinel.

Need to keep growing your toolkit? Check out our favorite chef’s knives, nakiri knives and bread knife.