I was cooking a Bolognese sauce for some people recently and one of them asked me, “Chuck, how do you get such nice little uniform pieces of carrot when you dice it up? I don’t know the best way to cut carrots”.
The person was really interested in learning how to get the carrot into nice tiny cubes.
I decided to give her a tutorial on how to dice a carrot.
If you want to improve your knife skills then pay attention. With a little practice you’ll be cutting like a pro in no time.
Get yourself a sharp knife. I like using a chef’s knife for just about everything. With a sharp chef’s knife you should be able to dice, slice and chop just about anything.
I also like to use a good cutting board. Sometimes I use a wooden cutting board and sometimes I use plastic. The important thing is that it’s a clean and flat surface.
I also suggest putting a wet paper towel or cloth under your cutting board so it doesn’t move while you’re cutting.
How To Dice A Carrot
Follow these simple steps to get the perfect cubes when you dice a carrot.
Step One
The first step is to wash the carrot under cold water. Carrots usually still have a little dirt on their skin when you buy them.
If you see some dirt, don’t freak out. It’s a good thing. They grow in the ground. A little dirt is natural.
So scrub off any dirt under cold running water and dry off the carrot with a paper towel or kitchen towel.
Step Two
You need to peel the carrot. Use a sharp vegetable peeler. Cut off the pointy tip of the carrot and the end where the root was located.
Hold the whole carrot flat on the cutting board and run the peeler down the side of the carrot.
Step Three
We need to work with the carrot in manageable sizes. Now take your peeled carrot and cut it in half.
The best way to do it is to cut the carrot in half first so you have shorter pieces. Then cut the carrot pieces in half the long way.
This step also depends on the size of the carrot. I find it easier to work with smaller pieces.
Make sure to use the claw grip method when you cut. It will help you avoid injury.
Step Four
Take each piece of the cut carrot off and put it on the cutting board flat side down.
Step Five
Take your knife and cut lengthwise slices from each carrot piece. A thin slice is good for a small dice.
Step Six
Take the carrot slices and lay them out on the cutting surface. You can stack them on top of each other or you can leave them in a single layer.
Step Seven
Now cut the carrot slices into thin matchsticks. This is called julienne. You want to end up with skinny carrot sticks.
Step Eight
The next step is to take the julienned carrots and cut them into small cubes.
Now you have diced carrots.
It’s pretty easy. Once you do it a few times you’ll have a valuable skill for life.
What Size Dice Do You Need?
There are a few different size dices when you cut carrots.
A small dice is generally cut into 1/4 inch sized cubes.
A medium dice is usually cut into 1/2 inch size cubes.
A large dice is about 3/4 inch sized cubes.
The thickness of the slice in each step will determine the size of your diced carrots.
If you cut thick slices you’ll end up with a chunkier dice.
If you cut thin slices you’ll get a smaller dice.
Good luck!
Make it nice!
