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15 best chopping boards to slice and dice meats, vegetables and more

Make light work of meal prep with these essential cutting blocks

Tamara Hinson
Friday 17 December 2021 09:38 GMT
<p>If it was quick to show knife-related wear and tear simply didn’t make the cut  </p>

If it was quick to show knife-related wear and tear simply didn’t make the cut

Chopping boards: a household essential that comes in a mind-bogglingly wide range of shapes, sizes and materials. And that is why we’re kicking off our guide to the best ones with a short masterclass in caring for your chopping board, whether it’s made of wood, plastic, glass or bamboo.

If it’s wooden board, never leave it to soak, which can cause it to warp. Instead, wipe it clean with a mild detergent, then leave it to air dry, propping it up on its side. Vinegar can be used to kill germs and to clean the board after you’ve used it for items such as eggs or meat, and wiping a lemon segment over the wood will help to remove nasty odours. To remove stubborn stains, sprinkle bicarbonate of soda onto a sponge and wipe it over the area in question.

Plastic and glass chopping boards can be washed in the dishwasher, although they’re still prone to stains, so remove these using our aforementioned lemon juice trick.

How we tested

We’re dab hands in the kitchen, and we’ve worked our way through a lot of chopping boards, so we can tell the bad ones from the good ones. We’re also huge fans of restaurant-quality knives such as Global, so while we placed a high priority on aspects such as the board’s grip, sturdiness and versatility, we also kept an eye on how easy the boards were to maintain – boards which were quick to show knife-related wear and tear simply didn’t make the cut (excuse the pun).

We also considered various features; grooves or reservoirs for meat juices can be incredibly useful, and we’re huge fans of boards that are easy to stow away, so we’re suckers for large handles and hanging loops.

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The best chopping boards for 2021 are:

  • Best overall – Funky Chunky Furniture Co circular wooden chopping board small: £27, Funky-chunky-furniture.co.uk
  • Best for practicality – Opinel cutting board - la grande: £59.95, Whitbyandco.co.uk
  • Best for versatility – JML fast thaw 4-in-1 chopping board: £19.99, Jmldirect.com
  • Best for style – Brabantia tasty+ - mixed chopping board set: £24.50, Brabantia.com
  • Best for a modern look – Dunelm set of 3 bamboo chopping boards: £20, Dunelm.com
  • Best for elegance – Dunelm acacia board with handle: £12, Dunelm.com
  • Best for personalisation – Prezzybox personalised wooden chopping board: £19.99, Prezzybox.com
  • Best large chopping board – Lakeland Prue’s world large crushed bamboo chopping board: £29.99, Lakeland.co.uk
  • Best for gifting – Tog Knives the dragonfly: £80, Togknives.com
  • Best for a natural look – Robert Welch oak pebble chopping board: £50, Robertwelch.com
  • Best for simplicity – Harts of Slur fusion chopping board 4 pack: £17.95, Hartsofstur.com
  • Best for fun – Red Candy rug cutting board: £16, Redcandy.co.uk
  • Best for ruggedness – Made to Last the fugitive shovel oak chopping board: £29, Made-to-last.co.uk
  • Best for sustainability – Smidge slice chopping board: £20, Wearesmidge.com
  • Best for value – Judge granite effect cutting board: £10.85, Amazon.co.uk

Funky Chunky Furniture Co circular wooden chopping board small

Funky Chunky.png

Best: Overall

Rating: 10/10

We absolutely loved this beautiful board, which is made from mango wood – a great ethical option, due to the fact that these trees are only cut down once they’ve stopped producing fruit, thereby providing farmers with additional income. Although it needs to be handled with care – it’s handwash only – it feels incredibly rugged, and its dual-sided design, with a more decorative styling on one side, allowed us to use it as both a chopping board and a cheeseboard.

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Opinel cutting board - la grande

Opinel.png

Best: For practicality

Rating: 9/10

Barring the fact that it can’t be placed in the dishwasher, this is one of the most practical chopping boards you’ll come across – a generously sized slab of beechwood that can be used to slice and dice everything from meat to vegetables. We loved the indent at one end – we scraped seeds and pips into it when cutting items such as peppers – and the deep groove around the edge did a fantastic job of containing the juices from our roast ham.

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JML fast thaw 4-in-1 chopping board

JML.png

Best: For versatility

Rating: 9/10

One of the most stylish plastic chopping boards we’ve come across, this grey and yellow board does it all – there’s a grating area (it’s small, but ideal for tasks such as spice and pith grating) and a built-in steel knife sharpener, and one side is a chopping board, while the other can be used as a defrosting surface, thanks to it being designed with thermal conductivity in mind. In a nutshell, it helps draw out the cold from your food, defrosting it up to three times quicker. The board is also incredibly tough – it’s dishwasher proof and a wraparound rubber edge ensures it stays put.

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Brabantia tasty+ - mixed chopping board set

Brabantia.png

Best: For style

Rating: 9/10

It turns out Brabantia doesn’t just make brilliant bins, but fantastic chopping boards, too. This clever three-in-one set includes three boards, all of which can be used on both sides. All of the boards have generous strips of rubber at both ends to ensure they stay put, and we loved the way they slot together for easy storage. We also liked the colour coordination. No, it won’t make your roasts taste better or supercharge your slicing and dicing skills, but we loved the splash of pastel green. The impressive five-year guarantee was an unexpected bonus, too.

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Dunelm set of 3 bamboo chopping boards

Dunelm set.png

Best: For a modern look

Rating: 9/10

Who knew that chopping boards could be a thing of beauty? This hattrick of options came tied with a ribbon, making it a brilliant gifting option for wannabe Nigella Lawsons. The set includes a small, medium and large board, intended (as stated by the engraved description in the corner of each) for vegetables, meat and fruit. We loved the smooth finish of the wood – they’re incredibly tactile – as well as the sealed finishes around the edges.

  1. £20 from Dunelm.com
Prices may vary
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Dunelm acacia board with handle

Dunelm.png

Best: For elegance

Rating: 8/10

If only more boards looked like this: an elegant slice of honey-coloured acacia, complete with a generously sized handle and a hanging loop. This reversible chopping board is another one that isn’t just at home in the kitchen, but in the centre of the table, too – this is a board you’ll want to show off. Our only gripe is that we’d love to have seen a slightly larger hanging hole, but it’s a minor complaint about something that looks incredibly stylish and has a fabulously smooth feel.

  1. £12 from Dunelm.com
Prices may vary
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Prezzybox personalised wooden chopping board

Prezzybox.png

Best: For personalisation

Rating: 9/10

We’re a sucker for a bit of personalisation, although the option to engrave this board with a name or message (there’s room for up to 30 characters) isn’t the only reason we loved it – we enjoyed the deep grooves around the edge and its reversible design (one side is totally flat) too. It’s made of beechwood and has an almost honey-like hue, although bear in mind that it’s a handwash-only board.

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Lakeland Prue’s world large crushed bamboo chopping board

Lakeland.png

Best: Large chopping board

Rating: 9/10

Sadly, this supersized example won’t necessarily give you the culinary skills of Prue Leith, but it will give your kitchen a serious style upgrade. Made of crushed bamboo and with a generously sized handle, this beautiful board has a stunning striped design that reminds us of tiger bread. It’s incredibly tough, and although we were sceptical about the scratch-resistant claims, after a seriously heavy-duty chopping session it still looked as good as new. Crushed bamboo is incredibly strong, but to ramp up the ruggedness, this particular board is strand woven, which gives it extra strength and is the reason for its beautiful striped surface.

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Tog Knives the dragonfly

Tog.png

Best: For gifting

Rating: 9/10

This is a beautiful board which makes the perfect present – an extra-long butchers’ block-style board with a deliciously dark brown colour. Its size – it measures 36cm x 25cm x 2cm and weighs 956g – means it’s agile enough to stow away in seconds, but big enough to work as a board for larger items. Four rubber feet on the underside keep it firmly in place while minimising the risk of damage to delicate surfaces, and its ultra-smooth surface makes it easy to scrape items such as chopped vegetables into saucepans.

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Robert Welch oak pebble chopping board

Robert Welch.png

Best: For a natural look

Rating: 8/10

This curvaceous, minimalistic chopping board looks more like a sculpture, with a tapered end and undulating edges. Despite the unusual design, its thin profile and low weight mean it stows away easily, and it’s another board that feels incredibly tactile, with a smooth, even surface aided by the oiled finish.

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Harts of Slur fusion chopping board 4 pack

Harts of stur.png

Best: For simplicity

Rating: 7/10

As much as we love a beautiful chopping board, we’re big fans of practicality too, and there’s no shortage of that with this four-pack of colour-coded options to help minimise the risk of cross-contamination. The boards, which come in varying shades of grey, have large integrated handles and a slimline design that ensures they tidy away effortlessly.

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Red Candy rug cutting board

Red Candy.png

Best: For fun

Rating: 8/10

Glass chopping boards are usually plain affairs, but not so with this one, which has been designed to resemble a Persian rug. Four rubber feet guarantee it stays put, and we loved the grippy textured surface, which meant we could chop the slipperiest of fruit and vegetables without worrying that they’d make a break for freedom – something which has resulted in more than a few nasty cuts in the past. This chopping board is currently out of stock, but we hope to see it return shortly.

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Made to Last the fugitive shovel oak chopping board

Made to last.png

Best: For ruggedness

Rating: 8/10

Purchase this board and you won’t just be investing in a fantastic kitchen accessory, but investing in people, too – they are made by inmates in a Hertfordshire prison, as part of a scheme to help them develop new skills which they’ll be able to use when they’re released. We love the board’s design – a fat, square-shaped slab of oak with a large handle and hanging loop, and a bold, golden grain courtesy of the English oak.

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Smidge slice chopping board

smidge.png

Best: For sustainability

Rating: 9/10

We were somewhat sceptical when we learned that this board was made from salvaged paper, but hi-tech manufacturing techniques have allowed said material to be transformed into a tough chopping board which won’t just stand the test of time, but which will be kinder to your knives, too (a major bonus given our prized collection). The board, which feels incredibly tough and has a sealed, slightly shiny finish, can be placed in the dishwasher. We also loved the rubber corners, which did a much better job of ensuring it stayed put than some of the rubber feet we came across.

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Judge granite effect cutting board

Judge.png

Best: For value

Rating: 7/10

A cheap and cheerful chopping board that looks as though it’s made from granite, but which is actually made from hardwearing plastic, this kitchen essential is incredibly light and has deep reservoirs which quickly drain away juices. Despite its durability, it’s incredibly thin, and will stash easily into the smallest of spaces.

  1. £10 from Amazon.co.uk
Prices may vary
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The verdict: Chopping boards

We loved the Funky Chunky Furniture Co’s circular wooden chopping board for its versatile design, elegant look and sheer ruggedness, and at £27, we reckon it’s pretty good value for a board with this level of both sturdiness and style. Opinel’s cutting board was a close contender, scoring high points not just for its appearance but for its practicality, while JML’s pocket-friendly fast thaw 4-in-1 chopping board is a household essential with built-in features that make it a multipurpose miracle.

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