What Does Coarsely Chopped Mean?
Culinary jargon can be confusing, especially for beginners who don’t know much about chopping techniques and terminologies.
What does coarsely chopped mean? Coarsely chopped means to cut ingredients into 1/2- or 3/4-inch pieces. You can coarsely chop any type of food, but the sizes can vary depending on what you are cutting.
A coarse chop is usually required for ingredients that need to be cooked, so presentation and overall appearance may not matter.
Read below to learn more about this cutting technique, how to coarsely chop food, and some helpful techniques!
The Coarse Chop — Explained
There are numerous cutting techniques in the world of culinary arts, but perhaps the most famous and commonly used technique is the coarse chop.
In simple terms, when a recipe calls for a “coarse chop,” you are supposed to finely cut the ingredients into equal and small pieces.
Coarsely chopped ingredients are usually used for cooking purposes, which is why their appearance does not matter since they will be rendered via heat.
Ingredients like nuts, onions, chilies, and vegetables are great examples of ingredients that usually call for a coarse chop.
These foods are either larger and/or denser which means that you will need to cut them into manageable pieces so that they are easier to work with and can cook evenly.
Think about it — if a recipe calls for caramelized onions, you would want to chop the onion equally to caramelize it!
If the pieces are unequal or if you use the wrong cutting technique, then you are likely to end up with a mess that would result in half-burnt and half-raw onions.
There is no defined way to coarsely chop food, some people like to go the technical route and adhere to the 1/2- or 3/4-inch rule, while others would just eyeball it.
Everyone develops their own understanding of this versatile chopping method, but the key to perfecting a coarse chop is to practice.
So, how does one coarsely chop food? Let’s take a look at some easy basics.
The Components of a Coarse Chop
The coarse chopping method requires a high-quality knife more than anything else.
Keep in mind that your goal is to cut food as finely as possible – this can become a nightmare if you don’t have the right tools and technique for the job!
Choosing Your Knife
Above all else, a coarse chop requires a knife that you are comfortable with.
Perhaps the biggest reason why people fumble with cutting techniques is that they try to copy others.
A lot of guides and online videos show people using professional cutting knives for cooking purposes. But the truth is, not many people can handle a professional knife, especially beginners!
We highly recommend that you ditch the “mainstream” choice and go for something manageable. Once you get a hang of a certain size and build intuition, you will automatically want to graduate to a bigger knife.
There are many knives to choose from, but we suggest that you get a straight-cutting knife that best fits your needs.
If you already have a knife set in your kitchen, then we recommend that you try them out until you find the best size that works for your current skill set.
But if you don’t have a knife set, you could order one online. However, we suggest that you visit a nearby kitchen accessory store to try out all the offerings until you find a tool that works for you.
Sharpening Your Knife
Sharpness is everything — you simply cannot get a coarse chop if your knife isn’t sharpened!
Working with a blunt knife can result in an unequal chop, or worse, you could potentially hurt yourself if the knife slips off smooth-skinned ingredients like tomatoes.
Make sure that you get your knives sharpened by a professional service, or you could also invest in a convenient knife sharpening kit, like this one.
Once your cutting tool is adequately sharpened, you can move on to the next step.
Gripping Your Knife
A coarse chop requires you to have complete control over the blade. This is why you need to move your fingers closer to the heel of the knife instead of grabbing the edge of the handle.
The best way to do this would be to use the 3-finger grip method, but we will also walk you through some other techniques.
3-Finger Grip Method
The 3-finger grip method is where you rest your middle, ring, and pinky fingers on the handle while the thumb and index fingers grip the top (blunt side) of the blade.
This method is an excellent way to coarsely chop food because it gives you precision over where and how the blade lands.
Of course, you are free to try any other method too, but for beginners, we recommend that you practice this method as it is usually the easiest to master for many people.
Please never continue with a chopping technique that doesn’t work for you!
Remember, cooking should be all about fun — if you have trouble holding the blade a certain way, then you can move around your fingers so long as you are safe and your wrist is secure.
Handle Grip Method
The handle grip method is another easy way to hold the knife. This method allows for greater precision and more vertical control.
Vertical control is when you cut food using an up-and-down motion instead of a rocking or sliding motion, which is usually common with the 3-finger grip method.
This method requires you to grip the handle of the knife with all your fingers. But instead of holding the edge of the handle, bring your grip closer to the heel of the blade.
This is a great alternative for people who aren’t comfortable touching the blade using the gripping method above.
Is it the most efficient and effective method? Not fully, but it will get the job done and will help you build intuition so that you can up your game and employ other preferred cutting techniques.
Claw Method
We have talked a lot about the main-hand placement, but what about your other hand — you know, the one that will grip the food?
For a coarse chop, you will need to grip the food in a way that secures your fingers and allows for a comfortable grip.
We recommend going with the claw method for a more efficient and safer coarse chop!
The claw method is where you form a claw over the top of what you are cutting — this gripping method secures your fingers by moving them into your palm instead of being exposed to the blade.
Please keep in mind that any coarse or fine chop requires the knife to be very close to your fingers. Before you start chopping you need to first make sure that your fingers and hand will be safe from the blade.
To form a claw, lay the tip of your fingers over the food.
Another way of forming this gripping shape is to rest your fingers using the tip of your fingernails. This way, even if the blade falls on your fingers, it will glide off the fingernails without hitting any skin.
Just don’t dig into the food using your nails, because that would be very unhygienic!
Here is a fantastic video from Joshua Weissman on YouTube explaining the different grips and styles you can use.
Coarsely Chopping Different Foods
Once you have a good grip on your knife, it’s time to coarsely chop some ingredients!
A coarse chop may require slightly different knife movements and cutting shapes depending on what you are cutting.
Here are some common ingredients and how to coarsely chop them!
Onions
Onions require either a straight up-and-down, sliding, or rocking movement.
This type of semi-hard food can be cut into cubes or slices. If the recipe doesn’t say the shape and just instructs you to coarsely chop an onion, then you can proceed with either the slice or cube shape.
Here’s a simple guide on how to coarsely chop onions:
- To do this, begin by peeling the onion and then cutting it in half.
- You can either work with two halves or further divide the onion into four pieces. We recommend cutting a whole onion into 4 pieces for a more manageable cut.
- Rest the halved onion towards the base so that the piece can lay flat on its own.
- Now bring the knife vertically down on it and begin to slice the onion in a lateral motion, going from one side to the other.
- You don’t need to cut ultra-thin slices. A 1/4-inch cut should suffice, and will also help you make equal-sized cubes.
- Once you have sliced the onion laterally, switch the position of the knife or cutting board and cut it the other way to make small cubes.
Notice how all the pieces are the same size and shape? Well, this is what will help them cook evenly and quickly in the pot!
If you want to get even more precise which would technically be called “dicing”), then before cutting the halved onion, make a horizontal cut in the midsection of the halved onion. This technique will further create even smaller cubes!
If you’re ready to take it to this next level, here’s a super quick and easy video from Gordon Ramsay on YouTube.
Nuts and Seeds
When it comes to hard and denser foods, like nuts and seeds, you will need to make slight adjustments to your cutting technique.
To coarsely chop nuts, you will need to use the same strategy of breaking them up (if possible) into smaller and more manageable pieces.
Let’s take the example of a walnut, which can be halved.
Lay the halved walnut flat on your cutting board and begin slicing it in the middle. Then hold down the piece using the claw method and then begin chopping it into small pieces.
By the end, you should be left with equal-sized or granular pieces that look the same. If you find any large chunks, simply cut them to the same size as the rest of the pieces.
Here’s a simple video from Yummly on YouTube showing how to chop nuts.
Potatoes
When it comes to larger food like vegetables, you can change things up according to what you are trying to make!
You might have noticed that we were chopping the above ingredients to form small pieces, but for larger vegetables, coarsely chopping can take on a slightly different meaning.
Take potatoes as an example — if a recipe calls for a coarsely chopped potato, then you could either cut the potato to create small chunks, or you could also go for a finer chop and “dice” the potatoes to form small cubes.
For a common coarse chop, you can just cut the potato into 1/4- or 3/4 -inch pieces.
A great tip would be to refer to a picture or the presentation notes of the finished dish — most recipes show the finished version of the dish, so you can make a rough estimate of how small the pieces should be using visual cues.
Here’s an awesome video from Rajshri Food on YouTube showing a few different ways to chop potatoes like a pro.
Tomatoes and Other Vegetables
Tomatoes are easy to work with and can be coarsely chopped by cutting a whole tomato in half and then further halving the pieces.
Once you have four 1/4-inch pieces, continue chopping them into even smaller equal-sized pieces — voila, you have successfully coarsely chopped tomatoes!
You can go with an even finer chop if the recipe calls for it, but just check the presentation of the finished dish.
If you do not see any visible pieces of tomatoes in the picture, then this would mean that the tomatoes need to be cut into smaller cubes so that they can be cooked to a paste.
For other vegetables, we recommend that you follow the same techniques that we have listed above. You can use these techniques for virtually any type of vegetable!
For our visual learners, here’s another great video from Rajshri Food on YouTube showing how to process tomatoes.
Herbs (Garlic, Leafy Herbs, Etc.)
For smaller ingredients like garlic or other herbs, you can chop according to the relative size of the ingredients. You don’t have to get into the specifics of the size of the cut unless it is required for presentation purposes.
Ingredients that require a coarse chop for cooking purposes can follow any type of cutting method or size so long as they are all equal and can cook evenly.
You should only worry about the presentation when you have to coarsely chop food for recipes that retain the original shape of the ingredients, like salads.
Here’s a helpful video from Serious Eats on YouTube showing some different herb-chopping techniques.
Related Questions
Coarsely chopping ingredients can help you cook better recipes that not only taste great but are also cooked equally, without leaving behind raw pieces of food!
Now that you know what coarsely chopping is and how to use it, here are some related questions.
What Is the Difference Between “Coarsely Chopped” and “Julienne Cut”?
Coarsely chopped food is cut into smaller pieces, while a julienne cut requires the food to be cut into thin stick-like shapes.
The coarse chopping method is used for general cooking purposes, while the julienne cut is a popular cutting method used for improving the presentation of food.
Ever noticed stick-like pieces of ginger garnished over food? Well, that is a great example of a julienne cut!
Can You Coarsely Chop Food Using a Food Processor?
Yes. If you don’t want to spend time cutting food then using a food processor is a great alternative. The food processor will be able to cut the ingredients into equal-sized pieces.
Please make sure that you keep an eye on the speed and time while using the food processor — processing food for too long will just turn it into a paste!
Always start with a 3-5 second pulse and check the size of the pieces before proceeding.
Can You Coarsely Chop Meat?
Yes. Meat like bacon, chicken, and beef can be coarsely chopped as opposed to minced. The cutting method for meat will be the same, where you will be required to have equal-sized pieces of a large piece of meat.
Coarsely chopping meat will help the pieces cook evenly and adequately too.
