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7 best kitchen knives for 2024, expert tested
These are the best knife sets according to the GHI
This article was updated in March to reflect the latest prices and stock levels.
From carving up a Sunday roast to finely chopping an onion, we all know how much of a struggle cooking can be when kitchen knives are blunt, or simply not up to scratch. But with our best kitchen knives, you can enjoy easy chopping, slicing and dicing for years to come.
From classic chef’s knives to bread knives, a good quality knife set will cover all bases, so you shouldn’t find yourself having to make do without a key bit of kit at the last minute.
Some of our experts' picks are an investment, but if you're looking for a good deal, this budget set from Zyliss is as affordable as it is colourful at £33.45.
What kitchen knives should I buy?
At the GHI, our experts took to the kitchen and tested 21 different knife sets. These are the ones they recommend you invest in:
How to choose the best kitchen knives
All the sets on our list contain at least five knives, which should be ample for most home cooks. Consider the dishes you tend to cook and look for a selection of knives that will prove the most helpful. Vegetarians, for example, are unlikely to need a carving knife. However, for roast devotees, it will be essential.
And don't forget to set a budget. The knives on our list range from £33.45 to $649. You don’t need to buy the most expensive to enjoy high quality though – £200 is plenty for most kitchens.
We're here to help, too. As well as our detailed reviews of each set below, you'll find a comprehensive buying guide explaining everything from the types of knives on offer to how to care for them so they last you for years.
What are the different types of kitchen knives?
There are hundreds of different knives on the market, each with their own culinary task. Some more specialist options include parmesan knives, oyster knives and salmon knives, so it's easy to get overwhelmed. But here are the main knives to consider.
- Chef’s knife: This is a multi-purpose knife well-suited to most tasks. A chef’s knife will be thicker towards the heel, making it perfect for hard root vegetables, potatoes and meats.
- Santoku knife: The Santoku knife originated in Japan and is a general purpose knife. It has a thinner blade than a chef’s knife and is most effective when dicing, chopping and mincing.
- Paring knife: This small and nimble knife is ideal for fiddly tasks such as peeling, coring and finely slicing.
- Serrated paring knife: These knives look similar to a paring knife but they have a serrated edge. They’re great for cutting tomatoes and citrus fruits.
- Utility knife: A smaller version of a chef’s knife, it's best used when a chef’s knife is too big for the task at hand. Ideal for carving chicken breast or slicing small vegetables.
- Carving knife: Best for slicing joints of meat and poultry. Use the wrong knife and you risk shredding, tearing and hacking at the meat, rather than cutting it cleanly.
- Bread knife: Designed with a sharp serrated edge to easily cut through crusts and rusks. They’re also great for cutting fruits with fibrous skins, such as pineapples.
- Peeling knife: Similar in appearance to a paring knife but the blade curves inwards. This makes removing tough skins from fruit and vegetables much simpler.
How we test knife sets
In the lab, our experts put the main knives in each set to work on an array of ingredients, using a variety of chopping skills. To test chef’s knives, they diced onions, sliced cabbages and cut steaks, while they used utility knives to chop mushrooms, shred lettuce and julienne peppers.
For santoku knives, our experts julienned carrots, sliced cabbage and diced onions, then used a paring knife to de-seed and cut chillies, peel, slice and dice a tomato, and bone and skin a chicken thigh.
Using bread knives, they sliced a crusty loaf, cut a mound of chunky sandwiches (filled with other ingredients we’d prepared during the test) and sliced a cake. Carving knives were put through their paces on a cooked joint of ham and a roast chicken.
Finally, any serrated knives were used to slice beef tomatoes, cube aubergines and cut lemons into wedges.
After all that chopping, each knife set was hand-washed five times and checked for any damage.
These are the ones fit to take on any task in your kitchen.
Best knives to buy for 2024
You must be over 18 to buy kitchen knives
Hannah is our homes editor, specialising in reviewing the latest kitchen appliances, cleaning products, mattresses and bedding, and crafting equipment. Hannah has written about hundreds of products, from air fryers to smoothie makers to pillows, and is committed to finding the most reliable and best value for money buys.
Hannah is also interested in sustainability in the home and has completed a course with the University of the Arts London in sustainable textiles, so she can help cut through the noise on what’s green and what’s not. Hannah has an MA in Magazine Journalism and has previously worked as a freelance lifestyle and women’s sports journalist, working for Stylist, Sky Sports and more.
Hannah has also previously worked in a florist and can normally be found caring for her house plants or sewing something new for her home or wardrobe.
Megan is the Good Housekeeping Institute’s homes writer. She loves diving into the latest product releases to find the very best buys on the market. When she’s not writing about the newest gadgets and gizmos for your home and garden, you’ll find her cooking, running and exploring London’s foodie hotspots – or trying to make friends with every dog she passes. Megan has an MA in Magazine Journalism and has previously written for Stylist, Glamour, TimeOut, SquareMeal, and YOU magazine. You can find Megan on Instagram @meganlouisegeall and on X @megan_geall
Blossom is our Senior Homes Tester. Passionate about finding the best home products and appliances for our readers, she has tested everything from blenders to pizza ovens. Blossom enjoys delving into the intricacies of products and refining testing protocols for hundreds of items. Innovative items like robot vacuum cleaners and wine coolers are among her favourite tests to date, and her most notable accomplishment is toasting 360 slices of bread in a determined bid to find the best toaster. In her free time, Blossom openly admits to being a music geek and indulges her creative side through crocheting, baking, singing and writing.
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