15 best chopping boards to slice and dice meats, vegetables and more
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
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.
Buy now £27.00, Funku-chunky-furniture.com
Opinel cutting board - la grande
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.
Buy now £59.95, Whitbyandco.co.uk
JML fast thaw 4-in-1 chopping board
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.
Buy now £19.99, Jmldirect.com
Brabantia tasty+ - mixed chopping board set
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.
Buy now £24.50, Brabantia.com
Dunelm set of 3 bamboo chopping boards
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.
Buy now £20.00, Dunelm.com
Dunelm acacia board with handle
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.
Buy now £12.00, Dunelm.com
Prezzybox personalised wooden chopping board
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.
Buy now £19.99, Prezzybox.com
Lakeland Prue’s world large crushed bamboo chopping board
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.
Buy now £29.99, Lakeland.co.uk
Tog Knives the dragonfly
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.
Buy now £80.00, Togknives.com
Robert Welch oak pebble chopping board
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.
Buy now £50.00, Robertwelch.com
Harts of Slur fusion chopping board 4 pack
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.
Buy now £17.95, Hartsofstur.com
Red Candy rug cutting board
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.
Buy now £16.00, Redcandy.co.uk
Made to Last the fugitive shovel oak chopping board
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.
Buy now £29.00, Made-to-last.co.uk
Smidge slice chopping board
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.
Buy now £20.00, Wearesmidge.com
Judge granite effect cutting board
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.
Buy now £10.85, Amazon.co.uk
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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