DollopSkill 1 of 16
Knife basics
A safe grip, a flat side down, and an onion chopped without tears of panic.
What it means
Chop
Chopping means cutting food into bite-size pieces that don’t need to be neat. Keep them roughly the same size so everything cooks evenly.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are about half an inch and roughly alike, even if none of them are pretty.
Dice
Dicing means cutting food into small, even cubes, usually a quarter to half an inch across. Pieces the same size cook at the same speed, so nothing burns while the rest catches up.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are little cubes about the size of a chickpea, and they all look close to the same.
Mince
Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Slice
Slicing means cutting food into flat pieces of about the same thickness. Even slices cook evenly, so none are raw while others burn.
How you’ll know: Lay a few side by side: they’re close to the same thickness from one end to the other.
Halve
Halving means cutting something into two equal pieces. Even halves cook at the same speed, so one doesn’t dry out while the other finishes.
How you’ll know: The two pieces look like mirror images of each other.
Dolly says: You pick this up just by making one of these dinners. I point it out in the steps when you get there.
10 dinners that teach it
Spicy tuna rice bowls
15 min
Mediterranean chickpea salad
25 min
Sheet-pan chicken fajitas
40 min
Black bean and sweet potato tacos
45 min
Chickpea and potato curry
50 min
Greek sheet-pan chicken and potatoes
55 min
Buffalo chicken rice bowls
30 min
Roasted cauliflower tacos with lime slaw
45 min
Stuffed pepper skillet
50 min
Creamy potato leek soup
55 min
More skills
Learn to cook without trying to
Dollop plans dinners that teach you something new, one skill after another, and keeps track of the skills you’ve picked up.