Best Nakiri Knife in 2023

When it comes to successful cooking, it’s as much about the utensils you’re using as it is about your own skills. The utensils can make or break a kitchen, with poor quality tools making cooking difficult and time-consuming.

This is especially true when it comes to knives, with cooks wanting knives that offer the right sharpness, strength, and comfort to make cutting a breeze.

However, what knives are going to be the best for cutting vegetables?

There are countless different types of knife that are designed specifically for cutting vegetables, and the Japanese-style Nakiri knife is one of the very best.

Put simply Nakiri (or Nakiri bocho) knives offer a straight and symmetrical blade that makes easy work of dicing, chopping, and slicing vegetables in a short amount of time.

They’re primarily used for vegetables and herbs, meaning that they’re not the best knife to use for cutting meat – and you should certainly not use them on meat bones.

Since the Nakiri knife is so useful, there are loads of different models available on the market. This means that it can often be difficult to narrow down all the options and find the Nakiri that’s going to be best for you. So what can you do?

We’ve got the answers for you! In our detailed guide below, we’ve rounded up a list of the best Nakiri knives, along with a breakdown of what makes each one such a great choice.

In addition to that, we’ve got a Nakiri knife Buyer’s Guide to help make your purchase even easier. Your vegetable-cutting will be simple in no time!

Best Nakiri Knife in 2023

Paudin Nakiri Knife 7 Inch

First on our list is this 7 inch Nakiri knife from Paudin, which comes at an affordable price and offers an ultra sharp blade. It’s made with high quality materials and design, and it’s comfortable to use too.

You can buy one from Amazon here.

Why Should You Buy It?

There’s a great deal of quality and care put into making this Nakiri knife, making it a great pick for you.

For a start, the blade is made from stainless steel, one of the best materials for knives. This is because it’s resistant to humidity and water, meaning that your knife shouldn’t degrade over time and force you to buy a new one.

However, Paudin also invests their steel with high carbon, which helps to make the blade much harder and tougher, which also helps to keep it durable and long-lasting.

Of course, the hardness of the material helps to make the blade extra sharp. This means that it makes quick, clean work of your vegetables and herbs, slicing them through quickly with little effort from you.

This is also helped by the fact that the blade has been designed to have a 15 degree cutting edge, which ensures sharpness too.

On top of that, this Nakiri knife is also comfortable to use. Part of the reason for this is its handle, which is made from soft Pakkawood and gives you a comfortable grip.

This is essential to a good cutting job, because it means that you won’t be fatigued quickly and have to stop. Additionally, a pained user will lack precision, and perhaps even risk their safety.

The comfort and ease that you’ll feel when using this Paudin Nakiri knife is also due to the ergonomic design, which perfectly balances the handles and the blade at the pinch point, allowing for easy and nimble movement.

Shan Zu Professional Nakiri Knife 6.5 Inch

Next on our list is a more expensive option, but one that justifies its bigger price tag with its extreme quality and design.

This Nakiri knife from Shan Zu offers strength, durability, and a great level of balance and leverage, which all make it a fantastic pick for cutting your vegetables with. You can buy one from Amazon here.

Why Should You Buy It?

One of the key reasons that this is a great Nakiri knife to buy is that the blade is made out of Damascus stainless steel.

While regular stainless steel is great for knives, Damascus stainless steel is one of the highest quality materials you can have for a blade, and this one uses 67 layers for it.

Damascus steel knives are far harder than knives made from other steel, meaning that this Nakiri knife is both stronger and more long-lasting than a lot of the competition.

In terms of that durability, the special steel offers fantastic resistance to corrosion and rust, meaning that you won’t have to buy a replacement any time soon.

The blade also offers supreme sharpness, with its edges specifically designed to be at certain angles on each side that will allow the blade to be thinner and sharper.

This means that the knife will be able to cut through your food with extreme ease, taking less time and much less of your personal effort.

Speaking of food, this Nakiri knife doesn’t just have to be used for vegetables either.

This is one of the Nakiri knives that you can happily use with other foods, cutting fruit, fish, and meat with ease – just make sure not to try cutting any meat bone.

Better yet, you’ll be comfortable when cutting these things, thanks to the ergonomic design of the handle. The handle is specially designed to sit comfortably in your hand, allowing you great levels of grip and control while you’re cutting.

This reduces hand fatigue, allowing you to cut for longer – and cut at a good quality for longer.

On the topic of high quality cutting, this Nakiri knife has full tang. If you don’t know, tang is the back part of a blade and is all about creating balance within the knife, because without tang only the handle would be able to make up for the blade’s weight.

This means that “full tang” is the highest level of tang, distributing the knife’s weight perfectly so that it has better balance and leverage.

These two factors are very important, because they make using the knife a lot easier and more precise.

This will make slicing a dream, and the extra wide blade also helps with dexterity, allowing you to move and cut with ease.

Dalstrong Nakiri Knife 7 Inch

Next on our list is this 7 inch Nakiri knife from Dalstrong, which uses premium materials and offers razor sharpness and important comfort. It’s also full tang, which has plenty of benefits.

You can buy one from Amazon here.

Why Should You Buy It?

For a start, this Nakiri knife has an impressive amount of hardness to it, measuring 56+ on the Rockwell scale.

This number is reserved for knives that are used in professional kitchens, and it means that it should keep sharp for longer (though be quite hard to sharpen).

Additionally, the knife has been specially tapered to build on that level of hardness, as well as offer flexibility when using it too. It also helps reduce the amount of resistance when you’re slicing, giving you a much easier experience.

In terms of sharpness, there’s a 16 to 18 degrees angle on each side, ensuring that the blade is very sharp and will cut through your vegetables with ease and speed.

It’s also sharpened with the special Honbazuke method, which uses 3 steps to sharpen it in different ways.

As for comfort, the spine is polished to ensure that it’s comfortable regardless of which grip you’re using.

It’s a relatively expensive Nakiri knife, admittedly, but it’s worth the money if you can afford it.

Findking Nakiri Knife 7 Inches

Our next best Nakiri knife is this terrific and affordable option from Findking, which has impressive toughness and is comfortable to use.

You can buy one from Amazon here.

Why Should You Buy It?

For a start, this Nakiri knife’s blade is made from an alloy and has a level of hardness akin to what professionals would use. This means that the blade is strong and will keep its sharpness for longer, so you don’t have to maintain it quite as much.

Speaking of its sharpness, the blade will make simple work of a variety of different food types, because you don’t have to just use it with vegetables. In addition to them, you can use this Nakiri knife for fish, meat, and fruit.

However, make sure not to use the knife on both meat bones and frozen foods. If you use it on frozen products, then it could damage the edge of the knife.

Findking have also put a lot of effort into carefully calibrating the balance and weight of the knife, with the balance point running from heel to spine.

The weighting goes towards the blade, making it more efficient for you to make a rock chopping motion. Additionally, the balancing of the knife makes using it far more comfortable, which is essential with a knife.

With added comfort, you’ll be able to cut for longer without feeling fatigue, and your cutting will be more precise and careful.

The level of comfort that Findking’s Nakiri knife offers is helped by the rosewood handle, which is specially designed to be a pleasure to hold.

On top of that, it’s also designed to be very stable, allowing you to manipulate the blade precisely and easily, giving you effective cuts.

Shun Nakiri Knife 6.5 Inches

Our next recommendation is the Shun Nakiri knife, which is a highly professional bit of equipment. With that being said, it’s one of the most expensive Nakiri knives you’re going to find, with a high price tag.

It costs a lot for a reason, and we’ll explain why below, but we understand that this isn’t going to be within everybody’s price range. You can buy one from Amazon here.

Why Should You Buy It?

Shun is a brand that’s notorious for some of the highest quality knives out there, and as a result their products cost a lot.

The company gets its name from a Japanese concept about peak food, and that concept has been carried over into the utensils that prepare that food. Naturally, that means that the utensils are going to be made out of peak, ultra-premium materials.

One of these high quality materials is Damascus stainless steel, which is used to make the blade for this Nakiri knife.

We’ve covered Damascus steel already in this article, explaining how it’s one of the very best materials for knives, and this product uses 68 layers of the steel.

This helps to make it extra sharp and strong, as well as very durable because it’s more resistant to stains and corrosions. This means that you won’t be needing to replace the knife any time soon, because it should wear very slowly – if at all.

The handle of the knife is also made of very fine material, being constructed out of Pakkawood. This type of wood is extremely durable and waterproof, meaning that the handle shouldn’t wear down either, and it also doesn’t harbor bacteria.

Additionally, the handle has been specially designed and shaped to be extremely comfortable. It’s D-shaped and should be a joy to hold, allowing you to cut for longer.

Tuo Nakiri Knife 6.5 Inches

The final entry of our list of the best Nakiri knives is this product from Tuo, which is one of the cheapest and most affordable Nakiri knives out there. If you worry that this means it’ll be lacking in quality, though, there’s no need!

Despite the low price tag, you’ll find that this knife is designed for comfort and sharp slicing. You can buy one on Amazon here.

Why Should You Buy It?

The low, very affordable cost is admittedly a big draw for buying this Nakiri knife. It offers impressive quality from a trusted brand. But what kind of quality?

Well, the blade is made from a high-carbon stainless steel that’s heat treated in order to reach 56 on the Rockwell scale.

As you know by now, this is a professional level of toughness, meaning that this is a knife that has some resistance to various stresses.

However, the fact that it’s stainless steel also means that it’s going to be resistant to water and humidity, making the knife more durable and long-lasting.

Better yet, the knife handle is full tang, which means that it’s brilliantly balanced.

Considering the low price point, the fact that this Nakiri knife is full tang is impressive, and that improved balance and leverage will make using it much easier and safer to use.

Buyers’ Guide

There are a few key factors that you will want to keep in mind when you’re picking out the best Nakiri knife for you and your uses, and you’ll have noticed a lot of these qualities repeatedly appearing throughout our article.

In order to make your buying experience easier, we’ve rounded up the key areas to focus on when shopping for your new Nakiri knife.

Use

Nakiri knives are primarily used for cutting, chopping, and slicing vegetables, but you will have noticed that a few in our list could be used on other types of food. For example, some of our Nakiri knives could be used on fish, fruit, and meat as well.

If you want to be cutting these kinds of things, as well as vegetables, you should make sure that the Nakiri knife you’re buying is capable of cutting such things.

With that being said, be reasonable with what you cut! Don’t cut meat bones, frozen products, or really strong meats.

Full Tang

It’s best to pick a Nakiri knife that’s full tang. This term is all to do with the weight distribution of the knife, and full tang knives have better balance and leverage. This makes the knife easier to use, as well as making it much safer to work with.

Blade Material

All of the Nakiri knives on our list have their blades made out of stainless steel, but they vary in either being regular stainless steel or Damascus stainless steel.

Damascus stainless steel is used in the more expensive knives, because it’s an even better material.

Additionally, you’ll want to get a Nakiri knife whose stainless steel is high-carbon, it’s more resistant to wear and will keep the blade sharper for longer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Thoughts

Nakiri knives excel at preparing vegetables – find the best Nakiri knife with our handy list!