Learn Just What Minced Looks Like

The next time a recipe calls for minced garlic or chiles, this is exactly how you want to use your knife to produce that cut. Here’s what minced ingredients should look like and why recipes call for them.

The smallest of the knife cuts, mincing refers to ingredients that have been cut into very fine pieces of similar size. This is a smaller cut than foods that are chopped or diced.

Minced ingredients, commonly garlic, ginger, shallots, and chiles, are used in recipes to infuse flavor throughout the dish. This type of cut is called for because the small size allows it to work itself evenly into the other ingredients, with the texture nearly disappearing. Minced ingredients are frequently called for in dressings, sauces, dips, and garnishes.

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This series will help you sharpen up your knife skills by using your eyes as the guide. It walks you through the most common ways to cut ingredients —detailing what each cut looks like, what sets it apart, and how it’s used in recipes.