The 4 Best Nakiri Knives, According to My Tests

My Favorite Nakiri Knife

The Made In Japanese Damascus Steel Nakiri topped my tests with its perfect weight balance, precision, and power. It’s a multipurpose tool for all kinds of fruits and vegetables, along with meats. For another great blade with a more unusual look, try the Messemeister Oliva Elite Nakiri. It feels wonderful to hold and offers a unique pointed tip for extra versatility.

How I Tested Nakiri Knives

Based on extensive research and results from nakiris included in our other knife tests, I chose 12 models to put through their paces side-by-side. I evaluated each one’s general design, weight, balance, and feeling in my hand before performing a series of specific evaluations.

• Bell Pepper Test: Nakiris and other vegetable-specific knives often have the most trouble with tough pepper and tomato skins. To test this, I used each nakiri to slice, seed, and chop a red bell pepper. I evaluated how easily it broke trough the skin, whether any pieces didn’t sever completely, and if I had any trouble keeping the size even.
• Chicken Test: To test the nakiris’ versatility and ability to cut soft, dense ingredients, I used each one to slice raw chicken breast. I noted how much force and how many strokes were needed, and I also attempted to make one slice as thin as possible to evaluate precision.
• Cleaning: In between tests, I hand-washed and dried the nakiris, noting any that needed extra scrubbing or whose handle rivets and joints held on to bits of food. I also looked for any discoloration or rust that showed up during test washes.
• Everyday Use: After completing the pepper and chicken tests, I used the nakiris in my general daily cooking, for things like chopping onions and garlic as well as to prep fruits and vegetables of many kinds. I took note of performance, and any additional issues I encountered in longer-term use.

After rating the nakiris in all the other categories, I revealed their retail prices to consider value. At the time of testing, the prices ranged from $95 to $269, with an average of $162.

Factors to Consider

Blade Material

Steel is far and away the most common material for kitchen knives (and the best nakiri knives), but different types of steel make for different characteristics in the finished blade. Carbon steel is harder than normal thanks to a high proportion of carbon. It’s great for knives because it can take a very fine edge and hold it a long time, but it’s prone to chipping on impact, and it’s vulnerable to rust if you don’t keep it assiduously dry. Stainless steel adds chromium to standard steel to make it more rust-resistant, but it’s softer and can’t hold as good of an edge for as long.

Handle Shape and Material

Even the sharpest knife isn’t very useful if it’s awkward to hold or twists in your hand. The best nakiri knife handle shape for you is largely up to personal preference, but it’s good to avoid either extreme: uncomfortable squared-off corners and slippery perfectly round shapes.

The handle material is important, too. Smooth, hard plastic or resin-based materials like Pakkawood make a durable, easy-to-clean handle that can be slippery when wet. Unfinished wood is easy to grip but can deteriorate over cycles of washing and drying.

Weight and Balance

The nakiri knives I tested varied by a few ounces in weight, which made a surprising difference in how they felt in my hand. A lighter knife is more maneuverable and gives you more agility, while a heavier one has more power and needs less effort to get through large or dense items.

But just as important as overall weight is weight balance. The knife shouldn’t feel like it’s tilting strongly backward or forward as you hold it. With the best nakiri knives specifically, I found that a slight — but only slight — balance toward the blade was helpful with heavier-duty ingredients.

Other Nakiri Knives I Tested

Strong Contenders

Global 7″ Vegetable Knife ($125 at Amazon)

Global’s all-steel option came very close to making my list of best nakiri knives, but it had a bit more trouble with chicken than the best overall Made In and costs a bit more than the best value Hitohira. It still has a solid price and is an excellent knife.

Mac Knife Japanese Series Vegetable Cleaver ($95 at Amazon)

This was the single least expensive nakiri I tested, and it still did…okay. It needed some back-and-forth sawing to get through chicken and stuck a bit on the pepper, but it did a better-than-average job for half the price of my top pick.

Shun Classic Hollow-Ground Nakiri Knife ($175 at Williams Sonoma)

I’m a big fan of the Shun brand, and its nakiri was extremely sharp, right up there with the winners in cutting performance. I didn’t like this knife’s handle, which is slicker and thicker than a typical Shun and less comfortable to hold.

Tojiro DP Damascus Nakiri Knife ($153 at Williams Sonoma)

The Tojiro nakiri is similar in shape and feel to the Masamoto above, but it wasn’t quite as sharp in testing. Chicken also stuck to the blade pretty badly. It’s just about average in price; you might be better off paying up for a fancier model or trading down to a cheaper one.

What Didn’t Make the List

Sharpness was really the issue with the remaining nakiris in my test. They were all able to cut through everything, but they did so less evenly and with more effort required. None was particularly terrible, but none stood out from the rest, either. These models were from Miyabi, Wüsthof, Yoshihiro, and Zwilling, all brands that have done well in tests with other types of knives.

Our Expertise

Food & Wine senior writer Jason Horn wrote this roundup after testing 12 models of nakiri knife at home. Our resident knife expert, he’s also tested oyster knives, butcher knives, and more. He has a culinary degree and a master’s in journalism, and has been writing about food and drinks for nearly 20 years.