I’ve Been a Food Writer for 20 Years, and This Genius Tool Is My Secret to Meal Prep

Anyone who knows me well knows that I live in a constant state of internal struggle when it comes to kitchen gear. On the one hand, after nearly five decades of passionate cookery, I possess all the necessary skills to create spectacular meals with minimal equipment. I do genuinely believe that with three knives, two pots, a roasting pan and a skillet, you can work gastronomic wonders of epic proportions.

At the same time, I converted a small bedroom off my kitchen, ringed it floor to ceiling with metro shelving, and packed it with every conceivable piece of cooking kit imaginable. Did I learn in Vienna how to make spaetzle with just a board and a bench scraper? I did. Do I have three different types of spaetzle makers in my arsenal? Also yes.

With over 20 years of writing about food, cooking, and equipment in a professional capacity under my belt, I am always a go-to for friends and family when it comes to which items to purchase. And there is one piece of equipment I never fail to recommend, which I use nearly daily in my own practice, and have gifted so many times I have lost count.

Kuhn Rikon Pull Chop Chopper/Manual Food Processor

This little two-cup chopper with a pull-cord mechanism has been a part of my life for about 15 years, and frankly, I have no idea how I ever lived without it.

A simple little two-blade genius from Swiss company Kuhn Rikon, the Pull Chop makes quick work of a couple cloves of garlic, a single shallot or half an onion, a handful of herbs, or a single serrano pepper. After three or four strong pulls you have a coarse chop; a few more gives you a mince, and a couple extra nearly a paste. Need a quarter cup of chopped toasted nuts? A satisfying rat-a-tat erupts like a string of baby firecrackers as you pull the string and reduce them to dust.

While it excels at these small jobs, the two-cup capacity makes it great for small batches of instant salsa, salad dressing, chimichurri, or pesto — just pop the ingredients in and give a yank. Egg salad or tuna salad for one for lunch is but a moment’s work.. A little sofrito or mirepoix for some saucework? It handles it like a champ. The blade and bowl are dishwasher-safe for easy cleanup, and the mechanism in the lid requires only a fast wash under the tap and it’s ready to go.

Obviously, if you need a perfect dice or brunoise, you are going to need to do that by hand. The Pull Chop brings efficiency, not precision. You will sometimes have to give it a shake or use a rubber spatula to scrape the sides to ensure you don’t end up with a few large uncut pieces. But when you don’t want to dirty a cutting board and get your hands covered in garlic for the sake of a quick weeknight vinaigrette, this chopper has you more than covered.

There are a lot of these on the market now, but here are the ones I use:

The Basic: Kuhn-Rikon Swiss Pull Chop 2 Cup Mini Chopper 

The original mini chopper that got me on the pull chopper train, this is the one I give as a gift more often than any other piece of kitchen equipment. It just works perfectly all the time. And it comes with a blade protector for when it isn’t in use.

The Mini: Tupperware Chop ‘N Prep 

This little beauty works terrifically well, especially for really small jobs. With just over a 1-cup capacity, it fits easily in a drawer for storage, and makes fast work of those tiny jobs like a single clove of garlic or knob of ginger.

The Splurge: Rösle Manual Multi Cutter 

If you want some bonus functionality, this beauty brings some extras that are a welcome addition to the party. It works well at chopping, and the base size and function are essentially the same as the Kuhn Rikon. But it also comes with a little whip blade for making fast whipped cream, and a spinner basket so you can dry herbs in it like a tiny salad spinner. It also comes with a lid for the bowl, which is helpful for storing salsa or the like, an extra pusher blade, and a handy spatula for getting every last morsel out of the bowl. You can even buy a second bowl and lid set for fast swap outs and double the function. 

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