Our pick
With its super-sharp edge, sleek, tapered shape, and comfortable handle, this knife makes your everyday dicing and slicing tasks smoother and quicker.
Selecting a chef’s knife has a lot to do with personal preference, but we’re confident that the Mac MTH-80 is one of the most widely appealing knives available. Its razor-sharp edge, comfortable handle, and agile blade make chopping tasks much easier, which in turn cuts down on meal-prep time. And the MTH-80’s excellent edge retention means that, with proper care, it will stay sharp for a long time.
Runner-up
This extremely sharp Japanese knife is one of the best deals we’ve found in cutlery. But it has a slightly less durable blade, and the handle doesn’t provide as much knuckle clearance.
If you want to spend less than $100—or you’d just like to add a Japanese gyuto knife to your collection—the Tojiro F-808 is an excellent choice. Thanks to its sharp edge, hard steel, quality construction, and affordable price, this model is one of the best values in Japanese-made knives. The flat belly curve makes the F-808 ideal for fine cuts and paper-thin slices of vegetables and meat.
The Tojiro knife is thinner and more brittle than our top pick, so it’s not suitable for hacking through thick dense vegetables like butternut squash. Although we really like the F-808, it needs a little more TLC than the Mac MTH-80.
Also great
This classic German knife is best if you prefer a heftier model for heavy-duty tasks. Its blade is softer than that of our top pick, so you need to sharpen it more frequently.
If you’re accustomed to the feel of a heavier German knife, the Wüsthof Classic Ikon 8-Inch Chef’s Knife is sharp and sturdy. Compared with the other forged German knives we tested, its thinner blade cut more smoothly through all the veggies we chopped. We liked how easily it maneuvered around curves when cutting away butternut squash skin and citrus rinds.
Budget pick
This knife is comfortable to use, durable, and pretty sharp. It’s by far the best knife you can buy for around $60.
The Victorinox Swiss Classic Chef’s Knife 8-Inch is the best knife you can buy for about $60. It’s a favorite of budget-conscious home cooks, and it has an ergonomically shaped plastic handle that appeals to most people. The factory edge isn’t as sharp as that of our other picks, so in our tests it left us with slightly split carrots. However, it did let us cut a butternut squash clean in half. Testers preferred the Victorinox knife for its maneuverability and comfortable feel, compared with the other budget knives we tried.
