Ina Garten Just Shared How to Properly Cut a Tomato—Plus the Best Knife to Use for the Task

When we hear Ina Garten start a video with, “People ask me all the time,” that’s our immediate cue to buckle in for some great tips. 

In her Instagram series “Ask Ina,” the Barefoot Contessa herself takes some time to answer her audience’s most burning questions about everything kitchen-related. Garten said in a recent reel that people are asking “what kind of knives they should get.” Not only did the Food Network personality share the four knives everyone needs in their kitchens, but she also demonstrated her tips for slicing softer foods like bread and tomatoes that might just help cut down your time in the kitchen.

“The most important tool every home cook should have is a great set of knives,” Garton claimed, sharing that she finds a chef’s knife, slicing knife, bread (or serrated) knife and paring knife to be particularly useful. “If you have those four, you can do almost anything.” We couldn’t agree more, and while it’s not a knife, we think adding a pair of handy kitchen shears to your collection makes spatchcocking a chicken and snipping herbs a breeze, too. 

Garten goes on to demonstrate some key knife skills using a couple of her favorites, specifically the serrated knife. Unlike other knives, a serrated knife has a sawlike blade that can cut through softer foods like bread, cake and delicate fruits and vegetables. Specifically, it’s the best knife for cutting tomatoes.

How to Slice a Tomato Like Ina Garten

Garten went on to demonstrate how to cut a tomato into clean half circles, which we think would look perfect on our Ricotta-Tomato Toast. To replicate her method, set the tomato stem-side-up on your cutting board. She used a small serrated knife to cut out the core, but you could use a paring knife or serrated steak knife instead. 

Next, turn the tomato halves cut-side-down. This gives you a flat and stable surface to work with. From there, slice the tomato into half moons—the thickness is up to you. See? Easy-peasy! This technique applies to other round food items, too. Whether you want to cut an orange or a round loaf of bread, you can do it in these two simple steps.

Of course, the serrated knife isn’t best for every type of food. Use a chef’s knife when slicing ingredients like onions or to cut up chicken wings. Or, take out the slicing knife to carve a chicken like a pro and the paring knife for dicing fruit like peaches. 

If you’re wondering which brand of knives to buy, Garten’s got you covered there, too. She wrote in her caption that she trusts Wüstof Classic knives to “last a lifetime,” and we’re on board for that kind of statement. After we tested knife block sets ourselves, Wüstof was one of our top picks, too.

If you don’t want an entire knife block set, it could be a good idea to just start with Garten’s four essentials. Or, look at our picks for the best chef’s knives, since a chef’s knife can take care of nearly any task that requires cutting in your kitchen.

Up next: 14 Must-Have Kitchen Tools for Every Home Cook