The Vegetable Chopper Hack That Makes Salads A Breeze

A manual vegetable chopper that comes with its own container is perfect for those lazy days when dicing an onion feels like an arduous task. Simply lift the lever mechanism, place your vegetable on the cutting grates and press the lever back down with a little force to create cubed potatoes, zucchinis, and carrots, that land neatly in the catcher beneath. However, this nifty gadget is also awesome for making the breeziest salads. Why? Because you can prep, dress, and eat your chicken Caesar, cobb, or Waldorf salad in the same receptacle, making it a low-effort one-dish meal that doesn't sacrifice on flavor and texture.

Aside from being hugely time-saving, the biggest perk of using a vegetable chopper is that every ingredient you prep will be the same size so you can pretty much grab anything from the fridge to create an inviting salad that looks like you've labored over it. From fresh produce like cucumber and salad leaves, to pre-cooked protein, such as chicken breast and hardboiled eggs, every element of your salad will have an identical diameter and shape. This will allow a little bit of everything to fit on each forkful. The uniform size of the veggies also means your dressing can be evenly distributed, resulting in a fully flavorful dish. Anything that doesn't need chopping, such as canned beans, jalapenos, or microgreens, can be tumbled over your salad at the end and tossed through, along with crunchy add-ins, like pitta chips and croutons.

Many vegetable choppers come with a lid, which is super useful because you can put any leftover vegetables directly into the fridge without getting another container dirty. However, the lid is also perfect for helping to shake up a salad after drizzling on a dressing — you won't need to use salad servers or your hands to toss your veggies together, resulting in less clean-up. A lidded collection tray is also easy to transport and you can eat your salad straight from the container without getting extra bowls dirty. A key storage tip to prevent your salad from getting soggy if you want to prep it in advance is to place the vinaigrette at the bottom of your container, layer your hardy vegetables on top, and purposefully wait to toss it moments before you're ready to eat.

Some vegetable choppers have interchangeable blades that you can slot in as desired to create julienned veggie and even zoodles so it's worth investing in one if you want to make unique salads that have different textures and shapes. While you may need to halve larger ingredients, like red onions, to get them to fit on the cutting grates, the process is still speedier and safer than dicing by hand because of the protective elements incorporated into their designs.