Best Paring Knife

A useful list to find the best paring knife for your peeling, trimming, and other fine knifework needs.

The Paring Knife

The paring knife is the number two in the kitchen.  If the chef knife is Batman, then the paring knife is Robin.  It is much smaller, lighter, and maneuverable than the chef knife.  Therefore this kitchen knife is better suited to smaller ingredients and more delicate and controlled knifework.  Knife tasks such as peeling, cutting small ingredients, segmenting citrus, trimming, coring tomatoes, destemming, deseeding, and deveining are all in the wheelhouse of the parer.  This list will help find the best paring knife online.

Best Paring Knife

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Global Paring Knife – GS38

Global is an excellent Japanese knife manufacturer and is endorsed by some of the top professional chefs.  A global knife is always a great choice. And sleek Global paring knives are no exception.  The hollow steel handle is filled with sand to achieve optimal weight and balance.  This parer has a steel dimpled handle for added grip, which may take a little getting used to if you’ve never used a steel handle before.  This Japanese parer is a good deal and possibly the best paring knife under 50 dollars.

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Wusthof Classic Paring Knife

This Wusthof classic paring knife is one of the most solid parers out there.  It is a fairly light kitchen knife, so it will be easy to maneuver and control.  It is very reasonable at around $50 considering the value and possibly the best paring knife under 50 dollars.  If you are looking to buy chef and paring knives that are a pair, then the Wusthof classic knives are a great choice.

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MAC Pro Paring Knife PKF-30

Here is a beautiful MAC paring knife, from the Japanese knife manufacturer.  The blade is a bit shorter than the other parers on this list, and this Japanese kitchen knife is fairly light.  Notice that the profile shape of the edge is slightly flatter compared to the other paring knives on this list, similar to a sheep’s foot.  This makes it easier to use on a cutting board with an up and down cutting motion, since a flatter edge profile makes more contact with the cutting board.

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Shun Classic Paring Knife

Here is the classic paring knife from Shun, one of the most popular and prestigious Japanese knife manufacturers.  The high Rockwell rating (HRC) means that this Shun paring knife will be able to hold a very sharp edge for a long time.  It is a beautifully crafted knife with a Japanese style pakkawood handle.  The VG max core is clad with Damascus steel, leaving the beautiful Damascus pattern associated with Damascus steel knives. This Japanese pairing knife is slightly more expensive than some of the other Western pairing knives on the list, but if you want a beautiful Japanese parer the price is well worth it.

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Mercer Paring Knife Culinary Genesis

This Mercer paring knife is an outstanding value at this low price.  Mercer is headquartered in New York, and the knives are manufactured in Taiwan using German steel.  The German steel is similar quality to some of the other more highly priced knives on this list.  The black santoprene handle is comfortable and clean looking.  No frills but a very solid culinary knife at an outstanding price. This is definitely the best paring knife under 20 dollars.

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Shun Paring Knife Premier

This is an incredible Japanese paring knife from the knife manufacturer Shun.  It’s a gorgeous and impressive looking kitchen knife with the pakkawood handle and the hand-hammered finish.  This hand-hammered finish also acts to reduce drag on the blade while cutting.  The hard Japanese steel is able to retain an extremely sharp cutting edge.  It’s a bit on the pricey side, but you get everything you pay for with this high quality Japanese knife.  If you want to treat yourself, this Shun paring knife is an excellent choice.

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Zwilling JA Henckels Paring Knife Twin Star

If you can get past the long name, this is a fantastic German Henckels paring knife from Zwilling JA Henckels, the Solingen based German knife maker.  It is excellent value and holds a high rating on Amazon.  It is one of the lightest parers on this list, meaning you will have more precision and control.  Overall, an excellent Henckels paring knife that is similar in quality to many other parers on this list but at a slightly lower price.

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Victorinox Paring Knife – Swiss Classic

This Victorinox paring knife is both the lightest and least expensive knife on the list.  While it is not the best paring knife on the list, it is still high value.  If you are looking for a beautiful culinary knife to hold on to and cherish for a long time, then this parer is probably not the knife for you.  If you are looking to get a basic, budget Victorinox paring knife at the lowest price, it’s an outstanding choice.

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Tojiro DP Paring Knife – 3.5 inch

This is a beautiful Japanese paring knife from Tojiro.  With a Rockwell rating of 60 and a sharpening angle of 9-12 deg, this parer is meant to be extremely sharp and retain that sharp edge.  It is a relatively light paring knife, providing more control and maneuverability during use.  This is the only sheep’s foot paring knife on the list; notice that the cutting edge is relatively flat, causing the overall shape of the blade to resemble a sheep’s foot. This flat cutting edge is valuable when using the knife on a cutting board, since the flat edge means more contact with the cutting board.

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