15 best chopping boards to slice and dice meats, vegetables and more

Best: Overall

Rating: 10/10

We absolutely loved this beautiful board, which is made from mango wood – a great ethical option, due to the fact that these trees are only cut down once they’ve stopped producing fruit, thereby providing farmers with additional income. Although it needs to be handled with care – it’s handwash only – it feels incredibly rugged, and its dual-sided design, with a more decorative styling on one side, allowed us to use it as both a chopping board and a cheeseboard.

Best: For practicality

Rating: 9/10

Barring the fact that it can’t be placed in the dishwasher, this is one of the most practical chopping boards you’ll come across – a generously sized slab of beechwood that can be used to slice and dice everything from meat to vegetables. We loved the indent at one end – we scraped seeds and pips into it when cutting items such as peppers – and the deep groove around the edge did a fantastic job of containing the juices from our roast ham.

Best: For versatility

Rating: 9/10

One of the most stylish plastic chopping boards we’ve come across, this grey and yellow board does it all – there’s a grating area (it’s small, but ideal for tasks such as spice and pith grating) and a built-in steel knife sharpener, and one side is a chopping board, while the other can be used as a defrosting surface, thanks to it being designed with thermal conductivity in mind. In a nutshell, it helps draw out the cold from your food, defrosting it up to three times quicker. The board is also incredibly tough – it’s dishwasher proof and a wraparound rubber edge ensures it stays put.

Best: For style

Rating: 9/10

It turns out Brabantia doesn’t just make brilliant bins, but fantastic chopping boards, too. This clever three-in-one set includes three boards, all of which can be used on both sides. All of the boards have generous strips of rubber at both ends to ensure they stay put, and we loved the way they slot together for easy storage. We also liked the colour coordination. No, it won’t make your roasts taste better or supercharge your slicing and dicing skills, but we loved the splash of pastel green. The impressive five-year guarantee was an unexpected bonus, too.

Best: For a modern look

Rating: 9/10

Who knew that chopping boards could be a thing of beauty? This hattrick of options came tied with a ribbon, making it a brilliant gifting option for wannabe Nigella Lawsons. The set includes a small, medium and large board, intended (as stated by the engraved description in the corner of each) for vegetables, meat and fruit. We loved the smooth finish of the wood – they’re incredibly tactile – as well as the sealed finishes around the edges.

Best: For elegance

Rating: 8/10

If only more boards looked like this: an elegant slice of honey-coloured acacia, complete with a generously sized handle and a hanging loop. This reversible chopping board is another one that isn’t just at home in the kitchen, but in the centre of the table, too – this is a board you’ll want to show off. Our only gripe is that we’d love to have seen a slightly larger hanging hole, but it’s a minor complaint about something that looks incredibly stylish and has a fabulously smooth feel.

Best: For personalisation

Rating: 9/10

We’re a sucker for a bit of personalisation, although the option to engrave this board with a name or message (there’s room for up to 30 characters) isn’t the only reason we loved it – we enjoyed the deep grooves around the edge and its reversible design (one side is totally flat) too. It’s made of beechwood and has an almost honey-like hue, although bear in mind that it’s a handwash-only board.

Best: Large chopping board

Rating: 9/10

Sadly, this supersized example won’t necessarily give you the culinary skills of Prue Leith, but it will give your kitchen a serious style upgrade. Made of crushed bamboo and with a generously sized handle, this beautiful board has a stunning striped design that reminds us of tiger bread. It’s incredibly tough, and although we were sceptical about the scratch-resistant claims, after a seriously heavy-duty chopping session it still looked as good as new. Crushed bamboo is incredibly strong, but to ramp up the ruggedness, this particular board is strand woven, which gives it extra strength and is the reason for its beautiful striped surface.

Best: For gifting

Rating: 9/10

This is a beautiful board which makes the perfect present – an extra-long butchers’ block-style board with a deliciously dark brown colour. Its size – it measures 36cm x 25cm x 2cm and weighs 956g – means it’s agile enough to stow away in seconds, but big enough to work as a board for larger items. Four rubber feet on the underside keep it firmly in place while minimising the risk of damage to delicate surfaces, and its ultra-smooth surface makes it easy to scrape items such as chopped vegetables into saucepans.

Best: For a natural look

Rating: 8/10

This curvaceous, minimalistic chopping board looks more like a sculpture, with a tapered end and undulating edges. Despite the unusual design, its thin profile and low weight mean it stows away easily, and it’s another board that feels incredibly tactile, with a smooth, even surface aided by the oiled finish.

Best: For simplicity

Rating: 7/10

As much as we love a beautiful chopping board, we’re big fans of practicality too, and there’s no shortage of that with this four-pack of colour-coded options to help minimise the risk of cross-contamination. The boards, which come in varying shades of grey, have large integrated handles and a slimline design that ensures they tidy away effortlessly.

Best: For fun

Rating: 8/10

Glass chopping boards are usually plain affairs, but not so with this one, which has been designed to resemble a Persian rug. Four rubber feet guarantee it stays put, and we loved the grippy textured surface, which meant we could chop the slipperiest of fruit and vegetables without worrying that they’d make a break for freedom – something which has resulted in more than a few nasty cuts in the past. This chopping board is currently out of stock, but we hope to see it return shortly.

Best: For ruggedness

Rating: 8/10

Purchase this board and you won’t just be investing in a fantastic kitchen accessory, but investing in people, too – they are made by inmates in a Hertfordshire prison, as part of a scheme to help them develop new skills which they’ll be able to use when they’re released. We love the board’s design – a fat, square-shaped slab of oak with a large handle and hanging loop, and a bold, golden grain courtesy of the English oak.

Best: For sustainability

Rating: 9/10

We were somewhat sceptical when we learned that this board was made from salvaged paper, but hi-tech manufacturing techniques have allowed said material to be transformed into a tough chopping board which won’t just stand the test of time, but which will be kinder to your knives, too (a major bonus given our prized collection). The board, which feels incredibly tough and has a sealed, slightly shiny finish, can be placed in the dishwasher. We also loved the rubber corners, which did a much better job of ensuring it stayed put than some of the rubber feet we came across.

Best: For value

Rating: 7/10

A cheap and cheerful chopping board that looks as though it’s made from granite, but which is actually made from hardwearing plastic, this kitchen essential is incredibly light and has deep reservoirs which quickly drain away juices. Despite its durability, it’s incredibly thin, and will stash easily into the smallest of spaces.