13 Ways to Use Kitchen Shears

Kitchen shears on cutting board with greens and vegetables — Photo:
Getty Images

Often, you'll hear that the best and most overlooked tool in the kitchen is your hands, but we think it just might be something a little less expected. If you ask us, kitchen shears are the unsung hero of the kitchen drawer and a tool you should own if you don't already. You might think to use them to cut open a package of frozen vegetables or two, but there are so many other uses for shears. The blades are sharp enough to cut through all kinds of meat and vegetables, and they are often easier to maneuver than a more bulky kitchen knife. Ahead, we share other ways to use shears in the kitchen that make prep and cooking so much easier.

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Trim Pie Dough

If you’ve ever made a homemade pie, you know that the best part is the crust. When you’re crimping it, it’s important to roll the dough larger than the pie tin to have some excess dough hanging over the edges. To get a clean crimp, use kitchen shears to trim around the edges so you have an even amount of dough to work with.

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Peel Shrimp

Kitchen shears can be used to peel and devein shrimp for your favorite seafood recipes. Hold the shrimp in one hand and use the shears to gently snip through the shell, starting at the tail and working your way along the rounded top of each shrimp. You can also use one blade of the shears to make a shallow slit in the top of the shrimp and pull out the intestinal tract.

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Chop Canned Tomatoes

Have you ever bought whole canned tomatoes only to realize the recipe calls for chopped, diced, or crushed tomatoes? Kitchen shears to the rescue! No need to transfer the tomatoes to another container like a food processor or blender that you'll need to wash afterwards. Simply open the can, dunk the kitchen shears into the tomatoes, and start snipping.

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Spatchcock a Whole Chicken

One of our favorite ways to cook a chicken is by spatchcocking it. The method (in which you remove the backbone) helps the chicken cook more quickly and evenly than if roasting it whole. And using kitchen shears is an incredibly efficient way to do it.

Place the chicken on a cutting board, breast-side down. Use the kitchen shears to cut along both sides of the backbone to easily remove it. If you’re having trouble flattening the breastbone, use the tips of the kitchen shears to make a small snip in the exposed part of the bone. This will help ease the process along.

The backbone has a ton of flavor, so don’t throw it out! Save it to use for homemade chicken stock.

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Slice Pizza and Other Breads

Surprisingly enough, pizza wheels aren’t always the most efficient way to slice a pie. They often have trouble cutting cleanly through the crust, especially the crispy outer edges. Use kitchen shears to slice a cooked pizza into individual slices.

The same goes for tortillas. If you’re making homemade tortilla chips, stack the tortillas and slice them into even triangles. You can also use shears to slice through cheesy griddled quesadillas without the cheese spilling out. They also do wonders for a slab of focaccia.

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Slice Fresh Cheese

Fresh cheeses like mozzarella, burrata, and brie are very delicate, so they need a soft touch when slicing. You might feel like you have a little more control with kitchen shears than with a large knife. Hold the cheese in your hand and carefully slice or dice as needed.

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Chop Delicate Greens and Herbs

When you’re slicing through delicate herbs and greens with a regular knife, they tend to bruise easily. Using kitchen shears is a great way to avoid that. Easily snip through bunches of greens like spinach and kale, or use the shears to slice herbs directly over dishes like soups and salads.

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Slice Bacon and Other Cured Meats

Cutting up bacon and other cured meats like prosciutto can be a slippery endeavor. Keep the slices from sliding around on the cutting board by using kitchen shears instead. You can snip bite-sized pieces of bacon directly into a skillet or work directly over a plate or cutting board.

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Make Chopped Salad

chopped salad with bleu cheese vinaigrette — Nico Schinco

Need a quick office-friendly lunch option? Chopped salad is the way to go. Just put all of the ingredients you like–salad greens, cooked protein, fresh or cooked vegetables, cheese, herbs, nuts, and dried fruits–in a big bowl and use the kitchen shears to chop through all of the ingredients. Cutting up everything together helps incorporate the ingredients so that each bite has a little bit of everything. After that, add your favorite salad dressing and give it another toss.

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Fry Churros

When making homemade churros, you pipe choux batter from a piping bag directly into hot oil. There’s an easy way to get evenly-sized churros every time. Pipe the batter over the oil and snip the batter at the tip using your kitchen shears.

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Trim Ends of Vegetables

Here's another task where kitchen shears beat a knife: It’s easy to trim fresh vegetables like green beans, asparagus, and scallions using kitchen shears. Grip a handful in one hand and use the shears to snip off and discard the ends.

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Chop Small Fruits

This trick is perfect for picky eaters. Kids are much more likely to enjoy their fruit salad if it's in bite-sized pieces. You can use kitchen shears to chop up fruits like bananas, berries, and grapes to add to the little ones’ bowls.

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Open Jars and Wine Bottles

If your kitchen shears have teeth between the handles, those can be used to open pesky jars and twist-style wine bottles that won't budge. Grip the lid or top of whatever you're opening between the serrated teeth and twist.

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