The Best Kitchen Knives of 2026

J.A. Henckels is one of the most recognizable names in the knife making industry, so it’s not surprising that this knife rose to the top of our list. The Henckels Zwilling Pro is a serious workhorse, pulling ahead of the pack in nearly every one of our tests and earning the top spot as Best Overall Chef’s Knife.

This high-carbon steel German knife weighs in at 9.5 ounces, making it one of the heftier knives we tested. The weight gave it the strength to handle the heavy-duty tasks we threw at it, cutting through butternut squash with ease. A heavier knife can be less adept at precise cuts, but the Zwilling Pro has a super sharp edge that sliced up a tomato without issue. The design of the wide, tapered bolster made this knife easy to grip and seriously comfortable to use.

Overall, this is a really solid, well-balanced blade with excellent control, allowing you to confidently work through large cuts with precision and comfort. It's a perfect starter knife for beginners and would make a great addition to any pro’s knife collection.

Read our full report on the best chef's knives.

The Wüsthof Classic 3.5-inch High Carbon Steel Paring Knife is on the high end of knives we tested (coming in just under $100), but it’s completely worth it.

It immediately pulls away from the pack with its perfectly balanced handle and streamlined design. It has great maneuverability and a high level of control. When the sharp blade made quick work of every task we threw at it (including a perfect apple peel and beautiful orange segments), we knew it was a shoo-in for our top paring knife.

Read our full report on the best paring knives.

To be honest, we were a bit wary of people who bought the Shun DM0705 Classic 9-Inch Bread Knife. “You spent how much money on a knife that you can’t sharpen?” As it turns out, the joke’s on us: This knife is a joy to use, absolutely acing our tests and earning an unprecedented perfect score.

It slices through crusty baguettes like butter and soft bread falls into perfect slices on the cutting board. The blade moves effortlessly through tomatoes, barely requiring any sawing motion at all. In addition to a high-performing, ultra-sharp blade, this knife is also completely gorgeous with a Damascus finish and an ebony PakkaWood handle. It might cost a pretty penny, but Shun also has a reputation for creating blades with super-sharp edges that stay that way for years.

Read our full report on the best serrated bread knives.

We knew very early on in testing that the Wüsthof Classic 5-Inch Flexible Boning Knife would be a favorite. It's incredibly sharp and the blade is just flexible enough to weave around chicken joints with ease.

Of all the knives we tested, this one got closest to the bone, sacrificing the least amount of usable meat as we carved. The thin blade can expertly remove the skin without creating any jagged edges. If you’re looking to buy one knife that can work with meat, poultry, and fish, you definitely can't go wrong with this one.

Read our full report on the best boning and fillet knives.

* To earn our top ranking for knife sets, we were looking for a set that had it all: Knives with sharp edges, comfortable handles, and sets that include the right types of knives for a starter kitchen, all available for a great value with a promise of longevity. We’re not asking for too much, right?

Apparently not, because the Misen Essentials 7-Piece Knife Set has it all. This set has everything you need, is comfortable to use, and won’t break the bank.

In addition to the basics—the chef’s knife, paring knife, and bread knife—this 7-piece set also includes a santoku knife that’s perfect for chopping vegetables and a utility knife that’s great for smaller tasks like cheese, apples, and shallots. Plus, there are kitchen shears for cutting herbs and poultry, and a beautiful walnut storage block that'll make you want to show it off.

Each knife features a sloped bolster—which is great for easy handling—and is crafted with high-carbon stainless steel that's lightweight and designed to stay sharper, longer. And this is a set that's great for cooking beginners: Misen provides instructions with every knife for how to properly hold, use, and care for it.

But that doesn't mean this set isn't suited for experienced cooks, too. These are high-quality knives that are thoughtfully designed for comfortable, extended use and sharp enough to tackle heavy-duty tasks.

Read our full report on the best knife sets.

It's easy to like the Mercer Culinary Genesis 6-Piece Forged Knife Block Set with Tempered Glass Block. The set provides the essential knives plus a bonus boning knife, although it's one of the few that didn’t include a honing steel or shears.

In the end, we found it hard to complain considering you’ll receive five knives with incredible sharpness out of the box that performed as well as sets three times its price. In addition to the sharp blades, each knife has a great balance and we love the grip of the handles. To top the cake, the serrated knife is one of our favorites in the group.

After testing the knives, we can see why the Mercer brand is the common supplier of culinary school knife kits. Because of its performance and low price, it's easy to choose the Mercer Culinary Genesis as our Best Value pick.

This set includes five knives (an 8-inch chef’s knife, a 3.5-inch paring knife, an 8-inch serrated bread knife, a 5-inch utility knife, and a 6-inch boning knife) which are stored upright in a thin, glass case.

Read our full report on the best knife sets under $200.

As soon as we held the OXO Good Grips Kitchen And Herb Scissors, we knew they would be a contender for the top of our list. They were so comfortable, we felt like we could use them all day long without fatiguing our hands.

The finger bows on the handles are both wide and long enough for small and larger hands, and there's no uncomfortable pressure from the handles as we worked with them. The thick, squishy pads on the inside of the handles cushioned our hands and kept them from slipping as we worked (even when oiled up with cooking oil).

It wasn’t just the handles that vaulted the OXO to the top of our list; these shears are well designed all the way around. They never accidentally came apart as we used them, but it was simple to detach one blade from the other for easy cleaning.

When it came to performance, we had no complaints. The razor-sharp shears have one micro-serrated blade that grips onto slippery food like raw chicken, while the other blade slices through the product with ease. As far as other materials go, the OXO had no problems chomping through cardboard, hard plastic clamshells, and twist ties, and it cut through delicate items like herbs and kitchen twine cleanly without creating torn edges.

The OXO is a solid pair of shears that gets the job done—no matter the material—and they’re available for a value price. What more can you ask for?

Read our full report on the best kitchen shears.