If you watched television in the aughts, you've probably seen the iconic Slap Chop commercial. The apron-clad salesman, known simply as Vince, provides a rapid fire explanation of a miracle kitchen tool that can cut nearly any food with ease. From a vegetable-and-tuna blend, to an onion with the peel, and, most notably, a handful of nuts.
When the infomercial first graced our screens in 2008, my nine-year-old self was entranced by how user-friendly it seemed (it only takes three steps to clean!). After watching the same pitch over and over again between cartoons, I was convinced that the Slap Chop would give me "an exciting life," as Vince promised.
I successfully lobbied my parents for a Slap Chop of my own and tested it out. My memory of the specific experience is foggy, but I do remember being unimpressed. The tool collected dust in the back of a cabinet for about a decade before finding its way into the trash.
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I thought that our society had progressed past the point of Vince-approved infomercial products (the ShamWow was similarly a dud). But the "As Seen On TV" lineup of products simply shifted to a new medium.
Every time I scroll through TikTok I see vegetable choppers. Whether they're used to make bowls of cowboy caviar or meal prep for the week, these plastic contraptions have renewed appeal for a younger audience. Some mimic the original form of the Slap Chop, while others are rectangular and come with a variety of blade sizes.
In the 15 years since I was wooed by the original infomercial, I've since received formal culinary training and learned to appreciate the ease of just using a good knife. So I skeptical about using a vegetable chopper again. Do these gadgets actually make cooking easier, or are they just well-advertised?
I tried both the original Slap Chop and the TikTok-famous version, and put them both to the test against my trusty knife. For this experiment, I had a few important parameters:
- I tested each tool's ability to cut half of a peeled onion.
- I used a stopwatch to record how long it took.
- The pieces had to be roughly the same size.
First, I used my knife. After merely 30 seconds, the onion was chopped into a mostly even dice. Simple enough.
Next was the Slap Chop, which jammed after just one slap. I had to dismantle the entire tool and use my knife to prod the onion pieces out. Then, I repeatedly used the tool until the pieces were mostly uniform. The entire process took a minute and a half—and the onion looked like it had gone through a woodchipper. The pieces were jagged and had to be chopped into a pulp before they were similar sizes. Worst of all, the Slap Chop left behind a puddle of stinky onion juice.
Last but not least, the TikTok chopper. I used the 14 millimeter by 14 millimeter blade attachment and tried to push the onion through several times. On the internet, chopping vegetables with this tool seems like a breeze. But even with a soft vegetable like an onion I struggled. It took forcing my entire body weight onto the chopper for the onion to push through the grate. In total it took 40 seconds. The pieces were mostly even, but the amount of force needed to get to that point was tiring.
If you're making a giant batch of a recipe, or cooking something that requires a lot of chopping, I can see the value in using the TikTok-viral vegetable chopper. If you only need to prep a few vegetables, however, a knife is more than enough. And under no circumstances should you ever use the old-school Slap Chop.
Do you swear by your vegetable chopper? Let us know in the comments.
Gabby Romero is Delish’s editorial assistant, where she writes stories about the latest TikTok trends, develops recipes, and answers any and all of your cooking-related questions. She loves eating spicy food, collecting cookbooks, and adding a mountain of Parmesan to any dish she can.
