Vegetable Dice Size Chart: Brunoise, Small, Medium and Large Dice

Key Takeaways:

• Standard dice sizes are even cubes: large 3/4 inch, medium 1/2 inch, small 1/4 inch, brunoise 1/8 inch and fine brunoise 1/16 inch.
• These sizes are training guidelines. Professional cooks outside culinary school may not measure every piece, but even pieces are still expected.
• Each dice starts as a stick: batonnet becomes small dice, julienne becomes brunoise, and fine julienne becomes fine brunoise.
• For young children, the American Academy of Pediatrics advises pieces no larger than 1/2 inch. Cook firm vegetables like carrots until soft.

Dice Size Chart: Every Standard Cut in Inches and Millimeters

The five standard dice sizes are even cubes. Large dice is 3/4 inch, medium dice 1/2 inch, small dice 1/4 inch, brunoise 1/8 inch and fine brunoise 1/16 inch. These measurements come from a Culinary Institute of America cook's reference sheet, and the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts lists the same five.

Cut	Size (inches)	About (mm)	Cut it from	Best for
Large dice	3/4 x 3/4 x 3/4	19	3/4-inch planks and sticks	Hearty stews, soups, roasted root vegetables
Medium dice	1/2 x 1/2 x 1/2	13	1/2-inch planks and sticks	Potato salad, breakfast potatoes, chunky soup
Small dice	1/4 x 1/4 x 1/4	6	Batonnet (1/4-inch sticks)	Mirepoix
Brunoise	1/8 x 1/8 x 1/8	3	Julienne (1/8-inch sticks)	Fillings, dishes where vegetables melt in
Fine brunoise	1/16 x 1/16 x 1/16	1.6	Fine julienne (1/16-inch sticks)	Fillings, dishes where vegetables melt in

Millimeters are rounded conversions (1 inch = 25.4 mm).

Use the chart as a target. A CIA knife cut chart calls these sizes recommended guidelines, used to build consistency and discipline in knife skills. Professional cooks outside the school may not measure every piece, but they are still expected to cut evenly.

Rouxbe, an online culinary school, notes that uniform cuts cook evenly and look better on the plate.

What Is a Brunoise? (And How It Differs From Fine Brunoise)

A brunoise is a 1/8-inch cube, pronounced "broon-nwahz," that you cut from a julienne, a stick 1/8 inch wide. Fine brunoise is half that size: a 1/16-inch cube cut from a fine julienne. These are the two smallest standard dice, used when the vegetable should melt into a dish or go into a filling.

The Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts recommends brunoise or fine brunoise for potatoes that will break down in the dish or be used as a filling, as in stuffed pasta or knishes. Small cuts also help when you hide finely diced vegetables in family meals, since tiny pieces blend into sauces.

Knife Cuts Chart: The Sticks Behind Each Dice

Every dice starts as a stick. Cut a stick across at its own width and you get a cube. Rouxbe lays out the pairs: batonnet gives small dice, julienne gives brunoise, and fine julienne gives fine brunoise.

Stick cut	Size (inches)	Cut across to get
Batonnet	1/4 x 1/4 x 2 to 2 1/2	Small dice
Julienne	1/8 x 1/8 x 1 to 2	Brunoise
Fine julienne	1/16 x 1/16 x 1 to 2	Fine brunoise
Paysanne (flat square, not a stick)	1/2 x 1/2 x 1/8	—

Paysanne sits on the same charts as the dice, but it is a thin square, not a cube.

Small vs Medium vs Large Dice: Which Size for Which Dish

Pick large dice (3/4 inch) for hearty stews, soups and roasted root vegetables. Pick medium dice (1/2 inch) for potato salad, breakfast potatoes and chunky soups, or when a recipe doesn't name a size. Small dice (1/4 inch) is the cut for mirepoix, the diced onion, carrot and celery base that starts many dishes.

Dice	Size	Use it for	Source
Large	3/4 inch	Hearty stews, soups, roasted root vegetables; potatoes you plan to boil	ICN, Escoffier
Medium	1/2 inch	Breakfast potatoes, potato salad, curry, chunky (non-pureed) soup; a good choice when the recipe doesn't say	Escoffier, ICN
Small	1/4 inch	Mirepoix (diced onion, carrot and celery as a flavor base)	ICN
Brunoise / fine brunoise	1/8 / 1/16 inch	Fillings and dishes where the vegetable should melt in	Escoffier

The sources differ on soup. A dicing guide from the Institute of Child Nutrition (University of Mississippi) lists large dice for hearty stews and soups. Escoffier suggests medium dice for potatoes in a non-pureed soup and large dice when the potatoes will be boiled.

If your recipe names a size, use it. Escoffier's advice is written for potatoes. The same logic works for other firm vegetables, such as carrots.

What Size to Dice Vegetables for Toddlers

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) advises cutting food for infants and young children into pieces no larger than 1/2 inch. That is the same as a medium dice, so a small dice sits well under that limit.

Size is only part of it. The AAP lists raw vegetables such as carrot sticks among foods to avoid or modify for young children. Its toddler snack ideas call for carrots, green beans, cauliflower and broccoli steamed until soft.

Have children sit down while they eat, and supervise mealtimes. Adults do all the cutting.

How to Dice Vegetables Evenly by Hand

To dice evenly, wash and dry the vegetable, square it into a block, and cut planks as thick as the dice you want. Cut the planks into sticks of that same width, then cut across the sticks to make cubes. One width runs through every cut.

1. Wash, then dry. The FDA says to wash produce before you peel or cut it, so dirt and bacteria on the surface don't reach the inside. Dry it with a clean towel and cut away bruised or damaged spots.
2. Square it off. Trim the ends and sides into a rectangular block so it sits flat. Escoffier suggests freezing the trimmings for soup stock later.
3. Cut planks as thick as the dice. The ICN guide calls for 1/4-inch planks for small dice, 1/2-inch for medium and 3/4-inch for large.

4. Cut sticks. Pile the planks flat and cut down through them, making each stick as wide as a plank is thick.
5. Cut cubes. Turn the sticks and cut across them at that same width.

If you can, keep one cutting board for produce and a separate one for raw meat, poultry and seafood, as the FDA suggests.

Common Dicing Mistakes to Watch For

• Angled cuts: a leaning knife gives cubes with slanted sides. Escoffier names cutting at an angle as one of the two most common cubing mistakes.
• Mixed sizes: large and small pieces in one pan cook unevenly. Inconsistent sizing is the other mistake on Escoffier's list.
• No reference cube: if you can't judge size by eye, Escoffier's fix is to cut one perfect cube first and use it as a template for the rest.
• A dull knife: it makes you push harder, and Escoffier points out that many kitchen injuries are caused by dull knives.
• Rushing: work one vegetable at a time and keep your fingers curled.

Picking a Dice Size for Weekly Meal Prep

Match the dice to the dishes you plan to cook that week, using the table above. If part of the batch is headed for the freezer, the National Center for Home Food Preservation's guides call for onions diced into about 1/4-inch pieces and list 1/4-inch cubes as one option for carrots. Celery goes in as 1-inch lengths instead.

The full method, including which vegetables need blanching first, is in our guide to freeze diced onion, carrot and celery. For the fridge side of prep, see how long chopped vegetables keep in the fridge.

Cut each batch to one size and the pieces cook through together. That is the same even-cooking point Escoffier and Rouxbe make about uniform cuts.

Getting Even Dice With a Vegetable Chopper

A grid chopper makes even dice because its grid fixes every piece at the same width before the blade cuts. The LoveGreatFinds 16-in-1 vegetable chopper has fine and coarse dice grids, and it gives the most consistent pieces with firm vegetables like potatoes, carrots and onions. Ripe tomatoes do better on its slicer grid.

LoveGreatFinds' product page lists the 16-in-1's fine-dice grid at roughly 5mm, close to a small dice. The page gives no size for the coarse grid, so measure one piece against the chart above before you plan a recipe around it.

A chopper cuts the sizes its grids make. For a cut the grids don't make, use a knife and the steps above. Skip very hard vegetables such as raw beets or butternut squash; the product page says they need more force than a hand-press tool should handle.

For a side-by-side look at both tools, see how a chopper compares with a knife.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What size is a small dice?

A small dice is a 1/4 x 1/4 x 1/4-inch cube, about 6mm on each side. You cut it from a batonnet, a stick 1/4 inch wide.

What is a brunoise cut?

A brunoise is a 1/8-inch cube, pronounced "broon-nwahz," cut from a 1/8-inch julienne. Fine brunoise is smaller: a 1/16-inch cube cut from a fine julienne.

What's the difference between small dice and medium dice?

Small dice is 1/4 inch and medium dice is 1/2 inch, twice as wide. The Institute of Child Nutrition calls medium dice a good choice when a recipe doesn't name a size, and uses small dice for mirepoix.

What size should you dice vegetables for soup or stew?

The Institute of Child Nutrition lists large dice, 3/4 inch, for hearty stews and soups. Escoffier suggests medium dice, 1/2 inch, for potatoes in a non-pureed soup. If the recipe names a size, follow it.

What size should vegetables be cut for toddlers?

The AAP advises pieces no larger than 1/2 inch for infants and young children, the same as a medium dice. Cook firm vegetables like carrots until soft, skip raw carrot sticks, and supervise mealtimes.

Do you have to measure every dice exactly?

No. The CIA describes its dice sizes as guidelines for building consistent knife skills, and professional cooks outside the school may not measure exactly. What matters is that the pieces match, so cut one perfect cube and use it as your template, as Escoffier suggests.