No Matter How You Slice It, You Need a Cutting Board—These Are the Best

Best Overall

John Boos Chop-N-Slice Maple Cutting Board

$87 at Amazon $140 at Target View on Johnboos.com

This board from John Boos is a beast. It’s thick, sturdy, and has enough space to prep multiple vegetables while keeping them separate from one another. At nine pounds, it’s easy enough to move around, but it’s heavier than smaller, thinner, cheaper boards. Made from maple, it can take a beating from knives, but it’s still soft enough so it doesn’t damage the knife edge. 

The board is reversible, so you can flip it over to keep garlic and onion scents from infiltrating the nuts being chopped for dessert, or you can opt to use one side as a working surface every time, and the other for charcuterie and serving. 

While this is billed as a cutting board, it’s hefty enough to be used as a carving board, if that’s part of your cooking repertoire. Since it’s made from natural wood, it needs some extra care—it should always be hand-washed and dried thoroughly. Wooden cutting boards also benefit from a light oiling now and then. Boos sells a cutting board oil, which I’ve used, but there are others available as well. If the surface gets rough from use, this is the kind of board that can be sanded to repair the damage. 

This board has a 1-year warranty, which is sufficient for discovering any manufacturing flaws, but if it’s cared for correctly, this board might get passed down to the next generation.

Dimensions: 20 x 15 x 1.25 inches | Material: Maple wood | Weight: 9 pounds | Dishwasher-Safe: No, hand-wash only

Best Overall, Plastic

OXO Good Grips Carving and Cutting Board

$33 at Amazon $33 at Kohls.com View on Webstaurantstore.com

A favorite board in my kitchen, this is a great size for basic jobs that need more cutting space than a bar board. It’s double-sided, with one flat side and one with a small juice groove that’s good enough for catching the liquid from a few tomatoes, but might be a little small for catching juices from a roast. That said, this board is a kitchen workhorse that spends a lot of time in use, then it can go right in the dishwasher for easy cleaning and sanitizing.

Although they’re not immediately noticeable, this has little nubbed feet that keep the surface from sitting on the counter and help keep the board from shifting while cutting. Besides being a design element, the black edges make it easier to lift the board to move it around or flip it without a lot of fumbling.

Made from polypropylene, this is gentle on knives, but sturdy enough that it won’t get gouged too quickly. The material also won’t hold onto scents, so there’s no worry about using it for pungent foods one day, then delicate foods the next, as long as it’s washed well.

Dimensions: 10.39 x 14.78 Inches | Material: Plastic | Weight: 1.5 pounds | Dishwasher-Safe: Yes

Best Bamboo

Totally Bamboo 3-Piece Bamboo Cutting Board Set

$18 at Amazon View on Totallybamboo.com View on Everythingkitchens.com

There’s no doubt about it, bamboo is a beautiful material, and this set certainly looks great in the kitchen. The three bamboo boards come in three different sizes, so you’ve got plenty of choices in the kitchen. I use the smallest as a bar board, to cut a single lemon for a garnish or for cutting cheese to snack on.

These boards are lightweight and sturdy, and the larger two have a generous handhold that can be used to hang the boards from a hook. Unfortunately, those large holes also eat up a bit of otherwise usable space on the boards. Still, there’s enough space for simple kitchen tasks, and all the boards are reversible so you can flip them to use the other side. Thanks to their thinness, they don’t take up much room in storage.

Because they’re so attractive, the set is particularly great for serving or for charcuterie. While bamboo isn’t technically a wood, it’s similar, and it’s harder than many types of wood on the market. You might find your knives becoming dull quicker. Also as with wooden boards, these need special care, and they are not dishwasher-safe. They should be seasoned before the first use, and should be checked and oiled as they need it.

Dimensions: 13 x 9.5 x 1 inches | Material: Bamboo | Weight: 1.88 pounds | Dishwasher-Safe: No, hand-wash only

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Best for Serving

Sonder Los Angeles Large Walnut Cutting Board

$80 at Amazon

If you’re looking for a stunning board that’s more than one color of wood, this is the one you’re looking for. Made from a combination of edge-grain black walnut, cherry, and maple, it’s pretty to look at, whether you’re chopping lettuce for a salad or using it to serve cheese and crackers.

One side of the board is completely flat and great for prepping vegetables for dinner, but it lacks a juice groove. The other side has a deep rounded groove that’s perfect for holding snacks like olives or cherry tomatoes. It could also hold crackers, keeping them neatly in line. At just over six pounds, this isn’t super heavy, but it’s large, so we appreciate the hidden handles on the sides. They give just enough grip to make it simple to lift the board to move it or flip it.

Like other wooden boards, this needs a bit of special care, like oiling it when necessary. It should be washed and carefully dried, and never left to soak. And of course, it shouldn’t go in the dishwasher.

Dimensions: 17 x 13 x 1.1 inches | Material: Walnut, cherry, maple wood | Weight: 6.25 pounds | Dishwasher-Safe: No, hand-wash only

Best Plastic

Dexas Flexible Cutting Boards, Set of 4

$14 $10 at Amazon $10 at Walmart View on Kroger.com

Perfect for kitchens with little storage space, these thin plastic boards will save the counter from gouges and protect knives as well. They’re not quite paper thin, but perhaps credit-card thin. They’re made from flexible plastic, so they can bend a bit to help channel chopped food into a pan or bowl, which is handy. However, they’re way too thin to have a juice groove, so liquids drain off easily.

These are one-sided since the bottom has a grippy surface that keeps the boards from slipping, no matter what kind of counter or table they’re sitting on. For easy cleaning, they’re dishwasher-safe, which is always a plus. And with four boards in the set, one or two can be in the washer and there are still more to use.

These aren’t the prettiest boards we’ve used, but they get the job. They’d be great for a tiny home, RV, or camper, and we could see using them as placemats for messy kids. This set comes in four different colors, so you can color code them, if desired, or just choose your favorite color of the day to use. You can also purchase them with a hole to hang them, if desired.

Dimensions: 11 x 8 x 0.06 inches | Material: Plastic | Weight: 10.9 ounces | Dishwasher-Safe: Yes

Best Sustainable

Material The reBoard

View on Materialkitchen.com $35 at The Container Store

If one of your kitchen goals is sustainability, you’ll love this board, since it’s made from 75 percent recycled plastic, and the other 25 percent is renewable sugar cane. Even better, the plastic is harvested from kitchenware scraps, so it stays in the family.

Despite a lack of grips or feet, we found the sturdy design helped keep the board stable on the counter during use. It’s easy enough to put a damp dish towel under the board if that’s a problem. This board has a hole that can be used for hanging, but it doesn’t have a juice groove, so it might not be the best choice for carving a roast. It is double-sided, though, so you can flip it over to have a clean side to use.

Cleaning is a breeze since it’s dishwasher-safe, and storage is simple since it’s much thinner than most wooden boards. While plastic boards are typically inexpensive, this is on the high end of the pack, but the sustainability, the 60-day return policy, and the lifetime warranty make the price understandable.

Dimensions: 14.75 x 10.75 x .6 inches | Material: Recycled plastic & sugarcane | Weight: Lightweight | Dishwasher-Safe: Yes

Best Budget

Cooler Kitchen Store Extra Thick Flexible Plastic Cutting Board Mats

$15 $8 at Amazon

Whether it’s a new kitchen, dorm room, or vacation cottage, these are inexpensive enough not to take a bite out of the budget. This set of four colorful plastic boards, each with a food displayed on the corner to help prevent cross contamination, is available in different colors and designs, so there are plenty of options.

Each of the boards has a waffle-grid textured bottom to help keep them from slipping on the counter. That adds to their thickness and durability, but they are too thin for any kind of juice groove, so liquids will drain off. They also don’t have any kind of hanging hole, but that means the whole surface is usable for cutting.

Besides using these for cutting, they’d make great placemats for messy kids. When it’s time for cleaning, these are dishwasher-safe.

Dimensions: 15 x 12 x 0.03 inches | Material: Plastic | Weight: 11.4 ounces | Dishwasher-Safe: Yes