I reach for kitchen shears more often than any knife except my chef’s knife. They snip herbs straight into the pan, trim fat off chicken thighs, cut pizza without dragging the toppings, open the vacuum packs a knife would skid off, and cut kitchen twine without me hunting for the scissors in the junk drawer.
For most kitchens, my pick is the KitchenAid All Purpose Kitchen Shears: sharp, comfortable and easy to replace when a second pair walks off. If you cut up whole chickens, add the OXO Good Grips Spring-Loaded Poultry Shears as a dedicated heavy pair.
My Top 6 Kitchen Shears Picks
The pair I’d hand to anyone setting up a kitchen. Thick micro-serrated blades that grip slippery food, a soft handle that doesn’t dig into your knuckles, and a plastic sheath so the tips don’t stab you in the drawer.
The two blades separate, so you can wash away chicken fat and herb juice from the pivot instead of letting it build up. A practical German pair from a Solingen knife maker.
Curved, notched blades and a spring that opens the handles for you. This is the pair for spatchcocking a chicken or cutting through a turkey’s ribs.
Cushioned handles, blades that come apart for washing, and a herb stripper built into the handle that pulls thyme and rosemary leaves off their stems in one pass.
A sturdy multi-purpose pair made in Japan, with a serrated handle insert that opens bottle caps and cracks nuts. The one I’d pick for cooks who like a tool that does a little of everything.
Shun’s heavy-duty kitchen shears: 420J2 stainless blades that come apart, a bone notch, bottle opener and nutcracker. A handsome pair to go with a good Japanese knife set.
Kitchen Shears Compared
| Shears | Blades | Come apart | Extras | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KitchenAid All Purpose | Stainless, micro-serrated | No | Protective sheath | Everyday kitchen jobs |
| WÜSTHOF Come Apart | Stainless | Yes | None | Cooks who want them truly clean |
| OXO Poultry Shears | Stainless, micro-serrated, notched | Yes | Spring, handle lock | Whole chickens, turkey |
| OXO Multi-Purpose | Stainless, micro-serrated | Yes | Herb stripper | Herbs, light prep |
| Henckels (Made in Japan) | Stainless, micro-serrated | No | Bottle opener, nutcracker | All-round multi-tool pair |
| Shun Multi Purpose | 420J2 stainless, serrated | Yes | Bone notch, bottle opener, nutcracker | Premium knife collections |
1. KitchenAid All Purpose Kitchen Shears: Best Overall
Who it’s for: almost every home cook, and anyone replacing a pair of household scissors that has been doing kitchen duty.
There’s nothing fancy here, and that’s exactly why it’s my first pick. KitchenAid gives these shears extra thick stainless blades with micro-serrations along the edge. Those tiny teeth are what stop a chicken skin or a wet bunch of chives from sliding out of the jaws as you close them, which is the main way cheap scissors fail in a kitchen.
The handles have a soft, non-slip coating and finger loops big enough for most hands. That matters more than people think: you often use kitchen shears with greasy or wet fingers, and a hard plastic loop pressing on one knuckle gets old fast. The plastic sheath is a small thing I like a lot. Loose shears in a utensil drawer are how people get poked reaching for a spatula.
My reservation is the fixed pivot. The blades don’t come apart, so food can collect around the screw. KitchenAid lists them as dishwasher safe while suggesting hand washing, and I’d go with the second option: rinse them under hot water right after raw chicken, open and close them a few times, and dry them before they go back in the sheath.
Key specs
- Length: 8.72 inches
- Blades: extra thick stainless steel, micro-serrated edges
- Handle: soft, non-slip grip coating
- Protective plastic sheath included
- Dishwasher safe (hand washing recommended by KitchenAid)
Pros
- Serrated blades grip slippery food
- Comfortable handles for long prep jobs
- Sheath makes drawer storage safe
Cons
- Blades don’t separate for cleaning
- Not built for cutting through poultry backbones
My verdict: the everyday pair I’d buy first, and a sensible second pair for the garage or picnic basket. If you break down chickens every week, give that job to the OXO poultry shears.
2. WÜSTHOF Come Apart Kitchen Shears: Best Come-Apart
Who it’s for: cooks who cut a lot of raw meat with shears and want to clean every surface properly.
The biggest hygiene problem with kitchen shears is the pivot. Chicken fat, marinade and bits of herb get pushed into the gap between the blades, and no amount of rinsing reaches them. Come-apart shears solve that: open them wide and the two halves slide off each other, so you can scrub each blade like a knife and put them back together.
WÜSTHOF lists them for snipping herbs, cutting flowers and twine, and trimming chicken skin, which is a fair description of what most people use shears for. WÜSTHOF is a family-owned knife maker in Solingen, Germany, going back more than 200 years, and I’ve written about its knives in my WÜSTHOF knives review. The shears are a simple, solid tool rather than a showpiece.
The flip side of a come-apart pivot is that it can open when you don’t mean it to, usually when you spread the handles very wide. Keep them in normal cutting range and that won’t happen. The listing gives little detail about the steel or the edge, so I can’t tell you more than WÜSTHOF does.
Key specs
- Type: come-apart kitchen shears
- For herbs, flowers, twine and trimming chicken skin (maker’s list)
- Brand: WÜSTHOF, Solingen, Germany
Pros
- Separates for thorough cleaning
- Simple, sturdy design from a top knife maker
- Good size for everyday kitchen jobs
Cons
- Few published specs
- Can separate if opened too wide mid-cut
My verdict: the pair to buy if clean shears matter to you as much as sharp ones. For heavy poultry work, pair it with dedicated poultry shears.
3. OXO Good Grips Spring-Loaded Poultry Shears: Best Poultry Shears
Who it’s for: anyone who spatchcocks chickens, portions whole birds or trims a holiday turkey.
Poultry shears look odd until you use a pair. The blades are curved and tapered so the tip can work along a backbone or into a joint, and OXO notches the micro-serrated blades so a rib or small bone stays put instead of squirting sideways as you close the jaws. That’s the difference between a clean cut and a bone that keeps slipping out.
The spring is the other reason I like them. It opens the handles after every cut, so your hand only does the squeezing, and OXO says it adds leverage while reducing hand strain. If you’ve ever cut out a backbone with ordinary scissors, you know how tired your hand gets. A lock keeps the handles closed in the drawer, and the blades separate for washing by hand or in the dishwasher.
They aren’t the shears for snipping chives. The curved shape and spring make them clumsy for delicate work, and they take up more drawer space. Think of them as a specialist tool, like a boning knife, that sits next to an everyday pair. For the knives that go with them, see my guide to knives for cutting meat.
Key specs
- Blades: curved, tapered, micro-serrated stainless steel, notched to hold bones
- Spring-loaded handles with handle lock
- Non-slip handles
- Blades separate for cleaning; dishwasher safe
Pros
- Cuts through small bones with less effort
- Spring saves your hand on big jobs
- Come-apart blades clean properly after raw poultry
Cons
- Awkward for herbs and fine work
- Bulky in a drawer
My verdict: the best tool for breaking down birds at home. Buy it as a second pair, not your only pair.
4. OXO Good Grips Multi-Purpose Kitchen Shears: Best for Herbs
Who it’s for: cooks who use a lot of fresh herbs, and anyone with sore hands or arthritis who needs softer handles.
The feature that earns this pair its place is the herb stripper: a set of holes in the handle that you pull a thyme, rosemary or kale stem through, and the leaves come off while the woody stem stays behind. It’s faster than picking leaves by hand and it means you reach for one tool instead of two.
OXO puts cushioning pads on the grips to soak up pressure, which is the same thinking behind its kitchen tools in general. The blades are micro-serrated stainless steel and come apart for cleaning, so you get the hygiene benefit of the WÜSTHOF pair as well. OXO says they handle cardboard, twine, meat and vegetables, which covers the normal list of kitchen jobs.
The softer, bulkier handles don’t suit everyone. Cooks with large hands may find the loops snug, and the blades aren’t as heavy as the KitchenAid’s for tough packaging. For herbs and everyday prep, though, it’s the most comfortable pair here.
Key specs
- Blades: stainless steel, micro-serrated
- Built-in herb stripper
- Cushioned grip pads
- Blades separate for cleaning
Pros
- Herb stripper saves real time
- Very comfortable grip
- Comes apart for washing
Cons
- Lighter blades than the heavy-duty pairs
- Loops may be tight for large hands
My verdict: the kindest pair on your hands and the best for herb-heavy cooking. If you mainly cut packaging and chicken, the KitchenAid is tougher.
5. Henckels Kitchen Shears (Made in Japan): Best Japan-Made Pair
Who it’s for: cooks who want a well-made, sturdy pair that also opens bottles and cracks nuts.
Henckels is ZWILLING’s value brand, and several of its knife lines are made in China. These shears are an exception: the listing says they’re made in Japan. They use corrosion-resistant stainless steel with micro-serrated blades for slip-free cutting, and Henckels lists them for poultry, herbs and packaging.
The handle has a serrated metal insert between the loops. Squeeze a walnut there and it cracks; hook it under a bottle cap and it pops off. Henckels also says it can open screw caps. These multi-tool extras sound like gimmicks, but on a pair that lives by the stove they get used more than you’d expect.
What I’d change: the blades don’t come apart, so like the KitchenAid you need to rinse the pivot well after raw meat. Henckels says they’re dishwasher safe but recommends hand washing. And the metal insert adds weight on the handle side, which some people like and others don’t.
Key specs
- Made in Japan (per listing)
- Blades: corrosion-resistant stainless steel, micro-serrated
- Serrated handle insert: bottle opener and nutcracker
- Dishwasher safe (hand washing recommended)
Pros
- Solid build from a well-known brand
- Useful bottle opener and nutcracker
- Grippy serrated blades
Cons
- Fixed pivot, harder to clean
- Heavier handle than simple shears
My verdict: a step up in build from basic shears and the best all-rounder with extras. If you’d rather have blades that separate, choose the WÜSTHOF.
6. Shun Multi Purpose Kitchen Shears: Best Premium
Who it’s for: owners of Shun or other Japanese knives who want shears that match, and anyone buying a kitchen gift for a serious cook.
Shun’s shears pack in the most features on my list. The blades are 420J2 stainless steel with a serrated edge, they come apart for cleaning, and there’s a bone notch for small bones, plus a bottle opener and nutcracker. The handles have a plastic over-mold so they stay secure when your hands are wet.
A word on that steel, because the name sounds more exotic than it is. 420J2 is a soft, very rust-resistant stainless steel, the usual choice for good shears, not the hard VG-MAX steel in Shun’s knives. That’s the right call: shears need toughness and stain resistance, and a hard, brittle steel would chip at the tips. Shun is part of Kai, which also makes shears and scissors, and I’ve covered the brand in my Shun knives review.
The honest catch is value. They cost much more than the OXO or KitchenAid and don’t cut food any better. You’re paying for the build, the finish and a name that matches your knife block. If none of that matters to you, the cheaper pairs do the same jobs.
Key specs
- Blades: 420J2 stainless steel, serrated edge
- Blades come apart for cleaning
- Bone notch, bottle opener, nutcracker
- Handles with plastic over-mold for a secure wet grip
Pros
- Most features of any pair here
- Come-apart design
- Rust-resistant, tough blade steel
Cons
- Much pricier than the other shears
- Cuts no better than the KitchenAid on everyday jobs
My verdict: a lovely pair to own or give, especially next to a Shun knife. For the money-conscious cook, the KitchenAid and OXO pairs are the smarter buys.
What Makes Good Kitchen Shears
Micro-serrated blades
Micro-serrated blades are the most important feature, because they grip food instead of pushing it out of the jaws. Smooth office scissors work on paper but slide off wet chicken skin and herb stems. Every pair on my list has serrated or micro-serrated blades.
Come-apart or fixed pivot
Come-apart shears are easier to clean, and that matters if you cut raw meat. Fixed-pivot shears are simpler and never separate mid-cut, but food gets trapped around the screw. If you choose a fixed pair, rinse the pivot under hot water and work the blades open and closed after each use.
Poultry shears versus kitchen shears
Poultry shears are a specialist tool: curved, spring-loaded and strong enough for rib bones. Regular kitchen shears are straight and better for herbs, packaging and pizza. Most cooks need one everyday pair; add poultry shears only if you break down whole birds.
Handles that fit wet hands
Soft, non-slip handles are worth more than extra features. You use shears with greasy, wet fingers, so a cushioned or over-molded grip gives more control and less hand strain. Check that the loops fit your hand, especially if your hands are large.
Dishwasher or hand wash
Most shears can survive the dishwasher, but hand washing keeps them sharper and stops the pivot loosening. My stance on dishwasher-safe knives applies here too: the label means the maker promises they won’t fall apart, not that the edge will stay sharp. My dishwasher-safe knife sets guide explains the difference.
How to Keep Kitchen Shears Sharp and Clean
Wash shears right after raw meat, with the blades apart if they separate, and dry them fully, especially at the pivot, where water causes rust spots. A drop of food-safe mineral oil on the pivot every few months keeps the action smooth.
Use them for food and kitchen packaging, not for wire, bones thicker than a chicken rib or garden branches: that’s how tips bend and edges chip. When they start to fold food instead of cutting it, a sharpening service can restore them. Pull-through sharpeners made for knives usually can’t handle scissor blades properly, so check the sharpener’s instructions before you try. And never push shears into the ceramic slots of a self-sharpening knife block: those slots are shaped for knife edges only.
Store them in a sheath or a block slot. If you keep your knives on the wall, a magnetic strip holds shears too; my guide to storing kitchen knives covers the options.
FAQ
What is the difference between kitchen shears and scissors?
Kitchen shears have thicker, stronger blades, usually micro-serrated, and bigger handles for gripping with wet hands. Many also come apart for cleaning or include a bone notch or bottle opener. Ordinary scissors are thinner and smoother, made for paper and fabric.
Can kitchen shears cut through chicken bones?
Good kitchen shears can cut small bones like ribs and wing joints. For a backbone or turkey ribs, use poultry shears with a spring and notched blades, such as the OXO. Thick beef or pork bones need a cleaver or a saw, not shears.
Are kitchen shears dishwasher safe?
Many are, including most pairs on my list according to their makers, but hand washing is better. The dishwasher dulls the edges, can loosen the pivot, and leaves water in the joint. Come-apart shears are the easiest to hand wash thoroughly.
Should I keep separate shears for meat and herbs?
It’s a good idea if you cut a lot of raw meat. One pair for raw poultry and one for herbs, packaging and cooked food cuts down on cross-contamination and wear. Washing a single come-apart pair well between jobs also works.
How long do kitchen shears last?
A good pair lasts many years if you dry it after washing and don’t use it on wire or thick bones. Shears usually wear out at the pivot or the tips. Replace them when the blades wobble or keep folding food instead of cutting.
Final Verdict
The KitchenAid All Purpose Kitchen Shears are the pair most kitchens should own: grippy serrated blades, a comfortable handle and a sheath for safe storage. If you want blades that come apart for proper cleaning, the WÜSTHOF Come Apart Kitchen Shears are the simple German choice. And if whole chickens are on your weekly menu, the OXO Good Grips Spring-Loaded Poultry Shears turn a tiring job into an easy one.
Building a full set of kitchen tools on a budget? Several of my knife sets under $100 come with shears in the block.
Gary Portman founded knivesadvice.com in 2019. He learned to cook in his family’s kitchen as a kid and has used kitchen, pocket and outdoor knives ever since, from paring and fillet knives to survival blades he carries camping and hiking. He writes the site’s buying guides, brand reviews and sharpening how-tos to help readers find the right knife for the job. More about Gary.