The Best Kitchen Shears for Snipping Herbs, Breaking Down Poultry, and More

Our Top Pick

Messermeister Take-Apart Stainless Steel Utility Kitchen Scissors

$20 at Amazon Orig. $32 $28 at Walmart View on Messermeister.com

These shears are hands-down the best I've ever owned, blowing more expensive competitors out of the water. When it comes to kitchen tools, I tend to shop at the restaurant supply store for cheap deals on things I use every day working at a restaurant. I'm never sad if my $2 pair of tongs breaks or goes missing. However, there are a few exceptions to this shopping philosophy, and knives have always been the big one for me; when it comes to knives, you get what you pay for. Kitchen shears felt like an extension of that, so, in the past, I've dropped three or four times as much as these Messimeister 8-Inch Take-Apart Kitchen Scissors cost on shears from expensive brands. I got these as a gift in a Secret Santa swap at work, and upon using them for the first time, it was like night and day.

Not only do these sail through chicken bones like a dream, but they also perform exceptionally well on more delicate tasks such as deshelling shrimp or cutting herbs that other brands had muddled. But my favorite thing about these shears is they're actually like ten tools in one. There's a bottle opener, jar lid gripper, nutcracker, and even a screwdriver all rolled into one tool! Plus, they lock in at the fulcrum but easily come apart for simple washing. The handholds are fully coated in super cushy silicone, so they're comfy to use. Though, on the pair that I've had for a few years, the silicone is dented, nicked, and peeled in some places after extended use.

The Details: Stainless steel blades; rubber grip; 8-inches; available in black and red; non-serrated

Best Value

Misen Kitchen Scissors

$29 at Amazon View on Misen.com

The most standout feature of the Misen kitchen shears is their impossible sharpness. A coworker of mine has these, and I cut myself while cleaning the blades after borrowing them. I mentioned it to her and noted they must be new. To my surprise, she told me that they were, in fact, a year old, and she had yet to even sharpen them. The blades are micro-serrated, but the serrations are so fine that they don't catch or drag—they zip right through. Speaking of cleaning, I love a pair of shears that comes apart to clean as these do. It makes it so much easier to thoroughly clean and sanitize all parts of the shears, and they dry much faster since water can't get stuck in the cracks.

The interior of the handles is coated in soft rubber, making them comfortable to grip and easy to hold when things get wet or slippery. Unfortunately, the hand holes themselves are a bit small, so they might be uncomfortable to use if you have larger hands.

The Details: Stainless steel blades; rubber and plastic grip; 8.75 inches; available in blue, black, gray, and red; micro-serrated

Best Serrated

Material The Good Shears

$35 at Amazon View on Materialkitchen.com $35 at Anthropologie

There's no denying that these Material shears lay the aesthetics on thick. Beautifully designed, these shears are just as nice to look at as they are to use. The blades are made from stainless steel with super tiny micro serrations on the blade. This is super helpful for any task requiring a good grip, like cutting through a pizza or sniping raw bacon. The blades are particularly great for working through tougher herbs like woody rosemary stems, but the serration isn't ideal for tender herbs like chives or parsley as they can bruise.

The interior of the handholds is lined with comfy silicone, so they're much easier to use and maneuver for tasks that require more force. Brian Nagele, CEO of Restuarant Clicks and former owner of Kings Oak restaurant in Philadelphia, always looks for comfy shears. "Look for kitchen shears with padded handles that are comfortable to use while chopping thick, hard vegetables," he says. "The pads also serve as extra grip, especially if you have smaller hands and want to feel more control over the shears while you're cutting."

The blades come apart to make washing a breeze and can even be tossed in the dishwasher. However, that's the end of the added features on these shears: They don't offer anything else in the way of extras like bottle openers or other tools.

The Details: Stainless steel blade; silicone hand holds; 7.75 inches; available in golden and blue gray; micro-serrated

Best for Herbs

Shun Shears

Orig. $56 $45 at Amazon

Shun is one of the biggest names in high-quality knives (the brand makes some of our favorite steak knives), so it's no surprise that it also makes a great pair of herb shears. Since herbs are so delicate and usually small, having small, easily maneuverable blades makes any herb task much more manageable. Where many herbs shears falter, however, is the hand holds. Shun got the memo and made the handholds large and narrow, giving you as much control as possible when clipping herbs. There's even a tiny notch in between for stripping herbs.

Even though these herb shears excel at trimming delicate parsley stems, they are also my favorite shears for shelling and deveining shrimp. The thin blades get under the shrimp shells perfectly without tearing through the meat.

These tiny blades are razor sharp and beveled at a more extreme angle than most shears, allowing them to slice right through herbs without bruising them. The downside is that Shun makes all its tools out of super-hard metal, so even though these stay sharp longer, it's much more challenging to restore the edge when it comes time for sharpening.

The Details: Stainless steel blades; non-slip rubber grip; 7.5 inches; available in black; non-serrated

Best for Poultry

OXO Good Grips Spring-Loaded Poultry Shears

Orig. $28 $26 at Amazon View on Oxo $28 at Bloomingdales

Cutting through bone and joints is a no-nonsense task. In order to quickly and safely break down poultry, you need a heavy-duty pair of shears. And not any old pair is up to the task. Enter the OXO Good Grips Spring-Loaded Poultry Shears. This behemoth is the best tool for the job, with a spring-loaded mechanism that gives you that extra boost of power to break through even the most difficult gristle. The blades themselves are curved, which helps get into all the nooks and crannies. Plus, one blade is serrated to grab onto whatever you're cutting. The shears are no joke; they are very sharp and heavy, so to combat that, there are a few safety features like a suction base and blade lock to keep little hands safe. There are lots of parts on these shears where bacteria can hide, so thankfully, they are dishwasher safe.

The blade and handhold are thick and heavy, giving you a sturdy base when cutting through poultry. Unfortunately, the long blade and bulky design can make these shears cumbersome to handle and difficult to maneuver precisely. One side of these shears is a handle, while the other side is a bar, which can increase leverage but makes them less ideal for left-handed people.

The Details: Stainless steel blade; plastic and silicone grip; 9.5 inches; available in black; half-serrated

Best Heavy Duty

ZWILLING Twin L Kitchen Shears

Orig. $30 $23 at Amazon View on Zwilling.com $22 at Williams-Sonoma

If you're looking for a pair of kitchen shears that will double as a family heirloom, these ZWILLING Twin L Kitchen Shears are it. Like a pumped-up version of the shears that usually come in knife sets you're probably familiar with, the stainless steel blade is extra thick for durability—but still impossibly sharp. The blade has a slight inward curve, which helps balance your hand through a difficult cut.

The polypropylene handle material creeps up the base of the blades to reinforce them and make an even more durable set of shears, but the hand holes are very small. I consider myself someone with small hands, and these are hard for even me to use comfortably. The major drawback of these shears is how difficult they are to clean. Unlike many other models on this list, the blades don't come apart. They are dishwasher safe, but the extra plastic on the blade creates many places for bacteria and gunk to hide.

The Details: Stainless steel blade; polypropylene grip; 8 inches; available in black; non-serrated

Best All Metal

WÜSTHOF Stainless Kitchen Shears

$55 at Amazon

Wüsthof is one of the major names—if not the name—in German-style knives, so it's no surprise that their stainless steel kitchen shears are at the top of the pack. These shears are made of 100% stainless steel without an ounce of plastic in sight. This makes them impossibly durable and long-lasting. Wüsthof knives are known for being made of steel that holds its edge forever, so these are incredibly low maintenance since they don't need to be sharpened often. They come apart at the hinge for easy cleaning and are no nooks or crannies for bacteria or food to get stuck under; you can basically just hose them off.

Due to their stainless steel build, the handholds are unforgiving and can press into your fingers during more strenuous tasks, making it difficult to use them for an extended period. Additionally, they can get incredibly slippery, which can get dangerous for tasks like breaking down chicken.

The Details: Matte stainless steel; 8.5 inches; non-serrated