Best Knife Set After Years of Testing Knives (2025)

We’re just going to say it: You don’t need an 18-piece knife block with a blade for every conceivable kitchen task. It’s just unlikely that most people need to own more kitchen knives than they own forks. After testing many knives, consulting with our test kitchen editors and professional chefs, we actually think the best knife set contains just three essentials: a chef’s knife, a bread knife, and a paring knife. As you get more confident or curious in the kitchen, you might choose to add a versatile santoku knife, an agile boning knife, or a hefty cleaver, but we generally recommend doing so on an ad hoc basis.

For the a home cook looking to start or upgrade their knife collection a knife set is worth considering though, if for no other reason than it will give you a running start at better equipping your kitchen. So we focused our knife set testing on those that include the three core knives and came back with a list of knife sets made up of high-quality options that are durable, practical, and thoughtfully designed.

The best knife sets

• Best knife set overall: Mac Professional Series 3-Piece Knife Set
• Another great knife set: Shun Classic Damascus 3-Piece Knife Set
• Best inexpensive set: Mercer Culinary Renaissance 5-Piece Magnetic Board Set
• A high-performing aesthetic option: Hedley & Bennett 3-Piece Chef’s Knife Set
• Best expanded knife set: Shun Classic Blonde 7-Piece Knife Block Set
• A block set with steak knives: Wüsthof Gourmet 12-Piece Knife Block Set

Read on for our top knife set picks, including a slightly more expansive option with a knife block and steak knives for those who want some extra pieces.

Best knife set overall: Mac Professional Series 3-Piece Knife Set

Individual Mac knives have come out on top in our testing time and time again for their high-quality construction, ultra-sharp blades, lightweight feel, and middle-of-the-road price point. This three-piece set is made up of a chef’s and paring knife that are the top overall picks in their respective categories, and a bread knife that’s essentially a luxe version of our favorite serrated knife.

In testing, the Mac Professional Chef’s Knife was versatile and comfortable to use thanks to its ergonomic pakkawood handle, able to work through a giant mound of veggies efficiently without making our hands cramp up. Its blade was one of the sharpest we tested and combines the best qualities of Japanese and Western-style chef’s knives in both its material and shape. Made of molybdenum high-carbon steel, it strikes a balance between the brittle (but extra sharp) steel used in Japanese blades and the more durable, softer steel typical of a Western knife. Similarly, its shape is a hybrid of the rounded edge of a Western-style blade and the straighter edge of a Japanese knife.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, we are also big fans of Mac’s Professional Series paring knife, and for similar reasons: It’s nimble, while still feeling sturdy, holds its edge well, and is incredibly comfortable to use.

The bread knife included in this set is also part of Mac’s Professional Series. It’s a tier up from the Superior Series knife that won our bread knife test, which is evident in its build quality: While it features the same scalloped blade of the Superior Series knife, it has a metal bolster that makes for a more seamless connection between the blade and handle, and a more balanced overall feel while slicing.

Another great knife set: Shun Classic Damascus 3-Piece Knife Set

If you like the high-end look of beautiful Damascus steel and prefer a more rounded belly to your chef’s knife, this set from Shun may be the one for you. Shun’s knives consistently perform well in our testing, and each of these knives has earned a spot as a top pick in its category. And by buying them as a set, you’ll save a modest amount of money off the total cost of the individual knives.

One of the things that sets Shun’s Classic line apart is that it features the brand’s proprietary VG-MAX core, a high-carbon steel with additional metals like chromium and molybdenum added in the mix to help with corrosion resistance and sharpness. In testing, we found this made for blades that cut effortlessly through anything we threw at them, and retained their sharpness over time.

The rounded pakkawood handles of the Classic line knives made each of them extremely comfortable to hold, and because the handles maintain an even thickness throughout their length, they allow each user to find the grip and hand positioning that’s best for them.

Best inexpensive knife set: Mercer Culinary Renaissance 5-Piece Magnetic Board Set

Spending $400 on a knife set, like the Mac and Shun options above, is a big investment, even if you’re getting three high-quality blades. For a more budget-friendly alternative, we recommend this four-knife set (it gets called a five piece set because the knife board counts as a piece) from Mercer Culinary’s Renaissance line. It’s a great, cheap option for anyone who wants reliable knives without committing to a premium price point.

Mercer’s knives have consistently performed well in our testing, from the Renaissance line to the more affordable Genesis and Millennia collections. Their Millennia 10-inch Wavy Edge Bread Knife, priced under $16, is even one of our top picks. In our tests, the Mercer chef’s, bread, and paring knives all delivered clean, consistent cuts and maintained their edges well after repeated use. While they didn’t outperform the more expensive contenders, they came surprisingly close considering they were less than half the cost. Made from high-carbon steel with full-tang construction and durable handles, the knives in this Renaissance set feel solid, well-balanced, and easy to control.

A high-performing aesthetic option: Hedley & Bennett Chef’s Knife Set

In our testing for the best chef’s knives, Hedley & Bennett’s chef’s knife stood out as well-balanced, comfortable to grip, and easy to maneuver thanks to the seamless transition between the handle and blade. After months of use, our test kitchen editors were impressed with how well it held up. And while testers preferred the Mac, if you’re looking to bring some fun color into your kitchen while still investing in a high-performing knife set, Hedley & Bennett is a great choice.

We especially like that this set includes a utility knife. Unlike a traditional paring knife, the utility knife is about two inches longer (5.6 inches vs. 3.5), making it a bit more versatile for both small and larger tasks, such as slicing an oversized apple.

The bread knife is on the shorter side, at only 8.6 inches, but the sharp, tapered serrated edge allows for more controlled, precise cuts compared to some straight blade designs. Deputy Food Editor Hana Asbrink notes that the slope of the blade also helps prevent your knuckles from hitting the cutting board, which is a common issue with bread knives that maintain the same width along the entire blade.

Best expanded set: Shun Classic Blonde 7-Piece Knife Block Set (5 knives)

If you’re looking for a more expansive knife set beyond our essential three-piece recommendation, the larger version Shun’s Classic line from above is a standout. This seven-piece set includes a chef’s knife, paring knife, and bread knife—plus two useful additions: a 6-inch utility knife and an underrated pick up in the 6.5-inch nakiri knife. It also comes with a honing steel and a sleek birch kickstand block.

Not familiar with a nakiri knife? It’s a Japanese-style vegetable knife with a flat, rectangular blade. Unlike a chef’s knife, which uses a rocking motion, the nakiri is designed for straight-down slicing, making it especially efficient for chopping vegetables. A utility knife will fill that sweet spot between a paring and chef’s knife—ideal for tasks that require more control than a larger blade allows but would swamp a small paring knife.

Best large knife set: Wüsthof Gourmet 12-Piece Knife Block Set

While we think a three-piece knife set has everything most home cooks really need, we understand the desire to spring for a more multifaceted option—particularly if you’re in need of a steak knife set and knife storage solution too.

The Gourmet series is essentially Wüsthof’s budget or starter line. While these knives won’t quite afford you the razor-sharp edge or durability of the ones we recommend above, they’re still good knives for the price that will serve you well for years to come, and their high-carbon stainless steel blades will work great for chopping and dicing through whatever your heart desires. The reason we recommend the Gourmet over say, the higher end Classic or Ikon lines is because they will set you back more than $1000. We don’t think you should drop that much on big set like this until you’re sure you’re going to make use of everything in it. The more luxe Wüsthof lines are excellent though.

The Gourmet set includes the three essential knives we’ve been going on about (chef’s, bread, and paring), plus a smaller 2.5-inch paring knife for more precise cuts, a 4.5-inch utility knife, four 4.5-inch steak knives, a honing steel, a set of handy kitchen shears, and a 15-slot wooden block to store it all in. At around $400 at the time of writing, it’s a good deal for a set of cutlery that expands on what we think of as core knives, but isn’t full of niche types of knives you’ll never actually use.

How we picked the best knife sets

We’ve been testing knives for years now, and have found that the same brands tend to come out on top across each knife category. Luckily for you aspiring knife set purchasers, that means we’ve had no trouble finding three-piece sets from brands we know and love that feature product-test-winning, quality knives our team of experts can vouch for.

Each set listed above is made up of individual knives we’ve tested against a long list of competitors and wholeheartedly approve of. Scroll to learn more about each one, or head over to our individual reviews of the best chef’s knives, best bread knives, and best paring knives for even more information.

FAQs

Looking for more knife content? We’ve got you covered

• Check out more about all of the chef’s knives we’ve tested over the years from brands like Victorinox, Zwilling, Made In, and J. A. Henckels
• Learn more about the best bread knives
• Shop all of our favorite paring knives
• See why we’re partial to magnetic knife holders
• Read all about why whetstones are the best knife sharpeners, and what honing rods actually do