No Bread Knife? The Best Bread Knife Alternative for Each Loaf

A bread knife is one of those tools you miss only when you need it. The bolillos are warm, the torta fillings are ready, and the only knives in the drawer are a chef’s knife and a few steak knives. Or you have just baked your first sourdough and the crust is too hard for anything you own. Either way, you need to slice bread without a bread knife, and you want to know what will work.

Plenty of tools can stand in, but none does every job a long bread knife does. This guide covers each bread knife alternative worth buying, from a short serrated knife and a long chef’s knife to an electric knife, a deli slicer, a bagel guillotine and a slicing guide. For each, it says how well it slices, which breads it suits and where it falls short, using what the makers state and America’s Test Kitchen’s reviews.

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Why cooks look for something other than a bread knife

Some people simply don’t own one and would rather not buy a long knife used once a week. Some have a small kitchen with no drawer space for a 10-inch blade. Some want something safer for children or for a cook with unsteady hands. Some want even slices of sandwich bread every time, which a freehand knife never quite gives. And some mostly slice rolls, bagels or English muffins, where a long blade is more than they need.

It helps to know why a bread knife works so well. America’s Test Kitchen explains that serrated blades are for foods that are too hard or too squishy for a straight blade, like the one on a chef’s knife, to get a purchase on. The points of the serrations sink into the crust, and the gullies between them reduce friction, so you saw through cleanly. In its review of bread knives, it liked blades with at least 8.5 inches of usable length and said shorter blades weren’t long enough to span large loaves. Any alternative gives up some of that.

Quick verdict: the best bread knife alternative

Five ways to slice bread, side by side

Our five standout picks, one for each way of slicing bread without a bread knife, with what each listing states. All six picks are reviewed in full below.

How each kind of alternative handles bread

A short serrated knife has the teeth a bread knife has, just fewer of them. It saws through crust and soft crumb without crushing, so rolls, bolillos, bagels and small loaves are easy. The limit is length: America’s Test Kitchen found blades shorter than 8.5 inches weren’t long enough to span large loaves, so a wide boule takes several strokes from each side.

A chef’s knife is the knife most people already own. America’s Test Kitchen notes that its straight blade struggles to get a purchase on foods that are too hard or too squishy. In practice, our kitchen sense: a sharp chef’s knife handles flatbreads, tortillas and firm, day-old loaves, but it tends to skid on hard crust and press down soft sandwich bread before it cuts.

An electric knife saws for you with two reciprocating blades. America’s Test Kitchen says electric knives are usually not very good at slicing bread: their blades are too flexible to get purchase on a loaf, so they wobble and cut unevenly, and they are loud. They earn their place at holiday carving, with bread as a second job.

A deli slicer holds the bread on a sliding carriage and pushes it past a spinning serrated blade, at a thickness you set. It gives the most even slices of any option here, which is what you want for sandwiches and French toast. It is bulky and takes longer to set up and clean than grabbing a knife.

A bagel guillotine holds a round bread in a cradle while you press a serrated blade down between two shields. It splits bagels, buns, English muffins and rolls in half, and your fingers stay out of the way. It cannot slice a loaf.

A slicing guide does not cut anything itself. It is a frame with slots that holds a loaf and steers your knife straight down, so every slice is the same thickness. Pair it with the longest blade you have.

Six ways to slice bread without a bread knife

All six picks were in stock with a new lead offer when we checked. None of these exact listings appears on our other pages. One is a different listing of a knife we cover elsewhere: the Victorinox 10-inch Fibrox chef’s knife is also in our best chef knife for big hands guide. We use it here because its long blade is the only chef’s knife length that spans a loaf.

How to choose the right stand-in for your bread

Match the tool to the bread you buy most. Rolls and bolillos: a short serrated knife or a guillotine. Pan loaves for sandwiches: a slicer or a guide. Flatbreads and tortillas: the chef’s knife you already have. Big crusty boules: a real bread knife.

Think about who is slicing. The guillotine and the deli slicer both keep hands away from the blade, which matters with children or a cook who has trouble gripping. A loose knife on a round roll is the riskiest combination in this guide.

Count the other jobs. A serrated utility knife slices tomatoes and sausage. A chef’s knife does nearly everything. A slicer handles cheese and deli meat. An electric knife carves roasts. A guide and a guillotine do one job each.

Let fresh bread cool. Our kitchen sense, for any tool: warm crumb squashes and gums up a blade, so slice once the loaf has cooled.

How we chose these six

We started from the bread knife’s job as America’s Test Kitchen describes it and looked for tools that do part of that job by a different method. We read each maker’s listing for blade, size, safety features, care and warranty, and America’s Test Kitchen’s reviews of serrated bread knives and electric knives for the limits of each approach. We skipped anything that was really a bread knife under another name, chose identifiable makers, and checked that each pick was in stock with a new lead offer. We did not test these tools ourselves.

Slicing bread without a bread knife: questions, answered

Can you cut bread with a regular knife?

Yes, with limits. America’s Test Kitchen says a straight blade struggles to get a purchase on foods that are too hard or squishy. A sharp chef’s knife with long, light strokes handles firm or day-old bread; fresh crusty loaves are harder.

What is the best substitute for a bread knife?

A serrated utility knife, for rolls and small loaves. It has the teeth, just not the length.

Are electric knives good for bread?

Usually not, according to America’s Test Kitchen, which found their flexible blades wobble on loaves. Its preferred model did better than most on crusty bread.

How do I slice bread evenly without a bread knife?

Use a deli slicer with a set thickness, or a slicing guide with a long knife.

Is a cheap bread knife a better buy than an alternative?

If you slice big loaves often, yes. See our best cheap bread knife guide.

Our final word on slicing bread without a bread knife

For most kitchens, a short serrated knife covers rolls, bolillos and small loaves, and it earns its place every day. Add a slicer or a guide if even sandwich slices matter, and a guillotine if safety does. But if crusty sourdough is a weekly habit, the honest answer is a real bread knife; start with our best bread knife guide. And when you would rather we handled the bread, see the menu or call to order.