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In the dictionary,

cube something: to cut food into cubes

dice something: to cut (food) into small cubes

I guess when you "cube something", the cubed cubes can be big or small

but when you "dice something", the cubed cubes are normally small

But I might be wrong.

Oxford dictionary also says "to cube" and "to dice" are the same or synonyms.

Do we care about the size when saying "I cubed the meat" and "I diced the meat"?

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    In cookery, cubes are bigger. Typically, cube: 8mm to 12mm (1/3 to 1/2 inch), dice, about 6mm (1/4 inch), mince: 3mm (1/8 inch) or smaller.
    – Michael Harvey
    Commented Aug 13 at 9:23
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    Also depends on the food. The pieces of a diced onion could easily have a side length of only 5-10mm (and incidentally aren't actually cubes, but rectangular prisms!), whereas the pieces of a diced potato are more likely to have a side length of 10-20mm. One might argue that this means you're cubing the potato, not dicing it, but the collocation "diced potato" is very common and certainly refers to this size.
    – Luke Sawczak
    Commented Aug 13 at 11:14
  • In classical cookery, "cubed" is a generic term that does't specify size. You specify size (from largest to smallest) as "large dice", "medium dice", "small dice", or "bruniose". Here is a guide with exact sizes specified.
    – Canadian Yankee
    Commented Aug 13 at 15:35

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Trying to state this broadly leaving room for exceptions...

In recipes, cubing tend towards larger pieces and dicing tends towards smaller pieces. A recipe for a beef stew wouldn't say to "dice the meat" but to cut the meat into cubes, and they'd be an inch or more. But you might find a recipe that has you cutting something "into small cubes", cheese perhaps, or day-old bread, and that would be like a pair of dice in a board game. Onions and peppers often get diced, and that's the size of a fingernail or smaller. But it's an imprecise instruction, so you might might see "finely diced" if the author wants you to go smaller.

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    But it's an imprecise instruction, so you might might see "finely diced" if the author wants you to go smaller. In recipe books, I've noticed, a picture is worth a thousand words; they aren't there just for food-porn reasons.
    – Michael Harvey
    Commented Aug 13 at 12:58

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