I am temporarily living in a place with a double sink and the sinks are 14" wide. I'm washing pots and pans in it so you have more than enough room for fruits and vegetables in a 13" width.

My prep sink interior measurement is 13" x 17", it's perfect for us, and plenty for fruits and veggies. Since there are 6 of us, the secondary sink gets used for whatever is needed. That was my first "must have" when I started designing a new kitchen....I absolutely hated having only 1 sink for a large family.

13" is a bar sink. If you're going to prep veggies I'd want to be able to get a head of lettuce or cabbage under the water and not have it splash all over the place, or be able to place a colander into the sink for draining.

Personally, I think the minimum size of a prep sink is one that just fits in an 18-inch sink base. That means interior dimensions roughly 17" x 17" +/- an inch or so.

I have a prep sink that's 15-3/4" x 15-3/4" interior space and it's a bit too small. I wish it were at least 3 or 4 inches more in each direction (especially the width). There's barely enough room for my hands, food, and maneuvering the food while washing/rinsing. I wish I had gone with a prep sink in a standard 21" or 24" wide sink base. (Due to the available space in my Kitchen, my prep sink is in a corner sink base, so my options were limited size-wise.)

I generally recommend a prep sink base be at least 18" wide. That allows for a sink to be around 17" interior. Sink bases < 18" are usually for "bar sinks" -- sinks intended to be used primarily for dumping or filling a glass of water. Remember, you need enough space for the food you're cleaning/rinsing, your hands, and maneuvering your hands & food.

Oh and I agree with M Miller -- if you use a garbage disposal, the prep sink should definitely have one! I let my husband talk me out of it to "save money" and I regret it to this day. (It only saved around $200 - small change in the overall cost of the remodel!)

Learn from my mistakes! :-)

13" is too small.

I run a catering biz from my home with 2 back to back 13" sinks and prep a ton of veggies daily not one issue . We also wash pans in them that don't fit in the DW all my catering pots and pans are done in the DW both for ease of clean up and for sanitary reasons . My kitchen design was what was important and these 2 sinks are perfect for my use

Sinks can be personal preference. Different ones work or not for folks. If you want a feel for how a 13" would work for you. A standard square milk crate is that size, a bit deeper. Get one, and use it in your regular sink- do the prep stuff inside that space only. If you are thinking of doing a rectangular sink like a 13x15, you can still test with the milk crate and the real sink would just be a little more roomy.

Shop with a stockpot. If a stockpot won't fit into it, it's not big enough for a colander to drain your veggies. Plus, you will want to use it for filling pots, so be sure to get a pull down faucet that you can do that with.

I agree with others saying this is not large enough. I have a coffee bar in my home with a 15" sink. This is large enough for my needs, but if I were doing veggie prep, I'd want at least 18".

Mine is 18" x 18" and 10" high. I wouldn't want it any smaller.

Mine is 18" square and just the right size for what you want to do. I wouldn't get any smaller.

Take out you colander and salad spinner. Measure them and add about 4" . That would be the minimum I would do. Usually 17-19" interior bowl dimension.

Good luck!

Our prep sink was 14" wide and 17" front-to-back. A Kohler "Irontones" sink. Large enough to set down and fill pots, filling dog bowls, draining pasta, washing our blender, veggies and whatever else needed to be cleaned. I'm a fan of getting the smallest size prep sink you can, making sure that it is adequate of course, but for many families, the main sink is where most of the action takes place. I regret not installing a garbage disposer but we couldn't afford one at the time.

Too small. That size is fine for a little bar sink. My designer wanted me to get a 13x13. I said no thanks! Get a plastic container that is the same size. Sit it in your regular sink. Now try to wash veggies just in the plastic container.

I have a 16” by 16” square 2nd sink in my island. It has a disposal, and I was hoping it would be used as a prep sink and a sink to keep people out of the main work triangle if they just needed to quickly rinse or dump something.
I installed that sink almost 20 years ago, it has never been used for what I wanted. It’s slightly too small, and therefore doesn’t contain the faucet spray when things are in the sink. I am going to skip a second sink in my next kitchen.
My cats use it for drinking, they sit next to it until I turn it on as they prefer fresh running water!