Whether you’re setting up your kitchen for the first time or need to replace some worn-out items, the first step to a great meal is keeping your kitchen stocked with the right tools. With these kitchen tools, cooking will be enjoyable and straightforward, something you’ll look forward to doing. Here is our list of must-have kitchen items.

Preparation Tools & Essentials 

Chef’s Knife

If you’ve only ever used cheap chef’s knives for your cooking, a high-quality knife will make a huge difference. Sincerely, once you upgrade, you won’t believe how much easier, heavier, and sharper the new chef’s knife makes cutting and chopping. Because you can use a chef’s knife for all of your cutting needs and use it every time you cook, a high-quality purchase will last you for years.

Cutting Board

A good cutting board is one of the most essential items you need in your kitchen. Similar to your chef’s knife, you’ll use it every time you cook, so it’s critical to pick one that is sturdy and well-made.

During all of your preparation, a good, grippy cutting board will keep your fingers safe. To prepare different ingredients and avoid cross-contamination, we advise having a few cutting boards, such as a collection of plastic cutting boards. Plastic boards can be fully disinfected by running them through the dishwasher.

Can Opener

You shouldn’t forget to bring a can opener! The convenience of canned beans and vegetables makes them excellent pantry staples, but many other items, including coconut milk, curry paste, fruits, crushed tomatoes, and others, come in cans that need to be opened.

Measuring Cups

If you bake, measuring cups are essential, but they’re also useful for regular cooking. To measure small amounts of liquid and dried ingredients, it is preferable to keep a set of measuring cups on hand. A 1-quart glass measuring cup is much more practical and effective for measuring liquids, and you can also prepare sauces and vinaigrettes inside before pouring them directly into whatever you’re preparing.

Measuring Spoons

Even if you prefer to “eyeball” the quantities of your ingredients, it’s useful to keep a set of measuring spoons on hand in case you need to make exact measurements. However, they also function as tiny spoons for sprinkling spices and dried herbs. Comparatively to measuring cups, measuring spoons are used to precisely measure smaller amounts of liquid or solid cooking ingredients.

Mixing Bowls

A set of top-notch mixing bowls is essential for blending salad dressings, spice rubs, marinades, and sauces, and even for storing leftovers. 

Colander

A colander is an indispensable item for your minimalist kitchen for washing and draining pasta as well as for washing vegetables and salad greens.

Peeler

Using a peeler to peel potatoes, carrots, or any other vegetable will speed up the preparation process. Even the cheese can be shaved off with it.

Whisk

It’s important to have a whisk that is ergonomically designed because they are frequently one of the most used items in your kitchen. Pick a medium-sized whisk that fits your hand comfortably and has a long handle. Use it to emulsify a vinaigrette, stir eggs for a frittata, and combine dry ingredients before baking.

Salad Spinner

Your best friend when it comes to having a crisp salad is a salad spinner. You must dry your greens to keep them from becoming soggy, and “spinning” them is by far the simplest method to accomplish this.

While a colander may be adequate for drying lettuce, a salad spinner is significantly more effective. People struggle with soggy tacos and sandwiches, and salad dressings have a difficult time sticking to lettuce that is still wet. Your problems can be solved with a salad spinner because it will allow you to use fewer paper towels and quickly get rid of any excess water. This device can also be used to dry fresh herbs. If your primary colander is in use, you have a backup colander available.

Microplane Grater 

Garlic, ginger, and nutmeg can all be grated with ease using fine Microplane graters. They work well for zesting citrus fruits as well. A Microplane might end up being your best friend when it comes to enhancing the flavor and zing of your meals.

Shears

Super simple and helpful. You use shears every day to open packages, remove herb stems, or trim fat from meats. You could occasionally use them to slice up a whole chicken or remove the crust from a pie. To prevent gunk from accumulating in the hinge, look for a pair that can be disassembled for cleaning.

Serrated Knife and Paring Knife

You can easily cut through bread and tomatoes with serrated knives. A kitchen knife with a short blade that can be used for a variety of tasks is called a paring knife. It can be used for chopping and peeling, and the small tip makes it ideal for delicate tasks like coring strawberries. When a larger knife just isn’t cutting it for smaller, more delicate tasks, paring knives are fantastic.

Cookware and Bakeware

Non-Stick Frying Pan

Since eggs and pancakes are best cooked on a non-stick surface, every household needs a non-stick pan for breakfast purposes. Additionally, it is a very versatile pan that can be used for sautéing vegetables, searing meats, and preparing sauces. Use only non-abrasive tools on the surface, and exercise caution.

Sauté Pan

There are a few significant differences between a skillet and a sauté pan. It has a large flat bottom and vertical sides that are typically much higher than the flared sides of a skillet. Compared to a skillet, this makes it simpler to cook sauces, sear, and braise meat.

Small Saucepan

A portable, easy-to-handle saucepan is required for cooking soups, stews, different types of pasta, or sauces in small quantities.

Large Pot

You’ll need a large pot to handle the volume when cooking large dishes like soups, stews, different types of pasta, or sauces.

Grill Pan

If you don’t have a barbecue or don’t want to grill outside but still want your food to have nice grill marks, grill pans are a great option. A grill pan is essential for summertime fares like burgers, salmon that has been roasted, meatballs, and marinated vegetables. It gives your food tantalizing grill lines, just like a barbecue. However, it is simpler than grilling because you don’t have to leave the comfort of your kitchen and all you need is a stovetop element. No charcoal, propane, or other fuels, or even extensive cleaning, is required.

Baking Sheet Pan

A flat, rectangular metal pan known as a baking sheet, sheet pan, baking tray, or baking sheet is used to roast and bake food in the oven. A top-notch baking sheet pan is a necessity for a minimalist kitchen because it allows you to quickly roast vegetables like cauliflower, broccoli, or squash as well as bake delicious treats.

Casserole Dish

A large, deep dish with high edges that is used for baking or serving is called a casserole dish. A good casserole dish is essential if you want to bake a one-dish meal like lasagna or a casserole when you’re feeling lazy.

Broiler Pan

An oven’s high-heat broiler is used with a rectangular metal pan called a broiler pan. It has grooves and a draining pan that sits below to catch any fat that drips through so your oven doesn’t get stained, and it is much thicker than a typical baking sheet pan so it doesn’t warp under the high heat. When you want your food to have a nice, brown, crusty top, broiling is fantastic.

Cooking Tools & Kitchen Utensils

Spatula

A spatula is a small kitchen tool used for mixing, spreading, and turning that has a wide, flat, flexible blade.

Slotted Spoon

Cooking is made simpler and safer with the use of a large spoon with slots or holes for draining liquid. When removing something from a pan, it is ideal for doing so while still preserving the delicious juices.

Tongs

An excellent set of tongs that can handle a variety of different-sized foods is a necessity for quickly flipping meats and vegetables. They must have silicone tips to avoid scratching and must be extremely heat resistant to avoid melting away after repeated use.

Ladle

In essence, a ladle is a very large spoon with a long handle. It is used to serve dishes that are liquid, such as soups, stews, or sauces.

Oven Mitts

When transferring hot food to and from the oven, oven mitts are used to prevent hand burns. You won’t have to pull it out with one hand while trying to avoid spilling your food or getting burned or wrap your hand in a tea towel.

Splatter Guard

Let’s face it, cooking can get messy. How often have spilled grease and oil required you to clean your oven top and cabinets? These days of cleanup are over thanks to a splatter guard. During high-heat cooking, a splatter guard is a device that is placed on top of skillets or sautés pans to prevent hot oil and food from splattering and coating your stovetop.

Thermometer

If you frequently cook meats and want to stop estimating their doneness, you must invest in a high-quality meat thermometer.

Fish Turner

Although it is marketed as a fish turner, this useful item can be used for anything. This tool’s wider base makes flipping burgers, fish, over-easy eggs, and even pancakes simple. The food you are flipping slides easily under the thin, beveled edge, and the slots allow any grease to drain.

Appliances

Immersion Blender

Food can be blended or pureed in the container it is being prepared in using an immersion blender, also referred to as a stick blender. An immersion blender is a necessity because it makes it simple to make mayonnaise for hard-boiled eggs as well as blend soups and sauces right in the pot.

Kitchen Scale

A small, portable scale is needed for accurately weighing raw food and coffee beans.

Blender

Instead of constantly using a food processor, you’ll probably want a strong blender if you enjoy making smoothies, sauces, dips, or soups.

Rice Cooker

Since rice is regarded as a staple food, having a functional rice cooker in your kitchen is a good idea. The most energy-efficient method of cooking rice is in a rice cooker. Cooking rice with them is simpler because the precise measurements are carved onto the cooking vessel. Simply put the freshly cleaned rice in the pot, add water, cover it, and press the cook button.

Juicer

Juicer is a must-have appliance in your kitchen if you love to drink fresh juice. Fruits and vegetables can be juiced to extract their juice. They help you save time and effort by obtaining the maximum amount of juice possible, which you can never do by hand squeezing alone. Additionally, you won’t have to worry about pulp or seeds contaminating your juice when you use a fruit juicer.

Slow Cooker

The next must-have appliance for the kitchen is a crockpot or slow cooker. When cooking a roast, slow cookers can help you conserve energy more effectively than an oven. Slow cookers, also known as crock pots, are excellent because you can leave the kitchen while your food cooks, contrary to what their names imply.

Food Processor

One of the essential kitchen tools and even the best friend of the cook is a good food processor. Food processors have interchangeable blades that can chop and shred any food that is placed inside of them. Pates and dips, peanut butter, whipped cream, and mayonnaise can all be quickly made in a food processor. Once you use them, they’ll save you a ton of time and are also simple to clean.

Other Kitchen Essentials

Food Storage Containers

For packing lunches to work and keeping ingredients or prepared meals in the fridge so they stay fresh for several days, high-quality food storage containers are important.

Aluminum Foil

There are many different uses for aluminum foil in the kitchen. This is a multifunctional kitchen necessity that can be used for cooking, cleaning, safeguarding, scrubbing, lifting, or steaming. Even though aluminum foil is essential, it’s also one of those things that are simple to forget to restock on, which can result in pricey impulsive purchases at your neighborhood grocery store.

Parchment Paper

To prevent a mess in the kitchen, parchment paper is used in cooking as a disposable non-stick surface. You can quickly clean up by simply lining your casserole dish or baking sheet with parchment paper.

Towels

Towels are a necessity in every kitchen for wiping up spills, drying dishes, dusting, and general cleaning. But when stocking their minimalist kitchen, most people don’t give towels much thought.

Dish Rack

You’ll still need to hand wash some things or give cookware a quick rinse even if you have a dishwasher. You need a high-quality dish rack so that you can put your dishes on it and have the water drain back into the sink.

Conclusion

It doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive to fully equip a functional and minimalist kitchen. You can end up with a fully stocked kitchen that will last a lifetime by buying only high-quality multipurpose items with a strong value proposition.