When I made our wedding registry mflmffflmm years ago (has it been that long already?), I thought I did a pretty good job.
It wasn’t until we were all moved into our SoCal kitchen that I realized we were woefully unprepared for a life of cooking happily ever after.
Part of the problem was that over half our wedding presents were still at my parents’ house about 800 miles away. The other part of the problem was that, well, it just takes a few years to get all the random little things you need in a kitchen.
Our must-have kitchen gadgets.
This list might not cover you in every situation, but it will give you a pretty good start at cooking. The ice cream maker and glass trifle bucket can come later.
Nice knives
It’s taken us a long time to get around to getting nice knives, but they are so worth it.
If you need knives STAT but your budget is SQUAT, go for a cheapish set that comes with everything you need. The sets usually come with a set of steak knives, which make fantastic all-purpose knives. If I was in the market for a budget knife set right now, this would probably be the one I would go for. It’s inexpensive, doesn’t come with a ton of extra cheapy stuff, and it serves the purpose well enough for the time being.
When you are ready to upgrade, start with one of these. We have a similar one (it has since been discontinued) and we absolutely love it. Remember not to let it sit with food debris on it. If you don’t have time to wash it right away, at least rinse it.
Vegetable peelers
My favorite peeler is the Y-shaped peeler from OXO. Kevin likes the traditional shape, so we have both. It’s not an exciting gadget, but it makes like a whole lot easier. These are nice and hardy, so they stand up well to the thick skins of butternut squash.
Can opener
Another less-than thrilling kitchen gadget is a good can opener. As someone who has opened a can with a screwdriver and a pair of pliers, I can tell you that this should be one of the first purchases for your kitchen. Don’t be too cheap, either. If it’s in the budget, get one of these too.
KitchenAid stand mixer
You wouldn’t *have* to have one of these. But it’s super nice when it comes to making cookies, pizza dough, and homemade marshmallows. It’s also the best way I know to stir up peanut butter.
We opted for the professional version over the artisan because it has the cool feature where the bowl can raise and lower. Our set didn’t come with the baker’s bundle, but I can live with that.
KitchenAid hand mixer
We love our stand mixer, but sometimes you just need to fluff up some egg whites to make Mom’s waffles, and the stand mixer seems a little overkill. The hand mixer says more of like “I’m cooking, but that’s not the only thing I’m going to do today.” Also, you can get it in a crazy color because it hides in the cupboard and no one has to know how fun you are.
Nice blender
If you don’t want to invest in a Vita Mix yet, get a cheaper blender to tide you over. I have this Vita Mix and I love it. Before it I had the Ninja blender/food processor set and I don’t recommend it. Save your money and get a nice blender. Ours is perfect for making smoothies, peanut butter, and hot sauce.
Nice food processor
Maternity leave gave me way too much time to shop online, but this is a purchase I do not regret one bit. We use it to make hummus, energy bites, pesto, and a number of other things. I like that this one has a mini bowl as well, so you don’t have to have a mini food processor too.
Flexible cutting boards
We have a bunch of flexible cutting boards, which is nice because we can have several recipes going at once. These do wear out over time, but they aren’t a big investment to replace.
Pots and pans
When we moved to Oregon, a good friend of ours gifted us with a nice pot and pan set. It wasn’t hundreds of dollars, but we have gotten hundreds of uses out of the set. It isn’t Teflon, but with a little nonstick spray that’s not a problem. All the pieces are easy to clean.
Cast iron skillets
If you skip the pots and pans above, at least make sure you have a nice cast iron skillet. This can go from stovetop to oven. You can make bread, cornbread, pizza, Salisbury steak, shepherds pie, and a whole gaggle of things in a cast iron skillet. Ours came with a lid, which is super handy if you are braising something.
Wooden spoons
If you open the oven to find a piece of flaming cookie dough stuck to the heating element, this is your weapon of choice. Wooden spoons also have some more obvious uses, like stirring a big pot of chili or coercing chocolate chips into cookie dough. Definitely a must have.
Spatulas
How are you going to make sure you get all the chocolate chip cookie dough out of the bowl? With a spatula. Many spatulas are now heat safe up to a certain temperature, which is super nice for when you are making something like homemade marshmallows and a wooden spoon is too big and clunky to stir that syrup with.
Turners/spatulas
To be clear, I’m speaking of what Garfield popularized as a spider smacker. A lot of confusion occurs when you refer to two very different kitchen utensils as “spatulas.” Whatever you choose to call these things, I recommend getting some nice slim ones so that they slide effortlessly under pancakes and omelets.
Mixing bowls
We have something like four sets of mixing bowls, and we use them all. My favorite set, both for its price and simplicity, is this one from Sam’s Club.
Flour sack towels
These make great all-purpose kitchen towels. They’re good for drying dishes (though we usually let ours air dry) and they are perfect for covering a bowl of dough as it rises.
Spring loaded tongs
These are our salad servers, our fried wonton grabbers, our grilled broccoli wranglers, and a lot more. We have a bunch of tiny ones that come in handy when we serve a meal with lots of toppings.
Measuring cups and spoons
At the very, very least, get a glass 2-cup measurer. I also recommend having glass measuring cups in an assortment of sizes, as well as some dry measuring cups and some measuring spoons.
That’s it for our must-have kitchen gadgets. If you don’t have any of those, I recommend you make yourself a wish list and get shopping. If you already have all of those, I recommend you get cooking!