I will admit, I am a kitchen tool and gadget junkie. We even built our house with that, and my love of being in the kitchen, in mind. Still, even with my admitted problem, I still am fairly picky about what gets shelf and drawer space. If there’s a kitchen appliance or tool I’m not moving, it gets passed along to someone that will use it.
And then there are the kitchen tools I love; the ones I reach for week after week because they make cooking, prepping, storing, or cleaning up easier.
Some are simple basics, some are small upgrades, and a few are the kinds of things I didn’t realize I’d use so often until I had them. Here are the kitchen tools I use all the time and why they’ve earned their spot. For fun I challenged myself to not take any new pictures to show them off because if I used them as much as I thought, there’s already be photographic proof… I was right!
Short Cut: See all my kitchen favs here!
Composite Cutting Board
A good cutting board is one of those kitchen staples that makes daily cooking easier. I love a composite cutting board because it’s durable, easy to clean, and less high-maintenance than a wooden board.
I use mine for everything from chopping vegetables to slicing cooked meats to prepping fruit for the girls. It feels sturdy on the counter, doesn’t take up much space, cleans up easily, and can handle everyday use without feeling precious. That’s saying something since I’ve now had mine for 17 (!) years and it’s still going strong.
Ideas for use:
Use it for weeknight dinner prep, chopping salad ingredients, slicing sandwiches, cutting fruit, or cutting cooked meats.
My Pick: Epicurean Gourmet Series – the moat around the perimeter is extra handy for catching juices from fruit or cooked meats.
Kitchen Shears
Kitchen shears are one of the most underrated tools in the kitchen. I use them constantly, especially when I want to skip pulling out a knife and cutting board for something small. And my kids know that these are mom’s scissors; don’t you dare try to craft with them 😉
Shears are great for cutting herbs, trimming chicken, snipping bacon, cutting pizza or quesadillas for kids, trimming stew meat, and even breaking down greens. A good pair should feel sturdy, rinse clean easily, and stay sharp through many uses.
Ideas for use:
Use kitchen shears to cut cooked chicken into bite-sized pieces, trim green beans, snip fresh parsley over a finished dish, cut tortillas into strips, quickly chop romaine for salads, and so much more.
My Pick: Stainless Steel Blade Shears
Thermapen
An instant-read thermometer is one of those tools that makes you a better cook almost immediately. The Thermapen is especially helpful because it removes any guesswork from cooking meat.
I use it most often for chicken, steak, burgers, pork tenderloin, and fish. It helps prevent overcooking, which is especially useful with lean proteins like chicken breast or pork tenderloin that can go from perfect to dry very quickly.
Ideas for use:
Use it when grilling chicken, cooking steak to the right doneness, checking burgers, testing pork tenderloin, or making sure roasted chicken is fully cooked without drying it out.
My Pick: Thermapen One
Cambro Food Storage Containers
There is nothing flashy about these food storage containers, but they are some of the most useful items in my kitchen.
Ideas for use:
I use them for defrosting meats, storing chopped produce and bulk ingredients, batching soups and sauces, marinating proteins, cooling bone broth, and even feeding my sourdough starter or making a levain. They stack well, come in useful sizes, and make it easy to see what’s inside.
My Pick: 4qt Container with lid and the 12qt container and lid
Rotary Grater
A rotary grater is one of those simple tools that makes a small task faster and less messy. There’s a reason it went viral! I use it most often for shredding cheese, mozzarella for pizza, parmesan for roasted veggies or pasta, and cheddar for wraps.
Freshly grated cheese really does make a difference (no anticaking agents so it melts more easily), and a rotary grater makes it easy to add just a little bit at the table or right over a finished dish.
Ideas for use:
Use it’s offering of blade settings for shredding cheese, slicing potatoes for au gratin, slicing cucumbers for salad, shredding carrots for cake, and so much more. It’s also fun for the kids to use, which makes it more likely they’ll add something new to their plate.
My Pick: Geedel Rotary Grater
Souper Cubes
Souper Cubes silicone freezer trays are incredibly handy if you like freezing leftovers or prepping ingredients ahead of time. They make it easy to freeze food in usable portions instead of one giant block.
I use them for soups, sauces, broth, chili, cooked beans, shredded meat, smoothie ingredients, and even leftover tomato paste or pesto. Once frozen, you can pop the cubes out and store them in a freezer bag.
Ideas for use:
Freeze individual portions of soup, chili, spaghetti sauce, taco meat, pulled chicken, bone broth, cooked rice, smoothie packs, or leftover herbs in olive oil.
My Pick: 2 Cup Souper Cubes
Salad Spinner
A salad spinner is one of those tools that seems unnecessary until you realize how much better greens keep when they’re actually dry.
I use mine for washing lettuce, herbs, spinach, kale, and even berries. Dry greens make a better salad because the dressing actually sticks instead of getting watered down. They also last longer in the fridge when they aren’t packed away wet.
Ideas for use:
Wash and dry romaine for the week, prep herbs, rinse spinach, dry kale before massaging it for salads, or wash berries and let them drain before storing.
My Pick: I’ve had mine for years (see below for photographic proof), but when it kicks the buckets, I’m upgrading to the OXO Durable Glass Salad Spinner
Vacuum Sealer
A vacuum sealer is one of the best tools for cutting down on food waste and making the freezer more useful. I use it for meats, bulk buys, bread, leftovers, garden produce, and anything I want to keep fresher longer. It even will reseal chip bags!
It’s especially helpful if you buy in bulk from Costco, freeze seasonal foods, or like having meal components ready to go. Vacuum-sealed food takes up less space and is less likely to get freezer burn.
Ideas for use:
Use it to portion ground beef, chicken breasts, steaks, shredded chicken, cooked pulled pork, berries, muffins, homemade waffles, or marinated meats. It’s also handy for freezing fruits for smoothies and veggies for future use- no big clumps of freezer burn!
My Pick: Foodsaver Bag Maker and Express Sealer
Rice Cooker
A rice cooker is one of my favorite “set it and forget it” appliances. Yes, you can make rice on the stove, but I love not having to babysit it.
It makes weeknight dinners easier because rice can be cooking while I’m handling the rest of the meal. I use it for white rice, brown rice, quinoa, and sometimes oatmeal depending on the cooker. Perhaps this year will be the year I finally try out that soup setting…
Ideas for use:
Make rice for taco bowls, burrito bowls, grilled chicken plates, salmon bowls, fried rice, curry, soups, or simple lunches.
My Pick: I actually have 2: Ceramic Inner Pot // Stainless Steel Inner Pot
Digital Kitchen Scale
A digital kitchen scale is one of those tools I didn’t realize I’d use as often as I do. It’s helpful for baking, of course, but I use it just as much for everyday cooking and meal prep.
It makes it easy to portion ingredients, divide up leftovers, measure flour accurately, or build bowls with a little more consistency. I especially like it for meals where I want to know roughly how much protein or carbs I’m getting without dirtying extra measuring cups.
Ideas for use:
Use it for measuring flour, portioning ground beef or chicken, weighing sweet potatoes, dividing leftovers into lunch containers, counting macros, or getting consistent results when baking.
My Pick: Rechargeable Kitchen Scale
Glass Storage Containers
Glass storage containers are my favorite for leftovers, especially anything I want to reheat.
They’re great for storing leftovers, prepped lunches, chopped fruit, roasted vegetables, and cooked proteins. Besides not worrying about leaching plastics or microplastics, I also appreciate that they don’t hold onto smells or stains the same way plastic containers can.
Ideas for use:
Use them for leftovers, meal prep lunches, roasted vegetables, cut fruit, cooked grains, chicken salad, pasta salad, or storing butter or individual portions of dinner for the next day.
My Pick: Glass Snapware Solutions
Instant Dutch Oven
My Instant Dutch Oven is one of my favorite tools for cozy meals and hands-off cooking. It gives you the feel of a Dutch oven with the convenience of controlled heat, which makes it great for soups, stews, braised meats, sauces, and slow-cooked meals.
I love that it can sauté and then keep cooking without needing to move everything to another pot. It’s especially helpful on busy days when I want dinner to simmer without having to babysit the stove.
Ideas for use:
Use it for chili, soups, pot roast, shredded chicken, pulled pork, marinara sauce, beef stew, taco meat, or cozy Sunday dinners that make leftovers for the week.
My Pick: They are no longer making my Instant Dutch Oven, can you believe it?! I plan to keep using mine and when it goes, I’m tempted to go for the wide base Instant Pot.
Bench Scraper
A bench scraper is a simple tool that makes prep and cleanup easier. I use it most often to scoop chopped vegetables from the cutting board into a pan, but it’s also great for working with dough or cleaning up flour from the counter on our weekly pizza night.
It’s one of those small, inexpensive tools that earns its drawer space because it saves time and cuts down on mess.
Ideas for use:
Use it to transfer chopped onions, peppers, herbs, or carrots from the cutting board to a skillet, divide dough into pieces for rolls, clean playdough off a table, clean counters after baking, scoop up any chopped ingredients, or scrape sticky bits from a work surface.
My Pick: They don’t make mine anymore, but if I ever need a new one, I’d buy this one.
Garlic Rocker
A garlic rocker is a small tool, but it makes mincing garlic quick and easy. Instead of pulling out a knife and trying to finely chop garlic cloves or squeezing a garlic crusher, you rock the tool back and forth over the clove and it presses the garlic through the little holes.
I like it because it’s simple, easy to clean, and gives you fresh garlic without much effort. It’s especially nice if you use garlic often in sauces, soups, dressings, marinades, and weeknight dinners.
Ideas for use:
Use it for fresh garlic in salad dressings, marinades, pasta sauce, soups, roasted vegetables, taco meat, sautéed greens, or garlic butter. For toddlers it’s also fun to smash playdough or black beans, banana, or avocado. My girls used to busy themselves that way with me in the kitchen.
My Pick: Garlic Rocker
Why These Tools Earn Their Space
None of these items are overly fancy, but that’s exactly why I like them. They make everyday cooking smoother. They help me prep faster, waste less food, and get meals on the table with less fuss.
For me, the best kitchen tools are the ones that solve a real problem. They don’t just look nice in a drawer or promise to transform dinner; they make the daily rhythm of feeding a family a little easier. And I can vouch that these are tools worth keeping within reach.
What are you must have kitchen tools and gadgets?
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