Top Kitchen Essentials for Everyday Cooks
Set your kitchen up the right way with these culinary must-haves.
There's a reason these kitchen essentials are considered the must-haves of the culinary world. These are the tried-and-true basics that help you accomplish a kitchen task, no matter how big or small.
Whether you're constrained with space and only want to keep the necessary equipment around or you're starting from scratch and need to set up your kitchen correctly, our list of top kitchen essentials is curated with only the necessities for everyday cooking success.
1. Cookware
Cookware can be confusing but you can accomplish almost any cooking task with a few fundamentals. If you don't want to invest in an entire set, try purchasing one of each of the following to get started:
- Cast Iron Skillet: Our grandmothers knew what they were doing. A cast iron skillet can be used for a range of recipes, from searing steaks to baking cobblers. and can handle almost any cooking technique. A 10" or 12" should work for most recipes too but come in a variety of sizes. These skillets are durable enough to pass on to the next generation.
- Nonstick Skillet:A nonstick skillet is your best friend for sauces, eggs, crepes, and other delicate recipes. Nonstick skillets do not transfer to the oven but they make your food slide out with ease. Although they come in a range of sizes, choose a larger one (10" or 12") for the most versatility.
- Saucepans: Saucepans are not only fantastic for sauces, but they're useful when cooking small batches of food, such as soups, gravies or thicker foods, like risotto.
If your bakeware equipment isn't right then your baked goods will suffer, no matter how delicious the recipe may be. Increase your odds of baking success by purchasing the essential bakeware items and also paying attention to the finish.
Nonstick bakeware is fine for delicate goods like sugar cookies but aluminum is better under the broiler and for roasting at higher temperatures. A textured pan works better for crispness, such as certain cookie recipes or anything you want to develop a crust. You'll find pans for every baked good in the kitchen, including:
- Baking sheets or cookie sheets
- Cake pans
- Muffin and cupcake pans
- Pie Pans
- Bread and loaf pans
Start with the pan you think you would use the most, such as a sheet pan or cookie sheet, and you can add to your collection over time.
A 9" x 13" and 8" x 8" baking dish can accomplish a range of recipes in the oven, such as casseroles, cobblers, and gratins, and even cakes and pies. You'll find these in ceramic or glass and both perform equally well for anything you need to serve hot and bubbly. Keep in mind a ceramic decorative baking dish can go straight from the oven to a beautiful tablescape anytime.
If you enjoy cooking, an enameled Dutch oven is a must because it can handle almost any recipe. It's a heavy pot with a tight-fitting lid but it will be the workhorse of the kitchen. It goes from stovetop to the oven with ease and is perfect for searing, braising, frying, baking bread, and so much more. While often an investment, it will be your go-to for one-pot meals and everything else.
A chef's knife is not only the must-have knife among the knives, but it is one of the most important items among our list of kitchen essentials. It's great for slicing and dicing meats, veggies, nuts – there's very little these knives can't handle.
If the budget allows, adding a serrated knife for cutting breads or a paring knife for precisely chopping fruits and vegetables will help complete the set.
Cutting boards are another kitchen essential because they not only keep your knives from dulling, but they keep your kitchen more sanitary. If you're cutting raw meat, you can use a cutting board to contain the meat and lessen the chance of food poisoning from spreading the bacteria.
Boards come in wooden and plastic varieties and generally a wooden board is the workhorse. You can cut anything on it (including meat). Plastic boards are a great option for quick clean-ups and cutting smaller items, such as lemons.
When you're in the kitchen, you can't rely on your eyesight alone to accurately measure ingredients. Most baking recipes require exact measurements or else you may have a kitchen fail on your hands. Measuring cups and spoons are kitchen essentials that ensure you have the right amount of ingredients, which is one of the keys to creating a successful meal.
For the most accurate measure, use individual measuring cups for dry goods (think of how you scoop) and the larger glass cup for liquid measurements.
One set of mixing bowls is all you need to get started, whether you prefer baking brownies from a box or biscuits from scratch. Sturdy mixing bowls give you adequate room to work when mixing ingredients. Go for the metal variety too – they can handle any mixing task, are super lightweight, and durable.
A box grater is key for grating blocks of cheese for topping your tacos or homemade mac and cheese. Look for a box grater with multiple sizes of etched holes so you can use it for other grating tasks, such as creating bigger slices or a fine grate.
A zester, or microplane, is similar to the box grater except it only has one size of grates and is handheld. You use this for grating over food, such as parmesan for your pasta, zesting lemons and limes, grating garlic, or adding fresh nutmeg or cinnamon.
From draining pasta to washing fruits and vegetables, a sturdy colander ensures you shake all the excess water off. It's also handy for rinsing beans and canned goods.
Strainers are similar but use mesh instead of larger holes. This allows finer particles, such as with flour, to pass through. Use them for sifting or separating larger bits out of delicate sauces.
When shopping for kitchen utensils, it's easy to get overwhelmed. However, if you stick to the basics, you can complete almost any task with the following:
- Metal Spatula: For flipping, mixing, spreading, and scraping.
- Rubber Spatulas: The same as a metal spatula, but a rubber spatula is safe to use on all types of cookware.
- Whisk: This helps you blend ingredients and incorporate air, for recipes such as souffles and meringues.
- Wooden Spoon: A wooden spoon (as opposed to metal or plastic) can be used with all cookware and doesn't get too hot like metal.
- Slotted Spoon: A slotted spoon includes perforations so the liquid can drain out.
- Tongs: Used to flip food during cooking or grilling so you don't have to handle hot items.
If you have room in your budget or want to build on the list above, consider adding these tools too:
- Hand Mixer or Stand Mixer:Although you can technically use a whisk for almost any mixing task, an electric hand mixer or stand mixer will save you time and is easier on your arm muscles. Both offer convenience and are available in any budget.
- Instant-Read Meat Thermometer: An instant-read thermometer tells you precisely what temperature your meat is so you can be confident it is cooked correctly. You can use them on the stovetop, grill, or in the oven so you can achieve the perfect temperature.
- Baking Rack:A cooling rack, or wire rack, is used after baked goods come out of the oven. You place the food on the rack and the air circulates around it, which keeps condensation away.
Are you ready to bring out your inner chef? Our list of kitchen essentials will ensure you have the fundamentals for getting started.
Written by Sara Coleman
