Top 10 Spring Kitchen Essentials
Get ready for some spring cooking with our recommendations for kitchen must-haves.
Every season brings a bounty of fresh vegetables, fruits, and herbs. Right now, we're transitioning from winter to spring, meaning root vegetables, like carrots and beets, are giving way to earthy mushrooms, flavorful alliums (think onions, shallots, leeks), and crisp salad greens. We are replacing hearty, complex spices, like cardamom, cloves, and sage, with delicate spring spices and herbs, like chives, dill, and lemongrass that thrive in heavy rain and warm temperatures.
Since the types of food we are preparing changes, the kitchen tools we use will change, too. Dust off your salad spinners, white wine glasses, and light saute pans. It's time to let in the warmth! Here's our list of the top spring kitchen essentials to help you savor the flavors of the season.
Vegetable Peeler and Paring Knife
Early spring is a time of transition, which means our diets still have a few root vegetables hanging around from late winter. Parsnips and carrots are in season and are perfect for dressing up a salad or pureeing into a light soup.
A vegetable peeler works best when removing the bitter skin on late winter and early spring root veggies. For skinning mushrooms and garnishing your spring soup with radish flowers, pick up a small, stainless steel paring knife.
You can test out peeling and paring utensils with this delicious creamy carrot curry bisque from Brewed Together.
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3 Piece Good Grip Peeler Set
Potatoes and sweet potatoes are ready for harvest during March and April. These underground vegetables and tubers need a thorough wash before eating.
It's easy to clean dirt and debris off of your vegetables with a vegetable brush.
Check out this recipe forroast duck breast with black truffle cream sauce and mashed potatoes from the Little Kitchen.
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Fruit and Vegetable Mesh Brush
After a winter full of kale and potatoes, you're sure to need a fresh side dish alternative. Look no further than spinach, spring greens, and arugula to make for a refreshing change come March and April.
A salad spinner is a great way to wash your greens and quickly dry them off, since salad dressing and flavored oils won't stick to greens if they are covered in water.
Kickstart your spring dining with this smoky pear salad from Zag Left.
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Salad Spinner
Juicing is a healthy way to jumpstart your day or get a pick-me-up in the afternoon. Carrots, sprouts, strawberries, lemons, and spinach make delicious juice that's filled with seasonal flavors.
There are juicers available in a variety of price ranges, from affordable centrifugal or popular (but more expensive) cold-pressed juicers, which extract more liquid per vegetable.
If you're craving a nutritious and delicious juice, take a peek at this rejuvenating juice recipe from Fresh and Happy as a way to mark the passing seasons.
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Juice Fountain Plus Juicer
- Check out our editors' Top 10 Juicers and get even more tips before you make a purchase.
Dutch ovens are not only meant for making hearty stews, roasts, and casseroles in the winter. Keep this kitchen pot handy year-round for light soups and braised chicken dishes.
If you're all about appreciating the first glimpses of the outdoors after long winter months, a Dutch oven is the perfect camping companion. You can make biscuits, cakes, breads, and crumbles over an open campfire. Seasonal rhubarb is perfect for a sweet crumble.
Check out this classic mac and cheese recipe from Legal Miss Sunshine made in a colorful cast iron Dutch oven.
Enameled Cast Iron Round French Oven
Not every blender is created equal. If you've ever tried to make soup in a standing blender, then you know it can be a messy ordeal involving many batches.
The immersion blender is a small kitchen appliance that is helpful when making everything from leek and potato to winter squash soup. In early spring, make a carrot or lentil soup with onions or shallots.
Put an immersion blender to work on this simple tomato basil soup recipe from Penney Lane Kitchen.
2-Speed Immersion Hand Blender
- Learn How to Buy a Blender ! We answer top questions, break down the types, and cover additional considerations.
Warm spring weather calls for right-from-the-garden veggies and lighter meals.
Vegetable steamers are a healthy alternative to frying or baking veggies. Bamboo vegetable steamers are ideal for warming up your favorite veg-stuffed dim sum treats or steaming asparagus and squash.
This recipe for homemade gyoza, from Freckles in April, works perfectly with a bamboo steamer.
Classic 3 Piece Stainless Steel Steamer Set
Spring isn't all fresh vegetables and light broths! May ushers in sweet rhubarb stalks. Rhubarb is easy to whip together into a delicious and healthy pie. If rhubarb isn't one of your favorite flavors, no worries. Sweet cherries and strawberries that taste delicious in a flaky pie crust are right around the corner.
Enjoy the bounty of fruit and vegetable pies with a pie pan. Though a plain utilitarian pan will do, a sweetly ruffled pan in a bright spring hue is the perfect seasonal touch.
We fell in love with this caramel Dutch apple pie from A Savory Feast.
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Etch Pie Plate
White wines go well with spring's light fare. Chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, semillon, and moscato are just a few wines that will go well with this season's meals.
White wine glasses are narrower than red wine glasses, restricting the rate of oxidation by exposing less surface area to oxygen. Stemless white wine glasses may be better for outdoor entertaining (less chance of knocking them over), but your hands warm the wine, which is less than ideal.
Check out this wine pairing, Vintner's Reserve Chardonnay and apples, from The Sweet Escape.
Restaurant 14.5 Oz. White Wine Glass
- Need new glassware? Read How to Buy Wine and Champagne Glasses to ensure you get the right ones for your home bar.
As the warm weather brings in new vegetables, don't forget to compost! Place scraps, like carrot tops and apple cores, into the compost bin in order to fertilize your garden.
Compost bins range from small containers that fit under the sink to large outdoor containers. If you're new to composting, you can find helpful guides online.
Need help getting started? Read this thorough DIY tutorial from Creative Green Living on the basics and benefits of vermicomposting.
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Kitchen/Countertop Composter
Easily put together a refreshing spring meal using one (or all!) of these kitchen accessories. If you're throwing a dinner party, pair your seasonal spread with bouquets of spring flowers. One simple and fun way to learn more about seasonal ingredients and the dishes they can be used in is to take a stroll through the farmer's market and chat up the farmers. They know the best ways to showcase the flavors of your region.
- Now that you have all the right tools, take a peek at Our Editors' Favorite Spring Recipes and get inspired for your next meal.
