Cooking more meals at home can be a rewarding way to save money, eat healthier, and bond with family and friends over shared meals. But without the right kitchen tools, it can feel like an impossible challenge. Whether you’re a total beginner or a seasoned home chef, having the proper gear makes all the difference in efficient, enjoyable meal preparation.
Consider it your ultimate checklist for outfitting your cooking space so you can master meal prep like a pro.
Cookware – The Essential Pots and Pans
A quality set of pots and pans tailored to your cooking needs provides the foundation for any well-equipped kitchen. With the right mix of essential cookware, you’ll gain versatility to cook soups, stews, pastas, sauces, and more with ease.
All-Purpose Skillet
A 12-inch skillet is one of the most versatile pans you can own. With its wide, shallow shape, a skillet allows you to sear meats, saute vegetables, cook eggs, and more. We recommend a stainless steel skillet for all-purpose use. It provides even heating and allows fond to develop for flavorful pan sauces. Stainless steel is also durable and oven-safe. For a more budget-friendly option, an aluminum nonstick skillet allows for easy cooking and cleanup.
Stock Pot
A spacious 8-quart stock pot is essential for boiling pasta, making big batches of soup or chili, and preparing homemade stocks and broths. Opt for a heavy pot with an encapsulated bottom for even heat distribution. Look for stock pots with lid strainers for draining liquids easily. Stainless steel provides durability; aluminum and ceramic offer more budget-friendly choices. Having a stock pot on hand lets you prepare delicious homemade meals in bulk.
Saucepan
A small 2 to 3-quart saucepan is ideal for cooking grain dishes, making sauces and gravies, blanching vegetables, and reheating leftovers. Choose stainless steel or ceramic. Glass saucepans allow you to view food while cooking but don’t retain heat as well. Saucepans should have tight-fitting lids and stay balanced when tipped. With a handy saucepan, foods that require low simmering or short cooking times are a breeze.
Other specialty cookware like cast iron skillets, grill pans, roasting pans, and dutch ovens further expand your meal possibilities. But a trifecta of a skillet, stockpot, and saucepan form the core essentials.
Handy Kitchen Utensils for Food Prep
While quality pots and pans get the cooking done, handy utensils make the kitchen work go faster. Having the right tools at your fingertips saves time and effort with prep work and cooking tasks.
Kitchen Knives
At a minimum, every home cook needs a chef’s knife, paring knife, and serrated bread knife . A lightweight 8 to 10-inch chef’s knife efficiently chops, slices, and dices ingredients. Go for high-carbon stainless steel blades. Use a small paring knife for tasks like peeling, coring, and mincing. Serrated blades easily cut through crusty bread but also work for slicing tomatoes and other delicate foods.
Store knives in a countertop block or magnetic strip for safety and easy access. Hand wash and promptly dry knives to maintain sharp edges. Honing steel allows you to align and straighten blades between sharpenings.
Prep Tools
Utensils like vegetable peelers, box graters, colanders, and cutting boards facilitate prep work. Sturdy plastic peelers make quick work of carrots, potatoes, and more. Box graters with different grate sizes ably handle grating cheese and veggies. Colanders drain pasta, blanched veggies, and canned goods. Finally, cutting boards – at least two separate ones for produce and meat – provide a safe slicing surface.
Cooking Utensils
When it’s time to start sauteing and simmering, having the right cooking utensils on hand is key. Must-have tools include wooden spoons, silicone spatulas, stainless steel mixing bowls, and spring-loaded tongs. These allow you to stir, scrape, mix, toss, and serve food with ease. Heat-resistant rubber gloves also help grip hot cookware. Tool variety keeps your cooking efficient from start to finish.
Bakeware Essentials – Pans and Dishes
Whether you’re baking fluffy cakes, warm loaves of bread, or melty casseroles, having the right bakeware ensures your sweet and savory creations turn out perfectly.
Baking Sheets
Versatile rimmed baking sheets allow you to roast vegetables, bake cookies, toast nuts, and more. Aluminum conducts heat well for even browning while stainless steel provides durability. Choose rimmed sheets over rimless for catching drips and flexible maneuvering. Have at least two large half-sheet pans (18 by 13 inches) for batches of cookies or other small baked goods.
Cake and Loaf Pans
For baking cakes, quick breads, and meatloaves, metal cake and loaf pans perform best. Opt for lightweight aluminum for even heating. Must-have sizes include 8-inch and 9-inch round pans, an 8-inch square, and a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan. For delicate cakes, glass or ceramic bakeware prevents over-browning on sides.
Pie Dishes and Casseroles
Glass and ceramic bakeware excel when slow, gentle baking is required. Pie dishes with fluted edges in 9-inch and 10-inch sizes allow you to bake both single crust and double crust pies. Similarly, 8 by 8-inch and 9 by 13-inch glass baking dishes provide versatility for casseroles, bar cookies, and more. Their clear sides allow monitoring while baking.
Small Appliances For Kitchen Tasks
While not strictly essential, small appliances exponentially increase what you can accomplish in the kitchen. They introduce shortcuts and conveniences for food prep and cooking. Here are some of our favorites:
Blenders
Blenders like Ninja and Vitamix excel at blending smoothies, pureeing soups, making nut butters, and combining dips and sauces. While full-sized models boast power, smaller personal blenders provide portability. Countertop blenders with multiple speed settings and a pulse function offer the most versatility.
Food Processors
Food processors save huge time on chopping tasks. Models like Cuisinart and Kitchenaid come with discs and blades to grate, shred, slice, knead, puree, and mix ingredients. Look for at least a 5 to 7 cup work bowl. A slicing disc, shredding disc, and chopping blade allow you to prep veggies, cheese, herbs, dough and more with speed and precision.
Stand Mixer
For avid bakers, a stand mixer provides major convenience. Stand mixers thoroughly cream butter and sugar, whip meringues, knead yeast doughs, and combine thick batters and doughs with ease. Useful attachments like paddle, dough hook, and whisk expand functionality. Opt for at least 300 watts of power and a 5 to 6 quart bowl. Quality brands like Kitchenaid ensure performance and longevity.
Round out your kitchen with handy helpers that boost efficiency and make meal prep more enjoyable.
- Kitchen timers – Set accurate cooking times and prevent overcooking mishaps.
- Food storage containers – Keep leftovers and meal prepped items fresh.
- High-heat rubber gloves – Protect hands when handling hot items.
- Instant-read thermometer – Test doneness of meat and poultry.
- Spice organization system – Find and access spices easily.
Outfitting your kitchen with quality tools removes hassle from regular tasks like chopping, baking, and cleanup. With core essentials like all-purpose cookware, go-to utensils, and versatile bakeware, you gain freedom and confidence to cook what you want.
Don’t be overwhelmed: start with the basics we’ve outlined here. Layer in specialized items over time or as recipes require them. Setting up your cooking space for success makes meal prepping an enjoyable activity rather than a chore.
