Are you looking to stock your kitchen with all the gadgets you need to make cooking easier and more enjoyable? Here are all my favorite actually useful kitchen gadgets!
I love to be in the kitchen. Cooking, baking, snack-making, you name it, I love it. Because I’m in the kitchen a lot, I’m constantly on the hunt for gadgets that make my time in the kitchen easier and more fun. I’ve bought a lot of kitchen gadgets and I have learned that they are not all created equal.
Some of the kitchen gadgets I have tested out have been absolute trash. I find other kitchen gadgets to be too gimmicky or are useful, but only for a very limited purpose that I don’t find myself using regularly. The best kitchen gadgets, though, are the actually useful kitchen gadgets that make cooking easier and are worth the space they take up in your kitchen and the money you spend on them.
When I say kitchen gadgets, I’m not talking about the basic kitchen tools that you absolutely have to have in a functional kitchen. You won’t find things like pots, pans, knives, etc. on my list of useful kitchen gadgets. These are the extras that you can certainly live without, but why should you?
Actually Useful Kitchen Gadgets
Large
First up are the useful kitchen gadgets that are large. They take up a fair amount of space, so they’d better pull their weight. After many years of use in my kitchen, I can confidently say that these large kitchen gadgets are worth buying.
Slow cooker
I honestly don’t know how I would function as a working mom without my slow cooker. It’s not often that I can actually make dinner from start to finish at dinner time in this stage of life, especially on a weeknight. Most days, I can do a little at a time throughout the day and have dinner on the table at a regular dinner hour. But some days, I can’t manage this. My only chunk of time to devote to dinner is after I get the kindergartener on the bus before my work calls start. These are the days I use my slow cooker.
Even if you don’t have a hectic workweek schedule, it’s still worth having a slow cooker. They come in clutch at the holidays or when you’re hosting a party. A slow cooker is also the perfect vessel to cook chili or beef stew or spaghetti sauce. In short, no matter your situation, you need a slow cooker.
I’ve had a few slow cookers over the years, and the one I’ve liked most is the Hamilton Beach Set & Forget 6 Qt. Programmable Slow Cooker. I haven’t had any issues with it burning food, there aren’t any hot spots that lead to unevenly cooked food, and it’s easy to take with you if you’re going to someone’s house with food in the slow cooker.
Food processor
If you’re more than a dump and go cook, you need a food processor in your kitchen. A food processor will help you chop, mince, shred, and slice all with one appliance. You can even use it to help make dips and sauces.
Some people think that you can get away without a food processor if you have a blender, but I disagree. To me, a blender and a food processor are both useful kitchen gadgets for different reasons. I use my blender for liquid-heavy things like smoothies and wet sauces, whereas the food processor is crucial if I don’t want to overtax my hands chopping, slicing, or shredding by hand with a knife.
My ride or die food processor is the O.G. Cuisinart 10-cup food processor. It’s an icon for a reason.
Blender
Just like I think you can’t get by with a blender alone, I don’t think you can get by with just a food processor. You need a blender too!
I use a blender for soups, sauces, and, most importantly, smoothies. My kids have a smoothie pretty much every morning as a breakfast supplement. It gives them a boost of protein, fruits, and vegetables first thing in the morning, so I don’t fight it.
I recently got a new blender, and I like it fine. It’s the Ninja Classic Blender. My only beef with it is that it’s a plastic pitcher, so it doesn’t smell so hot, even though I wash it immediately after every use. If that doesn’t bother you, it blends well, so I would recommend it.
Stand mixer
I dreamed about having a stand mixer from a young age. My mom had a hand mixer when I was growing up (which was just fine for our purposes), but I lusted for the classic KitchenAid stand mixer that I saw on all the cooking shows I watched after school every day. After I finally finished school and moved into a place that had a kitchen that was bigger than a shoe box, it was my first big purchase. And it has come in handy ever since!
I make all sorts of things in my stand mixer. Cookies, cakes, bread – if it needs mixing or kneading, I make it in the stand mixer. Most weeks, I use it a few times a week. Usually, I get a hand from one or both of my kids. They both love to operate the stand mixer and are pretty good at it! I see lots of baking in their futures!
If you don’t have the counter space for a stand mixer or if you don’t bake enough to justify the cost, be like my mom and opt instead for a hand mixer. I still have my hand mixer from my apartment days, and I use it occasionally – especially for mashed potatoes!
Medium
Up next are the medium-sized useful kitchen gadgets. I had a hard time placing kitchen gadgets in this medium category. What makes something medium rather than large or small?
Immersion Blender
All right, I admit that an immersion blender is a luxury. If you have a regular blender, you don’t absolutely need an immersion blender. But if you do have an immersion blender, man does it come in handy!
My main use of an immersion blender is for making soup. It just makes it so much easier to puree a soup when I can keep it in the pot and buzz it rather than pour it into the blender and then pour it back into the pot. If you make soup regularly and you want to save yourself a step or two, get yourself an immersion blender.
The immersion blender that I have and love is the KitchenAid Variable Speed Corded Hand Blender. It has worked great for years and didn’t cost all that much. It’s a winner.
Instant-read thermometer
If you are a meat-eater, you need a meat thermometer to check the temperature of the meat so you know when it’s done. Sure, you can go the cheap and easy route with a classic meat thermometer, or you could splurge a little for a digital instant-read thermometer. Life is short, so I say splurge!
In my house, we use an instant-read thermometer several times a week. We use it when we cook meat in the oven, on the stove, and on the grill. It also comes in handy to check that oil or sugar has come up to temperature when I’m frying or making candy. It’s a work horse, no matter what you like to cook.
We have gone through quite a few instant-read thermometers in our house over the years. Some have been stinkers, and some have worked well. We currently have the ThermoPro Digital Instant Read Meat Thermometer, and it has worked pretty well for the last few years. It gets the job done.
Garlic press
If you cook from scratch and you’re not a vampire, you probably use a fair amount of garlic. So, you need a garlic press. Sure, you could use a knife, but that would take forever and you’d probably cut a finger or two in the process. Don’t do that to yourself. Opt for a garlic press instead.
There are a ton of garlic presses on the market, but I’m extremely partial to the Crate & Barrel garlic press that also slices. Because why not get a useful kitchen gadget that does double duty?
Pepper mill
Freshly ground pepper is far superior to the black dust that you can buy in a picnic pack. I doubt anyone would disagree with that statement. But, if you want freshly ground pepper, you need a pepper mill.
They make so many different pepper mills. You can get super fancy ones, automatic ones, or bare-bones ones. Honestly, choose whichever suits your style and budget. I splurged a bit on a pepper mill and got the classic Peugeot pepper mill. It works like a dream, and I didn’t mind the cost because it should last the rest of my life. It also looks gorgeous next to my stove. If you’re up for a splurge, I highly recommend it!
Small
Most of the useful kitchen gadgets in my collection fall into the small category. These are the little things that fit nicely in a drawer, aren’t generally too expensive, but are super nice to have. You can buy these products guilt free!
Zester
I love my zester. I use it to zest citrus, grate ginger, grate hard cheese, and make chocolate shavings. It’s a pretty useful little kitchen gadget. I know most people will recommend that you go with the microplane brand, which I’m sure if great, but I chose the OXO zester because it has a guard for storage. My kids love to play with my kitchen gadgets so the guard was a must for me with something this sharp.
Juicer
If you are squeezing the juice out of citrus fruits by hand, you need a juicer. Unless you’re juicing large quantities for freshly squeezed juice to drink, you don’t need an electric juicer that takes up prime real estate on your kitchen counter. You do need a handheld juicer that makes sure you get all the juice out of the fruit without the hand cramps.
Kitchen scissors
I could do a whole blog post just on the many uses of kitchen scissors. They are probably my most used item in the kitchen. I use them to open packages, of course, but I also cut quesadillas and pizza and all the things with them too. You can’t go wrong with anything Wusthof brand if you’re in the market for a pair.
Funnel
I tried to go without a funnel for a long time. But after one too many messes caused by me trying to pour liquid from one container into another, I decided to swallow my pride and buy a funnel. My kitchen is so much cleaner now because of it. You don’t need anything fancy when you’re looking for a funnel. I like these silicone ones that collapse for easy storage, but that’s not necessary. Any old funnel will do.
Scoops
If you think the only thing you’ll scoop in the kitchen is ice cream, you are mistaken. I scoop so many things! Ice cream, of course, but also cookie dough, melon, muffin batter, pancake batter, eggs, meatballs. The list goes on and on! I like to have multiple scoop sizes available for all my scooping needs, so I highly recommend this set of three scoops. You will use them all the time, I promise!
Utensils in all materials
So, I said that I wasn’t going to include basic items that nearly everyone has in their kitchens on this list of useful kitchen gadgets and most people have utensils. I’m making an exception to end this list because I think it’s important to highlight that you need utensils made from different materials for different purposes. Take spatulas, for example. You need a metal spatula for flipping burgers on the grill or taking food off sheet pans, but you also need a silicone spatula for flipping pancakes on a griddle. Same utensil, different materials for different uses. Although I used spatulas as an example, the same theory applies to spoons, whisks, etc. Get yourself a good variety.
Other blog posts
Looking for more kitchen-related content? I spend a lot of time in the kitchen, so I have quite a few kitchen-related posts. Here are just a few you might enjoy:
I hope my list of actually useful kitchen gadgets has helped you decide what you need to have in your kitchen to make cooking easier and more fun. What did I miss? What kitchen gadgets can you not live without? Please share down below or over on Instagram @sarainseason.