This kitchen essential part 2 shows you more essentials for your kitchen that will make cooking at home easier and more enjoyable. Plus, you’ll be able to make more versatile things! If you haven’t checked out our Kitchen Essentials part 1, you can do so here
Appliances
Toaster: you may not think you need a toaster, but trust me, you do. It takes so much less time to pop frozen bagels, bread slices, and english muffins in the freezer than it does to toast them on a pan or turn on the oven. We recommend a long slice toaster for bigger pieces of bread.
Vitamix – it is a super powerful blender that will pulverize anything that you put in it. It whips up smoothies in seconds with even the hardest frozen fruit. You can even make soup in it and it will actually heat the soup from the friction of the blades spinning. A bit expensive, but totally worth the money.
Rice cooker – We get it. Rice is hard to cook on a stove. You leave it on too long and it gets mushy. Take it off too early and it is hard. Also, it’s easy to burn. This rice cooker makes rice the right way every single time. You can also steam eggs! We even made bao buns in the steamer attachment of the rice cooker and it was amazing!
Coffee machine – Our favorite is Jura’s line of coffee makers, but it’s also quite expensive. It can make espresso, coffee, and even froth your milk for cappuccinos. And it’s self cleaning. For a more affordable coffee maker, we love the Krups (grinder in) coffee maker. It’s programmable and grinds and brews your beans all in one. I love waking up to freshly ground coffee already made.
Milk Frother – If you like lattes and cappuccinos, the Breville milk frother is absolutely amazing. It heats and froths the milk using induction heat in a stainless steel pitcher. You can also make hot chocolate or matcha lattes by adding chocolate syrup or matcha powder to your milk. It blends, heats and froths all at once. I use this fabulous little appliance everyday.
Food Processor – We love Cuisinart’s food processors. They are powerful and work for a long time. We’ve had ours for over 20 years and it still works great.
Immersion Blender – This is wonderful to blend hot soups such as tomato soup while cooking in the pot. Make sure you get one that’s stainless steel so you can use it in hot liquids.
KitchenAid stand mixer – Hands down, this is the best mixer out there. And it will last you a lifetime. I do also have a kitchen aid hand mixer for smaller jobs.
Storage
Pyrex bowls and lids – I have several sets of pyrex glasses with lids. Since these are pyrex, they can be used to bake in too!
Silicon storage bags – We’ve tried to cut down on use of plastic bags and plastic wrap, so we got some silicon storage bags. They are super easy to clean and every time I use them I feel like I’m doing something good for the environment. Make sure to get silicon and not plastic. Silicon is BPA free and can also handle heat.
Canning Jars and lids – You need these! Whether you plan on fermenting things, store soups, or just drinking out of them, they are great for sleek and trendy storage, buying in bulk, or so much more! We like to have a good amount of both the 16oz jars and the 32oz jars. We also like spill proof lids! They are great for taking jar salads because you don’t have to worry about the dressing accidentally spilling out.
Baking
Half sheet pans – You can get these super cheap at the restaurant supply stores or Sams/Costco. They are indispensable in the kitchen. Make sure you have at least two, and more if you bake a lot. Also grab some silpat baking sheets to go on them. Nothing will stick to them!
Loaf pans – Pyrex glass loaf pans are the best. Make sure you have at least 2-3 for baking quick breads or yeast breads.
Pie Pans – Again, glass pie pans are best. You’ll need 1-2 of these. It’s nice to also have one of those pie rings that keeps your crust from burning.
Cake Pans – You need 2-3l either 8 or 9 inch cake pans. We use stainless steel non-stick cake pans
Mixing bowls – We only use glass mixing bowls since aluminum can be reactive to certain ingredients. And if you bake bread, make sure you have a super large mixing bowl to allow room for bread to rise. You’ll need multiple sizes.
Pyrex glass liquid measure – Once again, pyrex has the best liquid measuring cups. We like the 1 cup, the 2 cups and the 8 cup (quart) sizes. All are heat resistant.
Glass casserole pans – You definitely need 1-2 9×13 pans and an 8 inch square pan. Bonus to get ones with lids. You’ll use them a lot.
Camping egg storage container – We have several of those little yellow egg “suitcases” that are meant for camping. But we love them for storing eggs in our refrigerator since they take up less space than a typical carton of eggs. And you can store them on their side and they slide pretty much anywhere in your fridge.
Measuring Spoons and Cups – to make sure you have the perfect amount each time! These are especially great if you aren’t comfortable with eyeballing things yet. I have a plastic set and a stainless steel set!
Rolling Pin – These are important if you want to make sugar cookies, bread, make pie crusts, bao buns. Just anything that needs a good roll!
Pots and Pans
Stainless Skillets (multiple sizes) – Make sure to get good heavy high quality skillets with handles that won’t melt in the oven. There are many great brands, and it’s worth it to spend a little money on these as they’ll last you a lifetime.
Cast iron Skillets (multiple sizes) – Lodge makes the best cast iron. Make sure to season them before using according to the directions. Also, don’t use soap to wash and don’t let water sit in it overnight. If so, you’ll have to re-season.
Properly seasoned, these are like nonstick pans.
Nonstick pans – Ok, it’s fine to get the cheapies here. The surface on these doesn’t last forever, so you’ll likely be replacing them on a regular basis. We like T-fal just fine and they’re cheap, which is even better.
Saucepans (multiple sizes) – Again, as with the skillets, get good heavy high quality saucepans with lids and handles that won’t melt in the oven.
Le Creuset Dutch Oven – These pans are ridiculously expensive, but are worth every penny. My Le Creuset Dutch Oven is absolutely my favorite pot in my kitchen and it’s one of the most used items in my kitchen.
Multiple size colanders – Make sure to get the fine mesh colanders so that quinoa doesn’t slip through it when you’re rinsing it. And the smallest ones can be used for steeping tea leaves.