Are you starting your kitchen from scratch? Or collecting miscellaneous tools along the way? Or maybe you’ve been cooking for a while and just want to make sure you have all the basics covered. Regardless of your cooking status, you’ll want these essential kitchen tools to ensure a seamless cooking experience.
Here are 12 kitchen staples used in everyday cooking:
1. Stainless Steel Measuring Spoons
Your kitchen should be stocked with 1 Tablespoon, 1/2 Tablespoon, 1 Teaspoon, 1/2 Teaspoon, 1/4 Teaspoon, and even an 1/8 Teaspoon. While baking you’ll want these exact measurements, because it really is part science after all. When cooking it’s best practice to follow the recipes original measurements and season to taste from there.
2. Measuring Cups
Another essential to measure all those other ingredients from flour and sugar to milk and broth. Your set should include at least: 1 cup, 1/2 cup, 1/3 cup, 1/4 cup.
3. Colander
It’s handy to have one of these around for draining pasta, or rinsing canned food items.
4. Mixing Bowls
Used for just about everything, you’ll want a set 3+ bowls of varying sizes to accommodate all your cooking needs. Larger bowls will be great for meat and baking and smaller bowls will be great for vegetables and sauces.
5. Cutting Boards
Another frequently used kitchen item, cutting boards. It’s best practice to have a separate board for your raw meats to reduce the risk of food contamination. I personally love to have plastic-dishwasher safe cutting boards to prepare raw meats on, and wood cutting boards to use for things like vegetables and herbs.
6. Wooden Spoons
Pretty straight forward, when your cooking you have to stir stuff! Wood spoons are great to use with your non-stick cookware because they won’t damage the finish.
7. Silicon spatulas
A silicon spatula because let’s be honest, we need every last drop of sauce or food from that bowl to the pan or plate. Silicone spatulas are flexible and great at scraping every last ounce.
8. Utensil set
A basic set of utensils for all other things like: ladling soup, mashing potatoes, frying, or flipping. Metal utensils will be sturdier and are great for handling meats and seafood, but a plastic set will do the job just fine as well.
9. Santoku Knife
If you could only buy one style of knife, this would be it. It’s great for almost everything: slicing, dicing, cutting, and chopping.
10. Small Tongs
A pair of tongs will come in handy more often than not. Great for flipping stuff and general cooking, it an often over looked tool. There are lots of size options so try our a few and see what works best for you. A smaller pair may give you more control; but if your like me and terrified of that hot bacon grease splatter, a long pair of tongs is great cause it puts some distance between you and the food.
11. Whisks
Commonly used in the baking and sauce making world whisks are very handy. Use a small one for things like eggs, a medium one for sauces, and a large one for batters.
12. Non-stick cookware set
You have to have something to cook in! A great basic set will have: Skillets for sautéing or pan-frying meats, veggies, seafood, etc. The pots will be used for cooking pasta, soups, sauces, etc. Ideally look for a set that is non-stick.
That’s it! Those are the 12 basics we think every kitchen should have. Have any others to add to the list? Let us know! Connect with us on social media.
