I’m not saying you must have these items in your kitchen. I’m all about having less stuff, but I am telling you these will make your life easier, and open up so many recipes. I would start with the knife and go from there. The below list is in order of what I use the most or get the most out of.
- Chef Knife: it slices, it dices, it does it all. You might hate to cook because of your knife; seriously, cooking is so much easier when you have a good knife. A chef’s knife is something you will use everyday.
- Food Processor: we use it for everything, none of which is chopping things. You can make your own hummus, salsa, dough (scones, pasta), nut butters, pestos, sauces (and more!). And yes, you can also use it to chop things or shred cheese.
- Stick-Blender: this one is not even that expensive – I think I got our’s for around $30 and it works great. You can use it for soups, dressings, sauces. Who wants to “transfer” hot liquid to the blender? Basically, any recipe that says “transfer to blender” I use the stick-blender for. The only thing I use the blender for is smoothies.
- Dutch Oven: I would never have thought this is something we should buy but I love it. Stove to oven cooking, it braises meat perfectly, holds temperature exceptionally well, and cleans with ease. We use it way more than expected.
- Stand Mixer: now I realize it may be shocking for this one to be last. We use our’s quite a lot, and yes probably more so than the stick-blender. However, if you don’t bake…then you don’t really need one. It makes whipping up cookies a breeze; no more creamed butter flying about the kitchen. Used for any type of dessert, fresh whipped cream, icing, bread dough, and pretzels.
What item/items would you recommend to invest in for the kitchen?
The Rest of the Week:
- Sautéed Chicken with Olives Capers and Lemons
- Lemon Asparagus Pasta
- Chewy-Dark-Chocolate-Chunk-Cookies
Two repeats: I made both of these dishes to take to a friend, so I also made a batch for P and me, which made this week easy cooking-wise.
i dont bake, so no mixer yet. i feel like it would just sit there unused. i dont have a hand mixer either, but have never come across a recipe that says transfer to blender (guess i dont cook a lot) but i love my dutch oven and chef knife!!
I have been wanting to get one of those stick blenders- so handy!
I need a food processor. My blender does well for most things, but sticky items like dates need a little more power!
I have all of these things! But I still don’t cook! I will hang my head in shame now. We got a Dutch Oven but never use it. It’s so pretty, though! We got our mixer and food processor from Amex points – I don’t think I ever could have seen the value in a mixer that expensive if it came from my pocket, but I do love it!
So I couldn’t agree more with having a really good knife, except that when we finally upgraded our knives, I cut myself like 3 times because I’m use to having really bad knives. Also, agree on the food processor and/or blender, but I have a mini-to-go smoothie blender and a juicer. I use the mini blender and juicer a lot. It’s the quickest, easiest way to get my veggies and fruits in for a day. Lastly, the Kitchen Aid mixer is awesome! I wanted one in every color, but I asked for the orange one, and got it last year, I think? Love it! -Jess L
Great list! My number one kitchen must have is a great set of knives. My number two is a cast iron enameled dutch oven. The only one on your list I don’t have is the mixer. I don’t bake enough to justify it to myself – everything I do is good with a hand mixer. My mom bakes daily and her kitchenaid is like her best friend.
I think a good chef’s knife is a must! My second favorite knife is the bread knife. I bought a Le Creuset Dutch Oven with some of the gift cards from our wedding and that by far is my favorite purchase! It can be used for so many things and cleans up so easily, plus lasts forever. We don’t have the full size food processor but use our mini chopper all the time. I need to splurge on the big one soon.
The only item I’d add to this fabulous list is a good set of fry pans. I love the 2-pack Calphalon non-stick pans that include a 10″ & 12″.
Totally agree with you on these! Our immersion blender died a couple of years ago, need to get another one soon. We live on our food processor (invested in a commercial grade on a year or so ago, no regrets) and our Kitchen Aid is a key kitchen item!
Knives are a funny one – people will buy something cheap, or serrated, and think they are all set … or hurt themselves. Good knives properly sharpened make cooking of all types a joy and a breeze!
Thanks for sharing!
WORD on the knives! We just got a great set of knives recently and they are the shizz! Love them! I don’t use my ninja food processor that often but am glad that I do!!!
Our stand mixer was passed down to us from my husband’s Grandmother. It is a timeless piece and we love it dearly. We bake, but also use it for mashed potatoes! 🙂 I would love to purchase a Pressure Cooker one of these days. I’m a little intimidated by them, but like the idea of cooking things like dried beans more quickly.
One item I’d recommend purchasing for the kitchen is a mandolin slicer. They can be expensive, but depending on how much you use it, you can get by with one on the less expensive side. Our oxo brand has held up well for the past several years and it comes in handy when canning (crinkle-cut pickle slices) and again with potato slicing.
We may eat too many potatoes?
We have almost all of those except for the last one and that is only because we have moved around too much for the cost to make sense!