What Are The Essential Kitchen Utensils?

Right kitchen utensils are essential for smart and fast cooking. You can gradually increase stock instead of buying all things in a day, having the necessary utensils in your kitchen make life much more comfortable.

What are the essential kitchen utensils? Spatula, slotted spoon, tongs, thermometer, dutch oven, blender, saucepan, cutting board, measuring cups & spoons, mixing bowl, colander, salad spinner, shears, garlic press, knife sharpener, and whisk are essential kitchen utensils.

To know the type of utensils to start with, we made an essential kitchen list. This list highlights the use of necessary cooking utensils and is perfect for a beginner cook or chef. With the help of these, you will be able to cook anything.

Kitchen Cookware

From the beginner to most professional, having these utensils in every kitchen is essential.

Frying pan

Every house and restaurant needs a frying pan for making eggs and pancakes for breakfast. It’s also a piece of versatile equipment that you can use for frying vegetables, roasting meat, and making sauce. Non-abrasive stainless steel and aluminum non-stick frying pans are perfect for this purpose.

Sheet pan

You can use the sheet pan for a lot of tasks like baking cookies, toasting nuts, baking meat, and frying vegetables. Not just for these items but anything that requires slide-off access to remove after cooking. The sheet pan is also used under an ovenproof dish to remove and catch efficiently.

Saucepan

Despite this, if you are cooking in a frying or sheet pan, you also need a high-sided pan for making sauces. We recommend buying at least two saucepans for more flexibility and convenience. If you have induction or halogen hobs, then buy thick-based matt surfaces or magnetized metal pans.

Dutch oven

A dutch oven is a classic cast-iron kitchen essential. If you are cooking for a small crew, then buy a five to six-quart, but feeding a large team goes with a seven to eight quart. This oven then goes in the oven or stove to slowly cook the meat and stew for many hours in a low oven.

You can also bake bread in these Dutch ovens, but unfortunately, they are expensive, so save money and give it a try when you get a chance.

Baking dish

With the help of this versatile baking dish, you can make baked dishes and sheet cakes. These dishes are available in various colors and shapes, so find one that matches your dishes. The ideal size for a baking dish is 13×9 inches.

Stockpot

For making bigger batches of stews, soups, and pasta 12-quart stockpot is perfect. Its surface base is made for even heating that allows the soup to cook evenly. 

Spatula

A spatula is needed for tossing, flipping, and serving all types of food like roasted vegetables, omelets, pancakes, meats, and baked salmon. Available in metal, plastic, and silicon materials. The metallic spatula is more robust and sturdy than silicon. 

A silicone spatula works best to scrap out food from the sides of a mixing bowl.

Tongs

Basically, tongs work as the extensions of your fingers, used in turning chicken breast or reaching out in the oven to check roast, also great for serving family dinner. You can buy a metal tong that is durable and lasts you a lifetime.

Kitchen Knives & Cutting Tools

Whether you are a professional chef or at home, a sharp knife and cutting board are essential tools. A knife is an extension of the arm and as well as the brain that makes the art of food alive.

Chef knives

A knife is a chef’s best friend because a chef knife can be used in 90% food prep. This is an excellent tool for the kitchen that you will thank yourself for buying. We highly recommend buying a carbon-plated stainless steel knife that will remain sharp over time.

Select a knife that has a comfortable handle as it will balance in your hand, easy to grip and control.

Paring Knife

In fact, a chef knife is a universal tool, but bracing it with a paring knife will afford you the most versatility. It has a shorter blade with a smaller size that gives you more control for preparing complex food items.

Bread knife

Chiefly, most bread comes sliced, but some bread-like panini and focaccia bread will need to be cut by yourself. For this purpose, you cannot use any type of knife. The serrated edges of the bread knife help you to cut through it; on the other hand, a flat knife will suppress the bread.

Knife Sharpening

All types of knives become blunt with the passage of time and need the sharpness back into them for better performance. This is more important if you do not have the extra budget to buy a new one because low-price knives tend to blunt quickly.

Cutting Board

It is not good if you have good knives but have nothing to prepare the food on. Having a strong and stable surface is necessary to prepare your food. A cutting board prevents the knife from being blunt quickly.

TIP- Ideally, you should have various cutting boards for different kinds of food like meat, vegetables, fish, and dairy because this can minimize the risk of cross-contamination.

Kitchen Shears

Also known as kitchen scissors, this versatile tool makes food preparation much more comfortable. You can cut meat strips or chop dried fruits and vegetables, also used to cut up a whole chicken or trim the crust of a pie.

TIP- Choose a pair that can be disassembled for cleaning, so the grime does not build up in the hinge.

Vegetable Peeler

A peeler is used to remove the peels of vegetables, make vegetable ribbons or shave off the cheese. This will allow you to make your work faster and with ease.

Garlic Press

Chopping garlic is pretty straightforward, but using a garlic press can finally cut your garlic to its real flavor. Also, this will help you to reduce the risk of biting a large piece of garlic in the food.

Grater

You will find these shredders more useful at the most unexpected times – whether you are shredding zucchini for muffins are softening butter. It takes a little extra grease as compared to a food processor, but it does not take much space. 

Measuring Utensils & Tools

Measuring tools are necessary to take the right amount of ingredients for any recipe. Some people fail in their cooking attempts because they put low or high amounts of ingredients. So make sure that you have all these essential measuring tools in your kitchen.

Measuring cups

If you are a baker, then measuring cups are a vital tool, but they are also useful for everyday cooking. You should have a 4- piece set for measuring dried ingredients and liquids. One quart cup makes measuring drinks easy and effective.

You can also make sauces in these cups and pour them into whatever you are cooking.  

Measuring spoons

It is a simple practice to have measuring spoons when you need a precise measurement. Buy different sizes of spoons, for quickly scooping spices & dried herbs. In fact, small spoons are narrow enough to fit into spice jars and boxes.

We recommend buying a magnetic measuring spoon set as they stick together and you do not have to worry about misplacing the tablespoon. 

Food thermometer

If you cook meat and need to know the actual cooking without guessing, then a quality thermometer is necessary for you. Quickly check if the meat has cooked enough. It takes only 2-3 seconds to measure the temperature and shows it in °C or °F.

Kitchen Scales

Significantly, a kitchen scale is a vital tool for precisely measuring raw food like coffee beans; in this case, a lightweight, small scale is needed.

Food Prep Utensils

If you are making dinner, lunch, or breakfast food prep tools are an excellent idea to save time and eat healthier. To make the food preparation more comfortable, you must have the right prep tools in your kitchen.

Mixing Bowls

A set of mixing bowls is vital to organize all the ingredients. If you get a more compact prep bowl, you will save a lot of space and seal off the ingredients that are not ready for cooking. Always use glass or metal bowls as they are less porous, and won’t pick up any stain or odors.

Whisk

Although chopsticks and forks are convenient, a whisk is more effective and faster to disperse ingredients like oils and vinegar as you make sauce or savory to season up a salad or anything else, so a whisk is handy.

Stick Blender

With the help of a stick blender, you can make soup in the pots, blend a smoothie, and get smooth and creamy sauces dressings. It is comfortable, easy to clean, and for cleaning just pop up its blade.

You will find this blender much more convenient than a traditional blender and also perfect because of its compact size. 

Slotted Spoon

A slotted spoon is used as a miniature stainer, and it removes solids from liquids like pulling potatoes or pasta noodles from boiling water.

Microplane

If you want your dishes to feel gourmet, then a Microplane is a perfect tool for adding sprinkles of parmesan over pasta or adding lemon zest to a dish. 

Kitchen Storage Utensils

A right storage container makes a big difference, you can easily meal prepared servings and take leftovers to work for lunch, or you can store food in them. Choose different sizes for your leftover saving.

Plastic container

These are perfect for keeping the leftover food fresh in the fridges. They can be used to freeze food in the freezer when you buy containers to make sure that they are microwave safe to add more convenience.

Plastic Zipper bag

These bags are best to keep prepared ingredients in the refrigerator. They are smaller than plastic containers and compact; therefore, they take less space but are not suitable for liquid items.

Bread box

In these boxes, bread remains well ventilated, out of light, and increases its shelf life.

Masher

They are perfect for potatoes, but also be used for pulping other foods like avocado. You can also use a fork for this job, but a masher is a much quicker and efficient tool. However, their clean-up is a bit difficult by hand.

Pot Holder

These small pieces of clothes easily remove the hot pot from the stove and prevent your hands from burning or heating. In addition, you can place a hot pot on them to protect them from damaging the counter or table.

Kitchen Serving Utensils

Serving utensils are practical and useful tools to make the task easy when you are preparing meals. Whether you are grilling for lunch or making the salad, these utensils make your life much more comfortable. 

Ladle

A ladle is a vast and long-handled spoon. It is perfect for serving sauces, stews, and soups. These ladles are usually made with a unique combination of plastic, silicone, and stainless steel which means they won’t melt in the pot or pan.

Pasta fork

This looks more like an odd spoon than a fork. In any case, it’s more helpful for eliminating and serving pasta, for example, spaghetti and linguine that would some way or another go through the openings of a pasta colander.

Pizza cutter

Regardless of whether you don’t admit to eating a lot of pizza, these are very useful to have. They can be utilized to divide flatbread.

Corkscrew

Many wine bottles now come with screw caps, but there are still more that have a plastic or wooden cork in them. So it is necessary to have the right corkscrew for this purpose.

Bottle opener

If someone prefers beer over wine, then you will surely need a bottle opener.

Miscellaneous Kitchen Utensils

Besides all the above kitchen utensils and tools, there are many more to have, so choose from them according to their use.

Can opener

A can opener is a vital tool, can beans and vegetables can be cooked quickly and are great for the pantry. Some other food also comes in cans that require a can opener like crushed tomatoes, fruits, curry paste, and coconut milk.

Colander

A colander is useful for washing and draining pasta, vegetables, and other boiled items. A colander that can balance on the edges of the sink is ideal, but a classic colander is also good. Always buy a metallic or ceramic colander that is more robust than plastic.

Timer

Time plays an essential role when it comes to cooking; if you are cooking various dishes at a time, it is best practice to track every dish’s cooking time. Most cooks carry timers around their necks, but if you do not want to buy a new one, you can set time on your microwave or mobile phone.

Salad Spinner

A colander is good enough for drying lettuce, but a salad spinner is more effective than a colander. People have a difficult time with soggy sandwiches and tacos if the lettuce is still wet. In this case, a salad spinner is the best choice as they drain the water in seconds and save paper towels.

Dish Rack

If you have a dishwasher, but you still need to wash some utensils by hand to give them a quick rinse. A quality dishwasher is required in order to place the dishes on the rack and drain the water back into the sink.

Buying Kitchen Utensils Do’s and Don’ts

Look for the items in thrift stores: You can save a lot of money on buying used items, in these places kitchen utensils are perfectly acceptable. This is also good for the environment as it is a form of recycling.

Ask family or friends for anything that they can donate: Generally, people tend to gather a collection of equipment and appliances over time, this includes kitchen utensils. Someone might have an extra pair of chef knives or frying pan that they can donate to you.

Check user reviews: kitchen utensils go through some challenging tasks during their lifetime. Customer’s thoughts are a great source to sort out decent from the flashy, especially in the case when the brands come with the names of famous chefs.

These reviews will help you to buy the right and durable item.

Buying the cheapest available:  Buying a lot of utensils on the cheap is not a good idea. Instead, they break or become useless after a while. This means you have to go out and repurchase a new one. So try to buy more durable equipment.

You can also buy some items at a thrift store at bargain prices.

Buying something you are not sure about using regularly: there are hundreds of kitchen equipment and utensils out there. Before purchasing these, ask yourself this simple question: it is something you will use regularly. If not, you will waste your money and also space in the kitchen.

But if you really need this then find some recipes that will put you in the habit of using it.

FAQs

How do you clean utensils?

Utensils are fast and handy to clean. Just wash the utensils with liquid soap and hot water, or you can use natural, homemade cleaning powder of salt, sun, and lemon if your utensils are wooden.

If you want to sterilize these utensils, first soak them in hot water. Then you will see that your utensils will be shining again.

How do you clean stainless steel utensils?

Stainless steel utensils maintain and conduct heat, which makes them a powerhouse in addition to your kitchen. There are different kinds of stainless steel, and without proper care, it can quickly obtain stuck-on food, discoloration, and burn marks. 

Fill the bottom of the pot or frying pan with water, now add one cup of vinegar and bring water to a boil. After boiling, add two tablespoons of soda. Briefly mix both mixtures and empty the pot or pan. Now use a non-abrasive sponge to clean the pot from remaining food particles.

What are the materials of kitchen utensils?

• Copper: It is a thermally conductive material. Copper utensils are durable and attractive in appearance.
• Iron: More prone to rusting. You can clean them with detergent and water only.
• Stainless Steel: is less likely to rust, most cutting tools are made with this material.
• Aluminum: it is good thermal conductive and non-reactive with food items.
• Clay: Do not react with food, does not contain toxic substances.
• Plastic: light-weight and less fragile than glass
• Glass: this material does not conduct heat. Heat resistant glass is used for baking and other cooking.

Conclusion

Entirely storing a compact and practical kitchen with all essential utensils and tools is not frustrating or costs a lot of money, by purchasing high-quality and versatile items that have a substantial value proportion. You will finish with a fully equipped kitchen that will last a lifetime.