My Favorite Kitchen Tools
Kitchen tools I use everyday and recommend to everyone
Me in my kitchen teaching a virtual cooking class
I have been cooking my whole life and have been teaching people to cook in their own kitchens with my virtual cooking classes since 2020. With the amount of cooking I do, I have accumulated many kitchen tools and small appliances. I have tested out more than I would like to admit, some were great and get used all of the time, some are handy but don’t get used a lot, and some were not my favorite and do not have a home in my kitchen.
I have a few kitchen tools that I absolutely love and I recommend to my clients and class participants all of the time. And every time I recommend a tool, my client hops onto Amazon to purchase. It has only taken me four years of recommending tools to sign up to be an affiliate with Amazon so that they can share a tiny bit of the profit with me….a referral fee of sorts. So below you will find all of my favorite kitchen tools with links to purchase.
I use the OXO mini measuring cup daily and I own 4 as they are in constant rotation between cooking and the dishwasher. I find it extremely helpful in measuring liquids that are between 1/2-4 tablespoons without using the spoons and risking an overflow/spillage situation.
My microplane graters are another favorite tool I use all of the time. I love a tool that can be used for more than one thing. The microplane grater is used to grate garlic, ginger, and to zest citrus. I use the fine grater and of course have three of them.
If you cook with ground meat, you are going to love to have the meat chopper as an addition to your kitchen. It will help break down the ground meat as it cooks in the pan and won’t dirty your other spoons and spatulas.
I make a lot of meatballs and once I started using a cookie scoop to form my meatballs, I have never gone back to using my hands. It’s great because all of the meatballs are the same size so they will finish cooking at the same time. You also do not handle the meat which not only makes for easier clean up, but the less you handle the meatballs the better to make for a tender meatball. The 2 tablespoon cookie scoop is the perfect size and will result in around 20 meatballs for one pound of ground meat.
When I cook meatballs, I typically bake them in the oven. It makes the dish a little lighter and does not get grease all over your stovetop. You do lose that crust you get from frying, but I am ok with that most of the time. I use these rimmed baking sheets and the parchment paper sheets for baking my meatballs. Highly recommend!
I use a lot of citrus juice in my recipes and while I can squeeze the lemons or limes by hand, this citrus juicer makes my life a lot easier and I find that I get more juice from the citrus than I would if squeezing by hand. If I have a lot of citrus to juice, I will use this electric citrus juicer as it is much faster for me. If you were to pick one, I would go with the manual one.
There is a tool that I don’t use often, but I am happy to have on hand for bigger jobs. A bench scraper is a great tool to use when you have a lot of chopped vegetables to move from your cutting board to your pan or blender or when you need to move your scraps to your garbage/compost bowl. There is a stainless steel option and plastic option below.
People often ask me what my favorite small appliance is in my kitchen. I would have to say I really love and use my food processor. It has many uses and does a lot of the work for you. I use it to make sauces, to grind up vegetables for a sauce, shred vegetables, etc. This one is a low priced one that works very well and won’t take up a lot of room in your kitchen.
Another favorite small appliance I use a lot is my immersion blender or what is commonly called the stick blender. It’s the best way for me to puree soups and sauces quickly and without having to use the blender. I recently started using this one and I really like it.
I do also own a Vitamix and use it for sauces and soups and it makes everything very smooth. If you want to splurge this is the one I would buy.
If you are looking for something for smaller jobs like smoothies, I really love my nutribullet. I use it every morning to make my breakfast smoothie. If you want my recipe, send me an email to debbie@theeffortlesskitchen.com and grab the nutribullet using the link below!
The final thing I would be remiss in not mentioning to you is my cookbook. It’s called The Effortless Kitchen Cookbook- Simple, Healthy, and Delicious Recipes That Make Everyday Cooking Effortless. It is an easy way to help you make some great weeknight meals. People always ask me what my favorite part of the book is. For recipes, it’s the Meatballs From Around The World section because I love a good meatball. The other part of the book that I really love is the page on why I use a chipped plate in my photos. BUY ON AMAZON HERE
I hope this helps to round out the tools you have and use in your kitchen. If you found this useful, have any questions, or have input about your favorite tool, please send me an email to debbie@theeffortlesskitchen.com.
If you love getting kitchen tips and tricks and new recipes, join me for a virtual cooking class using this link or reach out for private cooking lessons.
See you in the kitchen!
Debbie