5 must-have kitchen gadgets

The more time I spend preparing food for our big family, the more I appreciate the little things that make it easier. I’m not a fancy chef, so I don’t need much, but these 5 kitchen gadgets prove themselves over and over in our household.

So here they are,

my 5 must-have kitchen gadgets

 

1.  Olive Oil Pour Spout

Olive Oil is a staple in our kitchen. Instead of unscrewing the cap each time I need a drizzle, we replace the top piece with a pour spout. It doesn’t fit every bottle opening, so sometimes we’ll have a bottle of olive oil without a spout and I’m all ‘what?! I have to actually unscrew the lid?!‘. The convenience of a pour spout saves time (microseconds, but still) and keeps hands oil-free.

If you want something a bit more stylish, try this gold one. Or for more function, this stainless OXO brand one acts as a stopper and a pourer.

2. Cheese Slicer

Any time I’m at my friend Dee’s house for a meal, I always ask for the job of slicing cheese. She has this amazing cheese slicer that cuts so perfectly. The cheese is thin, the slicer doesn’t catch, it is a true joy.

Finally, I bought one for myself. Why this was not a thing in our kitchen before, I do not know.

My kids are currently in to mozzarella cheese and rather than trying to slice it with a serrated knife (which also works, but definitely not like this little gadget), I now pull out the best cheese slicer of all.

3. Fine Grater

This grater makes a surprisingly often appearance during meal-prep time. I use it for hard cheeses like parmesan, but also for lemon/lime zest, garlic and nutmeg. It’s super sharp, compact and multi-purpose.

4. Lime Squeezer

Sure, you could squeeze a lime or lemon with your hands, but this enameled aluminum gadget does it so much better. We have the small size for limes (I’m a g+t with extra lime kind of girl) that also works with small lemons, but there are larger sizes for other citrus fruit.

I did not know until recently that you are supposed to put the lime/lemon in cut-side down, then squeeze. All this time, I’ve been doing it all wrong.

5. Very Large Cutting Board

I wish you could tell from the photo how large this thing is (see it in action here). It’s huge. 18×24 inches, to be exact.

Every night, I pull it out, grab my box from Hello Fresh (yep, still using and loving the meal service) and all the prep is done on this one board. Well, minus the raw meat. That goes on a different board. I can dice onions and push them to one side, chop asparagus and push it to another, mince garlic, zest a lemon, and still have room to cut veggies for a salad.

We have a big single basin kitchen sink and this cutting board just barely fits – something to keep in mind if you have a double basin sink. Maybe a size smaller would be better for your kitchen.

 

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I can’t complete my must-have kitchen essentials without including the next two. They aren’t really gadgets, so I am not officially including them in the list, but they are most certainly must-haves and essentials.

A Sharp Knife

Ryan’s dad is an excellent cook and my uncle was a professional chef, so between to the two influences, we’ve inherited the appreciation of a good, sharp knife.

My aunt and uncle bought us our Henckels knives for our wedding (a good paring, small serrated, bread and chef); Ryan just bought this one last christmas to add to our small collection. It’s for sure the one we use most often.

(P.S. I just looked up the knife to grab the link and had no idea how expensive it was! It better be a dream to work with for that price. And actually, I really do prescribe to the idea that buying one quality item that lasts 13 years is better than a handful of lesser quality that need to be replaced often. It’s a great knife and I do recommend it.)

FYI: per my father-in-law’s instruction, we do not put the knives in the sink or the dishwasher – they stay on the counter next to the sink waiting to be hand washed. I may have run my older knives through the dishwasher once or twice, but don’t tell Bob. Those were just short-term breaches in my knife-protection skills because I was too lazy to wash them by hand. #neveragain

Non-stick Pans

Again, not a gadget, but I use these pans everyday so I felt like I should include them.

We use the small 8″ for poached eggs, the medium 10″ for quesadillas and scrambled eggs, the large 12″ for everything else. These cook evenly and the non-stick material doesn’t scratch off. Even still, we keep to non-metal spoons when using these.

So there are my favorite kitchen gadgets. They make my time in the kitchen easier and extra efficient.

Do you have a favorite kitchen gadget I missed? Please share!