25 of the Best Kitchen Tools to Compliment Your Cooking

Photo: Slippat
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Takeout is great, but cooking helps to feed our souls. After all, what's better than a home-cooked meal? While first-rate tools won’t instantly make you a better cook, having the right items will help you do some techniques easily and even encourage you to get in the kitchen and try that new recipe. (Plus, it never hurts to have nice things.)

The good news is that you don’t have to break the bank to get some great kitchen tools. There are durable, well-designed items out there that are reasonably priced and will offer you valuable assistance in your soups, brownies, and other goodies you create. Some brands, like OTOTO, pair quirkiness with great design to provide you with fun and function—the best of both worlds.

Here, we’ll look at multiple categories of kitchen accessories, from utensils to pans and eco-friendly ways to store your leftovers.

Are you looking to upgrade the things in your kitchen? Here are the best kitchen tools to help you make mouthwatering meals and tasty treats.

Kitchen Utensils

If you’re in the kitchen often, you’re likely reaching for a bevy of utensils. These often-unsung heroes stir, sauté, and add that perfect touch of zest. When buying a utensil, consider how many uses it may have. A silicone spatula, for instance, can stir sauces and flip omelets, while a microplane can zest and be a stand-in for a cheese grater. Getting more than one use out of a tool will help you avoid clutter and help keep your kitchen tidy, which is the cardinal rule of cooking—a clean workspace.

Silicone Spatula

GIR | $12.95

Utensil Rest / Lid Holder

IYOOH | $10.95

Pans and Trays

Buy good quality pans and trays—and treat them well—and they will last a long time. You might have the standard 9″ x 13″ dish or a sheet tray, but consider how other items can enhance what you like to make. If you've got a sweet tooth, check out the all-edges brownie pan. It is ingeniously engineered to only bake the crispy edge of a brownie, which is always the first to go.

3-Inch-Tall Cake Pan

Wilton | $11.99

All Edges Brownie Pan

Baker's Edge | $54.99

Silicone Muffin Pan

Caketime | $8.59

Handheld Sandwich Grill and Panini Press

Toas-Tite | $34.95

Single-Job Kitchen Tools

Although it's good practice to buy things that can be used in multiple ways, there are some things that have one job to do and do it well. Often, they will make your life easier by making the things you do all the time in cooking—such as stripping herbs—a more efficient process. To avoid filling your kitchen with things you only use occasionally, consider what tasks you perform on a regular basis and get things to support that.

Boiled Egg Peeler

NEGG | $14.99

Egg Timer

NobleEgg | $7.99

Herb Stripper

Chef'n | $14.99

Emulstir Salad Dressing Mixer

Chef'n | $18.99

Strawberry Huller

Chef'n | $8.99

Meat Tenderizer

Chef Master | $28.50

Mandoline Slicer

OXO | $74.26

Large Salad Spinner

OXO | $29.95

Digital Meat Thermometer

ThermoPro | $13.59

Grizzly Hot Pot Trivet

OTOTO | $16

Non-Stick Silicone Baking Mat

Slippat | $24.99

Eco-Friendly Storage and Composting

Plastic zipper bags and cling wrap are convenient, but they are disposable and not great for the environment. Luckily, there are plenty of eco-friendly alternatives that will help keep your fruit fresh and your salad crispy. In place of cling wrap, for example, get a set of beeswax wraps. These versatile seals can cover open containers or be used to wrap an avocado you want to keep green.