Essential Kitchen Tools for Easier Meal Preparation {Printable Checklist}

I don’t know about my other kitchen hopeless friends out there, but I’ve always had a pretty well stocked kitchen as far as utensils, cookware, and other essential kitchen tools are concerned.  In fact, I would say that at times, I had too many kitchen items.

You see, if you’re like me, you may have hoped that all of your cooking woes would go away if you just found the perfect tool or small appliance or gadget.  I suspect that you found, just like I did over and over, that you can’t buy something to magically be done with being less than stellar in the kitchen.  Well, unless you were able to pay a full time cook.  If so, kudos.  But, for most of us, those gadgets that you just had to have after a home party or browsing in a fancy kitchen store just didn’t really change the way you cooked.

I have had more silly gadgets and single purpose small appliances than I care to admit.  Thankfully, along the way, I’ve found the things that I really loved and that actually did help me in the kitchen instead of just adding to the clutter in my kitchen.  Many of them are not crazy expensive, as the basics tools really are some of the most essential in the kitchen.

Well, there is my shiny red KitchenAid stand mixer, which will be celebrating its 5th birthday soon.  That was a pricier addition to my kitchen.  But, it was worth every penny.  If I ever was inclined to name an appliance, sweet stand mixer, it would be you.

For today’s installment of 10 Days of Hope for the Kitchen Hopeless, I wanted to put together a list of essential kitchen tools.  I used my own experiences, polled the Homeschool Classroom’s Facebook page (there are over 20,000 likers there, so it seemed like a good group to ask), and did some reading to put together this list.

There will be things that are on this list that you feel like you don’t actually need, and some of your own essentials that may not have made the list.  However, I think this is a pretty good collection of items for a kitchen.

You can read through the list here, and then at the bottom of the post, there’s a link to download the printable essential kitchen tools checklist.

Essential Kitchen Tools

For each item, I’m giving a couple of examples for that item.  (Most are affiliate links.)

Kitchen Utensils

Mixing Spoons:
MIU France Set of 2 Blue Nylon Mixing Spoons, 12-Inch and 15-Inch, OXO Good Grips Nylon Spoon, OXO Good Grips Brushed Stainless Steel Spoon

Wooden Spoons:
18-Inch Long Handle Wooden Cooking Mixing Spoon, Birch Wood – Set of 2,

Whisk:
Berghoff 3-Piece Stainless Steel Whisk Set, Best French Whip Whisk, OXO Good Grips Whisk

Peeler:
RSVP Endurance Stainless Steel Vegetable Peeler, Kuhn Rikon Piranha Swivel Peeler

Scraping Spatulas:
Wilton Easy Flex 3-Piece Silicone Spatula Set, OXO Good Grips 3-Piece Silicone Spatula Set

Turning Spatulas:
OXO Good Grips Nylon Turner, OXO Good Grips Brushed Stainless Steel Turner

Slotted Spoons:
OXO Good Grips Nylon Slotted Spoon, OXO Good Grips Brushed Stainless Steel Slotted Spoon

Ladle:
OXO Good Grips Brushed Stainless Steel Ladle, Norpro Melamine Ladle

Basting Brush:
Norpro Silicone Basting Brush, Set of 3 Silicone Basting Brushes

Rolling Pin:
Ateco 20-Inch Length Maple French Rolling Pin, Fox Run Marble Rolling Pin and Base
Though very hard to find, I have a glass rolling pin that I may have “stolen” from a family member, and I love it.  If you ever see one in an antique shop, grab one.

Cookware {Pots and Pans}

Skillet (1 large, 1 small):
T-fal Specialty Nonstick 5-Quart Jumbo Cooker with Glass Lid (this was inexpensive, and we’ve really been enjoying it), Lodge Pre-seasoned Skillet, Cuisinart Chef’s Classic Stainless Skillet

Saucepan:
T-fal Saucepan, Cuisinart Chef’s Classic Stainless Saucepan with Cover

Stock Pot:
Excelsteel 16 Quart Stainless Steel Stockpot With Encapsulated Base, T-fal Specialty Nonstick 12-Quart Stockpot Dishwasher Safe Stock Pot Cookware

Dutch Oven:
Lodge Color Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven, Simply Calphalon Nonstick 7-qt. Dutch Oven & Cover

Cookie Sheets:
Nordic Ware Naturals Big Sheet Baking Pan, Airbake Ultra by T-fal 2-Piece Insulated Large Cookie Sheet Dishwasher Safe Bakeware Set

9×13 Baking Dish:
Nordic Ware Cake Pan with Storage Lid, Wilton Recipe Right Oblong Pan with Cover

8×8 or 9×9 Baking Dish:
Wilton Recipe Right Oblong Pan with Cover, Baker’s Secret Basics Nonstick Square Cake Pan

I’m very partial to baking pans and other products from DeMarle at Home (here is a catalog).

Knives and Cutting Tools

Chef’s Knife:
Wusthof Classic Chef’s Knife, Victorinox Fibrox 8-Inch Chef’s Knife

Paring Knife:
Victorinox Paring Knife, Wusthof Classic Paring Knife

Serrated Knife (or Bread Knife):
Chicago Cutlery Walnut Tradition 10-Inch Serrated Bread/Slicing Knife, J.A. Henckels International Fine Edge Pro 8-inch Stainless-Steel Bread Knife

Kitchen Shears:
Wusthof Come-Apart Kitchen Shears, Kitchenaid Classic Shears With Soft Grip

Pizza Cutter:
OXO Good Grips 4-Inch Pizza Wheel, Zyliss Handheld Pizza Wheel with Stainless-Steel Blade

Other Tools

Mixing Bowls:
Trudeau Melamine Mixing Bowls Set, Heavy Duty Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls

Dry Measuring Cup Set:
MIU France 7-Piece Stainless Steel Measuring Cup Set (pricey, but I’m a sucker for extended measuring cup sets and stainless steel measuring cups), Trudeau 5-Piece Measuring Cup Set

Liquid Measuring Cup:
Pyrex Prepware Measuring Cup, OXO Good Grips Angled Measuring Cup

Measuring Spoon Set:
Progressive International Stainless-Steel Magnetic Measuring Spoons, CIA Masters Collection 6 Piece Measuring Spoon Set

Cutting Boards:
OXO Good Grips Cutting Board

Microplane Grater:
Microplane Classic Zester/Grater, Microplane Home Series Fine Grater

Colander / Sieve:
Arrow 4 Qt White Plastic Colander, OXO Good Grips Stainless Steel Colander

Timer:
CDN Extra Large Big Digit Timer (not as essential if you have multiple timers on other appliances)

Silpat Mat (or Parchment Paper, but I like Silpat Mats):
Demarle Silpat Non-Stick Baking Mat

Cooling Rack:
Nordic Ware Cooling Rack

Instant-read Thermometer:
Taylor Commercial Waterproof Digital Thermometer

Hand or Stand Mixer:
My favorite KitchenAid Stand Mixer, Hamilton Beach 6-Speed Classic Hand Mixer

Can Opener:
OXO Steel Can Opener, West Bend Electric Can Opener

Nice to Have, But Not Always Essential (Depending on Your Needs)

Cookie Scoops:
Oxo Good Grips Cookie Scoops

Muffin Pan:
Wilton Muffin Pan, Farberware Nonstick Bakeware 12-Cup Muffin Pan

Pie Pan:
Pyrex Easy Grab 9-1/2-Inch Pie Plate, Fiesta 10-1/4-Inch Deep Dish Pie Baker, OvenStuff Non-Stick 9 Inch Pie Pan Two Piece Set

Toaster Oven:
Cuisinart Toaster Oven Broiler, Waring Professional Toaster Oven

Round Cake Pan:
Fat Daddio’s Anodized Aluminum Round Cake Pans, OvenStuff Non-Stick 9 Inch Round Cake Pan Two Piece Set

Loaf Pan:
Farberware Nonstick Bakeware 9-by-5-Inch Loaf Pan, USA Pan 8.5 x 4.5 Inch Aluminized Steel Loaf Pan with Americoat Loaf Pan

Food Processor:
Hamilton Beach 70450 8-Cup Bowl Food Processor, Cuisinart Prep Plus Food Processors, Proctor Silex 1-1/2-Cup Food Chopper (small food chopper, but should be good enough for some people)

Steaming Basket:
Norpro Stainless Steel Vegetable Steamer, Progressive International Microwavable Mini Steamer

Essential Kitchen Tools Checklist Downloadable Form

Important Note: This download is free for personal use only. This printable cannot be sold, published, or hosted on other websites. If you want to pass along the printable though, please feel free to share a link to this post (not directly to the printable) with others.  Another great way to share it is to pin this post to Pinterest!  Thanks!

Download the Essential Kitchen Tools Checklist

(If you are having clarity issues with the printable, please right click on the image and choose “Save Link As” and download the document to your computer. Then, open it from your computer, rather than through your web browser’s PDF plugin, which can sometimes cause some blurriness or other issues. Another option might be to try opening it in another browser, such as Google Chrome {recommended!} if you normally use Mozilla Firefox.  Actual printable page is much sharper than it appears in the thumbnail above.)

Disclosure: This post contains some affiliate links.  They don’t add any cost to your purchase, but they do help support this site, so thank you!