10 Best Kitchen Utensils

I find the utensils you have in your kitchen can be super awesome in helping cook delicious meals. But I’ve also found that all you really need is a knife and bowl. That being said, I love my kitchen utensils. I classify them in two categories: cheap items that you can just purchase on a whim and expensive items that take a bit more savings. This list is in no particular order. Check out my shop for more information on where to purchase each of these items.

Expensive Items

1. Vitamix

Vitamixs are expensive. No doubt about it. But it is totally worth saving up for. I mean . . . totally. I use this machine everyday, multiple times a day. It is great. You can make banana ice cream, hummus, smoothies, soups, dressings, sauces, love. I mean anything you can think of. The great thing about a high speed blender is that is pulverizes everything, so no strawberry seeds to worry about. Greens are made smooth. Frozen things . . . no problem. If you can’t afford a Vitamix, the Ninja blender gets the job done (just not as well).

2. Cuisinart

I thought after I purchased my Vitamix that I would never use my food processor again. Boy was I wrong. Food processors are great for a whole host of things that the blender just doesn’t quite master. It is great when you are making things chunky (like a chunky applesauce). It is also much better for making things like bean or tempeh burgers, and I even prefer it for some dips. You may want to experiment with different recipes and see which ones work best in which machine. The food processor also has the cool chopping and grating attachments. I really don’t use them that often, but when I am making a lot of chopped vegetables (especially around the holidays), I use it all the time.

3. Dehydrator

I also thought I would never use a dehydrator. Nobody’s got time for that. I had this old Ronco food dehydrator. I tried it out a few times. Man did it suck. Nothing got evenly dehydrated. Everything stuck to the trays. I just hated it. I was constantly rotating the trays. It was quite awful. Then I saw some youtube videos and they used the Excalibur. It was way out of my price range, of course. I told my husband about my desire to try a different kind of food dehydrator, and he was on the hunt. He found one on ebay (the really expensive one for the price of the cheap one) that was missing a tray. He bought it for my birthday. I love it. I made apples, bananas, pears, crackers. The best part is that when I find fruit on sale, I can purchase it and freeze some and dehydrate some. This works like magic.

4. Knife set

One thing I learned from a good friend of mine is–always invest in a good knife set. He told me that when I was really young, and I always took it to heart. Now that being said, the knife set you see pictured, is the knife set I actually own. It only cost about $40. The reason I like it is that it is dishwasher safe and sharpenable (is that a word?) So, I like them because they aren’t bank breaking and I can sharpen it as often as need be. Having good knives makes food preparation so much easier. And ease of use is a huge factor in how often we cook.

5. Juicer

I don’t use my juicer everyday, but I’m glad I have it. I have the one that is pictured and it cost about 100 bucks or so. I like it because when I find a good deal on items, I can juice them. You can make green juice ice cubes to throw in soups or make some amazing apple juice. It works good enough, and I like having it around. My husband works outside, and in the summer in Texas he gets terrible leg cramps. So, he likes to take a green juice to work with him. It works wonders on helping him keep his electrolytes balanced. So, this is a handy tool to have around.

Inexpensive Items

6. Citrus juicer

I do use my citrus juicer everyday. It gets orange juice out like nobody’s business. It works better for oranges than a regular juicer. It is used often. It is also great if you find a deal on lemons or limes and want to juice a bunch of those at once.

7. Spiralizer

This little tool is cool, but a luxury. I like it because you can make curly fries (albeit really thin fries). You can also make curly carrots for salads. But, of course, the best is making zucchini pasta. When you have an overrun of zucchini from your garden, then pasta is on the menu and this makes a delicious zucchini pasta that is perfect for those hot summer days.

8. Citrus press

I love this freaking thing. I use it a hundred times a day. It is probably my all time favorite kitchen tool. It is amazing. It catches all the seeds. It squeeze out all the juice. You don’t get your hands dirty and you don’t have to fish out the seeds! yippee all around.

9. Zester

I don’t use this tool everyday, but I love it. When I make juice or squeeze lemons, I zest them first. Then I put the zest in my dehydrator. It is great to add that lemon, orange, lime flavor to all sorts of dishes and salad dressings. It also grates garlic really easily as well as other things like who nutmeg, etc. I really like this tool and am glad to have one.

10. Cool bowls

If you want to eat your food, you will want more of it. I love to have pretty plates and bowls to eat from because they are so fun. It is essential to have some mixing bowls. I prefer glass or ceramic bowls over metal bowls. I love to eat from wooden bowls, but they also aren’t ideal for mixing. Invest in a good set. I’ve had my set since I was 22. That means I’ve had them for a really long time.

If you are considering purchasing any of these items, please consider purchasing them from the links I provide in my shop (http://liveeatbewell.com/RipeTomato/?page_id=97). I receive a portion of the proceeds from each item purchased from my links, and we might as well keep it in the family.