Over the past 20 years of cooking for my family, I’ve learned that the tools you use are very important. But you do not drawers full of gadgets or lots of expensive appliances. I use a very small number of tools to create nearly every meal I cook, which I want to share with you. Right up top I’m going to list what I view as the absolute essentials:
- Sharp and versatile knife
- 1 or 2 10′ or 12′ cast iron or carbon steel pan
- Large cutting board
- Pyrex baking pan
- Large soup pan or dutch oven
- Sauce pan
- Wooden spoons
- Ladle
- Spatula
- Blender
The tools I would consider to be nice to haves, but are not at all necessary:
- Food processor
- Tortilla press
- Specialty knives like paring knives, bread knives, and boning knives.
- Peeler
- Whisks
- Stand mixer
If you are just embarking upon your home cooking journey, it’s likely that you don’t have all these tools. I don’t think getting top of the line items is important for any of these items. If you have the resources to buy brand new and top of the line equipment, and that’s important to you, There are affiliate links next to each of the items on the list, and I would love for you to use them. But for people who are like me and just want quality items that will last a long time, click on the product names in the list for my best value recommendation. I would highly encourage people who are trying to put their tools together, but don’t have the resources to go out and purchase everything at one time, to get started with a good knife and some useable pots and pans and some wooden spoons. The pots and pans don’t even need to be new. Second hand stores usually have some available at very low prices. The only thing I would be wary of is buying non-stick pans used. I try not to use them at all, but if you don’t know if a non-stick pan may have been over heated or chipped, you take the risk of releasing dangerous chemicals into your food.