The first apartment I moved into (about a hundred years ago!) was a tiny unfurnished place with a very small kitchen.  Not only was it completely empty – not even a teaspoon to be found – but there was hardly any space to store any kitchen equipment. I was on a tight budget and had to make do with the absolute essentials. Over the years, my kitchens have got bigger and I have accumulated more and more equipment. It seems that no matter how big the space, I can quickly (over)fill it with kitchen paraphenalia!  In truth though, you can get by and cook most recipes with very little equipment.

I have set out a list of what I have found to be essential kitchen items and then a further list of “nice to have” items if kitchen space and budget permit.

Small Kitchen Utensils

Knives – small, medium and large and a serrated bread knife.  Buy the best quality you can afford as they can last you a lifetime if you look after them.  They do need to be sharp (there really is nothing worse than a blunt knife – and ironically, these are more dangerous than sharp knives) and they also need to be sharpened regularly. You can buy a steel or a knife sharpener to do this.

Vegetable Peeler – although you could get by with a knife to peel vegetables, a good peeler makes short work of vegetable peeling and is useful for making thin slices of cheese or fruit and vegetables.

Can opener

Corkscrew/bottle opener

Whisk – a large one is essential and an extra, smaller one, is a nice to have for whisking up dressings.

Wooden spoons

Spatulas – A large one is very useful and a second, smaller one, is nice to have.

Good scissors – useful for 101 things including cutting herbs, jointing chickens, cutting the tops off packets etc etc etc.

Fish slice

Ladle and slotted spoon

Tongs

Potato Masher

Garlic press – you can make do with a knife but a press is useful.

Grater – either a box grater or micro plane with large and small holes (large holes are ideal for grating cheese and root vegetables for coleslaws and other salads.  Small holes are ideal for grating parmesan and chocolate and zesting oranges and lemons)

Mixing Bowls

Large, medium and small mixing bowls – these can be plastic, glass or crockery.  A very large bowl is essential for mixing cake mixture, biscuit and bread dough and large salads.  It is handy if smaller ones are microwave proof, if you have a microwave.

Measuring Tools

For me, kitchen scales, measuring cups and spoons and measuring jugs are essential – especially if you plan to bake.  For general cooking you can get away with estimating quantities but baking is more of a science.  I have tried to give the weight and cup measurements for all recipe ingredients on the site.

There are many many different types of kitchen scales.  I prefer a small electronic set that measures grams, ounces, mls, and fluid ounces.

Other Items

Rolling pin

Oven gloves

Colander for draining vegetables

Sieve – A large one is essential if you plan to bake.  A small one is not essential but is useful if you need to sift some icing sugar or cocoa over a dessert or cake for decoration.

Tins, Trays and Oven Dishes

Large roasting dish

Baking trays

Oven dishes  – for lasagnes and puddings, amongst other things.

Muffin tray and cake tin – if you plan on baking these things.  Cake tins come in all shapes and sizes but if you only buy one, then a 20cm (8″) round non-stick tin with a loose/removable bottom is the best choice.

Wire rack – useful for cooling baking

Chopping Boards

Ideally you should have separate chopping boards for raw meat, raw fish, vegetables and cooked products.  This reduces the risk of cross contamination of bacteria from raw meat (e.g. salmonella) to other products. If you can’t manage this, then you need to make sure you wash the boards thoroughly after each use with good detergent.

 It is useful to also have a bread board if space and budget allow and small boards are useful for chopping small amounts and herbs.

Pots and Pans

Small, medium and large, frying pan and a casserole dish – All with lids.  In my view, you should buy the best quality you can afford.  Like a lot of things, if you buy great quality it will save you money in the long run.  A good pot should last a lifetime.  Whether you go for cast iron, aluminium or another material is a matter of personal preference.  Cast iron holds and conducts heat very well so is great – it is however very expensive and very heavy.  Aluminium is the opposite – cheaper and lighter weight but not as great at holding and distributing heat.  I have gone for cast iron for casserole dishes and the odd pot and the rest of the pots I have are aluminium.  As for the frying pan, a large based non stick frying pan is useful.

Electric Appliances

Electric beaters – these are not particularly expensive and are a godsend in the kitchen.  You can make do without them but they will save a lot of time and very sore arms!

The next labour saving devices are a food processor and standing mixer.  If you can afford them and have space, I recommend making the investment.  My mother and mother-in-law are still using mixers that  they were give as wedding presents many decades ago (and I am continuing the tradition with my mixer!).  While they are costly, a good one will be built to last and will give tireless service.  They are fabulous for mixing batters, and cake and cookie mixtures, whipping egg whites and kneading bread dough.

Food processors tend to be cheaper than mixers and though they do different things are just as useful in the kitchen.  They save a lot of manual labour in terms of chopping and blending.  Most come with several different blades so you can chop food into different sizes and shapes.  My one came with all sorts of attachments (many of which I have never used) so you can make coleslaw, grate cheese, slice vegetables etc.

If you can only afford one, unless you do a lot of baking, choose the food processor.

kettle – Not just useful for tea and coffee.

Cleaning Products

After cooking up a storm, you will need tea towels, a dish brush and cloths for the clean up operation.  If you don’t have a dishwasher you will also need a dish rack for draining dishes.

Non Essential and Specialist Items

If budget and space permit, some additional useful items are:

Stick blender

Mini food processor for herbs and spices and small quantities

Wok

Steamer

Pasta machine

Sushi mat

Paella dish

Tagine

Cake stand

Quiche pan

Ice Cream maker

Juicer

Cookie cutters

Piping bag and nozzles