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1. A veggie chopper so you can dice up an onion without fear of losing a digit. Yes, I've watched Gordon Ramsay YouTube explainers on how to do it with a knife, but there's a disconnect between my head and my hand, okay??
Fullstar is a small business established in 2017 that specializes in kitchen gadgets. Check out a TikTok of their veggie chopper in action.
Promising review: "This is the best of its kind. It cuts great and is very sturdy — I had been using a lesser model. I even cubed chicken breasts today plus cauliflower, onions, and more. I was a chef for 30 years and I love this so much I had to review straight away!" —david fasnacht
Get it from Amazon for $32.99 (available in three colors).
2. An Instant Pot that can whip up meals in 20 minutes or less! I've personally made pulled BBQ chicken, teriyaki chicken and rice, and mashed potatoes in one of these with little effort.
Promising review: "I'm a classically trained chef. I didn't think this thing could live up to the hype. I was wrong! Perfect risotto with no stirring! One pot pasta dishes! Hard-boiled eggs that practically jump out of their shells! Tender meats, perfect stocks... It's freaking magical. My family is tired of me talking about it, I was obsessed there for a few months. I've been using it for months now and I make dinner for my family in it most nights. Pretty sure it's a gift made by unicorns and fairies to make my life easier." —sophia ozer
Get it from Amazon for $83.29+ (available in three sizes).
Learn more about the Instant Pot in "I Tried The Instant Pot That Everyone's Obsessed With."
3. A KitchenAid stand mixer just begging you to try your hand at every Christina Tosi creation. Imagine a world in which you perfect Milk Bar's signature birthday cake and you can eat it whenever you want. 🍰 🤤
The heavy duty mixer needs no introduction but I did find this fun fact: its spiral beater hits 67 touch points in order to thoroughly mix whatever you're making.
What's included: A coated flat beater, wire whip, coated spiral dough hook, and pouring shield.
Promising review: "This was for my wife; she is a pastry chef. We bought this seven years ago and it’s a tough mixer. She uses it for everything from making soft batter for a cake to making bread dough. Even once, while making bread, the mixer fell from the table and hit a wall (hard), we picked it up and it continued working normally. Great product. She loves it." —Felipe
Get it from Amazon for $449.95 (available in 22 colors).
4. A two-stage knife sharpener with the power to take your dullest kitchen knife and return it to its former glory. Forget buying a whole new set, this teensy-tiny tool can sharpen and polish straight- and serrated-edge knifes with no issue.
Promising review: "I am a retired chef and have used many items to sharpen knives with. I came across this recently and was very surprised at how well it worked. I have a steel to give it that final edge, but this little sharpener is well worth the price, it works and it works well..." —Steven Lewis
Get it from Amazon for $10.30.
Read our full review of the KitchenIQ two-stage knife sharpener!
5. A nylon chopper perfect for breaking up ground meat, frozen veggies, eggs, and more. If you're a fan of tacos, Philly cheesesteaks, or smash burgers (~chef's kiss to Shake Shack~), this baby will come in clutch.
The tool is safe to use with nonstick cookware and you can throw it in the dishwasher for easy cleanup.
Promising review: "I am a semi-professional chef and do not go for 'gadgets' like this. My mother bought it and I thought it was another piece of junk to add to the junk drawer. Well, it's perfect for breaking up chopped meat in the frying pan for tacos or pasta sauce, you can break up Italian sausage while you cook it, I have mashed potatoes, turnips, and squash with it and even gotten biscuit dough almost completely ready to go using this little gem. I bought my brother in law one who uses it to make his chili! Love, love, love it!" —bette's daughter
Get it from Amazon for $8.69+ (available in three colors).
6. An Anova sous vide cooker to help you make restaurant-worthy meals with minimal effort. Like so minimal that you don't even have to be in the kitchen while your food is cooking!
The temperature range is 32–197 degrees Fahrenheit. The cooker can be controlled right from your phone, so you don't even have to stay in the kitchen while cooking. It also provides cooking notifications, and stays connected through Bluetooth from up to 30 feet away. Plus, you get access to over 1,000 recipes, so you'll have inspiration for yummy meals! Get the Anova app here.
Promising review: "I'm a catering chef of eight years and should have bought this sooner. I just made cookies with the sous vide but the winner is the meats. I've changed from my cast iron and broiler procedure as it can make a perfect steak every time now. Hands down gets used every day. BUY ONE." —monica mcmasters
Get it from Amazon for $99+ (available in two styles).
7. A 3-in-1 Cuisinart burger press so you can whip up a picture-perfect Juicy Lucy 🍔 (thanks for the education, Top Chef: Kentucky) right at home.
8. A set of "floating" kitchen knives in an acrylic case if one of the ways you know you'll be able to "trick" yourself into cooking more is by outfitting your kitchen with aesthetic equipment.
Each set comes with 13 professional chef knives, kitchen scissors, a peeler, a two-stage stage knife sharpener, and an acrylic knife stand.
Promising review: "I got these as a gift for my brother who is a chef. He was impressed with the quality and the look of the knives. He immediately started slicing and dicing tomatoes and was admiring them on the counter for a while 😂 11/10 would recommend! PS: the black style is so cool — they look like they are floating above the counter." —Wyatt Bashinski
Get it from Amazon for $29.99+ (available in sets of 7, 8, 10, and 17 and in four finishes).
9. A hands-free electric can opener if you've thrown a fit (more times than you'd like to admit) just trying to gain access to your black beans.
Promising review: "My hubby has been a restaurant chef and line/prep cook for 30+ years now and this has been his go-to tool for three years. That is until other employees didn't ask how to use it and then broke it. I bought him another to keep him happy at work as it makes his prep so simple. A great big thank you for this easy can opener." —Raven
Get it from Amazon for $29.99 (available in four colors).
10. A snap-on silicone strainer that easily attaches to the side of your pot so you don't have to make room in your sink for a colander and then inevitably splash yourself with ~boiling~ hot water when you haphazardly dump your cavatappi.
Promising review: "This is a real convenient timesaver. Not only do I have one less thing to wash after dinner, but the convenience of being able to simply snap this on to any pot is great! The mounting clips are robust and hold like crazy. The product works exactly as described and has made my pasta nights a breeze. I am a chef, so I use this almost every day and I highly recommend this attachment. Great invention!" —Captain HC
Get it from Amazon for $12.45+ (available in three colors).
11. An air fryer if you manage to under or over cook your entree every dang time you use your oven. If you thought these things were only for French fries or chicken nuggies, think again. You can crisp up fresh asparagus, cook salmon to flaky perfection, and even bake a GD lemon bundt cake if you so wish!
Promising review: "I'm a chef and I LOVE this thing! It's way better than the Ninja. It holds more food and also has different ways of cooking. It's basically an air fryer and mini convection oven in one. Everyone complaining about the smell or loudness are just being silly. Neither of these things are THAT bad. I live with my fiancee and since it's just the two of us, we don't make too much food at a time so the Instant Vortex Plus has mostly replaced our actual oven. I've used it almost every day since we got it. Works like a charm. Two thumbs up. 👍👍" —Cody B.
To learn more, read her glowing air fryer review.
Get the 6-in-1 6-quart size from Amazon for $125 (available in three styles and two sizes)
12. An aluminized steel sheet pan you can use to bake or roast basically anything you can imagine. Chefs swear by them not just for how evenly they cook, but how exceptionally easy they are to clean.
Promising review: "This pan is a must have. I'm a chef and when I cook at home clean up is important. This pan is so easy to clean. You can cook so many items. A normal sheet pan is way thinner and very hard to clean. I've cooked bacon, vegetables, burgers, meatloaf and all came out excellent." —donald puopolo jr.
Get it from Amazon for $23.97+ (available individually or in a set of two).
13. A Lodge cast-iron skillet that'll help you achieve a delicious sear and crust you won't get from a regular nonstick skillet. It'll just get better the more you use it and is basically indestructible so you can even pass it on to your kids...and they can leave it to theirs.
Promising review: "As a professional chef in the industry for 20 years now, I have my own list of brands I seek out. When it comes to cast iron, Lodge is a brand I know is going to be good. When it came to the price, I couldn't click 'buy' fast enough. This has become my go-to pan at home any time I am working with meat; be it a burger patty or a large piece of meat I am searing off for braising in the slow cooker. This is a pan I know i will have for the next 20 to 30 years." —Mike
Get it from Amazon for $19.90.
14. An automatic spice grinder so you can top off every dish with a bit of spice and in the most ✨extra✨ fashion imaginable.
BTW — this grinder is battery-operated, so make sure to get a few AA batteries, too!
Promising reviews: "I am a retired executive chef of over 40 years and I mentioned to my daughter that I wanted a new GOOD quality peppermill (that does not mean expensive). She did a great job picking one out for me. I do not write many reviews and never do until I have had the product and used it for several months. I am very pleased with it and love that I can have several different spices, peppers, and salts in their own pods with a very simple push of a button to change from one to another." —Bridgit Judson
Get it from Amazon for $44.99 (available in four colors, comes with grinder and two interchangeable pods).
15. A lightweight, two-button kitchen scale if you take your baking seriously. Reviewers — chefs and at-home cooks alike — love its no-nonsense operation and auto shut-off feature which conserves battery.
Promising review: "Easy to use. Small for easy storage, doesn’t use a lot of counter space. Brightly colored so it’s quick to find if stored in a cupboard or drawer! I’m a semi-retired chef, so us cooks need a reliable scale that’s cost-effective and rugged. This scale covers all of those bases." —HeadHitter
Get it from Amazon for $25.26+ (available in nine colors).
16. An instant-read digital thermometer that takes the guesswork out of cooking meat, baking bread, and tempering chocolate. The gadget is accurate to within a single degree and it only takes 3–5 seconds to read your food's temperature.
Promising review: "Just got it a few days ago so time will tell, but it is amazing. Magnets are strong enough to stick on fridge, so at the ready, and don't have to worry about it falling off accidentally. It shuts itself off when not in use. Professional chef here, but sometimes I like to slightly under do things and this helps me know. Everything can be tested and I can cook with confidence and precision. Again, great design and no fuss. Exactly what I was looking for and at a good price." —Rockshot
Get it from Amazon for $14.99+ (available in three colors and styles).
17. A garlic chopper because garlic powder simply doesn't compare to freshly minced garlic when you're whipping up an Italian feast.
Promising review: "This arrived today so of course my daughter (a sous chef) and I (a retired food service manager) had to play with it! This is AWESOME, very easy to use and super easy to clean. My daughter only let me use it for about thirty seconds. Now I have to buy another chopper because my daughter has to have her own!" —Virginia G. Justice
Get it from Amazon for $13.62.
18. An adjustable thickness cheese slicer so you can take your charcuterie boards to the next level. (Or just feel a smidge fancier when making a midnight cheese run to your fridge.)
This slicer comes with an extra wire in case the first one wears out!
Promising review: "I am a retired chef but I still constantly cook and throw dinner parties/BBQs five to six times per week and am involved in some volunteer projects as well. I am always looking for top-quality tools that make my craft easier and so far this is one of them. As most of you know, shredded cheese has a chemical in it that keeps it from clumping or sticking together, so I only buy block cheese and slice and shred it on my own as needed. This is truly a quality slicer and while I haven’t owned it that long, I have already made thousands of cuts on Cheddar, Monterey Jack, Swiss, Gouda, Parmesan, Mozzarella, Gruyère, SarVecchio, etc. I highly recommend this product and this company!!!" —Rick Rocker
Get it from Amazon for $15.99+ (available in three colors).
19. A breakfast sandwich maker that simultaneously cooks your egg, toasts your bread, warms precooked meat, and melts cheese so you can slap together the ultimate breakfast sammie without having to wait in line at Dunkin' or Starbucks and risk being 20 minutes late for work (...again).
Promising review: "OK, so I used to make fun of this thing every time I'd see it in the store. I would tell my wife that if you cannot make an egg sandwich yourself then you deserve to eat cereal for breakfast. I was a chef for over half my life and have a habit of making fun of useless, kitchen tools and appliances. Well, I broke my ankle and had to have surgery and have been laid up for quite some time and have not been able to prepare breakfast. My wife is not all too skilled in the kitchen and I got this thing so she could make us breakfast sandwiches. Needless to say she was quite surprised when she came home and saw it in the box on the kitchen counter. The next morning I was working my crossword puzzle when she sat an Egg McMuffin with Canadian bacon in front of me. The sandwich looked awesome and was delicious." —Mr. & Mrs. T
Get it from Amazon for $29.99+ (available in three colors).
20. A large Cuisinart food processor you can use to whip up hummus, salsa, guac, or whatever other dip you're really into at the moment. The posibilities are endless!
If you're wondering whether it's worth shelling out money for this bad boy, keep in mind it has a whopping 14-cup capacity. It also comes with a standard stainless steel slicing disc, a medium shredding disc, a chopping/mixing blade, and a spatula. All included parts are dishwasher-safe!
Promising review: "I am a private chef and use this to make dough and sauces and whatnot and it's never failed me even though I take it in my car all the time. I've used more expensive ones and cheaper ones and if you're a home cook, this is perfect. Usually the cheaper ones leak and aren't great, and honestly the more expensive ones are great but it's not worth it if it's not for your job/career. If you cook at home or have a side cooking business then this one is perfect. Gets the job done better than the cheap ones and won't break the bank like the more expensive ones." —Lauraaa
Get it from Amazon for $239.11+ (available in four sizes and eight colors).
21. A vacuum sealer so you can stock up on your favorite frozen goods without worrying about freezer burn if you (AKA *when* you) totally forget they're even in there.
Promising review: "Took the sealer out of the box and vacuum sealed six chicken breasts. I work as a sous chef in a private university and use a commercial size sealer daily. This one performs just as well. Happy with my purchase." —Amazon Customer
Get it from Amazon for $47.69+ (available in four colors).
Reviews in this post have been edited for length and/or clarity.