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1. A strainer that clips directly to your pot, because who wants to dirty up a whole colander every time they make just one bowl of pasta? No one. That’s who. This silicone pick is amazingly versatile, reviewers say they use it not just for pasta, but also for things like draining meat. Plus, it fits on pots and bowls in all kinds of different sizes.
2. A hand-operated vegetable chopper that slices! Dices! And does it all in one fell swoop! It comes with four blades – a small dicing blade, a larger chopping blade, and two spiralizers – so all you need to do is fit the device with a blade, sandwich veggies in the middle of it, and bring the top down firmly. It cuts your prep time down to mere seconds, according to reviewers.
3. Some silicone baking mats, because if you don’t already have a couple of these in your kitchen arsenal, you’re missing out. Not only will they prevent your cookies from sticking — which is a disaster for both your bakeware and lovers of baked goods — they’ll also keep your baking sheets mess-free in the process.
4. An Instant Pot Duo that can handle the work of seven – count 'em – different appliances. It’s a pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice cooker, steamer, sauté pan, yogurt maker, and food warmer. Not only is it a boon for making tons of set-it-and-forget-it meals, it also frees up a huge amount of space in tiny kitchens.
5. Or, a sous vide cooker to help you whip up the tenderest, most melt-in-your-mouth meals ever. This option even connects with your phone, using an app to send you notifications when your food is ready. It’s almost impossible to mess up!
6. A Shark Tank-famous Frywall splatter guard that’ll keep screaming hot oil at bay while still allowing you access to your food for, y’know, cooking purposes. FYI, this particular one is for 12-inch pans, but Frywall also makes a variety of options to suit different pan sizes.
7. A scrap trap with a self-storing scraper, so you can sweep all your kitchen scraps into a handy-dandy little container you can just tip out into the bin later on. A simple device that frees up valuable counter space while simultaneously preventing potato peels, bits of carrot, and other cooking detritus from ending up on the floor. Yes, please!
8. A microwave pasta cooker, because even if you’ve always got pasta in the pantry, you don’t always want to wait for an entire pot of water to boil before you can even start cooking the stuff, am I right? Just stick this sucker in the microwave for 10–12 minutes and you're good to go. As an added bonus, this simple-yet-effective kitchen pick is also easy to clean.
9. A breakfast sandwich maker that’s good at any time of day or night – not just the morning! All you have to do to get yourself on the road to egg sandwich goodness is stack bread, cheese, and maybe a slice of cooked ham if you feel like it on the bottom plate, crack an egg in the top plate and add a second piece of bread, close the machine, and let it sit for about five minutes. When the time is up, just slide out the egg plate, and voilà — a whole sandwich is waiting for you inside.
10. A panini press grill, because any sandwich can become a glorious grilled masterpiece if you ~believe~ in it enough. This grill operates pretty much the same way that old Foreman you had in school did — turn it on, stick your food in, close the lid, and wait — but it can make up to two or three sandwiches at a time.
11. A rapid egg cooker that’ll have you enjoying hard or soft-boiled eggs in record time. This cute, retro-looking device from Dash can cook up to six eggs at a time — oh, and hey, guess what? You can make omelets and even poach eggs in it, too. Egg-cellent! (...Sorry. I’ll show myself out.)
12. A set of “Cheat Sheets” sheet pan dividers for anyone who loves a good sheet pan meal (me!), but does NOT love how messy they can be (also me!). These modular silicone dividers let you separate out all your bits and pieces, making for both easier roasting and easier cleanup. Heck yes.
13. The salad spinner to end all salad spinners, because it turns out there is an optimal way to wash and dress your greens. This pick from Oxo operates by a big ol’ push button, rather than a clunky crank – and it lets you put the breaks on immediately instead of waiting for the thing to spin itself out. I mean that literally, by the way; it has a built-in break button, too.
14. And a pair of veggie-chopping salad scissors that’ll totally eliminate the need for a cutting board. This dual-bladed pair of scissors snips your favorite salad ingredients right down to size, from tomatoes and peppers to greens and herbs.
15. A KitchenAid stand mixer, because the perfect marriage of form and function is a beautiful thing. Beloved of bakers everywhere, this kitchen staple can do everything from cream butter in 30 seconds flat (source: me; I do this with mine all the time and I love it for it) to whip up a gorgeous meringue in minutes – and it looks darn good doing it, too.
16. A nonstick skillet that really lives up to its claims – reviewers say nothing sticks to this sucker. With stainless steel construction and a hard and durable ceramic surface, this pick from Blue Diamond is as effective as it is visually appealing – and it’s even oven-safe up to 600 degrees. Never lose a luxurious egg yolk to a sticky pan again!
17. A 3-in-1 avocado slicing tool so you can have your guac and eat it, too – without worrying about slicing your hand open in the process. With this little guy in your kitchen gadget drawer, splitting, pitting, and slicing your avos is way less fraught of a process than it would be otherwise.
18. A sleek and streamlined air fryer that’ll make frying, baking, grilling, and roasting all your dinnertime faves a breeze — and speedy, to boot. Whether you’re in the mood for fried chicken or crispy Brussels sprouts (or both!) this easy-to-operate countertop must-have gets it all done with the push of a button.
19. And a magnetic air fryer cooking times cheat sheet, because anything that takes the guesswork out of cooking helps make life a little easier. Just slap this sucker onto your fridge, and you’ll always have an easy reference available – no more frantic, sticky-fingered googling required when you inevitably forget how long to leave your wings in there again.
20. A “uni-tool” cooking utensil, because why dirty up five different spoons and spatulas while whipping up a single meal when you could use just one instead? This space age-looking tool performs the functions of a slotted spoon, a solid spoon, a spatula, a turner, and a cutting tool, all in one handy package. The culinary future is now, y’all.
21. An egg separator that’ll make divvying up your yolks and whites a breeze. Even better, it’s hands-free – just attach it to the edge of your bowl and crack your egg directly into it. It’ll do the work for you, even holding itself in place as you work.
22. A multipurpose immersion blender, because sometimes – most times, really – it’s easier to stick the blender in your food than it is to put the food in the blender. This one features removeable heads, too – so not only can you, say, blend up some butternut squash soup with it, you can also swap the blender head for a whisk and whip up a meringue, or even for a milk frother attachment so you can make yourself a fancy coffee.
23. A stainless-steel herb stripper that’ll save you so. much. thyme. (In the immortal words of Fozzie Bear, wakka wakka wakka!) Seriously, though – just yanking your sprigs through the nine differently-sized holes on this useful little tool will streamline your prep so much, you’ll have trouble figuring out what to do with all those extra, rosemary-scented minutes you’ve suddenly landed yourself with.
24. A compact veggie spiralizer, so you can zoom out those zoodles, lickety-split. This handheld gadget adjusts to three settings, depending on how thick you like your spiralized veggies – and it’s both quick to use and quick to clean up. It’s the best of all possible worlds.
25. A meat chopper tool that’ll make quick work of everything from ground beef to mashed potatoes. I mean, sure, you could break up your meat with a wooden spoon or what have you – or, you could use this, which utilizes a nifty, five-bladed pinwheel to break things up easily and, crucially, evenly.
26. A simple yet effective tofu press to take care of the most annoying part of cooking with tofu – squeezing all the liquid out – for you. This simple gadget features adjustable settings for the firmness of your tofu and an outer container to catch everything that drains out. Sure beats trying to smoosh it between two cutting boards and a dish towel and stacking a whole bunch of heavy cans on top!
27. And a Dash mini waffle maker, because you deserve to have waffles whenever you want them. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a time and a place for toaster waffles – but when you have a small, lightweight option like this one on hand and a good just-add-water mix to go with it, whipping up fresh waffles is actually very easy. Go ahead. It’s waffle time. It’s always waffle time. Leslie Knope would be proud.
The reviews for this post have been edited for length and clarity.