It hasn’t been the smoothest ride to get to my kitchen essentials list. I kid you not when I say that I’ve organized and reorganized my kitchen at least ten times this year. Almost every single month, I took everything out and reorganized the cabinets and the pantry (story for another day), refining for functionality every step of the way. Since I spend hours of my day prepping, cooking and cleaning I really want it to feel good when I’m working in the kitchen. I’m happy to say that it does just that now! By thoughtfully auditing this many times, I’ve honed in on exactly what we use for everyday cooking. I’ve also prioritized cleaner options like lead-free glass and reusable items, which has made my kitchen both functional and eco-friendly. Now, with each cabinet dedicated to specific categories (spices, baking, pots and pans, entertaining to name a few), I know exactly where everything is, saving precious time, especially with little ones to chase after. I’m excited to share my comprehensive guide of must-have kitchen essentials that bring joy to our daily cooking experience in hopes that it does the same for you.

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Must Have Kitchen Essentials List

Dinnerware

1. Glass Custard Cups – perfect for ice cream and dessert. I love that it’s oven safe.
2. Glass Bowls – we love these bowls for soups and everything in between.
3. Glass Coffee Mugs – my favorite coffee / tea mugs. Glass makes all my drinks look beautiful!
4. Stainless Steel Plates for Kids – love these dinner plates for my kids also travel / camp friendly.
5. Insta Worthy Glass Cups – my favorite cups for smoothies and matcha!
6. Stainless Steel Soup Spoons – we make a lot of soup in my house, these heavy duty spoons are so much better than it’s porcelain or ceramic counter part. I’ve broken many in my lifetime so these stainless ones are simply superb!
7. Glass Dinner Plates – these are simple and sturdy everyday dinner plates that I feel good about serving food on.
8. Reusable Stanley Tumbler Glass Straw – love these glass straws over the plastic ones that come with the tumbler.

Utensils

1. OXO Good Grip Stainless Steel Ladle – our favorite and most used soup ladle.
2. Rotating Utensil Caddy – this utensil holder is great because it’s big enough to store multiple large utensils and it rotates so very easy to get what you need while cooking.
3. Silverware Caddy – love this natural water Hyacinth utensil caddy. Pairs well with our napkin holder.

Cookware

1. All Clad 5 Quart Stockpot – I love things All Clad it’s literally all I cook with (except for cast iron). This pot is great for cooking up curries and stews. Comes with a pasta strainer that can be used to steam veggies as well. Truly versatile.
2. All Clad Dutch Oven – if you told me that I could have only one cookware in the kitchen it would be my dutch oven. I use this thing the most and cook everything from chicken curry, biryani to soups in this pot. It’s just the best pot in the world if you ask me! Like all things All Clad, this will make a great hand me down one day, my kids will love it!
3. Lodge Cast Iron 10.5 Skillet – super versatile skillet for everyday cooking.
4. Lodge Cast Iron Round Griddle Pan – my go to for weekend pancakes and making eggs / breakfast daily.
5. Lodge Cast Iron Chef Collection with Lid – love this pan for cooking up veggies and ground meat. It’s really useful for making any dish.

Bakeware

1. Stainless Steel Baking Trays – love these over aluminum or any other material!
2. Glass Casserole Set – love these casserole dishes for when I entertain and it’s oven safe which makes it super versatile.
3. Stainless Steel Muffin Trays – I use these trays for both cupcakes and muffins they are great and I love that it’s stainless steel.

Food Storage

1. Silicone Storage Lids – okay how many times have you broken a plastic lid to your containers? I mean all of mine are broken so we’ve replaced all our plastic lids with these silicone ones and they are just amazing, so much more durable! Here are some other sizes that we have as well 4 Cup and 1 Cup.
2. Glass Bento Box – these compartmentalized glass containers are perfect for storing lunch and leftovers on the go.
3. Glass Storage Containers – these are hands down my most favorite glass containers for storing leftovers. They come in several different sizes all easily stack in the fridge and as storage in cabinets. Heavy duty and high quality.
4. Stasher Silicone Storage Bags – this starter kit is perfect to get you going on using reusable silicone storage bags over one time use plastic. I use my Stasher bags to store my garden harvest, home made pancakes, and anything else I need to stash in my freezer.

Small Tools

1. Ergonomic Vegetable Peeler – my one and only veg peeler, love it!
2. Stainless Steel Lemon Squeezer – love this everyday lemon and lime squeezer.
3. OXO Steel Lever Ice Cream Scoop – comes in handy for ice cream as well as when I need to scoop the perfect portion for my cookie batter.
4. Stainless Steel Berry Colander – perfect size for berries and a handful of veggies. Easy for kids to use.
5. Automatic Soap Dispenser – this is great for kids, makes it easy for them to self-help and wash their own hands with this automatic soap dispenser. We have two one in the bathroom as well. Super convenient for everyone!
6. Expandable Pot and Pan Organizer – this has really helped me organized the bottom cabinets better by having a place for my pans and lids it also saves room.
7. Apple Slicer – when you have two littles to run after all day even something like an apple slicer feels glorious, because well it saves me a bit of time! This is the one we use and love.
8. Cherry Pitter – if you don’t have a cherry pitter, you got to get one! Especially if you have little kids, it makes serving up cherries way easier!
9. Meat Tenderizer – we use this little hammer to flatten out chicken breasts it works great.
10. Vegetable Chopper – I don’t know why I waited so long to get one of these but boy am I grateful that I did get one. So helpful for everyday chopping. Saves us a ton of time.

Appliances

1. Vitamix Stainless Steel Container – this container is a beast! Love that it’s stainless and not plastic. I can blend everything from smoothies to spices and it does not leave any smell or residue behind. Will last forever and was so worth adding to my kitchen.
2. Vitamix – this is our blender for all things with the stainless steel container from above.
3. Stainless Steel French Press – I love this French Press so much so that I have it in two sizes! One for travel and one for home. This one makes about 3 to 4 cups at a time. It’s high quality stainless steel and looks beautiful on my kitchen counter.
4. Wide Instant Pot – I’m a little late to the instant pot wagon, BUT I’m so glad that I got this wide instant pot it replace two appliances for me: a slow cooker AND a rice cooker. It’s so versatile and it’s the perfect size to make family size of soups and stews. I use this every week and it’s a staple in my kitchen.
5. Food Processor – saves me a on of time with chopping on batch cooking days. Also, great for making salsa, nut butter, energy bites the list goes on.

Other

1. Walnut Lazy Susan – the cutest lazy Susan to make a table pop if you ask me. I love placing seasonal items like Pumpkins in the Fall along with a napkin holder on ours or cut flowers from my garden.
2. Automatic Soap Dispenser – this is great for kids, makes it easy for them to self-help and wash their own hands with this automatic soap dispenser. We have two one in the bathroom as well. Super convenient for everyone!
3. Rechargeable Lighter – so you are not scrambling to light birthday candles. Plug this in, charge and you’re good to go.
4. Stainless Steel Soap and Sponge Tray – I keep my plastic free soap and bamboo brush on this tray it keep things off the counter and tidy.

There you have it friend, the best of the best when it comes to thoughtfully curating a functional kitchen. If you love this guide, check out my favorite cookbooks roundup and garden tools list while you’re here.