15 Kitchen Tools Every Chef Needs

15 Kitchen Tools Every Chef Needs

Smart and successful cooking requires having the right kitchen tools on hand. If you're looking to upgrade your kitchen or stocking a new one, it's essential to know which tools you need before heading out to buy them. When stocking any kitchen, rather than buying everything in a day, we recommend slowly building up an accumulation of kitchen essentials that will make creating meals much easier. While there are several new and trendy gadgets out there, you don't need them all to cook a delicious dish. In fact, instead of searching for the latest and greatest, we recommend focusing on the basics. Once you've mastered some tough recipes and saved up a bit of money, you can begin moving on to the more advanced kitchen tools. To help you determine which tools you do and do not need in your kitchen, our Bobs Red Mill Cooking Experts have put together this list of 15 essential cooking items that are perfect for novice cooks or those on a budget.

Tongs

15 Kitchen Tools Every Chef Needs | Bob's Red Mill Blog Get serious about your kitchen skills and invest in a good pair of tongs. Tongs can help you flip, toss, turn and scrape just about any food.

Flat Wooden Spatula

The one thing both novice and professional chefs will have in their kitchen? A flat wooden spatula. It's the ultimate multitasker and will quickly become your new best friend when making intricate dishes.

Silicone Spoon Spatula

Anything silicone is a must-have for kitchen tools, especially if it's in an easy-to-use spoon shape. A silicone spoon spatula can be used for everything from sauting vegetables to stirring a yummy morning bowl of oatmeal. No kitchen would be complete without it.

Vegetable Peeler

15 Kitchen Tools Every Chef Needs | Bob's Red Mill Blog Many veggies need to be peeled to be eaten. Others require peeling before being added to a recipe. No matter the case, you'll want to make sure your kitchen is equipped with a vegetable peeler. Look for one with a good grip and a wide blade opening for easy cleaning.

Kitchen Shears

Kitchen shears are often a forgotten kitchen item, yet they have so many different functions. We're confident that once you start using kitchen shears, you won't be able to put them down.

Flexible Cutting Boards

While including a cutting board into your must-have kitchen list might seem like a no-brainer, it's an item that can easily be overlooked. When searching for the ideal cutting board, we recommend purchasing one that is flexible. A flexible cutting board will make it easy to cut and scrape the ingredients directly into a pot or pan.

Measuring Cups

15 Kitchen Tools Every Chef Needs | Bob's Red Mill Blog If you plan on making anything from scratch, then measuring cups are a must. We recommend purchasing two setsone for dry ingredients and one for liquids!

Measuring Spoons

When measuring small amounts, you'll want to use measuring spoons instead of measuring cups. Measuring spoons are often used for measuring oils, salts, butter and spices. For a long-lasting version, opt for metal measuring spoons.

Mesh Strainer

A mesh strainer can come in handy for many things- one of the most common being straining pulp from fruit juice. When choosing a strainer for your kitchen, we recommend purchasing a medium-sized one.

Whisk

15 Kitchen Tools Every Chef Needs | Bob's Red Mill Blog From a tasty omelet breakfast like this Chickpea Flour Omelette with Chipotle Grilled Tomato to a dreamy dessert recipe like these Double Chocolate Coconut Brownies, when cooking, there are many times where you'll be reaching for your whisk. That being said, make sure you choose a good one! A stainless steel whisk with an easy-to-hold handle will make working with sticky batter easier.

Dutch Oven

When choosing a dutch oven, size is everything. For novice bakers, we recommend purchasing a 5-quart pot. Doing so will give you an oven that's small enough to make dinner, but big enough to fit a whole turkey for a Thanksgiving roast.

Mixing Bowls

When stocking your kitchen, you mustn't forget mixing bowls. When choosing your bowls, make sure that they are deep and wide enough so that mixes can be whisked without splattering.

8 Chef's Knife

15 Kitchen Tools Every Chef Needs | Bob's Red Mill Blog A sharps chef's knife might be the single most important tool in your kitchenthere's not much you can do without it!

Grater

A grater can be used for so much more than just grating cheese. Use it to grate carrots, onions and even chocolate!

Food Processor

A food processor can turn a lot of work into a few seconds full of fun. Plus, it can grind hard-to-work-with food like nuts, seeds, onions and garlic with little to no effort. And there you have it. Fifteen of our kitchen must-haves. Stocking your kitchen with these items will make it possible to cook just about anything. From creamy soups to holiday feasts, we can't wait to see what you come up with!  
Bob's Red Mill
September 12 2020

Comments

Bob's Red Mill Logo

Our Company

Customer Support

FAQ
Join our table

Get baking tips, exclusive offers and other things straight to your inbox.

Connect with Us
© 1978-2025 Bob’s Red Mill Natural Foods
Terms of Use Privacy Policy Supply Chain Disclosure Cookie Notice Do not sell or share my info Manage Preferences