Okay, today’s post starts with a little exercise. No, I’m not going to ask you to get on the treadmill—after all, where would you hang all those clothes piled on top of it? It’s very simple and you won’t even break a sweat. Ready?
Quick, go to your kitchen. Think of all the great meals you’ve made in there, the happy recipe accidents that ended up even better than the original, the day you finally conquered pie (yay!), and all the smiles on people’s faces after you’ve fed them something they love. Now look around and tell us:
What are some of the things in your kitchen that you consider absolutely essential? Stuff you just can’t live without?
Got it? It can be anything at all: tool, gadget, appliance, food item, or even something as simple as a step stool. (I have tall cabinets and not-too-tall legs. Things are constantly beyond my reach.)
Now here’s a follow up question:
What is the one kitchen item you don’t have but wish you did?
I’ll start us off. I have lots of tools and gadgets I love (like cookie scoops and Mason jars of all sizes) but I have to say I can’t live without my rice cooker. What can I say? I’m a rice girl. Sure, I know how to make rice in a pot. But I’ve been using a rice cooker almost all my adult life and I love the convenience of not having to worry about a pot on the stove and always having warm rice available.
I pretty much just make do with whatever I have, so I had to think hard to figure out what I wish I had. Does a wood-burning pizza oven count?
Betsy loves her Le Creuset Dutch oven, especially this time of year. It’s perfect for soups, braises, everything! She adds, “I’ve never had a high power blender, so I’d love to have one of those someday. I think I’m waiting for my old one to conk out on me.”
Ree chimes in too! “I can’t live without my inexcusably high stack of half-sheet pans/baking sheets. They are worn and scratched and well-loved. I use them for cookies, roasting vegetables, baking biscuits, roasting chicken legs … everything!”
Now we want to hear from you! What’s essential in your kitchen, and what’s at the top of your wish list? Let us know!
189 Comments
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Loretta H on 12.11.2013
I wish I had fancy measuring spoons. I have seen really cool ones.
leah g on 12.11.2013
Is it weird if I say my potato masher. I don’t actually like mashed potatoes so this had sat unwanted for years. Then I realized that I can use it for a million other things. I break up ground meet with it, make refried black beans, and fruit compotes. Its also great for mashing together dip ingredients (guacamole, buffalo chicken cheese dip). I even used it to make soup the other day I didn’t really need to mash anything it just seemed like it would mix well and it was conveniently located within reach!
I have always wanted a rice cooker. I just don’t have room. I already have way too much in my tiny kitchen.
Darcy on 12.11.2013
My old standby is a gold old cast iron skillet – I can do just about anything with it. I wish I had better quality knives, but I have the best I can afford and they get the job done.
Elizabeth B on 12.11.2013
I have to say that the one item I cannot live without is a timer (usually the microwave timer). I love all my other kitchen tools, but the timer is what saves my food every single time. As for wanting one more kitchen item, it would be a Cusinart griddle/press.
Nanci (TK) on 12.11.2013
Clever answer, Elizabeth! Good one! I totally agree. Without a kitchen timer keeping me on my toes, I’d be in trouble!
Lynne on 12.11.2013
I love my flat whisk, cast iron skillets, stone baking ware, knives and ninja blender. Top of my wish list is a new stove/oven–gas with a center grill top. A KitchenAid mixer would be nice too.
Jennifer M on 12.11.2013
Essential is a few things… one is my Ninja cooker it is a stove top, burner and crock pot all in one. I love my dutch oven and my kitchen aid. On my wish list of getting would be the lovely attachments for my kitchen aid and more baking sheet pans and better cooking utensils.
Heather Disarro (@heathersdish) on 12.11.2013
I’m a pretty basic girl, but I have almost gone crazy without my KitchenAid mixer that just got replaced yesterday! That month was one of the longest of my life…
Also, cookie and ice cream scoops. I love that everything is a nice even portion and it makes me wonder what on earth took soooooooooo long to get some!
Someday I think I’d like to have a really great Blendtec or VitaMix blender. It would be so nice to have a blender and food processor in one!
How’s that for a book of stuff I like?
Betsy (TK) on 12.11.2013
Yes, scoops! How did we survive before?
I’m with you on trying the power blender. Someday!
Tammy on 12.11.2013
Like Ree,I can’t live without my baking sheets or my wusthof knives. I think I would like to hsve a food processor.
Lori on 12.11.2013
I wouldn’t want to do without my Kitchen Aid mixer and my Pampered Chef Mix N Chop. I’d really like a nice food processor and baking sheet liners. Oh, and I have a thing for old vintage bowls….love all the colors.
Auntie Jo Jo on 12.11.2013
I love my cooking spoons, zester, cast iron skillet, mezzaluna and Furi knives, my Mothers recipes, the wine bottle opener (this is my number 1 item). I would love to have a kitchen helper that works either beside me and/or my husband to clean-up messes and dirty dishes.
Maggie on 12.11.2013
I love my Wusthoff knives! Also my KitchenAid mixer! But what I would REALLY like is a better blender! A Blendtec! Maybe when I win the lottery!!!
Becky on 12.11.2013
I love my half sheet pans like Ree, but cant live without my LeCreuset pans.
I would love a food processor- but hate to have stuff filling cabinets and counter space.
Erica Lea | Buttered Side Up on 12.11.2013
Wow, there are so many things that I feel I couldn’t live without. But I would probably cry hardest if I had to give up my ice cream maker.
A good food processor is on my wish list — I just hate cutting butter into flour! I know I can do without it, but I can dream, can’t I? 
Nanci (TK) on 12.11.2013
I probably can’t live without my Scanpan and my cast iron skillet (can’t do without my weekly batches of fried onions). Oh, and also my KitchenAid mixer.
What I need … perhaps a better food processor. Mine is limping along.
Juliana M. on 12.11.2013
I would have to say my nonstick fry pans. I use them for just about everything. Easy cleanup you know.
lena on 12.11.2013
Good morning. What I can’t live without is my non-stick skillet. One item on my wish list is a dutch oven to make all the yummy, delicious, soul-warming soups and stews.
Kim H on 12.11.2013
I love my santoku knife, 2 qt chef’s pan, and those cookies scoops are sure handy. I really wish I had a potato ricer for nice fluffy mashed potatoes!
Nanci (TK) on 12.11.2013
After making 10 pounds of mashed potatoes this Thanksgiving, a potato ricer is on my wish list as well!
Stephanie R on 12.11.2013
Can’t live without my stainless steel cookware, cutting boards, and wooden utensils.
Wish I had a stand mixer with all the beaters and hooks, a rice cooker, and a vitamix.
Birgit K on 12.11.2013
Things I can’t do without: Vitamix, Kitchenaid, rice cooker (yeah I love mine too!) microplane, Mason Jars in every imaginable size and shape, and so many more things! However, those mentioned are my frequently used items other than whisks, spoons, spatulas, cookware and such.
On the top of my wish list is a compressor ice cream and gelato maker! Sure, I can make ice cream in the ice and bucket contraption, even the frozen bowl things, but I would really, REALLY like to make some serious ice cream, on a whim, so messing around or thinking days ahead, just like the professional machines do! *longing sigh*
Cheryl on 12.11.2013
The one thing I can’t live without is my chef mate knife sharpener and one thing I have always wanted and never gotten is a kitchen aid mixer.
Mel in Okla on 12.11.2013
My cutting boards and knives are VITAL! I also love my Kitchenaide mixer.
Carrie M. on 12.11.2013
Love my cast iron skillets and my food processor. My wish list would be a hand mixer and a blender. I never have owned either one.
Jeanne (NanaBread) on 12.11.2013
Ever since ‘Sophie’s Choice’, I can’t be forced to choose just one favorite. It’s too emotional! I love my food processor, my KA stand mixer, my Le Creuset Dutch ovens and my knife block so much. But I also love my collections of vintage Pyrex, antique wooden spoons and metal baking pans. If my house burns down, I’m grabbing my entire kitchen first. What I don’t have but do covet is a Le Creuset braiser – wide & shallow & wonderful.
Betsy (TK) on 12.11.2013
Haha! The Sophie’s Choice of kitchen items. Love it. I want to come to your kitchen and see the vintage Pyrex and antique spoons and pans!
cassie kelley on 12.11.2013
I love cooking, but lately my favorite tool is my pressure canner and bosch! I love how the bosch mixes food! The one thing i am missing will sound silly my kids broke my waffle irin! I had a nice belgian waffle maker that flipped and cooked on both sides!
Peggy C W. on 12.11.2013
I can’t live without my dutch ovens, all of my spices, my kitchenaid mixer and the many wooden spoons and spatulas that are taking over my drawer lol
what I need is a food processor. I have been wanting one for years, but the need has grown to more than a want, so hoping this Christmas Santa will be so kind to put a nice food processor under my tree
Keri M. on 12.11.2013
I love my stand mixer, my microplane zester and my Le Creuset pot. I’d love a garlic peeler, an immersion blender and more half sheet pans.
Aparna B. on 12.11.2013
I can’t live without my Wusthoff knife! It’s essential for everything I do. I also use my all-purpose pan almost every time I cook. I use it so much that after washing and drying, I put it back on the stove so it’s ready to use for the next meal I cook. Beats having to dig it out of the cupboard or something! An item I WISH I had was French or Dutch Oven! I have stock pots that I use to make soups and stuff, but man oh man, it would be nice to have that essential pot that is so versatile. I would also love an immersion blender. I make so many soups that ladling into a blender is just time consuming and dirties so many things!
Jessica H. on 12.11.2013
I love my Kitchenaid mixer beyond words. I also love my electric hot pot/tea kettle – it can be so lovely to have a full pot of water in just a few minutes. I also love my extra large non-stick skillet – I couldn’t make Ree’s chicken parmesean without it. But something that I don’t have yet are the pasta maker attachments for my Kitchenaid mixer – I would feel so accomplished and grown-up to have and use them.
Jessica H on 12.11.2013
I love my Wusthof knives and wish I had cookie and biscuit cutters. Everytime I look for them, I can’t find any!
CarolinaGirl on 12.11.2013
On the top of my list that I can’t live without is my food processer, cutting boards, Le Creuset dutch oven, sheet pans and tongs (to reach the spices in the over the stove cabinets because I’m too lazy to always get the step stool!). I’d love to have a breville or vitamix blender!