20 Kitchen Tools That Make Healthy Eating Easy
It’s no secret that I spend a lot of my time in the kitchen. I love to cook and bake and hello, I’m a dietitian and a food blogger! It comes with the territory. Of course I have some go-to gadgets that I use on a regular basis to make my life easier and the cooking process a little quicker. I get questions about the things I use in the kitchen quite a bit, so I thought it would be nice to compile them all in one place. I will continue to add to this list as I come across new, exciting products that I love! Keep reading to find tons of kitchen tools that make healthy eating easy!
FYI: I have provided direct links to each item in case you want to shop it on the spot! Just click on the name of the item to buy.
Okay, let’s get right to it!
Vidalia Chop Wizard — $19.49
There is a reason this baby is listed first. I talk about it all the time on my Instagram stories because it’s honestly the best. You can have a whole chopped onion (or several) in a matter of seconds. It’s way less work than chopping the whole thing yourself, you won’t be crying by the end, and the chopped onion looks uniform, which is nice if you’re trying to impress people with your chopping skills. ; ) You can also chop up firm bell peppers and jalapenos with this chopper. Click here to check it out.
Cuisinart Egg Cooker – $39.99
I use this egg cooker pretty much weekly to make a batch of hard-boiled eggs for breakfast throughout the work week. You can make soft, medium or hard eggs and it comes with extra equipment you can use to poach eggs or make omelets (which I’ve never used, tbh). I used to hate hard boiling eggs, but this thing makes it effortless. Full disclosure: sometimes it leaks, and sometimes it doesn’t. I always lay a hand towel under it just in case. Perfectly hard-boiled eggs every time!
Reusable Silicone Stasher Bags
I have been working on reducing single-use plastic, and these Stasher Bags have definitely been helping me with that! They come in a variety of colors and sizes, are dishwasher-safe, freezer-safe and you can even cook things in them! I love using these bags to store chopped veggies that I have prepped for the week, sliced cheese or packing random items in my lunch! I definitely recommend stocking up these babies!
3-in-1 Avocado Slicer – $9.99
I absolutely love this 3-in-1 Avocado Slicer! It’s so affordable and I use it ALL the time. You can cut the avocado open with the sharp end, remove the pit and slice it up using one handy tool. Better yet, it’s not super sharp like a normal knife, so even your kiddos can use it if they are helping you out in the kitchen. Honestly, I don’t use the “slicing” feature that often, but the pit remover is really great and doesn’t make me feel like I’m going to accidentally cut my finger off with a huge knife. Anyone else ever feel like that? Just me?
Pyrex Tupperware Set — $39.99 for a 20-piece set.
We got two of these sets for our wedding and they are probably (read: definitely) our most used gift since I pack our breakfast and lunch for work every day.
Most of us have heard of the potential dangers of microwaving our food in plastic containers at this point. If you haven’t, I would encourage you to make the switch to glass. They’re great for storing leftovers and for work lunches because you can microwave them without worrying about transferring your food to a microwave-safe dish. I especially love these containers because they look neat and do a great job of keeping food fresh! They stack nicely in the cabinet and the color-coded lids make it easy to match the container to the lid. I think we all know the struggle of the dreaded Tupperware cabinet and lost lids. It might be even worse than losing socks to the dryer.
Calphalon Cookware – $49.99
I think 90% of my cookware is Calphalon and I. Am. Obsessed. It’s all such great quality, all non-stick, and a lot of their pieces are even dishwasher safe. I have multiple pots, pans and even my knife set is Calphalon. I highly recommend all of their stuff!
Kitchen Shears – $15.99
Essentially these are just scissors that live in the kitchen… but I use them all the time. Of course, mine are Calphalon too, because they were included in my knife set. The great thing about kitchen shears is that they are strong and durable and can even be used for cutting some meats and veggies, although I mostly use them to cut open bags of sweet potatoes and cut the ends of my weekly Trader Joe’s flower bouquets. ; )
Calphalon 17-Piece Knife Block Set — $219
Obviously this knife set is a bit of an investment, and I am very grateful that we got it as a wedding gift, because it is something that I could not live without. Having good knives is SO important if you spend any time at all in the kitchen. It’s much safer to be using high quality, sharp knives than cheap, dull knives. If you are in the market for a new knife set, this one is amazing! Also, it looks really pretty on the counter, which is always a plus.
Calphalon 5-inch Santoku Knife – $24.99
If you’re not ready to purchase a $200+ set, do yourself a favor and get this $25 knife. Someone recently messaged me and asked what kind of knife I use to chop up all of my veggies, because they really struggle to cut up sweet potatoes. Well, that wasn’t surprising because they were using the same small knife for EVERYTHING!!! You have to bring out the big guns for things like sweet potatoes, spaghetti squash (any kind of squash, honestly) and so many other things! Having a big, sharp knife is absolutely a kitchen essential. It will make chopping veggies so much quicker and easier. Trust me!
Electric Can Opener — $34.99
Ethan thought I was silly for putting an electric can opener on our registry. I grew up in a house with an electric one and I seriously suck at using the handheld ones. I don’t think this was a ridiculous request. Anyway, we got one. Another wedding gift. And guess what? I USE IT ALL THE TIME. We don’t have a lot of counter space, but this doesn’t take up much room and it’s totally worth it. If you’re still cranking open your cans with a manual can opener, do yourself a favor and buy this instead. It’s also light and easy to move if you’d rather store it in the pantry/cabinet.
Silicone Baking Mats – $11 for set of 2
I love to use these for roasting veggies — makes clean up SO dang easy and quick! They are also dishwasher safe! Highly recommend.
Veggeti Pro Spiralizer – $14.99
This is the spiralizer I use to make zoodles, and I love it! It’s much more affordable than the pricy Kitchenaid versions (although those look amazing and I’d love to have one someday). This baby totally does the trick, it’s easy to use and it doesn’t take up too much space. It has three different attachments so you can make thin, thick or ribbon-cut spirals. I mostly use it for zucchini noodles, but I have also used yellow squash, and even sweet potatoes to make curly fries!
Waffle Maker – $27.99
I thought I’d go ahead and throw a food photo in here since we all know what a waffle maker looks like. Sometimes you just need a good waffle for breakfast, am I right? This waffle maker is very compact, easy to use, and most importantly, waffles are the bomb. Enough said. If you haven’t tried Kodiak Cakes mixes yet, I highly recommend.
Mini Muffin Tin — $13.99
I didn’t think I needed one of these, but then I saw my friend Aubrey of Kale Kouture making Kodiak Cakes pancake bites all the time, and I decided it was necessary. Go check out her recipe, buy a mini muffin tin, and thank me later.
KitchenAid Mini Food Processor — $49.99 (on sale for $34.99)
I will admit, I don’t use this super often, but it’s really nice to have when I need it. I have used it to make oat flour by pulsing old-fashioned oats for various recipes, cauliflower florets to make my own cauliflower rice, making whipped cauliflower, zucchini chunks to shred zucchini for muffins, chopping up walnuts, etc. It’s very versatile. I love that this one is small and easy to store!
Magic Bullet NutriBullet — $59.99
I have a huge Ninja blender that I use for things like protein pancakes & banana nut blender muffins & black bean brownies, but it takes up quite a bit of space. This blender is amazing for making smoothies because it’s compact and you can take the cup to-go. There’s a lot less clean up and all of the pieces are dishwasher safe. It does a really great job of blending things up, especially for the price!! We absolutely love our Magic Bullet!
OXO Food Storage Pop Containers— $39.99
I use these to store a variety of different foods and keep them fresh in my pantry, including pasta, homemade trail mix, rolled oats, whole wheat flour, etc. They also make your pantry look so much more organized than a bunch of random food containers!
Large Jelly Roll Pan — $19.99
This one might seem boring, because it is, but I use my large jelly roll pan like it’s my job. It’s great for making massive quantities of roasted veggies, which I do often. It’s also the perfect size to make TWO veggie flatbreads at once, which y’all know I do weekly. If you are in the market for some new pans, look no further!
Head here for my Simple Roasted Veggies recipe so you can test out your new pan.
Fine Mesh Strainer — $19.99
If you eat quinoa on a regular basis, you need a fine mesh strainer. Quinoa has a natural coating that gives it a bitter taste if you don’t rinse it before cooking. A lot of the boxed/bagged quinoa you’ll find in stores may say “pre-rinsed”, but not all of them do. It never hurts to give it an extra rinse! I measure out the amount I’m going to make, pour it into the strainer and give it a quick rinse under the faucet, then it’s ready to go! This can obviously also double as a strainer for all kinds of other things, like fruits, veggies, pasta, you name it.
OXO Pineapple Slicer — $19.99
I’m really only sharing this here because I showed it on my IG stories and got tons of questions about it from the pineapple lovers. To be honest, I’m not a big fan of eating fresh pineapple (it’s a texture thing), but I do love it grilled and dried from Trader Joe’s! If you are a pineapple lover, this will save you loads of time and effort cutting them up! Plus it’s just fun to use.
That’s a wrap on 20 Kitchen Tools That Make Healthy Eating Easy! Now you can get to work on some of my recipes! ; ) This post would be especially helpful for any engaged couples out there who are currently registering for their wedding.
Please feel free to share with them or pin it on Pinterest so you can refer back as needed! Let me know what you think if you buy any of these items. : )
Happy cooking!
Shanna
#WellnessForTheWin #KitchenEssentials
