Recipes and Essentials for the Home Cook

Essentials for the Starter Kitchen

A well stocked kitchen is about more than just food. It is about having the right tools and equipment to get the job done. If you love cooking though, it’s not really a job is it. It’s a labour of love and the best way to stay in love with cooking is to first make sure you have the most basic kitchen essentials. Then you can start slowly ticking some more innovative items off your wishlist.

The following list is simply some basic kitchen essentials needed for meal preparation and cooking up a storm.

Knives

If you were to get by with only 2 knives in your kitchen arsenal, they would have to be a large chef’s knife and a serrated knife (or bread knife). A good block knife set will serve you better as it has extras and more than likely a paring knife. Either way, a paring knife would be the next in line as it makes any prepwork a lot easier.

A knife block set is also good to have for keeping your knives from being damaged.

Utensil Set

Kitchen utensil sets are a necessity in every kitchen, and buying your kitchen tools in this way, instead of separately, will save you time and money. Plus it ticks several items off your list at once.

High Temperature Resistant Silica Gel Kitchenware Set – Get it here

This 12-Piece Kitchen Knife and Utensil Set gets you started with both a set of knives and a set of basic utensils.

Chopping Boards

There are so many types of chopping boards, from thin and bendy to big’ol wooden chopping blocks to colour coded for food safety. Essentially, at least 2 chopping boards are needed. One for bread, fruits and veges, and one for meats, poultry and seafood.
Consider boards than can be cleaned easily.

Can Opener

Many tinned foods come with ring pulls these days, but there are also many that don’t.
Tinned foods make for quick cooking and are a convenient pantry staple. Sometimes can openers are included in larger kitchen utensil sets but regardless, every kitchen needs a can opener.

Box Grater

From cheese to all sorts of veges, one cannot go without a grater of some sort. A good box grater is definitely a tool we cannot live without and with all the innovative kitchen essentials available nowadays, comes some great ideas…
Like this Good Grips Box Grater – with a catcher! (less mess = faster prep time 🙂

Vegetable Peeler

A vegetable peeler will really speed up your prep time, whether you’re using it to peel potatoes, carrots, or any other fruits and vegetables. Something simple here will do the trick, like this simple and affordable Ergonomic Peeler from Amazon Australia.

Measuring Spoons and Cups

A lot of home cooks simply judge amounts of ingredients in a dish, and while that’s fine, and also down to experience, there are some recipes that will require exact measurements.
A simple staple that won’t blow the budget, a set of measuring cups and spoons are handy as, if not necessary. Here’s a few to check out…

Austen 4 Piece Stainless Steel Measuring Spoon Set (w’20ml tablesoon)

Colourful Set of Measuring Cups and Spoons

Here in Australia, our tablespoons measure 20 mls, whereas almost the rest of the world’s are 15 ml.) Something to think about!?

Mixing Bowls

If you’re into baking cakes, these are a must. If not you’ll still need mixing bowls for salads, marinating, making meatballs, chopping veges into, just about everything for prepping meals.
A simple set of Stainless Steel Bowls is all you need…

Like this one>> Checkered Chef Stainless Mixing Bowl Set

Pots and Pans

Most home cooks use pots and pans on a daily basis for all types of foods, and these are a must to have in the kitchen.
We need saucepans/pots for cooking soups, stews, pasta, gravy, sauces etc and frypans/skillets for frying meat, poultry and seafood, sauteing meat and veges, searing and browning foods.
And of course, bacon and eggs for brekky!

Try the 6 Piece Cookware Set here, for starters – 3 Stainless steel pots with
Heatproof tempered glass lids + heatproof bakelite handles

Or get 2 in one with this Double Frypan with a deeper pan and a ridged frying pan that doubles as a lid.

Digital Kitchen Scales

Weighing ingredients is a step up from using cup measures as the amount that fits in a cup can vary depending on many things. That’s a very good reason to own a good set of digital scales.
While not a necessity for some, they are needed for precise measurements in baking, and can be useful for anything from meal prep to dividing up bulk purchases, even coffee beans.

Kitchen scales are not only a cooking tool but also a nutrition tool. They’re great if you’re on a diet and you need precise portion control.