All this time working in professional kitchens has given me a pretty good insight into which are the necessary tools and equipment that can really make your life easier when cooking at home. In reality, you don’t need 20 different knives, colour-coded chopping boards or industrial-size equipment to be a great home cook. You just need the right tools and utensils that will help you save time and take your cooking to the next level. You just need the minimalist kitchen essentials!

Did it ever happen to you that you go to a friend’s house and all you can find in their kitchen drawers is promising but ultimately useless equipment that they have only used once in their lifetime? Although let’s admit it, most of us have one of those drawers in our kitchens. To be honest, mine looked very similar to that before I started to cook professionally. Luckily for you, I’m here to save you a few headaches, some money and a boatload of disappointment. So, here is my list of minimalist kitchen essentials:

Essential kitchen knives

Chef’s knife: The most versatile knife of all. It will cover a long list of jobs like cutting meat, dicing vegetables, chopping nuts, herbs, etc.
Usual length: 15-35 cm/ 6-14 inches

Paring knife: For all those small but precise jobs you can’t do with a longer blade. For example: peeling onions or coring apples.
Usual length: 6-10 cm/ 2.5-4 inches

Utility knife: A little bit bigger than a paring knife, suitable for slicing meat or dicing smaller vegetables. You can also find them with serrated blades, but I think you are better off with a straight one.
Usual length: 10-18 cm/ 4-7 inches

Vegetable knife: A good option is a Santoku knife, a Japanese knife specially designed for cutting vegetables. A chef’s knife will definitely cover it, but if you work a lot with vegetables, as I do, I think it pays off.

Serrated bread knife: Essential for slicing different kinds of bread.
Note: Cutting bread with a non-serrated knife is one of the fastest ways to make it dull and cut yourself in the process.

Carving knife: It will come in handy for slicing and carving meat.

Cleaver: If you like to make meat stock or take on a butchering challenge, you will need a cleaver too.

Honing steel: You should definitely have a good honing steel, but it won’t keep your knives sharp for ages. For the most efficient knife sharpening, use a wet stone. This method seems a bit complicated at first, but after you get the hang of it, it can be quite therapeutic! You have the option to take it to a professional sharpening service if you don’t have too much time to do it on your own.

Cutting boards

Definitely, a significant part of your equipment and often overlooked! When stocking up a minimalist kitchen, you shouldn’t need more than one or two boards. If you are wondering which material you should choose, the choice comes down to wooden or plastic cutting boards.
According to studies, when it comes to hygiene, wooden boards are similar to plastic ones. How we keep and clean our boards is more important than the choice of material.
So, the best would be to follow the instructions for a specific board you purchase and make sure you dry it after washing.

Since wooden boards require more maintenance than plastic ones, I will focus on how to wash them properly.

Good washing practice for the wooden cutting boards:

• Wash your cutting board immediately after every use with warm water and detergent.
• Avoid putting wooden boards in your dishwasher, and never leave them in the sink to soak. You don’t want your board to bend!
• Dry the cutting board immediately after washing and leave it to continue air-drying, laying on its side.

Scale

Even though I liked those retro analogue scales for a while, they take up too much space and are not so precise, especially for baking. Nowadays, I prefer digital ones. Firstly, you can always keep them neatly stored in a drawer and secondly, it is easy to clean them. The only downside is their battery life. It will always die in the worst moment, am I right? So, now I always keep a few spare batteries next to it, just in case!
A digital precision scale will also be handy if you are more into baking or experimenting with molecular gastronomy.

Whisk

I like to have 2 whisks of different sizes. I prefer to use the small one for dressings, while the bigger one is better for sauces or baking.

Kitchen scissors

Essentially, they just need to be sharp. Did you know that you can sharpen them like a knife? That way, a good pair of scissors will last you for years. I have to admit, scissors are a painful topic for me since, as a leftie, I have big problems using them. Thankfully, there are also scissors suitable for lefties.

Peeler

A good, sharp peeler is really essential! A simple stainless steel peeler is the absolute winner. The ones with the blade parallel to the handle (Lancashire peeler) are a good option for peeling bigger pieces and/ or harder skins (pumpkin, celeriac, potato), while the Y-shaped ones are more convenient for smaller or longer vegetables (carrot, parsnip, celery).

Spatula

Even though we connect spatulas with baking, where they are essential, I love to use them when cooking, especially on a non-stick pan. In professional kitchens, people mostly call them by their French name, Maryse.

Sieve

When looking for a sieve, the only important factor is the size of the holes. You don’t want to lose half of your ingredients just before you plan to serve your lunch. That’s why I have two sieves. A bigger one that I use for draining pasta or vegetables like broccoli (it can be easily substituted by a colander) and a smaller one for draining grains, legumes or sieving flour (also called fine mash strainer).

Can opener

If you wish to maintain your knives sharp, keep them far away from cans and get yourself a can opener.

Mixing bowls

Mostly, you can choose from stainless steel, glass, ceramic or plastic bowls. My favourite ones are stainless steel bowls because of their sturdiness and durability.

Measuring jug

Great for measuring liquids and pouring them without spilling all over the place. All glass, stainless steel and plastic have their advantages and disadvantages, but whichever your choice is, it won’t make a big difference. Personally, I go for the environmentally friendlier option: glass, while the longest-lasting and safest option would be again stainless-steel.

Tongs

I have to admit that before I started my culinary education, I had never used tongs, but they definitely have their uses. They are great for handling meat and vegetables or folding pasta into a creamy sauce.

Hand blender

This is a convenient tool if you like to make different soups, sauces and spreads.

Citrus juicer

I like fishing, but not for the lemon seeds that have fallen into my banana bread batter. Even though I have a manual one, I like those electric juicers and would seriously recommend you to get one. A cheaper alternative is to squeeze your lemon through a small sieve.

Grater

Indispensable for grating cheese over your pasta or vegetables for your salads, among many other uses.
A Microplane is a finer grater used for zesting citrus, parmesan or nutmeg, for example. The regular one can give similar results, but this is a more elegant and precise way! In addition, it is much easier and faster to wash, although you should never put it in the dishwasher if you want to keep it sharp and rust-free.

Pots

Your choice and size of pots will mostly depend on the number of your family members.
My favourites are stainless steel ones since they are a neutral, robust and long-lasting option.
Personally, I think that one of the best options is to get one of those sets, which come with many different-sized pots, giving you plenty of options to choose from. In addition, I would always recommend getting a steamer insert for one of the biggest pots.

Pans

I think we should keep it simple and aim for the most versatile options when it comes to pans. When choosing a pan, I would always look for those with heat-resistant handles so that they can go inside the oven.

Cast-iron or stainless steel skillet pans

A type of pan with shorter, slightly curved sides used for sauteing vegetables, searing meat, pan-frying, roasting, baking and more. It is incredibly versatile and definitely one of my must-haves.

• A 10-inch (25cm) pan is excellent for two
• A 12-inch (30cm) pan is ideal for four

The stainless steel skillet pan can also come with a non-stick coating, which is the perfect choice if your morning can’t start with a nice, fluffy omelette or your favourite pancakes.
Note: Don’t scrape it with equipment that could damage the non-stick surface. If that happens, your pan is not safe to use anymore because of dangerous materials potentially leaking into your food at high temperatures.

Stainless steel saute pan

A saute pan, compared to a skillet, works better for cooking with liquid, braising, poaching or even deep-frying because of its straight sides and excellent heat retention.

I will leave the choice of material to you. Still, I just wanted to share a few facts about the differences:

Weight: Cast iron is two times heavier than stainless steel.

Heat distribution: Stainless steel distributes heat faster and more evenly than cast iron.

Cleaning: Cast-iron pans are a bit more complicated to clean. After cooling down, you can rub them with a rag or wash them with soap and water. After washing them, you need to protect them with a layer of oil to prevent rusting. On the other hand, with stainless steel, you just need a sponge, good old soap, and water.

I would definitely go for the stainless steel option because of its versatility, low-maintenance and durability.

My baking essentials list

Pastry brush

It is used in both baking and cooking when applying egg wash on your croissants, butter or oil on your ramekins or spreading sauces and glazes. I like to use them for spreading an even thin layer of oil on the pan when cooking. Even though the wooden ones have a much denser brush and give great results, I would always use the silicone ones because they are much easier to clean. It would be great to wash your silicone brush directly after every use under a stream of warm water, rubbing detergent into it. Give it a good rinse and let it air dry completely before putting it back into the drawer.

Palette knife

Although its name suggests it should be something sharp, a palette knife is a dull tool used to spread out creams in baking or lift ingredients without damaging or breaking them. I mostly use it to flatten the surface in silicon moulds or while plating. So, palette knives can be very useful in cooking and baking but may be more essential for the latter.

Rolling pin

You probably won’t need it every day, but it is hard to substitute it with anything else when rolling out different types of dough for pastries, cookies or crackers. My favourite is the traditional wooden one, although nowadays you will find a range of other materials (ceramic, marble, glass, porcelain).

Cake mould

For baking a perfect cake, you only need a stainless steel baking ring. Placing it directly on baking paper is everything you need to do. Small downside: if the batter you are using is very runny, some of it can leak out from underneath. You can fix this by placing something heavy on top of the mould for the first few minutes of baking.
Those metal or ceramic-silicone moulds just complicate things and take up more of your kitchen space.

Piping bags

I can’t tell you how many times I have used a freezing bag as a piping one, and while the result is decent, it is a pain in the … and it doesn’t allow you the same precision. You will feel like a real pastry chef with a roll of piping bags in your drawer!

Hand mixer

A great addition to your kitchen if you enjoy making desserts from time to time. It will save you a lot of time and effort when whipping egg whites, frostings, creams, etc. In case you are a more avid baker you can upgrade to a stand mixer.

Dough scraper

Not really an essential, but it can turn the process of dough making into a much cleaner and effortless one, especially when working with doughs that are still too wet to be handled with your fingers. It also helps to scrape off those dry bits of dough that always get stuck to your counter.

Additional pieces of equipment

I promised you my list of minimalist kitchen essentials, but I will add a few other pieces of equipment that I find extremely helpful for the curious ones out there.

Mortar

Toasting spices and grinding them in a mortar before adding them to a dish makes a big difference to me compared to buying powdered ones.

Mandoline

A good sharp knife will take you a long way, but for precise, thin vegetable slices, you will need a mandoline. If you like pickling vegetables or making vegetable crisps, you will definitely benefit from its precision.

Blender

An additional piece of equipment that can ease the making of soups, smoothies, or large quantities of sauces and spreads. An upgrade on the hand blender!

Stand mixer

Our grandmas cooked much more than what we cook today and still didn’t have almost any of these fancy tools. But since we can make our lives easier and more efficient, sometimes it pays off. Stand mixers are a great addition to your kitchen if you often work with doughs, bake a lot or enjoy making fresh handmade pasta. It will cut your preparation time and make the cleaning easier.

Last but not least. I find that a beauty like this can save you a lot of money, time and space with all its attachments and functionalities.

This was my minimalist kitchen essentials list! I hope you gathered some helpful tips that will help you make smarter choices. I can’t wait to hear about your experiences! If you think I left something out, let me know in the comments below!

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