9 Essential Kitchen Gadgets You’ll Use Every Day

I love a shiny new kitchen tool as much as the next cook, and over the years my kitchen has sometimes resembled a specialty store. Eventually I pare things back, because unless you eat a lot of watermelon, you probably don’t need a dedicated watermelon cutter taking up precious drawer space. Small kitchens or apartments make storage and counter space especially valuable. Still, there are several kitchen implements that genuinely improve cooking and deserve a place in your home. Below are some of my all-time favorites: practical, reliable, and space-worthy.

This list skips larger appliances like slow cookers, Instant Pots, and air fryers, and it also excludes basics such as knives, cutting boards, pots, pans and measuring cups. Those are essential and widely understood. Instead, these are the gadgets—both low-tech and high-tech—that deserve dedicated storage because they work hard, save time, and make everyday cooking easier.

9 Must Have Kitchen Gadgets: Each of these kitchen tools is well worth the storage real estate, and they all make great gifts.

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9 Best Kitchen Gadgets

Perfect Peeler

I use a peeler almost every day for potatoes, carrots, apples, winter squash and more. Lightweight, sharp peelers like the Kuhn Rikon Original Swiss peeler are easy to handle and remove skins quickly and cleanly. OXO also offers a wide range of peelers with different blade styles and handle shapes to suit varied tasks. A quality peeler saves time and reduces waste by removing only the thin outer skin.

Peppermill

Freshly ground pepper lifts almost any dish above pre-ground spice. A good peppermill with adjustable grind settings makes it easy to dial in very fine to coarse pepper for different recipes. Contemporary options have convenient side cranks and removable collection cups, while classic wooden mills from well-known makers offer a traditional look and dependable performance.

Mandoline

Getting perfectly even thin slices by knife alone is difficult for many home cooks. A mandoline yields uniform slices for dishes like gratins, slaws, and salads. Handheld mandolines with adjustable thickness settings and a safe handle make quick work of vegetables and deliver consistent results that are hard to achieve otherwise.

Food Processor

A food processor is one of the most versatile appliances in the kitchen. I use mine for pureeing, chopping, slicing and shredding; outside of good knives, it’s the tool I rely on most. Sizes range from mini choppers for garlic and small sauces to large-capacity machines for bulk prep. Having both a small and a large bowl covers nearly every need and speeds up tasks that would be tedious by hand.

Microplane

The Microplane-style grater is indispensable for zesting citrus, finely grating hard cheeses, chocolate, ginger and more. Its long, narrow blade produces light, fluffy shreds that dissolve into sauces and batters. Versions with coarser teeth are useful for larger strands. A few sizes in the drawer cover most grating needs without clutter.

Instant Read Thermometer

An instant-read thermometer prevents guesswork when cooking meats, baking bread, or checking internal temperatures for safety and doneness. Fast, accurate digital models are ideal for home cooks and professional kitchens alike. A reliable thermometer protects expensive cuts and ensures consistent results—well worth the investment.

Immersion Blender

An immersion blender is the simplest way to puree soups, sauces and dressings directly in the pot, avoiding hot transfers to a countertop blender. It’s also handy for blending canned tomatoes, making single-serve smoothies, or emulsifying sauces. Durable models with comfortable grips and variable speeds handle most blending tasks while saving time and cleanup.

Wine Opener

If you enjoy wine, a quality wine opener transforms opening bottles from a chore into a small pleasure. Choose a well-built corkscrew or a convenient lever or electric model for fast, smooth extraction. Even occasional wine drinkers will appreciate an easy-to-use opener when hosting or gifting a bottle.

Sous Vide

Sous vide cooking uses precise water temperature control to cook vacuum-sealed food evenly. It’s nearly impossible to overcook, and it holds food perfectly at the target doneness for extended periods—ideal for proteins, eggs, and vegetables. Compact immersion circulators are affordable, powerful, and unobtrusive, and many connect to phones for simple, modern control. If you’re curious about reliably tender, restaurant-quality results at home, sous vide is worth trying.