Having a well-stocked kitchen can save time and money. With everything you need in arm’s reach, you can try all the recipes your heart desires without stressing over a shopping list.
An organized kitchen has been on our minds lately as we just designed a brand new Test Kitchen! Here’s our executive producer Adia Benson sharing tips on how to stock your kitchen (with help from our friends at Swiss Diamond):
We’re giving away one kitchen essential here on RecipeChatter: a Swiss Diamond Wok! Find out how you can win below.
Whether you’re creating a home for the first time, just moved, or you want to get back to basics, it helps to have a strong idea of what you need before you’re confronted with every gadget/ingredient in-store. In this guide on how to stock your kitchen, we’ll give you food for thought and help you determine what you need and don’t need.
Once you have your kitchen essentials down, you’ll be set for years to come.
How to Stock Your Kitchen in Three Steps
Step 1: Discovering Your Personal Kitchen Essentials
Kitchen essentials can mean something different for everyone, depending on your background, culture and location. You probably have a different list of must-haves than your neighbors, so start by thinking about what you can’t live without.
Here are some questions that can help you write a list of personal must-haves:
- What are the top 3-5 staple recipes from your upbringing? What kitchenware/ingredients do you need to make those recipes?
- If mom used unsalted butter on everything, you should stock up.
- Do you tend to make food from a particular culture (Asian, German, Amish…)?
- For example, if you love Asian food, a rice cooker might be essential for you.
- If you were going camping, what kitchen items would you absolutely need?
- Do you or household members have any dietary needs or restrictions?
- Do you need sugar-free applesauce on-hand for your diabetic dad?
- What kind of flavor palette do you prefer?
- What spices/seasonings do you need for that palette?
Step 2: Stocking General Kitchenware
Once you have your specific list of personal kitchen essentials, it’s time to focus on kitchenware you might’ve forgotten on that list. Here’s a general list of kitchenware used in everyday home cooking.
- Cutlery, including a set of knives
- Plates, cups
- Spatulas, spoons
- Nonstick fry pan
- Soup pot
- Sauce pan
- Casserole dish
- Baking pan
- Pizza pan
- Sheet pan
- At least three sizes of pots for sauces, pasta and main courses
- Nonstick wok with lid
- Strainer
Plus, don’t miss our tips on having a perfectly organized kitchen!
Step 3: Stocking General Pantry Items
Personal tastes aside, there are some ingredients that are practically universal. Make sure they’re on-hand and you can tackle most recipes!
- Sugar / Brown sugar
- Flour
- Jams/Jelly, if that’s your thing
- Canned fruits and veggies
- Rice/Pasta
- Bread
- Seeds and nuts
- Oil/Butter/Cooking spray
- Salt/Pepper
- Must-have seasonings and herbs (garlic powder, basil, onion powder, parsley, nutmeg, cinnamon, cumin)
Bonus: Win a Swiss Diamond Wok!
To help you have a perfectly stocked kitchen, we’re giving away an amazing product that you definitely need. One lucky reader can make a healthy stir-fry using the Swiss Diamond 11.8″ Wok.
To enter to win, comment an answer to this question:
What’s a kitchen essential on your personal list?
Official Rules:
- There is a maximum of one entry per person. The entry will be based upon a comment left on this blog post. Duplicate comments will be deleted and are not tallied.
- The winners will be selected at random from the comments on this blog post.
- Winners will be announced here on the blog as well as contacted by the email address provided.
- You have until Sunday, August 28, at 11:59pm EST to leave your comment on this blog post. Comments posted after that will not be counted.
- Contest open to anyone 18+ in US or Canada (Except Quebec and Puerto Rico)
Good luck! 🙂
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Got to have a selection of good knives!
Love the cast iron press that came with my cast iron skillet! I use the press on all my meats! Love the way the meats turn out!!
In addition to all the non stick and coated pans we use, we need to haverify one good cast iron pan.
A food processor is absolutely essential if you love cooking and baking. I even use it to make dog food.
I use a crock pot several times a month. Great to come home with supper ready.
The one kitchen essential on my personal list is a good pot. Once i find the one i use it u til it cant be used anymore. My husband is Spanish and it took me a long time and a lot if practice but i learned his family’s recipe for rice and beans and it all starts with the perfect pot.
I’d be lost in my kitchen without my mixing bowls, kitchen shears, & measuring spoons/cups! Thanks for the chance.
I’m all about lemons so I need a good zester and a good juicer.
I have to have a bookshelf/floating shelf in my kitchen for my cookbooks. I have my Mother’s Better Homes & Gardens (with all the additions from the magazine when they used to come with the holes already punched) and my Grandmother’s box of handwritten recipes which always need a special place.
A Crock-Pot is my must have Kitchen Essential.
Mixing bowls and knives
Good quality knives are a must!
Next to my cast iron pan its a good quality nonstick pan. The cheap ones go in the trash.
A large, cast-iron pot for soups, stews, chili, etc.
I have to have a great paring knife!
I want Swiss Diamond because of the quality and because they last a lifetime. Life’s short use great products with no worries.
A large sauté pan and a 9×13 baking dish are my musts.
Pizza pan or stone
For me is a frying pan! I cook almost everything and anything in it!!!
A good chef’s knife is essential to any kithcen. That one knife can do just about everything if you are careful and willing to take the time to prep your ingredients.
There are so many things that go into making the kitchen a terrific place to create great food. But, if i had to narrow it down, I would say that an extended variety of herbs and spices would be absolute necessity. They make or break a meal.
For me, it’s a good set of knives. I use them every time I am in the kitchen.
My must have is a large non-stick skillet.
Two of my essentials… silicon spatula & coconut oil.
A very good set of non stick frying pans c/w excellent pots and pans are essential.
My must haves are a good large nonstick pot and a good large non skillet with lids.
a slow cooker is a working woman’s dream. when i get home, the meal is ready & cooked itself while i’m away at work. of course, i take full credit for the masterpiece.
Desperately need a new wok! My old one has seen it’s last days!
I’ve got this ol pot. Had it for 20 years. Burned things in it, cooked a thousand meals with it, and It’s ugly. And I can’t let it go. Why? It’s been with me through good and bad! However, adding to it is just fine by me!
Love my crockpot! Makes hot meals easier in the summer and saves time on a busy day. A kitchen must-have.
I have to have sharp knives
Being a baker for farmer’s market, a heavy duty mixer such as a 6 quart Kitchen Aid mixer is absolutely a must. Also appreciate attachments such as for making pasta, shredding vegetables.
A Crock Pot is my essential kitchen item. The convenience is so important to our busy lifestyle.
august 18 at 6:11 am
would be great to win this for when I make oriental food
A kitchen is not complete without a good set of knives!
My mixer. I couldn’t live without my mixer. Thanks.
The one thing I have to have in my kitchen is a couple of good scrapers, can’t live without them!
I have MS and mixing cookie, cake, dough was getting almost impossible for me ( even with a electric hand held mixer)I was finally blessed to get a Kitchen Aid stand mixer on sale that will even do bread dough. I love it and it has helped me immensely – next to that would be my Mama’s old cast iron skillet.
I love Chinese food and it is so much easier to prepare if you have a great wok. This prize would complete my pots and pans!!!!
My go to in the kitchen is a large frying pan.. Very useful and needed daily…
Love to make omelettes or even a grilled cheese sandwich…
Something I don’t have and would love to would be a wok!
My essential pan is a big deep non-stick skillet with a lid and a helping handle.
My essential is my cast iron frying pan.
Colander(s). I think a use a colander (of a variety of sizes) everyday.
The one thing I’m missing is a Dutch Oven. So many recipes call for one. I also need a large wok with lid and utensils. I do a lot of stir-fries.
Personally, I must have a heavy grade stand mixer. We make a lot of our own breads, and anything made with plastic years tends to break down quickly and often.
Since my least least favorite room in the house is the kitchen…true story… I might be inclined to. Cook more with this awesome wok that you have as a give away. My family loves food prepared in our wok; however, we only have an aluminum one that really has never worked to great and is fairly banged up due to the cheapness of the material it is constructed from. And, my husband is an amazing cook…it would be a wonderful surprise for him if we won the wok. Thank you for posting this item! Mother of four
Olive oil & a nonstick skillet, essentials for breakfasts & dinners.
Quality knives are what I must have.
Would you believe a WOK. I would love to stir fry
I have a traditional wok with the rounded botom but this one looks like it would be much easier to use.
I bake often and prefer glass baking dishes so my must haves are my pyrex baking dishes.
Stainless steel chopsticks. Have to eat my salad with them.
My personal go-to kitchen essential is my chef knife. I use it for almost everything. It would sure get a lot of use if I were to be lucky enough to win this great Wok! 🙂 LOL
It is essential for sharp knives and good cookwear. Sharp knives are safer.
The one item I consider most essential in my kitchen is my ceramic coated electric skillet. I use it daily!
What’s a kitchen essential on your personal list? wire whisk
a wok is one of my kitchen nessary’s I like to do a lot of stir fries and they aren’t all Asian in nature I’ve started a mediterain diet and a work works great for sauteing other vegies as well
You cannot have too many kitchen gadgets a/o pots, pan and serving dishes.
One thing I still lack is a good wok.
I’d like to have a good set of sharp knives !
Since there is just me now I don’t need as much as I used to, however I still like to cook and share food so I still need to be organized if possible.
I need a toaster oven dedicated to gluten free foods and a few pots, pans dedicated to non-gluten cooking so that cross contamination doesn’t occur