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I’ve pulled together a list of all my essential kitchen tools for family cooking, I couldn’t be without any of them. If you are cooking for your family often, you need the best prep and cookware to help make the magic happen a little easier and more efficiently. If you find something you’d like to add to your kitchen armoury, you can click to buy.
Use the quick image links to jump to the kitchen tool you’d like to find out more about.
Kitchen Prep Tools
Kitchen Cookware Tools
Kitchen Tools for Family Cooking: Food Prep
Families are born when their first baby is, and these kitchen prep tools will see you through from baby to teenager and beyond.
Ninja Professional Chopper
This is the third mini food chopper I have owned, and is by far the superior. It has a blade at the top as well as the bottom for an even chop throughout. The 500ml / 2 cup capacity makes it small enough to fit in your cupboard, but not too small to fit much food in. It’s great for fine chopping which is perfect for making sides like salsa, or preparing onions and tomatoes for meals. I also often use it to blitz oats for muffins and pancake batters. For finely chopped food use quick short pulses and to make sauces, purees, smoothies and milkshakes, long presses will do the trick. And, if you have a baby, this ranks number one on my Kitchen Tools for Family Cooking list as you can use it to puree food for 6 month old babies and then also use it to very finely chop and then more coarsely chop meal servings for 7-12 month old babies.
Plus, it comes with two stackable containers and the splash-guard lids mean you can actually store your prepared food in there. They are BPA free, which again is great if you are using it to prepare baby’s meal serving in it.
*for the USA the chopper may come with just one container and not the 2 stackable containers. For Canada I have had to link to a comparable Ninja product.
Shop from the UK >Braun MultiQuick Hand Blender
This stick blender is one of my favourite kitchen tools. It’s not only useful for turning baby’s meal into puree, it’s perfect for blitzing things like soups, sauces, dressings and dips. For soups, you can just blend it up right in your saucepan. You can also use it to make smaller amounts of smoothies and milkshakes; if I’m just whipping them up for the kids, it’s the perfect size. It’s also a space-saving alternative to a worktop blender.
Fullstar Mandoline Slicer & Vegetable Spiralizer
This is by far the best multi-slicing tool I’ve used. It slices effortlessly, zero elbow grease required. You can prepare large amounts of vegetables in no time, which is just the kind of help us family cooks need! I use the thinnest 3mm slicing attachment and the julienne attachments often for different types of salads, especially asian style salads and slaws. And with the gripper and protective glove I never have to worry about cutting myself. In addition, the 5mm mandoline attachment is great for slicing veg a bit thicker. It also comes with a grater attachment as well as ribbon and spiral cut attachments, all within an organiser box for practical storage.
Shop from the UK >Kenwood Food Processor FDP301S
This is my go to tool for larger amounts of food. I use it often in baking, to make breadcrumbs or to make a large batch of slaw. The slicing tool attachment is perfect to run cabbage through. It also comes with a blender jug attachment, which is great for making batches of smoothies, milkshakes and ice lollies. It’s easy to use and to separate and clean. It will make a great addition to your kitchen equipment if you have the space for it.
Shop from the UK >VonShef Professional Hand Mixer
This electric whisk is powerful enough to take on even the thickest of mixes. It comes with two additional attachments, dough hooks, which I personally always use when I make pizza dough, and a balloon whisk, which is great for lighter work like making crepes or english pancakes. It also has 5 speeds, a turbo boost button and a long cable. If you are the baker of the family (or want to be!), this should be your next purchase.
Shop from the UK >Victorinox Kitchen Knives
These have made my Essential Kitchen Tools for Family Cooking list because I have tried a lot of kitchen knives in my time and these are by far my favourite. They have surgical grade blades which means they are the sharpest knives you’ll ever use, plus they make every type of kitchen knife you’ll ever need. Don’t under estimate the efficiency of a sharp knife! Obviously, keep well away from young children.
Shop from the UK >Kuhn Rikon Swiss Peelers
I have had many peelers over the years (mainly because I’ve accidentally thrown them out with the peelings by mistake!) but these are definitely the sharpest I’ve found, peel the thinnest and are the most effortless to use. And I don’t just use them to peel veggies, I also use them to slice cheddar cheese, we like it nice and thin in this family. And don’t be put off by buying a set of three, if you cook often, three is much better than one, trust me!
Shop from the UK >OXO Good Grips Prep Peelers
If your family loves corn fresh off the cob, OXO’s Corn Prep Peeler is the kitchen tool for you. It gets the corn away from the cob cleaner and more efficiently than a knife. OXO’s Large Vegetable Y Prep Peeler is another useful tool I have, it’s perfect for shredding smaller amounts of cabbage for slaw, and it saves you lugging out the food processor. It’s also good for peeling thick skinned vegetables like aubergine. But there are more Prep Peelers in the range than those two, follow the links below to check them out.
Shop from the UK >Pyrex 250ml Measure & Mix Beaker
This one is small but a mighty big help in the kitchen. Being able to accurately measure in small increments is essential for recipes that call for odd or small amounts of liquid, particularly with baking. My family kitchen just wouldn’t be complete without this one!
Shop from the UK >OXO Good Grips Large Salad Spinner
Ok so, this one is probably classed as a large “luxury” item in the kitchen accessories world, but I am soo glad I made space for it. When washing large amounts of leafy greens like whole lettuces, cabbages, kale and spinach on the regular, this makes the whole process soooo much easier. Gone are the days of tossing leaves around in a sieve for ages and patting them dry after with paper towel, only to realise they are STILL soaking wet. With this salad spinner you can submerge the leaves in water to clean throughly, drain, put the lid on and with a few smooth pumps, spin the water away! You’ll never get such dry leaves any other way. PERIOD.
Shop from the UK >Kitchen Tools for Family Cooking: Cookware
When you are cooking for a family, you need cookware that is long-lasting, reliable and fit for large amounts of food. Every item in this Kitchen Tools for Family Cooking list checks all those boxes and some.
Zeal Non-Stick Silicone Cooking Utensils
I swear by these sturdy silicone utensils. They are odour, stain and heat resistant, plus they will never damage your pots and pans. And whatever the colour of your family kitchen, you should be able to find a shade to match. Zeal have many other gorgeous kitchen tools to compliment your kitchen, have a browse here.
Shop from the UK >Masterclass Hard Anodised Roasting Tin, Large
This roasting tin is the largest and best quality one I’ve found. It is perfect when roasting for a family of 4+ and even when having guests over. It fits sooooo many roasties, I’ve fit enough for 10 people in before. It’s also great for roasting a combination of different vegetables in the same tray for a family of 4+. I also use it for roasting two XL chickens side by side for family gatherings. It’s also the pan I use for baking one-pan family meals. The list just goes on!
The anodising process plus teflon coating makes this roasting tin super sturdy and long lasting, plus effortless to clean. I cannot sing its’ praises enough. It also comes in a smaller size, great for roasting a chicken or meat joint for a family of 4-5, see it here >
Shop from the UK >The Anything Pan
Ok, so this griddle pan is EVERYTHING a griddle pan should be. It’s high quality, totally non-stick, super easy to clean, and is big enough for a family of 4+ (it fits 4-6 large chicken breasts). And you can cook anything in it (hence the name), you can griddle burger buns in it, vegetables, kebabs, halloumi and more. I often use it instead of the barbecue in the colder months. Also, the handle is detachable so you can sear or fry in it on the stove and then transfer it to the oven to finish cooking there, or to keep warm.
Shop from the UK >Tefal Easy Cook & Clean Frying Pan 32 cm
The sheer size of this pan is perfect when cooking for a family of 4+. It’s that little bit larger than a normal large frying pan and a little deeper, and the extra space you get makes allll the difference. Super easy to clean also. You can buy a lid for it separately if you like here for the UK >
Shop from the UK >Super Kitchen Large 12-Cup Silicone Muffin Tray
This tray is perfect for baking muffins or cupcakes in. I particularly like to use this for muffins, as I find that they stick all too well to paper muffin cases. Just give it a light spray with oil and you are good to add in your batter straight in, no cases necessary. Then when baked and cooled a little, you can pop the muffins or cupcakes right out!
Shop from the UK >Morphy Richards Sear & Stew Slow Cooker
This is the slow cooker I use, it also comes in black & rose gold. This 3.5 litre / 3.7 quarts pot is perfect for families of 4-5. If your family is larger, there are many different styles in the Sear & Stew range, including larger capacity ones. Slow cookers are ideal for one pot cooking, days when you have time in the morning to prep dinner, but are off out for the rest of the day and want to come back to a dinner ready to eat. They are also great for cooking meats and poultry low and slow, giving them that ‘fall-apart’ texture.
Shop from the UK >Tower Xpress Pro T17039 Vortx 5-in-1 Digital Air Fryer Oven
If you want your family to eat healthier by using less cooking oil, an air fryer is the appliance for you. Most have baskets and are for cooking smaller quantities of food at a time, but this one actually has shelves and an 11 litre capacity, which means you can fit enough food in to serve 4-5 people. It has a digital touch display control which is really easy to clean and all the shelves can be removed and put in the dishwasher. It also comes with rotisserie attachments which I often use to cook a whole small/medium chicken. And if you buy the top model, it also comes with 10 rotating kebab skewers and a pizza/steak plate, plus some other useful accessories, see more here >
Shop from the UK >Instant Pot Duo 7-in-1 Pressure Cooker
This 5.7 litre / 6 quart Instant Pot is perfect for serving up a family or 4-5. I use mine for recipes that would take a lot longer otherwise, like cooking a whole chicken or if I need a beef stew in a hurry. You can do sooo much more in an Instant Pot though, some people cook EVERYTHING in theirs. It can literally replace your hob. You can sauté, use it as a steamer, slow cooker, rice cooker, make porridge in it, boil eggs and even make yogurt or a cheesecake in it.
Plus, there’s a handy Instant Pot app you can download to hunt for recipes. The keep warm function’s great, even when I haven’t cooked with it, I use it to keep hubby’s dinner warm when he can’t get home from work in time to eat with us. I use this silicone sling to lower the dish down and lift it back out again >
Shop from the UK >Breville Sandwich/Panini Press and Toastie Maker VST025
We love a toastie in our house and this press makes it really easy. It fits two sandwiches, or panini/ciabatta/sub rolls at a time, is easy to use and effortless to clean after. For a family of four you can get your toasties done in two batches, and they take about 4 minutes to cook each.
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