Apartment Chef Tools
As you’ll see below, you don’t need the most expensive, newest appliances to create your own restaurant-or-higher quality meals. Mainly, you need a stove, oven, microwave and a can-do attitude (all of which you already have!). In addition to these, the following apartment chef tools will help you create all the tasty dishes you’ll find throughout this site.
Bialetti Stovetop Espresso Maker
I won’t stop you from buying a lord-knows-how expensive home espresso maker but I will judge you. All you need is a Bialetti stovetop espresso maker and 12 minutes later you have better-than-coffeeshop homemade espresso!
- Approximate Cost: $25
- Useful for: $0.55 Cinnamon Macchiatos, $1 Homemade Lattes
Burr Coffee Grinder
Last time I checked, espresso wasn’t made with whole beans. A small burr coffee grinder is what you need to finely grind your home roasted coffee beans. Paired with the stovetop espresso maker, for $50 you have acquired your own apartment coffee shop!
- Approximate Cost: $25
- Useful for: $0.55 Cinnamon Macchiatos, $1 Homemade Lattes
Oven Thermometer
You and your oven are going to be great friends. Together you are going to make so many amazing dishes. But that doesn’t mean you should trust it. It may beep and tell you it’s at 350F when it could be anywhere between 300F and 400F. Knowledge is power in the kitchen. Know your ingredients. Know your costs. Know your oven temperature.
- Approximate Cost: $5
- Useful for: Every time you use the oven
6 Quart Crock Pot
The meal prepping essential. Also, a great way to wake up to a delicious smelling apartment and a warm meal with little morning prep work. There are a lot of fancy ones out there, but don’t be seduced! All you need is a Warm-Low-High dial and you’re in business. Set in to “Low” when you’ve got time (6+ hours) and “High” when you’re in a hurry (3-6 hours). No more thought required!
- Approximate Cost: $25
- Useful for: Work Week Meal Prep, Crock Pot Short Rib
10″ Oven-Safe Non-Stick Sauté Pan
Currently the tool I use the most in the kitchen. Every morning, I wake up and make 3 fried or scrambled eggs in it. A 10″ pan also allows you to sauté a bunch of vegetables or up to two pounds of ground meat. Pay the extra money for an oven-safe pan to avoid having to transfer food when sauteing and then baking. Most pans are good to 400-450F, just double check.
- Approximate Cost: $20-$50
- Useful for: $2 and 7 Minute Scrambled Eggs, $1.50 and 20 Minute Crispy Brussels Sprouts
11″ 4-5 Quart Stainless Steel Sauté Pan or Wok
An important component of meal prepping: having a pan large enough to cook all the food! A pan this size is perfect for sautéing a week’s worth of vegetables at once or even making plenty of $0.15 and 60 Minute Lentils. Just make sure to add oil and move food around because it will stick!
- Approximate Cost: $35
- Useful for: $2 and 45 Minute Stir Fry, $2.25 and 45 Minute Eggplant Curry
2.5-3 Quart Sauce Pan
Your typical pasta pot can be re-purposed to create delicious rice or even dessert. No need to spend all your money on the best one out there, just make sure that you have one!
- Approximate Cost: $20
- Useful for: $0.25 and 45 Minute Rice or Quinoa, $0.50 and 30 Minute Pralines
Immersion/Stick Blender:
A tool you didn’t know you needed, but once you have it, you’ll never know how you survived without it. Whenever you need to quickly purée some vegetables, beans, or anything else, this tool will become your best friend.
- Approximate Cost: $25-35
- Useful for: $0.90 and 40 Minute Cauliflower Faux-tato Salad, $2 and 40 Minute Vegetable Soup
Food Processor
Owning a food processor will save you time and help you make many cool recipes in minutes that you thought could only be made in commercial kitchens. It really comes in handy when you want to finely chop vegetables or create smooth textures when combining food.
Approximate Cost: $30
Useful for: $2 and 5 Minute Almond Butter, Healthy Desserts
8-inch Chef’s Knife
You’re a chef. Embrace it.
One of my largest pet peeves is trying to cut something with a dull knife. I hate the feeling of having to saw my food like a lumberjack. Get yourself a good knife so that every cut gives you that hot-knife-through-butter feeling.
- Price Range: $10-$150. If you’re going to splurge on something, let it be this!
- Useful for: Everything
Citrus Juicer
This magical device not only allows you to squeeze the most out of your lemons but also measures the volume of juice! So useful! You may be thinking, “$5 for a citrus juicer…” Trust me, you need this. It pays for itself by saving you time and messes.
- Approximate Cost: $5
- Useful for: Lemons and limes
Basting Brush
This apartment chef tool is the trick to coating your fish or vegetables in a thin layer of oil to prevent them from drying out or burning while in the oven. Glugging out oil all over your food is not only wasteful but can make it taste greasy. You can substitute in a paintbrush, just double check to make sure that it is clean!
- Approximate Cost: $8
- Useful for: Seafood
Kitchen Scale
A kitchen scale helps answer many questions. How much basil is in 25g? Ask the scale! How can I make sure all my meal prepped lunches have the same amount of food? Ask the scale! Your scale should have a surface large enough to hold a medium-sized bowl with the weight reading still visible and should be accurate to at least 5 lbs.
- Approximate Cost: $15
- Useful for: Work Week Meal Prep, $6 and 10 Minute Pesto
8″ Fine Mesh Strainer
You don’t realize how handy this apartment chef tool is until you have it in your kitchen. Not only is it great for removing solids from vegetable stock, it’s super helpful at rinsing grains quickly prior to cooking them. It can also be used for dusting the tops of baked goods to give you that Instagram worthy presentation. Fun food fact, you can replace powdered sugar with coconut flour, it will look the same and make your dish even healthier!
- Approximate Cost: $15
- Useful for: $0 Crock Pot Vegetable Stock
There you have it, my favorite Apartment Chef Tools!