I’m having so much fun this week highlighting “10” in honor of Real Life Dinner turning ten years old. I’ve posted my 10 favorite dinner recipes, my 10 favorite desserts, and now I am pumped to share My Top 10 Favorite Kitchen Tools. With each post, I’ve included a Birthday Giveaway, and believe me, you don’t want to miss these giveaways. Make sure you go back to each post and enter for a chance to win. Entering is super easy! 

Cooking is always easier if you have the right tools! I’m sharing the Top 10 Kitchen Tools I think everyone needs in their kitchen, and I’m giving away a set to one lucky winner! Follow the directions at the end of this post to be entered in the giveaway!

These kitchen tools make perfect gifts, especially for newlyweds or anyone moving into their own place. This post will include affiliate Amazon links to these items. I will receive a small percentage of the sale if you purchase through the link. 

Top Ten Kitchen Tools

Good Knives: I can’t stress enough how much a good knife makes a difference when you are cooking. If you hate cooking or feel like it is a huge chore, it honestly might be because you don’t have the right knives. There are a lot of great brands out there at all different price points. You do need to spend a little money to get a great knife that is going to last, but you don’t have to break the bank. You also don’t necessarily need an entire knife block, especially if you are just starting out. I received the two knives featured in this giveaway as part of a cooking class I took in college. They are awesome knives and have been going strong for 20 years. J.K. Henckels makes awesome knives. The 8-inch Chef Knife and the 4-inch Paring Knife are the perfect knives for basically anything you need to chop or slice. You will LOVE these knives! Use these knives to make the following recipes:

• Honey Lime Chicken Bowls with Rotisserie Chicken
• Million Dollar Zucchini Skillet

Aluminum Sheet Pans: For anything from cookies to sheet pan dinners, to sheet cakes to roasting veggies, to big batches of rice krispies, you need a good set of sheet pans, and these are it! I honestly can’t imagine life without these pans. I feel like I pull one out almost every day. Use these sheet pans for the following recipes:

• Sheet Pan Pork Tenderloin and Roasted Veggies
• Chocolate Zucchini Sheet Cake

Silicone Baking Mat Set: Speaking of sheet pans, these Silicone Baking Mats are their soulmates and make for easy cleanup. They are nonstick, so everything comes off them super easily. If you haven’t used them before, you will love how easy they are to use and what great results you get with cookies and anything else you use them for. Use the silicone baking mats for the following recipes:

• The Best Banana Cookies
• The Best Garlic Parmesan Breadsticks

Cookie Scoop: I’m so used to having a cookie scoop that when I go somewhere and they don’t have one, I feel like a fish out of water trying to bake cookies. Cookie scoops make it so easy to get perfect cookies that are all the same size. I’ve used a lot of different cookie scoops over the years, and this one is by far my favorite. It is perfect! Use a cookie scoop for the following recipes:

• Classic No-Bake Cookies
• Grandma’s Monster Cookies

Glass Batter Bowl with Lid: What a legit staple these Glass Batter Bowls are. Not only are they awesome for storing things like leftover soup because they have a tight-fitting lid, but they are perfect for mixing up anything that needs a medium-sized mixing bowl. I also love that they have liquid measuring marks on the side, so if you need to add 4 cups of chicken broth to something, you can measure it out super easily. Everyone needs one of these bowls!!! Use a glass batter bowl for the following recipes:

• Copy Cat Diner Style Pancakes
• Classic Chicken Noodle Soup with Homemade Noodles

Zester: A good zester is one of those things you don’t know you need until you really need it. When it comes to zesting a lemon or lime, there just isn’t anything else that can do the job…without extreme frustration and extra time…that is. Sure, you might only pull this out a few times a year, but believe me, you will be so glad you have one when you need it! Use this zester for the following recipes:

• Easy Homemade Orange Rolls
• Lemon Blueberry Chiffon Pie

Squeeze Juicer: Blessings on the head of whoever invented these. I still have nightmares about trying to juice lemons for my mom when she would make lemon bars. Traditional juicers are so messy and a pain to use. With a squeeze juicer, you just put in half of the lemon and squeeze; the seeds stay in and the juice comes out. It’s the best! This is another item you most likely won’t use daily, but when you do need it, you will be so glad you have it. It is so effective at juicing whatever citrus you come up against! This juicer and the zester are super important when making my delicious Key Lime Pie and for the following recipes:

• Easy Hummus Recipe
• Cranberry Orange Bundt Cake with Lemon Glaze

Bamboo Spoons: I love bamboo spoons, but I especially love bamboo spoons that are shaped like this. The diagonal bottom allows you to scrape the bottom of the pan and the edges of the pan as you stir. This is really important when making any kind of candy or when melting marshmallows for Rice Krispie Treats or anything like that. I have a large variety of bamboo spoons, but these are the type I grab 99% of the time. If you don’t have one and you don’t win this giveaway, make sure you order yourself one! Use this bamboo spoon for the following recipes:

• Merry Widow Caramels
• Hershey Bar Fudge

12-cup Bundt Pan: Okay, guys. Why do I think a bundt pan is an essential kitchen tool? Well, because even if you aren’t an experienced baker, you can make a bundt cake. Bundt cakes are, like, the best and easiest way to look like you know what you are doing when it comes to baking. You can’t mess it up (unless you don’t properly grease your pan). And they just look fancy. They can’t help it. If you are like me and not great at decorating cakes, bundt pans look good even with a sprinkle of powdered sugar. For real, do yourself a favor and make sure you have a bundt pan, and then do yourself another favor and look up bundt cakes on my site. You will find MANY delicious choices to choose from to christen your new pan. I recommend you start with the following:

• The Best Ever Banana Bundt Cake or
• Jewish Apple Cake

Meat Chopper: This handy little meat chopper is your best friend when it comes to browning ground meat. I mean, how did we brown meat before these were invented? I also love using it when I make Mar’s Burritos because not only does it help me brown the chorizo, but it also helps me partially smash the pinto beans, too. It’s perfect for things like that. Again, this is a tool that I feel totally handicapped without now that I am used to having it. I can’t recommend it enough if you ever cook with ground meat. Use this meat chopper for the following recipes:

• Philly Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes
• Korean Beef Bowls

And, of course, there are so many more tools that are so helpful in the kitchen. In fact, I’m giving away another one I think is SUPER important tomorrow, so stay tuned for that!

If you made it through all of that, you really deserve to win the Giveaway, so please take a minute and be sure to enter. Don’t forget to enter the other giveaways happening this week, too!

My Ten Favorite Kitchen Tools Giveaway Information

I firmly believe cooking is more fun AND easier if you have the right tools. This giveaway is for a bundle of my most used kitchen tools, the things I grab on a daily basis or the things that make all the difference when I need them. Maybe you already have some of these items. If you do, pass these on to a friend or give them as gifts. All of these tools are extremely useful and are items I recommend for everyone to have in their kitchen.

Two ways to enter:

• 1. Comment on Today’s Blog Post about my favorite kitchen tools, and tell me which ones you have and which ones you really want/need. If you have them all, tell me who you would share this prize with.
• 2. If you are on social media, you can enter by commenting on the Instagram or FB posts for this giveaway, answering the same questions above.

You have until midnight (EST) on Sunday, August 27, 2023, to enter. I will announce the winner in a final birthday post and on Social Media on Monday, August 28, 2023. Good Luck!

Disclaimer: To be eligible for giveaways, you must live in the Continental United States or have an APO/FPO mailing address.