These 5 Kitchen Essentials Made Me a Better Cook Overnight

These 5 kitchen essentials are the real heroes of my kitchen — the tools I reach for every single day and the ones I would grab first if I had to start my kitchen over from scratch. I’m not a gatekeeper, y’all. If something works, I want you to know about it. These 5 kitchen essentials have genuinely made me a more confident, more capable cook, and I believe they will do the same for you.

I’ve been cooking for a crowd for a long time, and I’ve learned the hard way that having the right tools makes all the difference. Cheap pans that warp, plastic measuring cups that melt, flimsy bowls that slide all over the counter — I’ve had them all. These are the things I finally replaced them with, and I am never going back.

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You can find all of these — already linked and ready to shop — in the My 5 Essential Tools section of my Shop My Kitchen page. I put them all in one place so you don’t have to go hunting.

Let Me Walk You Through All 5

#5 — Farberware Mixing Bowls

These are always in use at my house — always. I had to wash one just to film this video because I use it every single day. What I love about these particular ones is the pour spout and the grip on the bottom. When you are mixing, they stay in place. They come in a set of three in different sizes, and I use all of them. And yes — they are also perfect for microwave popcorn. There is genuinely no end to what these bowls can do.

#4 — Pyrex Glass Measuring Cups

I have the 1, 2, and 4 cup sizes and I use them constantly. These are heavy duty and durable — you can pour boiling hot liquid straight in, use them for making gravy, measuring, whisking sauces. Because they are glass, they do not crack, they do not melt, and they do not fall apart. I have gone through too many plastic measuring cups in my life, and I am done. These are the ones.

#3 — Pyrex Deep 9×13 Glass Baking Dish

There are a lot of 9×13 pans out there. I pick this one. It is deep, it comes with a plastic lid for storage and transport, and it bakes beautifully. You have to have a 9×13 pan if you are cooking for a crowd — and this is the one I reach for every time. It goes straight from the oven to the potluck table and it has never let me down. If you want to know more about why a good baking dish makes such a difference, The Kitchn has a great breakdown.

#2 — Cuisinart Stainless Steel Stock Pot

One of my Cuisinart pots is 20 years old. Twenty years. And it looks the same as the one I bought last year. I put them in the dishwasher every single time and they are still shiny and perfect. These pots are for pasta, for soups, for Aunt Jane’s Homemade Hot Pockets when you need to cook a whole head of cabbage. They are heavy duty, the handles are solid, and the thick bottom means your food cooks evenly. If you are building your kitchen from scratch, Cuisinart stainless steel is where I would start. You will be using them forever.

#1 — Lodge 6-Quart Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven

This is my number one, and it is not even close. I have three of these. I use one almost every single day. This is the pot I use for my Sunday Pot Roast, for my sourdough bread, for soups, for chili. The enamel coating means nothing sticks and burns to the bottom, and the cast iron tempers the heat so beautifully. Lodge is not the cheapest Dutch oven on the market and it is absolutely not the most expensive — but it is durable, well-made, and it will last you a lifetime. If you only buy one thing from this entire list, make it this.

I hesitated to share this video because I never want you to feel like I am just trying to get you to buy things. That is not what this is. What this is — truly — is me sharing the tools that made me feel confident in my kitchen, that help me put good food on the table for my family every single day, and that I believe will do the same for you. These things here will help you. Find them all on my Shop My Kitchen page.

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5 Kitchen Essentials — About Stephanie’s Food Section

Stephanie’s Food section is where all things food related live — beyond the recipes! This is where you’ll find special dinners and food experiences worth sharing, grocery tips and shopping advice for feeding a crowd on a budget, product demonstrations and kitchen tool recommendations, and anything else that happens in and around Stephanie’s kitchen that doesn’t fit neatly into a recipe card. If it’s food related and Stephanie has something to say about it — and she usually does — you’ll find it here.