The Best Kitchen Gadgets Foodies Actually Use in 2021

Top Product: Always Pan | $145 | Our Place

The kitchen is the heart and center of every home. But often, we let our cooking gadgets become neglected and just settle for the minimum. No more! It’s time to stop settling.

Just like upgrading your smartphone can instantly make your life better, so can upgrading your kitchen gadgets. After all, whether it’s in the office or on your stovetop, technology is always changing and often for your convenience.

Some of the best time-saving kitchen gadgets include the handy Fullstar Vegetable Chopper, the convenient Vitamix Explorian Blender, and the innovative Always Pan.

And if that wasn’t convincing enough, take a look at testimonials from bloggers, food writers, and even some everyday folks.

Best Non-Stick Frying Pan: Always Pan

“This [Always Pan] is super easy to clean, cute on the stovetop, and finally, I have a goddamn place to rest my spatula. This thing is super easy to clean, cute on the stovetop, and finally, I have a goddamn place to rest my spatula. Also, I am super excited to trash, like, 5 pans that are roughly the same size that I have absolutely destroyed. Do you know how much cabinet space we’re going to reclaim?? Do you????”- Victoria Song, Staff Writer for Gizmodo

“When it comes to the Our Place Always Pan and dishes bundle, I’m in love. In fact, I replaced ALL of my everyday dishes to use the Our Place dishes and it was worth it. They blend beauty and functionality in one simple bundle and don’t cost an arm and a leg.

It’s not just the dishes that are beautiful. For each of their collections, they find charities making what they call “systems-based change” in the community. During the pandemic, they worked with Feeding America, with a total donation of over 200,000 meals fighting huger caused in part by the pandemic. Our Place is also committed to ethical and human business practices. ‘This is something we care deeply about as well. To that end, we ensure all of our factories are paid above-living wages, have benefits, and are treated with respect. We validate this through regular rigorous factory visits, interviews with teams, and 3rd party audits such as BSCI, SA8000, Sedex, and ISO,’ they write in their FAQs” – Chaya M Milchtein, Freelance Writer for The Inventory.

Best Hand Mixer: Hamilton Beach 6-Speed Electric Hand Mixer

“I am the most un-homemaker, un-baker kind of woman—but I LOVE this little mixer. It hits on all cylinders.

1) It’s EASY! Put the beaters or whisk into the slots, push the button, and GO!

2) MULTI-FUNCTION. It has both beaters and a whisk.

3) 6 SPEEDS. Plus the burst of speed. (I have to remember to keep the beaters down & not burst whatever I’m mixing all over my front. Probably not a challenge for more kitchen-oriented users.)

4) STORAGE CONTAINER. I am in love with how the beaters go into this plastic case, then simply snap the main mixer part on top. Done. Not searching for something to put this in or awkwardly setting it loose on a shelf.

This gadget is so awesome, it motivates me to learn to bake.” – Liz Zélandais, Amazon Contributor.

Best BBQ Thermometer: Signals™ Wireless Alarm Thermometer

“ThermoWorks designed the system to be a portable monitoring station that lets you keep an eye on everything on your cook at once. The main unit is waterproof although you will probably want to bring it in after your cooks to avoid potential sun damage…

Most are rated to handle temperatures as high as 700°F. But if a probe does fail from heat damage or a bad crink of one too many times in the oven or on the grill, you can replace it for $18. ThermWorks even sells extension cables for the probes themselves. In case you need more than length…

For really long smokes you’ll want to plan a little as the ThermoWorks Signal lasts 16 hours on a charge. That’s a bummer when you compare it to ThermoWorks pens, which can last through years of use. But the Signal is also rechargeable via USB-C and on a really, REALLY, long smoke you could plug it in if need be. And that’s part of the beauty of a thermometer like the Signals. It’s flexible and can be used for a wide variety of uses.” – John Biggs, Editor-in-Chief of Gizmodo.com.

Best Meat Thermometer: ThermoPro Digital Instant Read

“Every amateur cook should have in their kitchen a decent digital thermometer for cooking meat. It’s a godsend in particular for precise steak preparation. When you’re roasting meats, you also want to keep the oven door closed as much as possible. A good thermometer lets you get in, take a reading, and then get out before the cooking temperature is disturbed. I recommend the ThermoPro thermometer as it’s very accurate, reads temperatures quickly, and it folds away to nothing for easy storage.” – John Bedford, Founder of Viva Flavor.

Best Herb Shears: Chefast Herb Scissors Set

“Great idea, great product! I love my new gadget, It works just as shown and it is a real lifesaver for onions as well as herbs. We like our onions and peppers very small and my old hands suffer when cutting them with knives. I have had this item for 4 days and used it 9 times already. I will definitely be back for more as gifts. I am just as excited over the little herb bags, Perfect for my garlic and ginger! This item came so fast and I am glad it did!” – Lyfox, Amazon Contributor.

Best Cutting Board: Boos Block Cutting Board

“My favorite kitchen gadget has to be my Boos Block cutting board. I use it every day and can’t imagine prepping without it. It requires a little love from time to time, but worth every second. I love the size and feel of cutting and chopping. It really helps your knife skills to have a solid cutting surface. The size also allows me [to] stay organized. I chop everything from onions, meat, herbs, and squash with ease. It is worth every penny.” – Jennifer Mayne, Specialty Food Buyer at Dorothy Lane Market.

Best Wisk Under $10: OXO Good Grips Flat

“I didn’t think a “flat” whisk would do a good job, but this thing has the strong tines to whisk away mac-n-cheese to heavy soups. I’m impressed and I’m the family cook who is hard to impress with cooking tools!” – Landru, Amazon Reviewer

Best Blender: Vitamix Explorian Blender

I highly recommend a Vitamix Blender. Life before having a quality blender was just not the same. A well designed and powerful blender makes smoothies smooth, not chunky. Sauce recipes like Mexican mole that require whole cinnamon sticks blended into a smooth sauce are impossible without a quality blender like a Vitamix. Even cleaning a Vitamix is fun, as all you have to do is add a drop or two of dish soap, and run it on the cleaning setting.” –Jessica Randhawa, Head Chef at The Forked Spoon.

Best Salad Chopper: Chef’n VeggiChop Hand-Powered

“I cannot say enough about this wonderful little chopper. It is perfect for chopping onions, peppers, cauliflower for my salads and almost anything else you can think of chopping. It’s lightweight but sturdy and very easy to clean. Large enough but not so large that it takes up a lot of room to store. I can just put it in the dishwasher if I want but I usually hand wash because it’s so easy to clean. I really hated getting out my Cuisinart for chopping an onion so I usually just bought them already chopped rather than to do that. This little gadget is cute and I swear you will actually enjoy using it! Great product!!!!!” – Samiam, Amazon Contributor.

Best Veggie Chopper: Veggetti® Pro Tabletop

“I bought this and was really impressed with it’s design and simplicity and ease of operation and cleaning. Just follow the instructions that come with the machine. In cutting zuchinni and/or squash noodles I have cut some noodles long enough to jump rope with! When your noodles come out of the machine, I have found it is a good idea to run a knife blade across them to shorten the longer noodles.Disassembly and rinsing is a breeze. When turning noodles you get a long slender center piece and a 1/4 in end circle you can cut up and put in your pasta. Make sure you don’t dispose of the plastic cover that comes over the blade holder. The blades are sharp and this provides a good safety cover. Also keep the plastic cover the machine comes to slip it all back in after use and cleaning. I seldom write a product review, especially recommending a product. However, I highly recommend this machine and think anyone buying/using it will feel the same.” –Paul, Bed, Bath & Beyond Customer

Best Scale: GreaterGoods Digital Food Kitchen Scale

“I LOVE this scale. Amazon recommended it. I almost purchased a different one, I’m so glad I chose this one. It is so slim, lightweight compact! It’s easy to store and easy to use. I can choose between lbs and oz, grams, and even fluid oz and ml. It’s easy to zero out the container weight with the press of one button. Measurements have been accurate.” – Stacie, Amazon Reviewer

Best Colander: Clip on Strainer for Pots Pans, Pasta

Attach to a pot, pan, or small bowl, this Clip-on Strainer for Pots Pans, Pasta is super easy to use and is guaranteed to keep food in the pot throughout the straining process. At a quarter of the size of a traditional colander, this product is guaranteed to save you counter and cabinet space.

Plus, it’s dishwasher safe and can also be simply rinsed with warm water and soap. And rest assured knowing that this strainer is made of food-grade silicone that is BPA-free and heat-resistant, so it won’t melt over time.

Best Electric Egg Boiler: Dash Rapid Egg Cooker

“Going out of my way to tell people of Amazon that this thing is worth $20. I spent. $19.95 I think. Anyway it’s fast and easier than a pot and water with timer you set. If you have to make a deviled egg tray, even making 3 batches would be easy because the peeling is easy too- I put them in a bowl of cold water then peel after less than a minute. I’m a full time nurse, mom, going to grad school and I’m getting fat from stress and this thing makes quick breakfasts for me and makes my life easy. The eggs always taste good if you wondered. TMI but I just think after letting it sit in my cart for a week before investing $20 I’m like okay this thing is awesome! It’s only been like 2 weeks that I’ve had it so I’m not sure how long it lives for but that price won’t make me die if I need to replace it. Also, I bought the red egg cups from infomercials and those sucked so bad so I didn’t know if I could trust another “fast egg cooker” item but someone will read my review and buy this thing. I won’t use it for omelets or poached though because if I have time to cut veggies or prep for something like that I’ll just use a real pan because this is small anyways. I only bought it for boiled eggs because that’s a real drag in the morning.” –TeamFamilyA, Amazon Contributor

This story was originally published by Chaya M. Milchtein on 09/15/2020 and updated with new information by Juliana Clark on 06/28/2021.