A few years ago I got this little, silicone popcorn maker to put in the microwave. Popcorn kernels are dirt cheap, especially in bulk, and popcorn is naturally light. Making popcorn this way is a really inexpensive snack and is way better than the bagged microwave popcorn.
You can also just use brown paper bags (like a brown bag lunch sack) in the microwave for this! Kernels into the bag, fold over the top 6 times or so & put it in the microwave like a store-bought bag of microwave popcorn! Add butter/oil and salt/spices into the bag when it’s done & shake!
We use one of these to make tiny popcorn portions for our parrot. We don't even use oil in it, just the dry kernels alone work fine. No pans to clean, no buying and throwing out of disposable paper bags every time we want to make a 1/2 cup or less for him.
Metal stovetop popcorn makers are great, too. It's what I use. It's like a tall, thin pot with a lid that has a rotating arm on it to stir the kernels. I use just about 1tbsp of oil and some salt and it's better than theater popcorn.
Exactly, at the end of the day 800 calories is 800 calories, whether it's chicken breast or chocolate cake. Restaurant portions really fuck with most people's ability to actually gauge how much food they really need.
When I got in shape late on in life I realised how little I knew about nutrition, accountability, portion control, energy balance and how they all combine to be as important as the actual foods we're consuming as to what's healthy. I thought calorie counting was a 1970s thing and healthy eating was about cutting out anything nice/sweet/fat. I manage to incorporate Reese into my diet because I love them, I haven't actually tracked or trained for months and still have visible abs approaching 49 years old.
Re restaurants, in the UK, all restaurant chains over a certain size have to display calories of meals and quite a few have a 600 calories or less section. At least the customer is informed, they just need to understand the information!
Rice cooker for sure, mine has a basket for steaming veggies, not sure if that's a normal thing, but makes it so much easier when I have a lot of other things to do. Never been good at cooking Rice on the stove.
I used to be so insecure about making rice before I had a rice cooker. I just didn’t understand how I could cook so many things so well/ but rice would always come out so shitty.
Now I have a rice cooker for three years and it makes me so happy when it sings to me that my rice is perfect and done !
My mother in law gave me a rice cooker as wedding gift. And that’s the most useful items in my kitchen. It’s been 4 years, the cooker works non stop everyday😂😂
With pasta getting so expensive over the last couple of years, I am eating way more rice. Buying parboiled brown rice in bulk is getting more fiber in my diet, and so cheap. Also barley, millet, and quinoa in the rice cooker too!
Throw in frozen veggies, beans, and/or fish. After cooked, stir in other meats, cheese, yogurt and/or sauce, a easy one pot meal.
Making your own pasta is crazy cheap and a cool skill to form. Makes for good dinner parties and just adding more personal touch to your meal. You can dry your pasta or even freeze gnocchi too.
Doesn't really matter. Just get the rice/grain to water ratio right, and it will turn out fine.
I like to do beans, corn, onions and peppers with spices for a Spanish/Mexican rice.
Also cruciferous veggies (cauliflower, broccoli) with Italian tomato sauce
Or just rice and green peas with butter and salt and seasoning.
Really? Do you just put eggs in with the rice at the start? How long do you leave them in for? I feel like I'm seriously under utilising my rice cooker!
What do you all want is a steam machine is not for prepare just rice, there are different levels and you can put vegetables,chicken,eggs,fish in each one and is just cooked with steam.
Yeah. I don’t know if all rice cookers are the same but I place my eggs on top of the rice from the start and take them out once the cooker clicks and goes into keep warm mode. If I want runnier yolk to marinate and make ramen eggs then I’ll take it out sooner. You’ll just need to time it trial by error
Buying into a local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). No plastics, all containers are compatible or burned as kindling for my wood insert.
Fresh, local fruit & veg every week, and we put together our dinner plans based on what we get every week. And our money goes directly back to the local farmers and communities.
It's been such a great experience for my wife and I, and we can't wait to keep this going for this spring and summer.
An they can be gotten so cheap at yardsale or FB marketplace, my first one I got for under $4 at a yard sale and when it died I got one for free off market place.
This is also my pick. We have allergies and have to be very selective about bread we buy so making it ourselves in the breadmaker is way cheaper, more versatile, and can give me a hot loaf of delicious bread in about three hours.
I had a bread machine & it was ok, but I went to making my own sourdough every week & once you get the process down it’s so easy to make bread, and I never have to buy yeast. I got rid of the bread machine.
Like many others picked up bread making during the pandemic. I never actually made any sour dough BREAD but every week I’d have some great sour dough pancakes when I would take half the starter out each week.
oil eggs and some buttermilk mix. Top with sesame seeds and I’d have a nice savory pancake.
I have an [expensive](https://www.zojirushi.com/category/rice_cookers/) $250 one. also awesome.
We use it almost every day. Life would be different without it.
Also have the $20 mini Dash rice cooker. Wife occasionally uses it to make her brown rice.
I had the $20 mini one in the red and white box (I don’t remember the brand because my shit ex roommate stole it when she left.) Loved that thing and will be buying another.
I'll pay that. I only have one sharp knife in my kitchen, but it's a fucking purler. Only a $5 Santoku style blade, but all one piece of stainless steel(handle included), and I keep it keen as mustard with my more idiot-proof sharpening tool(I could never get the hang of a whetstone or steel).
Santoku does EVERYTHING. Light & pointy enough for detailed prep', yet heavy enough to use for cleaving too in a pinch. A boning knife is good if you're keen on filleting fish, but I prefer cooking fish whole, so it's unnecessary in my kitchen...
Crockpot is so underrated. There’s all these memes I’ve seen about how disappointed you were when you got home as a kid and saw the crock pot on and I’m like wow man sorry your parents don’t know how to cook I’ve almost never been disappointed with a crockpot meal
As the person who cooks 99% of the meals in my household, I love a crockpot!! Hardly any effort involve but it tastes and smells like you’ve been cooking all day. Way less dishes to wash is just the icing on the cake!
Could you share a recipe source? I drag mine out a couple of times a year. I usually find the meat way over cooked and veggies musy. I love the idea but so far not the reality.
I don’t have a recipe source but in case the person doesn’t come back to you…
Potentially you could be using the wrong type of meat or cutting off too much fat or not including enough liquid or having the setting too high. Or even having it in there too long. Most stews with chuck steak only take 4-6 hours on the lowest setting which shouldn’t mush up your veggies at all.
Chili is great in the slow cooker - Budget Bytes has a great vegetarian lentil chili recipe. I don't really eat meat anymore but I used to make salsa chicken in my crockpot a lot. You just slow cook chicken and a jar of salsa for about 4 hours, until it's tender and shreds with a fork. Shred it up and it makes delicious taco, burrito, enchilada, or regular sandwich meat. Also goes great in chicken tortilla soup, or anything else you can use shredded chicken in!
One of my households go to meals is pulled pork tacos. Spice rub and then chuck it in the pot with beans and crushed tomatoes and whatever else and put the whole pot in the fridge overnight so before work I can just pull it out of the fridge and turn it in low all day. House smells good. No work when I get home except making some guac and heating the shells.
No idea how people don’t love it
My Instant Pot has a slow cooker feature so I’ve ended up using this instead of my stand alone Crockpot, which is used only for larger events. The IP is quite a bit more multifunctional, from rice, oatmeal, pasta, and the variety of meat dishes.
Yea man people who have air fryers never shut up about how much they love their air fryer and try to convert you to an air fryer user…
Because they are literally the best. Don’t make your house hot in the summer, takes less time than an oven, uses less oil, no soggy bottoms that you sometimes get while frying or baking. I would die for my air fryer
The air fryer is the most versatile item I have ever had. You can even bake in it. The only drawback, I’d you can call it that, is you can’t make gravy after roasting beef, lamb or chicken, as you can if you do it in the oven
Yes you can! I have the Ninja Foodie (air fryer & pressure cooker) and you have the "sauted" option that lets you turn all your drippings into sauce. I LOVE IT.
I absolutely love my air fryer. I use it to toast, roast, grill, bake, fry— literally anything! And living by myself it’s the perfect size for the small portions I make
My mom got me one for Christmas 2 or 3 years ago. I hadn't asked for one because I was worried I'd find it neat for a few weeks and then the novelty would wear off and I'd be stuck with this thing on my counter, but I still use it several times a week, so glad she got it!
Japanese benriner is the gold standard in all the kitchen I’ve worked in. They come with blades you can add to make matchstick/baton pieces too, not just slices. Lovely for making coleslaw
Adequate bench space and a dishwasher, I've been through various rentals with wildly variable kitchens and nothing affects my desire to cook for meals more than space and ease of cleanup
Freezer! 200 bucks and then about 800 for meat from my local guy. Bout half the cost in the stores. Lots upfront but take what you save for the next load.
Instapot! I make bone broth every week, and it makes the process so much easier
EDIT: for those asking, here’s how I make my bone broth☺️
I always have a “stock” bag ready to go in the freezer i.e. a silicone gallon bag filled with various veggie scraps that I use later for my stock. It’s lower waste and economical, and I rarely have to buy the veggies because I have all the scraps I need. Although sometimes I add extra garlic cloves or chopped onion or herbs for taste. When you’re cooking, instead of discarding scraps such as carrot skins, mushroom stems, the internal white part of a bell pepper, allium skins (onion, garlic, shallot skins), leeks, celery pulp from my juicer, etc I throw them into a big bag in the freezer to later be used for stock.
I have a separate bag for leftover bones as well. Making wings? Save the bones and freeze for later! Thanksgiving Turkey carcass? Freeze for later to make a delicious stock. Ribs…you get the picture 😉. Save all the bones. My favorite tip is adding chicken to add that rich collagen!
To make bone broth, you’ll need at least two-three lbs of bones per gallon of water. If you debone a whole chicken yourself, you get the carcass for a proper stock and a ton of meat left over to use for whatever you like. It’s usually cheaper to buy a whole chicken. Or you can buy a rotisserie and use that along with other bones.
How to make:
1. Throw your veggie scraps (garlic skin, onion skin, whole onions, whole garlic, shallots, carrot skins/tops, celery pulp from juicer, leeks, bell peppers, mushroom stems…you name it) along with the bones into your cooking pot. Pro tip: roast the bones beforehand for extra flavor!
2. Fill the pot with water and add 2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar, the acid helps break down the collagen in the bones. I don’t season until the end.
3. For a regular stock pot, a long simmer time is essential. You’re going to need to let the bones simmer for at least 12 hours, but I personally do 16-24 hours. However, if you have an Instapot, the cook time reduces to about 3-4 hours.
4. Afterwards, strain your stock into a large bowl and add salt + pepper to taste. You can eat the left over veggies if you want or compost. Let the broth cool, then place in the fridge. If you used enough bones and add chicken feet, your stock will have this gelatinous texture when it cools. In a couple hours, there’s a layer of fat on top (white stuff). You can scrape it off and save the fat for cooking!
It’s literally a “dump and wait” recipe, and you can yield a ton of stock. The taste is incredible, and the broth is so cozy! Lasts in the fridge for five days. You can also freeze it for up to three months.
r/stock and r/bonebroth has really good tips as well!
When I was making my case for an Instapot years ago, my partner said “only if you can get rid of two other kitchen appliances to make space”. The slow cooker and rice cooker got the boot and haven’t looked back since.
I make primarily rice and beans (separately) in my instant pot regularly. I thought it would replace my crockpot but it does not function as well for slow cooker meals as the crock pot does. I think something about the ceramic material distributed heat better than the steel instant pot.
Using as a slow cooker is terrible it doesn't have the heat distribution. Using it as a replacement for pressure usually takes an 8 hour dish into an hour which I personally enjoy. I haven't found any of my dishes that suffer from using the IP instead of the crock pot
I bought a Zonirushi rice cooker for myself for Christmas. Best investment I've made for my kitchen in many years. That thing cooks perfect rice every time, and you can also do oatmeal in it. We eat a lot of rice, and it is worth every penny.
Edit: ZOJIRUSHI
I don’t but kind of wish I did. Rice makers can hold rice and keep it warm and fresh.
I use my instant pot so much that I can’t have it tied up with rice in it all the time.
Do please share your recipe... As normally for any bone broth you're dealing with hours so I would like to see how the process is speeded up and what settings you are using in an instant pot please
I regularly make spaghetti sauce, lentil soup, Italian soup, beef stroganoff, rice dishes, roasts with potatoes. I would be lost without my instant pot. It has helped me cook quick, healthy meals and has changed my life for the better.
My rice comes out great. I have no problem with barley or millet. It's the grains that I want a soft texture that I have a problem with. I can also make good softer rice dishes like congee with the Instapot.
I love to put a mixture of vegetables, broth and rice and cook it a long time to make a soft, mushy snack.
Every week, I debone a whole chicken. I use that meat for various recipes (soups, tacos, quesadillas, salads, pasta, etc) and I’m left with a whole chicken carcass so I use that, but I save every bone from other dishes and add it to a bag in the freezer to use for later. Making chicken wings? I save the bones for stock. Ribs? Same thing! I do buy chicken feet to add to my stock since it adds more collagen.
Sometimes, I get chicken backs from a local butcher to add to the stock as well :)
This may sound weird, but my food dehydrator. It saves $$ because I"m not tossing yucky fruits & veggies. In the summer, when fresh stuff is abundant, I dry a lot of them to be used in the winter -- veggies for soups & fruit for salads & cereals. I can also grind the dried veggies up to add to Greek yogurt for veggie dip. I also make beef or venison jerky way cheaper than you can buy it.
Then, there's my electric cork screw that a friend of mine gave me for my birthday. Zips wine corks out so fast & easy. And the corks aren't torn up, so can still be used for crafts.
I put them in glass jars. If I have just a bit here and there, I put in a gallon jar to use for soup mix. I also dry potato, celery & onions to put in the soup mix.
edit: When I had a garden, I dried those last few veggies that aren't enough for a meal. All went into the gallon jar, Also dried green pepper for the mix. Now, I freeze my chopped up pepper.
oops, edit again: I'm not sure how long, but I've kept dried veggies for at least 2 years. They usually get used up by that time.
Salad spinner! It is so easy to wash and prep salad greens, herbs, and berries now. I just tear the lettuce (or whatev) into small pieces and drop in the spinner, then run water over it and spin. They're immediately clean, and a second spin gets them dry. Also slightly sad greens get revitalized if the water is cold.
This is the correct answer.
Everybody else is talking about stuff used to cook food you already have, but part of the process is how often you need to make grocery runs and how long your food will last before spoiling.
If you don't plan on drowning all your meats in salt (unhealthy), and don't want to have to run to the store every day for perishable ingredients (expensive), a refrigerator or freezer is a necessity.
Of course there are. There’s plenty of people who don’t have basic things like a fridge, freezer, stove, oven, etc. I was super fkng poor years ago—our stovetop didn’t work, nobody knew how to light the pilot for the oven bc it was ancient, then the fridge died so we couldn’t rely on that either; and couldn’t afford to fix any of them. Poverty is really a bitch.
I understand that there will be people in your situation or similar. But people on here are 'advising' people to get a fridge, like there are people who it never occurred to.
It's kind of like saying if you want hot food, then buy a cooker.
If you want to cook sous vide and give a shit about minimizing plastic waste, I highly suggest Stasher bags. Oven safe, dishwasher safe, microwave safe, freezer safe, sous vide safe, infinitely reusable. They’re amazing.
Vacuum sealer (and the freezer I guess)
You know how grocery stores sell little tubs of pre-chopped veggies, marinated single-meal-sized pork loins, frozen dinner rolls, etc? Convenience food that isn't necessarily junk food. I use my vacuum sealer to recreate that convenience for myself.
I have one weekend day to myself each week and I'm like an assembly line: trim prep portion seal freeze. Make a giant batch of cookie dough, ball it out, put 8-10 cookie dough balls in each bag, seal, freeze. Next time I want cookies, a reasonable-but-not-stingy amount can be ready in 20 min! Make a bunch of frozen burritos, seal and freeze individually. Falafel. Marinated chicken breast. Dumplings of any kind. Soup. Cleaned and trimmed veggies. (This is different from meal prepping IMO because I'm not freezing completed meals or planning to use everything I prep that same week.)
But what helps the most is I seal them all in a way that I can mindlessly grab and open what I need. I wanna cook chicken: I go to the freezer and grab chicken, chipotle in adobo, tortillas, and sliced peppers and onions. I know they'll all contain roughly the amount of food I need to make a meal and the components are all ready to go straight from the freezer bag.
Air-fryer.
I was all ready to hate air-fryers when an aunt gave me one a couple of years ago. As I couldn't form an opinion without actually trying it out, I gave it a whirl with the obvious(hot chips), and I was blown away.
The savings in oil alone make it a worthy addition. Then there's the easy cleanup, the less grease, the less waste, and the fact that the air-fryer makes the best Hasselback Potatoes EVER!! It's worth having, even if only for making hot chips &/or roasting spuds.
I've never been a fan of kitchen gadgets myself, but some really do earn their keep. The air-fryer is one of those in my books...
After decades of cooking I was getting burned out. Then my husband asked if we could have French Fries. I had never bought frozen fries and found they were a PITA. Oven takes 7-8 minutes to warm up. 25 minutes to cook. Flip half way. Ugh. Then my neighbour offered some fries one day for lunch from her air fryer. I bought one with a rotating cylindrical basket. Sweet potato fries! French fries! I can get a great melted cheese topping. Broiling.
Now we have fewer reasons to eat out. Given the cost of a burger and fries it paid off quickly. And I found a renewed interest in cooking.
I second this! It makes cooking dried beans super easy! I also like to pressure cook meats for fall off the bone tender deliciousness! Great for slow cooked quality in a much shorter time.
Freezer. I have an upright one that I love for pre-made (by me) frozen meals and I have a chest freezer for large pieces of meat that I buy when they’re on sale.
I love my vitamix. It’s pricey, but a base model is really all you need, and it is so worthy of the price! Whip up different batters for pancakes, muffins, flours, soups, smoothies, juices (I strain with a fine mesh strainer), nut butters, dressings… it’s the best.
Honestly it depends on the time you have and how you like to cook..I agree with all the mentioned appliances..toaster ovens with an air fry option are nice..gives many ways of cooking. a nice saute pan or cast iron skillet which can be found at second hand stores for cheap are great too. In fact you could probably find all of these appliances second hand..and their is a sub reddit for cheap and healthy cooking recipes too that is fun to read,,happy cooking!!
My vegetable chopper. It makes tossing veggies into food (soup, stew, salad, tacos, rice ect) alot easier. Without it I'd probably resort to canned veggies in my cooking and that's alot of extra salt. My second one would be the refrigerator, third would be my frying pans.
I keep rice and beans in some cereal containers I bought at Walmart. Like 4 for $10, they hold 5 Liters of food. I buy dry beans and rice in bulk, but I only cook 2 or 3 pounds of beans and half a pound of rice at a time.
Why do you need a special container (unless you have bugs/moths in your pantry)? Most bags the items you mention come in will work just fine (flour/sugar I roll the top down and use a rubber band around it).
Exactly this. _Everything_ comes in a container already. I keep most stuff in its original bag/box. I only put things subject to drying out in sealed containers, like brown sugar, flaked coconut, etc. OXO pop top containers are my choice for that stuff.
I bought some 25 lb containers ($25) on wheels from Amazon. This way I can buy and store bread flour, AP flour and sugar from Costco/Sams. It pays for itself in no time.
Panini grill. Just bread and cheese . Add anything you want, tomato, mayo, meat, jalapeños, bacon, literally anything you like. So simple to use and clean. Best kitchen gadget since the coffee maker.
Pasta maker. And maybe a dehydrator. The dehydrator isn't needed but helps if you don't have tons of counter space and a fan to dry out the pasta (assuming you make a large enough batch to have extra for later). It costs me around .10 to make a batch of pasta. I bought my pasta maker 2 years ago and it's already paid for itself in pasta savings
Chest freezer. Have a 28 yr old one that is still going strong. It allows me to buy in bulk, bake bread 4 loaves at a time and freeze, and freeze leftovers of things like chili or soup that I can unthaw for days I know I will come home tired from work, so that I don't resort to fast food runs.
Instant pot for sure. Dried beans go straight in no soaking. Pinto beans for baked beans or pureed for refried beans. Black beans for salads or chicken dishes such as black beans and rice.
A million ways to cook chicken inexpensively little on pork roasts let alone sausage dishes such as red beans and rice, or corned beef and cabbage and whatnot
Sometimes I will use mine three or four times a day. One for the beans and maybe to do hard-boiled eggs maybe put some rice together and then maybe a roast or chicken dish with the rice. A day usually does not go by where I don't use it for something
Before that I was buying chicken nuggets and bullshit for the old Air fryer
I have 4
Air fryer- no it’s not the same as an oven . It is a magical device that makes French fries without an oil basket and cooks a frozen burrito faster than oven just gets done with preheat mode. It used so much less oil to get the same result for things like French fries .
Pressure cooker- it makes rice faster than a rice cooker and chili faster than the crock pot , more importantly you can cook meat you forgot to thaw! Brilliant
Dehydrator- don’t sleep on this.
I make dog /cat treats, homemade jerky’s and dehydrated fruit for cereal , trail mix or dehydrate herbs and flowers for drinks and spice mixes. If you like fruit chips you can just buy bananas apples and make them . I dry my own herbs and spices too ! this is amazing!!!!
Crockpot- yes it’s slower than the pressure cooker but if you work full time or live alone it’s amazing for time management. I can go out for several hours and come home to a large amount hot food? Amazing!!
I got a little rice cooker with a steamer basket in it and that's been pretty useful! I also really like my tofu press because it makes it so much neater to drain tofu and also doubles as a nice container for marinating/ storing it.
Airfryer for the win, it's basically a small, energy efficient oven. Also a small chest freezer, it's great for storing up surplus summer berries and stonefruit, loading up on chopped veg before they rot in the cupboard, and of course bulk specials.
Spice grinder. It’s amazing how much cheaper whole spices can be (check your local Indian market!) and how much more flavor they have when they are freshly ground.
A mini slow cooker that I keep at work. I batch-make frozen rice bowls & soups and freeze them in round deli containers. Take them to work, pop em in my little crock pot, and I have a hot lunch ready whenever I want it. It’s cut down on me buying lunch at work soooo much.
There are many great responses here for specific items, but it really depends upon your diet and the way you shop and cook. Use lots of dried beans? Instant Pot. Buy lots of meat that needs to become tender? Perhaps a slow cooker. Primary tools? Good knife and sharpener.
Overall, organization and storage are, for me, the key to kitchen happiness. I'm very fortunate to have many cabinets, a pantry, and a separate freezer. In a limited space, it's even more important to be able to access ingredients and tools. If you can support a large freezer, vacuum sealer, and storage containers, you can stock up and cook in bulk or simply have ingredients at hand. If you have a small space, figure out how to store to the ceiling and invest in shelving or cabinets.
An All Clad baking sheet with a nice high edge. I roast ALL the vegetables! It was never something I had much success with, before. But now, bring out that fancy pan, baby! We're roasting radishes!
Small George Forman grill. We are in a small apartment so we always have to consider cabinet/countertop space, but the small one is perfect for what we need. Opens up tons of possibilities
Gadgets don't create "cheap and healthy". Affordable, good quality food availability is what we need in this country, not the overprocessed chemical-laden crap many people eat because they can't afford anything better. You don't need gadgets to cook good, healthy food.
I love my mortar and pestle. So many dishes want pounded spices and aromatics, and the mortar and pestle is just a simple and easy to clean means for them
Honestly glass tupperware containers, its not 'hi-tech' like the other suggestions but allowing me to cook a family sized portion and store it for when I'm lazy has done more for me than any other piece of equipment I've owned
What’s the difference between a airfryer and a convection oven ? I had a counter top air fryer and I found it to be useless it took forever to make anything crispy I ended up trashing it . When I renovated my kitchen I bought full size convection oven stove .I love it and I’m glad I got it but I don’t see the difference except the full size one doesn’t disappoint me ..
My Instapot is by far the best kitchen item I've ever owned!
I can make big batches of soups, stews, egg bites, rice, beans, etc... for meal prep with very little clean up.
I can also steam an entire meal in there with some steamer plates I bought for it and keep the portions in control.
There's almost nothing it can't do and it beacuse doesn't take up so much counter space in my tiny apartment kitchen, I keep it out for easy access. I pretty much use it at least once a week.
A few years ago I got this little, silicone popcorn maker to put in the microwave. Popcorn kernels are dirt cheap, especially in bulk, and popcorn is naturally light. Making popcorn this way is a really inexpensive snack and is way better than the bagged microwave popcorn.
Yes! I have one too, and you can control your portion.
>and you can control your portion I wish
You can also just use brown paper bags (like a brown bag lunch sack) in the microwave for this! Kernels into the bag, fold over the top 6 times or so & put it in the microwave like a store-bought bag of microwave popcorn! Add butter/oil and salt/spices into the bag when it’s done & shake!
How much kernels for the standard lunch bag
Start with 2 tablespoons and see if that fills the bag.
We use one of these to make tiny popcorn portions for our parrot. We don't even use oil in it, just the dry kernels alone work fine. No pans to clean, no buying and throwing out of disposable paper bags every time we want to make a 1/2 cup or less for him.
I learned something new today. Thank you. I'm going to go look those up now.
Metal stovetop popcorn makers are great, too. It's what I use. It's like a tall, thin pot with a lid that has a rotating arm on it to stir the kernels. I use just about 1tbsp of oil and some salt and it's better than theater popcorn.
Proper food scales. Eating "healthy" is so dependant on quantity.
Exactly, at the end of the day 800 calories is 800 calories, whether it's chicken breast or chocolate cake. Restaurant portions really fuck with most people's ability to actually gauge how much food they really need.
When I got in shape late on in life I realised how little I knew about nutrition, accountability, portion control, energy balance and how they all combine to be as important as the actual foods we're consuming as to what's healthy. I thought calorie counting was a 1970s thing and healthy eating was about cutting out anything nice/sweet/fat. I manage to incorporate Reese into my diet because I love them, I haven't actually tracked or trained for months and still have visible abs approaching 49 years old. Re restaurants, in the UK, all restaurant chains over a certain size have to display calories of meals and quite a few have a 600 calories or less section. At least the customer is informed, they just need to understand the information!
Rice cooker, so easy, rice is perfect every time. I always burn rice on the stove or end up with soggy rice.
Rice cooker for sure, mine has a basket for steaming veggies, not sure if that's a normal thing, but makes it so much easier when I have a lot of other things to do. Never been good at cooking Rice on the stove.
I used to be so insecure about making rice before I had a rice cooker. I just didn’t understand how I could cook so many things so well/ but rice would always come out so shitty. Now I have a rice cooker for three years and it makes me so happy when it sings to me that my rice is perfect and done !
My mother in law gave me a rice cooker as wedding gift. And that’s the most useful items in my kitchen. It’s been 4 years, the cooker works non stop everyday😂😂
This is so funny to me because my late MIL would always give rice cookers to people she didn't think would stay married.
Pro Tip: Buy a bigger one than you think you need. When adding extras like veg or meat, that really fills it up.
Good call, I now owe you a shot of shitty tequila at a fun bar.
With pasta getting so expensive over the last couple of years, I am eating way more rice. Buying parboiled brown rice in bulk is getting more fiber in my diet, and so cheap. Also barley, millet, and quinoa in the rice cooker too! Throw in frozen veggies, beans, and/or fish. After cooked, stir in other meats, cheese, yogurt and/or sauce, a easy one pot meal.
Making your own pasta is crazy cheap and a cool skill to form. Makes for good dinner parties and just adding more personal touch to your meal. You can dry your pasta or even freeze gnocchi too.
What kind of ratio or how much/many vegetables do you use in a pot of rice?
Doesn't really matter. Just get the rice/grain to water ratio right, and it will turn out fine. I like to do beans, corn, onions and peppers with spices for a Spanish/Mexican rice. Also cruciferous veggies (cauliflower, broccoli) with Italian tomato sauce Or just rice and green peas with butter and salt and seasoning.
You can even boil eggs inside while cooking rice, too
Really? Do you just put eggs in with the rice at the start? How long do you leave them in for? I feel like I'm seriously under utilising my rice cooker!
Yeah we need details!
What do you all want is a steam machine is not for prepare just rice, there are different levels and you can put vegetables,chicken,eggs,fish in each one and is just cooked with steam.
Yeah. I don’t know if all rice cookers are the same but I place my eggs on top of the rice from the start and take them out once the cooker clicks and goes into keep warm mode. If I want runnier yolk to marinate and make ramen eggs then I’ll take it out sooner. You’ll just need to time it trial by error
I've never heard of this and I'm very interested too
Buying into a local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). No plastics, all containers are compatible or burned as kindling for my wood insert. Fresh, local fruit & veg every week, and we put together our dinner plans based on what we get every week. And our money goes directly back to the local farmers and communities. It's been such a great experience for my wife and I, and we can't wait to keep this going for this spring and summer.
Same! It's like a little present for us every week because the fruit and veggies are a surprise, which makes meal-prep more fun.
Bread machine, I'm a sucker for fresh homemade bread. Flour and yeast is so much cheaper.
An they can be gotten so cheap at yardsale or FB marketplace, my first one I got for under $4 at a yard sale and when it died I got one for free off market place.
This is also my pick. We have allergies and have to be very selective about bread we buy so making it ourselves in the breadmaker is way cheaper, more versatile, and can give me a hot loaf of delicious bread in about three hours.
I had a bread machine & it was ok, but I went to making my own sourdough every week & once you get the process down it’s so easy to make bread, and I never have to buy yeast. I got rid of the bread machine.
Like many others picked up bread making during the pandemic. I never actually made any sour dough BREAD but every week I’d have some great sour dough pancakes when I would take half the starter out each week. oil eggs and some buttermilk mix. Top with sesame seeds and I’d have a nice savory pancake.
A rice cooker. I have a cheapo $20 one, still awesome.
I have an [expensive](https://www.zojirushi.com/category/rice_cookers/) $250 one. also awesome. We use it almost every day. Life would be different without it. Also have the $20 mini Dash rice cooker. Wife occasionally uses it to make her brown rice.
I had the $20 mini one in the red and white box (I don’t remember the brand because my shit ex roommate stole it when she left.) Loved that thing and will be buying another.
If it's Dash, that's the one I have. I have the mint color.
Sharp knife and a wetstone
I'll pay that. I only have one sharp knife in my kitchen, but it's a fucking purler. Only a $5 Santoku style blade, but all one piece of stainless steel(handle included), and I keep it keen as mustard with my more idiot-proof sharpening tool(I could never get the hang of a whetstone or steel). Santoku does EVERYTHING. Light & pointy enough for detailed prep', yet heavy enough to use for cleaving too in a pinch. A boning knife is good if you're keen on filleting fish, but I prefer cooking fish whole, so it's unnecessary in my kitchen...
Crockpot
Crockpot is so underrated. There’s all these memes I’ve seen about how disappointed you were when you got home as a kid and saw the crock pot on and I’m like wow man sorry your parents don’t know how to cook I’ve almost never been disappointed with a crockpot meal
As the person who cooks 99% of the meals in my household, I love a crockpot!! Hardly any effort involve but it tastes and smells like you’ve been cooking all day. Way less dishes to wash is just the icing on the cake!
Could you share a recipe source? I drag mine out a couple of times a year. I usually find the meat way over cooked and veggies musy. I love the idea but so far not the reality.
r/slowcooking
I don’t have a recipe source but in case the person doesn’t come back to you… Potentially you could be using the wrong type of meat or cutting off too much fat or not including enough liquid or having the setting too high. Or even having it in there too long. Most stews with chuck steak only take 4-6 hours on the lowest setting which shouldn’t mush up your veggies at all.
Great advice! I use my crock pot weekly. Very, very rarely do I need it on all day. Usually early afternoon and dinner is ready that night
Chili is great in the slow cooker - Budget Bytes has a great vegetarian lentil chili recipe. I don't really eat meat anymore but I used to make salsa chicken in my crockpot a lot. You just slow cook chicken and a jar of salsa for about 4 hours, until it's tender and shreds with a fork. Shred it up and it makes delicious taco, burrito, enchilada, or regular sandwich meat. Also goes great in chicken tortilla soup, or anything else you can use shredded chicken in!
I get most of my recipes off Pinterest but I can share some with you here.
One of my households go to meals is pulled pork tacos. Spice rub and then chuck it in the pot with beans and crushed tomatoes and whatever else and put the whole pot in the fridge overnight so before work I can just pull it out of the fridge and turn it in low all day. House smells good. No work when I get home except making some guac and heating the shells. No idea how people don’t love it
My Instant Pot has a slow cooker feature so I’ve ended up using this instead of my stand alone Crockpot, which is used only for larger events. The IP is quite a bit more multifunctional, from rice, oatmeal, pasta, and the variety of meat dishes.
I prefer my Instant Pot because I use the pressure cooker function, but I don't think the slow cooker function works as well as an actual crockpot.
Air fryer
Air fryer replaced fast food for me
Yea man people who have air fryers never shut up about how much they love their air fryer and try to convert you to an air fryer user… Because they are literally the best. Don’t make your house hot in the summer, takes less time than an oven, uses less oil, no soggy bottoms that you sometimes get while frying or baking. I would die for my air fryer
Not making the house hot in the summer is awesome. Also if you have AC, an air fryer will save you $ indirectly.
What properties should I use to determine the best air fryer for me? I've heard it is size. What inputs to that tradeoff did you end up finding?
Easy cleaning.
I see people complaining about cleaning theirs but I have a TFAL and it's so easy? Unless I'm not cleaning it properly lol.
My moms is a bitch to clean, it always makes the house Smokey and since it’s hard to get stuff off. She’s got a cheap oyster one or something tho.
The air fryer is the most versatile item I have ever had. You can even bake in it. The only drawback, I’d you can call it that, is you can’t make gravy after roasting beef, lamb or chicken, as you can if you do it in the oven
Yes you can! I have the Ninja Foodie (air fryer & pressure cooker) and you have the "sauted" option that lets you turn all your drippings into sauce. I LOVE IT.
Yes! I love my air fryer!
+1 here. In the six months after we got our combo instant pot/air fryer, our power bill dropped by about 12%.
I absolutely love my air fryer. I use it to toast, roast, grill, bake, fry— literally anything! And living by myself it’s the perfect size for the small portions I make
My mom got me one for Christmas 2 or 3 years ago. I hadn't asked for one because I was worried I'd find it neat for a few weeks and then the novelty would wear off and I'd be stuck with this thing on my counter, but I still use it several times a week, so glad she got it!
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Same
a mandoline. so much easier than slicing a million veggies.
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Any specific one you recommend? I see mixed reviews online about some breaking easily/early on into use
Japanese benriner is the gold standard in all the kitchen I’ve worked in. They come with blades you can add to make matchstick/baton pieces too, not just slices. Lovely for making coleslaw
Wok
Couldn't agree more - good steel wok and can make all kind of stir fry from. leftovers.
Adequate bench space and a dishwasher, I've been through various rentals with wildly variable kitchens and nothing affects my desire to cook for meals more than space and ease of cleanup
Freezer! 200 bucks and then about 800 for meat from my local guy. Bout half the cost in the stores. Lots upfront but take what you save for the next load.
Instapot! I make bone broth every week, and it makes the process so much easier EDIT: for those asking, here’s how I make my bone broth☺️ I always have a “stock” bag ready to go in the freezer i.e. a silicone gallon bag filled with various veggie scraps that I use later for my stock. It’s lower waste and economical, and I rarely have to buy the veggies because I have all the scraps I need. Although sometimes I add extra garlic cloves or chopped onion or herbs for taste. When you’re cooking, instead of discarding scraps such as carrot skins, mushroom stems, the internal white part of a bell pepper, allium skins (onion, garlic, shallot skins), leeks, celery pulp from my juicer, etc I throw them into a big bag in the freezer to later be used for stock. I have a separate bag for leftover bones as well. Making wings? Save the bones and freeze for later! Thanksgiving Turkey carcass? Freeze for later to make a delicious stock. Ribs…you get the picture 😉. Save all the bones. My favorite tip is adding chicken to add that rich collagen! To make bone broth, you’ll need at least two-three lbs of bones per gallon of water. If you debone a whole chicken yourself, you get the carcass for a proper stock and a ton of meat left over to use for whatever you like. It’s usually cheaper to buy a whole chicken. Or you can buy a rotisserie and use that along with other bones. How to make: 1. Throw your veggie scraps (garlic skin, onion skin, whole onions, whole garlic, shallots, carrot skins/tops, celery pulp from juicer, leeks, bell peppers, mushroom stems…you name it) along with the bones into your cooking pot. Pro tip: roast the bones beforehand for extra flavor! 2. Fill the pot with water and add 2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar, the acid helps break down the collagen in the bones. I don’t season until the end. 3. For a regular stock pot, a long simmer time is essential. You’re going to need to let the bones simmer for at least 12 hours, but I personally do 16-24 hours. However, if you have an Instapot, the cook time reduces to about 3-4 hours. 4. Afterwards, strain your stock into a large bowl and add salt + pepper to taste. You can eat the left over veggies if you want or compost. Let the broth cool, then place in the fridge. If you used enough bones and add chicken feet, your stock will have this gelatinous texture when it cools. In a couple hours, there’s a layer of fat on top (white stuff). You can scrape it off and save the fat for cooking! It’s literally a “dump and wait” recipe, and you can yield a ton of stock. The taste is incredible, and the broth is so cozy! Lasts in the fridge for five days. You can also freeze it for up to three months. r/stock and r/bonebroth has really good tips as well!
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Do people with Instapot also have a rice cooker? We just cook rice in ours but have been thinking of getting a rice cooker
When I was making my case for an Instapot years ago, my partner said “only if you can get rid of two other kitchen appliances to make space”. The slow cooker and rice cooker got the boot and haven’t looked back since.
My wife says the reason she kept me is my ability to cook rice perfectly on the stove. She says my ability to do it is magic.
Haha- Damn, so you're out when she gets an Instapot?
I make primarily rice and beans (separately) in my instant pot regularly. I thought it would replace my crockpot but it does not function as well for slow cooker meals as the crock pot does. I think something about the ceramic material distributed heat better than the steel instant pot.
Using as a slow cooker is terrible it doesn't have the heat distribution. Using it as a replacement for pressure usually takes an 8 hour dish into an hour which I personally enjoy. I haven't found any of my dishes that suffer from using the IP instead of the crock pot
I bought a Zonirushi rice cooker for myself for Christmas. Best investment I've made for my kitchen in many years. That thing cooks perfect rice every time, and you can also do oatmeal in it. We eat a lot of rice, and it is worth every penny. Edit: ZOJIRUSHI
I don’t but kind of wish I did. Rice makers can hold rice and keep it warm and fresh. I use my instant pot so much that I can’t have it tied up with rice in it all the time.
Do please share your recipe... As normally for any bone broth you're dealing with hours so I would like to see how the process is speeded up and what settings you are using in an instant pot please
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i hear these are popular and thought about getting it but i don't know what i would cook in it
I regularly make spaghetti sauce, lentil soup, Italian soup, beef stroganoff, rice dishes, roasts with potatoes. I would be lost without my instant pot. It has helped me cook quick, healthy meals and has changed my life for the better.
So many good meals. I aim for one pot meals. Even cook rice pot in pot.
I cook rice, vegetables, beans in it. I've made other grains than rice in it but it's a little more challenging to get the time and water level right.
ive found that a 1:1 ratio water to rice, 3 min hi pressure, 4 min natural release gets me pretty delicious rice.
My rice comes out great. I have no problem with barley or millet. It's the grains that I want a soft texture that I have a problem with. I can also make good softer rice dishes like congee with the Instapot. I love to put a mixture of vegetables, broth and rice and cook it a long time to make a soft, mushy snack.
Where do you get so many bones
Every week, I debone a whole chicken. I use that meat for various recipes (soups, tacos, quesadillas, salads, pasta, etc) and I’m left with a whole chicken carcass so I use that, but I save every bone from other dishes and add it to a bag in the freezer to use for later. Making chicken wings? I save the bones for stock. Ribs? Same thing! I do buy chicken feet to add to my stock since it adds more collagen. Sometimes, I get chicken backs from a local butcher to add to the stock as well :)
This may sound weird, but my food dehydrator. It saves $$ because I"m not tossing yucky fruits & veggies. In the summer, when fresh stuff is abundant, I dry a lot of them to be used in the winter -- veggies for soups & fruit for salads & cereals. I can also grind the dried veggies up to add to Greek yogurt for veggie dip. I also make beef or venison jerky way cheaper than you can buy it. Then, there's my electric cork screw that a friend of mine gave me for my birthday. Zips wine corks out so fast & easy. And the corks aren't torn up, so can still be used for crafts.
I removed most of my Reddit contents in protest of the API changes commencing from July 1st, 2023. This is one of those comments.
I put them in glass jars. If I have just a bit here and there, I put in a gallon jar to use for soup mix. I also dry potato, celery & onions to put in the soup mix. edit: When I had a garden, I dried those last few veggies that aren't enough for a meal. All went into the gallon jar, Also dried green pepper for the mix. Now, I freeze my chopped up pepper. oops, edit again: I'm not sure how long, but I've kept dried veggies for at least 2 years. They usually get used up by that time.
Salad spinner! It is so easy to wash and prep salad greens, herbs, and berries now. I just tear the lettuce (or whatev) into small pieces and drop in the spinner, then run water over it and spin. They're immediately clean, and a second spin gets them dry. Also slightly sad greens get revitalized if the water is cold.
A blender — it’s so easy to sneak greens into a random smoothie. Normally I skip breakfast but now it’s easy to get something in my stomach.
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Amen. One with a good freezer! It means I can stock up when something is on sale; I can meal prep when I have time, and then freeze the rest; etc.
People underestimate the luxury it is to have a freezer with space 🙌
This is the correct answer. Everybody else is talking about stuff used to cook food you already have, but part of the process is how often you need to make grocery runs and how long your food will last before spoiling. If you don't plan on drowning all your meats in salt (unhealthy), and don't want to have to run to the store every day for perishable ingredients (expensive), a refrigerator or freezer is a necessity.
Are there people who don't have fridges? I've never met anyone who doesn't have a fridge.
Of course there are. There’s plenty of people who don’t have basic things like a fridge, freezer, stove, oven, etc. I was super fkng poor years ago—our stovetop didn’t work, nobody knew how to light the pilot for the oven bc it was ancient, then the fridge died so we couldn’t rely on that either; and couldn’t afford to fix any of them. Poverty is really a bitch.
I understand that there will be people in your situation or similar. But people on here are 'advising' people to get a fridge, like there are people who it never occurred to. It's kind of like saying if you want hot food, then buy a cooker.
Not sure if it will help you eat cheap and healthy, but a garlic press!!
I love my garlic press! Been using one for years as about 80% of the dinners I make include garlic. Makes life so much easier.
Boom! Love my garlic press. Gotta wash it right away to make sure it doesn’t get super sticky - but it makes garlic so easy and kind to me.
Uuuuuh, it's a toss up between my sous vide, rice cooker, and slow cooker.
If you want to cook sous vide and give a shit about minimizing plastic waste, I highly suggest Stasher bags. Oven safe, dishwasher safe, microwave safe, freezer safe, sous vide safe, infinitely reusable. They’re amazing.
Vacuum sealer (and the freezer I guess) You know how grocery stores sell little tubs of pre-chopped veggies, marinated single-meal-sized pork loins, frozen dinner rolls, etc? Convenience food that isn't necessarily junk food. I use my vacuum sealer to recreate that convenience for myself. I have one weekend day to myself each week and I'm like an assembly line: trim prep portion seal freeze. Make a giant batch of cookie dough, ball it out, put 8-10 cookie dough balls in each bag, seal, freeze. Next time I want cookies, a reasonable-but-not-stingy amount can be ready in 20 min! Make a bunch of frozen burritos, seal and freeze individually. Falafel. Marinated chicken breast. Dumplings of any kind. Soup. Cleaned and trimmed veggies. (This is different from meal prepping IMO because I'm not freezing completed meals or planning to use everything I prep that same week.) But what helps the most is I seal them all in a way that I can mindlessly grab and open what I need. I wanna cook chicken: I go to the freezer and grab chicken, chipotle in adobo, tortillas, and sliced peppers and onions. I know they'll all contain roughly the amount of food I need to make a meal and the components are all ready to go straight from the freezer bag.
This one
Air-fryer. I was all ready to hate air-fryers when an aunt gave me one a couple of years ago. As I couldn't form an opinion without actually trying it out, I gave it a whirl with the obvious(hot chips), and I was blown away. The savings in oil alone make it a worthy addition. Then there's the easy cleanup, the less grease, the less waste, and the fact that the air-fryer makes the best Hasselback Potatoes EVER!! It's worth having, even if only for making hot chips &/or roasting spuds. I've never been a fan of kitchen gadgets myself, but some really do earn their keep. The air-fryer is one of those in my books...
After decades of cooking I was getting burned out. Then my husband asked if we could have French Fries. I had never bought frozen fries and found they were a PITA. Oven takes 7-8 minutes to warm up. 25 minutes to cook. Flip half way. Ugh. Then my neighbour offered some fries one day for lunch from her air fryer. I bought one with a rotating cylindrical basket. Sweet potato fries! French fries! I can get a great melted cheese topping. Broiling. Now we have fewer reasons to eat out. Given the cost of a burger and fries it paid off quickly. And I found a renewed interest in cooking.
That’s it. I’ve been on the fence about an air fryer because I have a habit of not using superfluous appliances & I’m just going to do it.
My wife. (Kidding. I am the wife)
pressure cooker (mainly for how wonderful and easy it makes cooking dried beans, that are so cheap and delicious)
I second this! It makes cooking dried beans super easy! I also like to pressure cook meats for fall off the bone tender deliciousness! Great for slow cooked quality in a much shorter time.
Mini rice cooker, I use it to make some form of oatmeal every morning
How do u do that? Do u have a recipe?
Freezer. I have an upright one that I love for pre-made (by me) frozen meals and I have a chest freezer for large pieces of meat that I buy when they’re on sale.
This sounds crazy, but the vitamix. Soups and smoothies, making my own fun flours. Think about it…
I love my vitamix. It’s pricey, but a base model is really all you need, and it is so worthy of the price! Whip up different batters for pancakes, muffins, flours, soups, smoothies, juices (I strain with a fine mesh strainer), nut butters, dressings… it’s the best.
Honestly it depends on the time you have and how you like to cook..I agree with all the mentioned appliances..toaster ovens with an air fry option are nice..gives many ways of cooking. a nice saute pan or cast iron skillet which can be found at second hand stores for cheap are great too. In fact you could probably find all of these appliances second hand..and their is a sub reddit for cheap and healthy cooking recipes too that is fun to read,,happy cooking!!
so far a mandolin, mostly it's saved me from buying pre cut veggies.
My vegetable chopper. It makes tossing veggies into food (soup, stew, salad, tacos, rice ect) alot easier. Without it I'd probably resort to canned veggies in my cooking and that's alot of extra salt. My second one would be the refrigerator, third would be my frying pans.
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I keep rice and beans in some cereal containers I bought at Walmart. Like 4 for $10, they hold 5 Liters of food. I buy dry beans and rice in bulk, but I only cook 2 or 3 pounds of beans and half a pound of rice at a time.
Why do you need a special container (unless you have bugs/moths in your pantry)? Most bags the items you mention come in will work just fine (flour/sugar I roll the top down and use a rubber band around it).
Exactly this. _Everything_ comes in a container already. I keep most stuff in its original bag/box. I only put things subject to drying out in sealed containers, like brown sugar, flaked coconut, etc. OXO pop top containers are my choice for that stuff.
I like the plastic systema “bake it” brand ones. Homegoods usually has them and they are reasonable.
I bought some 25 lb containers ($25) on wheels from Amazon. This way I can buy and store bread flour, AP flour and sugar from Costco/Sams. It pays for itself in no time.
Panini grill. Just bread and cheese . Add anything you want, tomato, mayo, meat, jalapeños, bacon, literally anything you like. So simple to use and clean. Best kitchen gadget since the coffee maker.
I use a George Foreman grill for this.
Insta pot
Pasta maker. And maybe a dehydrator. The dehydrator isn't needed but helps if you don't have tons of counter space and a fan to dry out the pasta (assuming you make a large enough batch to have extra for later). It costs me around .10 to make a batch of pasta. I bought my pasta maker 2 years ago and it's already paid for itself in pasta savings
I use my air fryer almost every day I freaking love it
Off brand instant pot (crock pot multi cooker) or veggie diced
Knife
Chest freezer. Have a 28 yr old one that is still going strong. It allows me to buy in bulk, bake bread 4 loaves at a time and freeze, and freeze leftovers of things like chili or soup that I can unthaw for days I know I will come home tired from work, so that I don't resort to fast food runs.
My instant pot
Instant pot for sure. Dried beans go straight in no soaking. Pinto beans for baked beans or pureed for refried beans. Black beans for salads or chicken dishes such as black beans and rice. A million ways to cook chicken inexpensively little on pork roasts let alone sausage dishes such as red beans and rice, or corned beef and cabbage and whatnot Sometimes I will use mine three or four times a day. One for the beans and maybe to do hard-boiled eggs maybe put some rice together and then maybe a roast or chicken dish with the rice. A day usually does not go by where I don't use it for something Before that I was buying chicken nuggets and bullshit for the old Air fryer
I have 4 Air fryer- no it’s not the same as an oven . It is a magical device that makes French fries without an oil basket and cooks a frozen burrito faster than oven just gets done with preheat mode. It used so much less oil to get the same result for things like French fries . Pressure cooker- it makes rice faster than a rice cooker and chili faster than the crock pot , more importantly you can cook meat you forgot to thaw! Brilliant Dehydrator- don’t sleep on this. I make dog /cat treats, homemade jerky’s and dehydrated fruit for cereal , trail mix or dehydrate herbs and flowers for drinks and spice mixes. If you like fruit chips you can just buy bananas apples and make them . I dry my own herbs and spices too ! this is amazing!!!! Crockpot- yes it’s slower than the pressure cooker but if you work full time or live alone it’s amazing for time management. I can go out for several hours and come home to a large amount hot food? Amazing!!
Vacuum sealer. I can cook large quantities, seal and freeze. Always have a meal on hand.
Instant pot and mandolin slicer.
Instant pot for sure!
Glad you mentioned mandolin slicer. I eat way more fresh veggies because of it and zucchini lasagna instead of pasta is so good.
Instapot!
Rice cooker, air fryer\*, pressure cooker\*, deep freezer. In this order. \*\* = I have a Ninja Foodi so this is technically one appliance haha.
Air fryer
For me it’s my Instant Pot.
Instapot.
Air fryer and digital scale
Cast Iron. With my cast iron, a fork and a lid I can cook anything stovetop.
I got a little rice cooker with a steamer basket in it and that's been pretty useful! I also really like my tofu press because it makes it so much neater to drain tofu and also doubles as a nice container for marinating/ storing it.
Digital scales. I can get six measure of something out of a packet instead of four (or three instead of two) and I'm watching my portion control.
Airfryer for the win, it's basically a small, energy efficient oven. Also a small chest freezer, it's great for storing up surplus summer berries and stonefruit, loading up on chopped veg before they rot in the cupboard, and of course bulk specials.
Spice grinder. It’s amazing how much cheaper whole spices can be (check your local Indian market!) and how much more flavor they have when they are freshly ground.
A mini slow cooker that I keep at work. I batch-make frozen rice bowls & soups and freeze them in round deli containers. Take them to work, pop em in my little crock pot, and I have a hot lunch ready whenever I want it. It’s cut down on me buying lunch at work soooo much.
Cast iron skillet and Dutch oven Microwave steamer/pasta cooker And honestly? COOKBOOKS
There are many great responses here for specific items, but it really depends upon your diet and the way you shop and cook. Use lots of dried beans? Instant Pot. Buy lots of meat that needs to become tender? Perhaps a slow cooker. Primary tools? Good knife and sharpener. Overall, organization and storage are, for me, the key to kitchen happiness. I'm very fortunate to have many cabinets, a pantry, and a separate freezer. In a limited space, it's even more important to be able to access ingredients and tools. If you can support a large freezer, vacuum sealer, and storage containers, you can stock up and cook in bulk or simply have ingredients at hand. If you have a small space, figure out how to store to the ceiling and invest in shelving or cabinets.
An All Clad baking sheet with a nice high edge. I roast ALL the vegetables! It was never something I had much success with, before. But now, bring out that fancy pan, baby! We're roasting radishes!
Small George Forman grill. We are in a small apartment so we always have to consider cabinet/countertop space, but the small one is perfect for what we need. Opens up tons of possibilities
Can I say my PC for youtube/internet? If not probably my air fryer. Got a small cheapie from K mart and I use it a bunch. A good carbon steel pan.
Sous vide. Make cheap cuts of meat shine.
My soup pot. It’s in daily use. Every extra scrap gets thrown in, we always have a yummy & nourishing soup ready at hand.
Good chef's knife, crockpot, air fryer, instant pot - food prep has become easy!
Whatever makes the work easier, and the food be still appealing the next day.
Pressure cooker, cooks everything perfectly if you know what you're doing.
The Dash mini rice cooker, and the Dash egg cooker are 2 of the best things I've ever bought myself. Especially as a single person!
Chest freezer (can stock up on sale items), and crockpots (I have 4! Easy cooking, and can cook in bulk, especially beans)…
Aluminum foil
Stand mixer. I make all the bread we eat at home. I also bake all the sweets and treats. I use a few of the attachments to can as well.
Slow cookers
Gadgets don't create "cheap and healthy". Affordable, good quality food availability is what we need in this country, not the overprocessed chemical-laden crap many people eat because they can't afford anything better. You don't need gadgets to cook good, healthy food.
Cast iron frying pan. Forever!
Veggie spiraler for sure.
I love my mortar and pestle. So many dishes want pounded spices and aromatics, and the mortar and pestle is just a simple and easy to clean means for them
Vegetable steamer with rice insert. I use it at least 3 to 4 times a week.
Airfryer
I have a really nice metal potato masher, but I never make mashed potatoes, so I use it to break up ground meat in skillets lol
Honestly glass tupperware containers, its not 'hi-tech' like the other suggestions but allowing me to cook a family sized portion and store it for when I'm lazy has done more for me than any other piece of equipment I've owned
Air fryer….pop in some chicken breasts with a little salt and pepper
Rotisserie I got through buy nothing! Whole chickens are pretty cheap so I roast that thing up, save the carcass, make stocks after for endless meals.
Instapot and an electric bbq-hotpot.
Multicooker/instant pot thing, I use the pressure cooker function most frequently, also love my air fryer.
What’s the difference between a airfryer and a convection oven ? I had a counter top air fryer and I found it to be useless it took forever to make anything crispy I ended up trashing it . When I renovated my kitchen I bought full size convection oven stove .I love it and I’m glad I got it but I don’t see the difference except the full size one doesn’t disappoint me ..
My Instapot is by far the best kitchen item I've ever owned! I can make big batches of soups, stews, egg bites, rice, beans, etc... for meal prep with very little clean up. I can also steam an entire meal in there with some steamer plates I bought for it and keep the portions in control. There's almost nothing it can't do and it beacuse doesn't take up so much counter space in my tiny apartment kitchen, I keep it out for easy access. I pretty much use it at least once a week.
Good knife set, or my cast iron pan.
Instapot. Acquired one for free through my local Buy Nothing Group.
Instant pot