Guest Picks: The Well-Stocked Starter Kitchen

Great list - and I echo your sentiments about the glass mixing bowls! I much prefer a kitchen stocked with good basics to one filled with the latest gadgets.

Great list! I would also add a pressure cooker (my #1 favorite kitchen item) and a garlic press. And good pepper and salt mills. Everyone's going to have a lot of their own favorites of course. I never use my tongs, I actually hide them under the sink because I use them so rarely! I use my food scale constantly but that's probably a personal quirk.

Pretty good list. I'd add a couple of wire strainers and one of those things you use to strain the fat off broth, and at least one Pyrex baking pan for brownies/lasagna/baking chicken pieces.

I'm loving my pressure cooker too! I can't imagine why Mother only used her for canning! :o

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/cafeware-ii-16-piece-dinnerware-set/s625364

I've had these dishes for - oh, 20 years, I guess. They have held up (never broken a single dish!) and go with everything.

Two words: Electric teakettle. You'll never go back to stovetop.

I have a couple of these items: the colander and the non-stick cookware set. I use my french press all the time, I have an electrical teakettle which is one of my favorite kitchen items. And I love my crock-pot!

We were so lucky when we bought our first home, parents on both sides got us all the kitchen utensils we could ever need, until I realised I had no sieve! That was this year's birthday gift! *Hannah

In 1970 I stocked my first kitchen using Green Stamps and had a ball doing it. Thankfully most of the avocado green and harvest gold handled gadgets are long gone!

Good gift list for grads. I put together a basket of kitchen wares for baking cookies, including a big jug of Mexican vanilla, for one of my husband's staffers who graduated and got her first apartment. Also, while I get the practicality of basic white, colorful dishes and glassware would be much more fun in a starter kitchen. :)

Good list but those are too many knives. Unless you're a super-pro, you only need 2-4 knives, and store them a drawer so that ridiculous knife block doesn't take up precious counterspace. Yes, I know storing them in a drawer leads them to get dull more quickly but again, only a super-pro chef needs knives that are always perfectly sharp.

These are really the basis for any kitchen.
Absolutely love the idea.

Excellent list with the better choices shown. It's worth it to spend more for something you can use the rest of your life. I'm still using the pan sets that we were given as wedding presents. Also, thanks for showing discount stores for many of the sources. The only starter items missing I can think of is cookie sheets and cake pans.

If you are going to have roommates, pick a signature color for your equipment. No chance for confusion.

I take issue with that particular colander. Due to the solid base it won't drain well and the holes are too big for anything other than large pastas. Everythign else should serve a starter home well.

I have a nesting bowl set of three Pyrex bowls - small, medium, and large. I've had these since my very first kitchen of my own and they are still the perfect sizes for most every task. They were given to me by my boyfriend's mom - and 15 years later when I reconnected with that boyfriend we now have those bowls in our kitchen in the house we share together. I love using them.

I love EVERYTHING on this page!

Mashed potatoes are made with a potato masher, not a mixer.

As if shopping for silverware isn't fun!

Glass bowls can break. I have six nesting stainless steel bowls, from tiny to huge.

IMHO, mashed potatoes are best made with a ricer.

I find you only need a large cooks knife, a small paring knife and a steel to keep them sharp. Wall mounted magnetic knife racks- Ikea have them- are great at keeping blades sharp and saving space.

I have both an electric teakettle and a stove top one, and both are useful. This past winter we lost power for 2 days, and with a gas range and the stove top tea pot, we could still have a hot cuppa when we wanted.

I agree the above assessment of the colander pictured: it's pretty, but not as useful as it could be - my cheapie white plastic one lasted forever. Also, a good chef's knife and a smaller paring knife were all I had for the first 10 years or so, and they were really all I needed. Finally, a beginning kitchen will need at least one oven baking dish, though.

great list! I would add a garlic press/slicer, a citrus juicer, a food processor, a potato masher, large slotted spoon, a baking set, and a pyrex set

Just don't leave the frying onions to go answer the phone, as I did . Perfected spaghetti Bol from scratch, though, and met some nice firefighters.

Very Thoughtful list, it will get any kitchen off to a great start.

I would like to suggest purchasing your cutting boards from a local woodworker. We discovered one in our central Vermont area & buy many boards for gifts & ourselves. They are a work of art & help support a local craftsman instead a corporation that cranks out many thousands. We can also make requests for a particular combination of woods & design. Then I visited a town in Ohio, attended the farmer's market & discovered some lovely cutting boards at reasonable prices! (Especially when you consider the work involved.)

You're missing the baking sheets (some good, sturdy ones from a restaurant supply store would be good) and a baking dish, 9x13 is the most common and useful size.
Unless you don't ever use your oven.

John, in response to your comment: "Good list but those are too many knives. Unless you're a super-pro, you only need 2-4 knives, and store them a drawer so that ridiculous knife block doesn't take up precious counterspace. Yes, I know storing them in a drawer leads them to get dull more quickly but again, only a super-pro chef needs knives that are always perfectly sharp."

I completely agree with only needing a couple of knives, a paring knife, and a chef knife with a comfortable blade length. But your comment about perfectly sharp knives only being for "super-pro" knives is a little concerning.

Everyone should keep their knives sharp, and use a chef's steel before each use to keep the edge straight, as a knife that isn't "perfectly sharp" becomes unsafe. If the knife isn't sharp, you are put at risk of the edge sliding off whatever you are cutting, and injuring yourself. As well, a dull blade becomes like a serrated blade, where instead of a nice clean cut that is easy to clean and will heal with little to no scarring, you will tear the skin causing more damage.

For years I had only a few knives, but used the large chef's & paring knife almost exclusively. Now I have quite a few & use my best quality paring & a mid-sized chef-style knife (with those divots along the blade). I love those & the latter is perfect, the veggies don't tend to stick to the blade, as with my other knives. We started out with very little, going to occasional auctions & yard sales for a good buy on a cutting board, strainer or whatever. We didn't have the latest & the best, but it was a joy collecting better & better kitchen tools over the years. We treasure the memories of acquiring the yard sale cheapies as much as the kitchen aid. Our marriage has been spent cooking in the kitchen. We now have a well appointed kitchen full of everything, but it took decades. That's the fun.

I just started using my French press for cold brewed coffee for iced...it's great! No need for another fancy piece of equipment. Took some experimenting on the proportions, but think I've got it now! love love iced coffee here in steamy Florida.

I am going to have to disagree with John's statement that "only a super-pro chef needs knives that are always perfectly sharp." Every cook, whether beginner or pro, should work with a sharp knife as dull knives cause cutting accidents. I have my knives sharpened professional every few years, but use a steel to keep the edges straight prior to each use.

I wouldn't buy anything with Paula Deen's name on it. Also, I try to buy from small, US-based manufacturers. The quality usually is higher and they often are more attractive than mass-produced stuff such as the crap sold at Bed, Bath, and Beyond.

@Suzanne Sheldon - That's my experience too (your first sentence). People have lots of knives but they usually use just two of them. Therefore, no need to have lots of knives unless you just really like a super-full kitchen.

Other responders: I'll reconsider my views on knife sharpness. Perhaps having a sharp knife is more important than I thought.

I still don't want one of those knife blocks taking up counterspace.

John, I agree that sharp knives are safer, if you know they've been sharpened! I also agree with you about the knife block - no way. I want to find an attractive knife magnet strip to hang on the wall. Also, I like how you backed down on your original statement. Not everyone can take being corrected so well.

Great ideabook; thanks for putting it together. But with a few more than 15 years experience, I take issue with a few of your choices, which only proves that personal choices are just that - personal.
My enamel-on-steel colander is still a workhorse, even with enamel chipping off and bent steel. No idea how it got that way. Looks ugly, works great even after 35 years.
I do question the need for a $200 set of knives for a starter kitchen, but that's probably because the only thing in my kitchen that (individually) cost that much or more is the KitchenAid stand mixer. Far better, in my opinion, to start with the chef's knife, a paring knife, and maybe a bread knife (the only one that needs to be serrated); buy any others as needed, same or different brand. Don't skimp on the knife sharpener! P.S. Vegetarians don't need steak knives ;-)
While wooden cutting boards tend to cost more than plastic, please be aware that they are far more earth-friendly than plastic, which is a petrochemical product. And research indicates that wood cutting boards are far healthier for people, as well. If you're looking for inexpensive, try IKEA instead of plastic.
While we're on the subject of healthier for people, research also indicates probable links between aluminum cookware and Alzheimer's disease, and the gunk that makes cookware nonstick is carcinogenic. Yes, it DOES flake off and get consumed with the food cooked in it. Yuck! I was fortunate enough to inherit my great-grandmother's cast iron Dutch oven and "black skillet" and never looked back. Instead of taking my kitchen pots camping, I reversed the process and brought the camping stuff into the kitchen - I did add a few pieces of stainless steel.
Yes, I know it takes up room on the counter, or the shelf, but I love my knife block. I bought it at a thrift store because I didn't have any drawer space for the knives, and they were new, and . . . But I spent a good few hours sitting on the patio with a hacksaw blade making two of the slots long (wide?) enough for my knife blades.
Totally approve of having both stainless and Pyrex measuring cups. I also have both; as for the spoons, I started with a set with round bowls and eventually broke down and bought a skinnier set. Now I have two of each size, which works great during a cooking frenzy or for wet and dry.

I must admit, though, that gadgets are a starter cook's worst nightmare. Going to someplace like IKEA or Chef Central is almost as bad as a nicotine addiction - one wants everything one sees. Far better, especially with limited space and limited funds, to buy gadget-y stuff sparingly and only when one can convince one's best friend one really does need it! ;-)

A French press also makes a great place to steep loose or bagged tea, too. But I notice a critical missing element--the KNIFE SHARPENER.

I have never used a slow cooker as I don't want my food cooked to death. But my steamer set is essential. And, I agree, all pots and pans should be stainless or otherwise safe. I hate the knife block too but most people with starter kitchens are in apartments and don't have the luxury of a knife drawer as apartments usually have quite limited drawer space. I also think a starter kitchen should have some form of food storage, anything but plastic. I like the set of stainless canisters with glass tops that I got at Costco (use them for dog food too).

I am a no-gadget person and I still don't have a lot of them, and am ten years past the kitchen start date. I prefer the wooden tools from Ikea (set of three with a spoon, wooden fork that's great for fishing out lasagna noodles, and helpful square thingy, for $2), but I'm a big Paula Deen fan (far more ardent since the ridiculous character assassination) and as my current set of wooden implements is wearing out, perhaps I'll buy hers.

I will say, it's a lucky 22yo who can afford this whole set for a starter kitchen. I was in law school at that age, and almost all of my kitchen things were excess from family members or things I picked up at church rummage sales. $159 for a crock pot would have been madness. Favorite pieces (then and now, actually) were big wooden cutting boards, Pyrex (mixing bowls and baking dishes), plain aluminum cookie sheets (no non-stick bakeware!), and some silicon turners. And I agree that one sharp knife will substitute for half the gadgets on the market. Really like my Santoku - still need to figure out the sharpener :/.

No kitchen is complete without a cork screw!

I have a similar measuring spoon set, but it's rectangular which lets the spoons fit into smaller-opening spice jars.
I'll have to give those spatulas a try - I bought many since my old rubber maid bit the dust, but they're all either too hard or too soft - none just right.

Wow - tremendous feedback!! Agree about the missed items (cookie sheet, baking dish, cork screw), and also about only needing a couple knives to start. I happen to have both a knife block AND a magnetic strip on the wall (for my good knives), but could see the block being a nuisance for a smaller kitchen.

Also, love my cast iron skillets (hand me downs from my grandmother), so could have included one in this list too. :-)

Thanks for all the comments!

PS: I use a handheld mixer for my mashed potatoes ALL the time - it works fabulously! Sometimes I'll do a hand mash (also good), and a ricer makes it SO creamy. Lots of great ways to make a great mashed/whipped/rices potato. ;-)

What an insightful list! I remember my first apartment with hand-me-downs from my parents. As I've grown older and become a better cook, I have used all of the mentioned items on a regular basis. May I add a few more indispensable items: a microplane grater (good for zesting citrus and grating hard cheeses), a mandoline (great for quick slicing and prep work - just use the hand guard!), a wire mesh skimmer, a silicone basting brush, thin plastic cutting mats (easy on the knife blades and can be rolled up for dispensing the chopped items), a turkey baster for skimming fat, tongs ( makes for easy turning), a cast iron fry pan and griddle (relatively cheap and a superior searing tool), and a citrus juicer. As far as knives go, a good chef's knife and parer are essential. If you choose to use a block as I do, just turn the knives upside down to avoid dulling the blades. Hope this is useful and good cooking!

Now hold on a sec, you called both the scrapers and the flippers "spatulas". In my home, this is a matter of very serious debate. As the adult and the cook, I determine that the tool used to scrape the last of the batter out of the bowl is called a spatula. My children, however, believe that Spongebob Squarepants knows more than me, and he calls his hamburger flipper a spatula. What's up with that?

And may I add an indispensable tool? A good pair of kitchen scissors. For cutting up a chicken, snipping herbs, opening packages, even cutting pizza into slices. (Personally I love my Cutco brand scissors, though they are far from a starter price.)

What, no trivets? First time you bake something, you'll need to make a place for it to land. :)

Trivets? Heh. Our first 'trivets' were magazines, the phone book, a cup towel...

Don't most countertops used today provide resistance from heat from the oven? I use wooden breadboards on my butcher block countertops when I am unsure. There has never been a problem with burning them in the 11 years since I had them built. My next countertops will most likely be quartz, deep thoughts about them, advise anyone?

A salad spinner makes salad making so much easier. I love mine & use it to wash all kinds of veggies. I've also given them as gifts to several friends & family. Sometimes someone will tell me how much they love the salad spinner that I gave them & I've completely forgotten that I did.

The thing is, most starter kitchens aren't in the perfect home: they're more often than not small without a lot of expensive amenities or even much storage. There are a lot of things which are wonderful to have and are used often that are more a luxury to a starter kitchen than a necessity. Unless there's a place to keep things, one might end up with enough clutter to prevent the use of anything, lol.

Great list! A couple of frills in there but why not?! I have most of my kitchen packed up as we are waiting to relocate. It is like being a new bride again using things for dual purpose. I had always had a small kitchen with limited space so that restrained me up until a couple of years ago when DH worked at Williams Sonoma for a fun holiday experience.....really felt like a new bride with and extensive gift registry then!! Funny though I still don't have certain things because my mom didm't use them such as a pastry tool. Two sharp knives work as does a fine strainer for sifting flour. How many things do we do without question just because Mom did it? ;-) There should be a whole article on having a fund raiser so you can afford nice pots & pans now! (Ok, just got some new ones, with the excuse of passing on the copper bottom Revere Ware that were my mothers when she was a new bride).

I got my copper bottom Revere Ware basic set 42 years ago next week as a wedding gift and still use it to this day, with the addition of an extra RW frying pan of my grandmother's along with her 2 cast iron skillets and a dutch oven.

A couple of other useful tools: a good rolling pin (if you ever want to try pizza or baked goods), a pizza stone for the oven, glass storage and baking dishes (These are great for baking and storage. Not so many worries about reheating in the microwave with plastic. Pyrex and Anchor Hocking have good ones.), a heavy-bottom sauce pan for reducing, and perhaps a heat diffuser if you have a gas range (makes simmering/reducing easier -Sur La Table carries one).

I stand by a trivet! Playing the probabilities, a starter kitchen is in a starter home/apartment. Which likely means a laminate countertop rather than granite. Who keeps a phone book anymore, and even a magazine is less likely to be around. At least two burl(ier) pot holders! I love my silicone pot holders that can double as a trivet.

Like Georgia, I use scissors in my kitchen every day, from chopping up chunky stuff in my soup bowl to cutting cooked spaghetti to make it easier to eat. I also use scissors on pizza, herbs and parsley, the tops of green onions, and for snipping open food packages, recipes from magazines, and opening the mail. I get my scissors at the Dollar Tree for $1 each, and buy 10-15 at a time so I'll always have spares on hand .to replace the ones that get dull. Dull ones get recycled to my garden tool bucket. (Give me scissors, duct tape, and WD-40 and I'm set for life!)

Re trivets: Am I the only one who uses the stove top as a trivet? When I take a casserole out of the oven, I always place it on one of the stove-top burners. Another essential kitchen item for me is dish towels (and, alas, paper towels).

Chookchook2, I laughed out loud about your meeting some nice firefighters after you left onions frying on the stove. I come from a long line of forgetful cooks, myself included. My mom used to set the frying pan on fire so many times that we started calling her Brownie, and whenever she burned something, my sibs and I would chant, "Brownie did it again." For those of you too young to remember the old Bardahl commercials, their sing-song tag line was, "Bardahl did it again." Many's the time my (then) husband came home from work to find all the doors and windows open and me in the kitchen flapping a dish towel.

I agree about the scissors, though I'm of the opinion that one good pair can last many many years. I've had one pair (German brand, can't remember the name) for as long as I can remember and they go in the dishwasher and they have never lost their super sharp edge. My husband has learned the hard way that you do not remove the kitchen scissors from the kitchen!

One gadget I use every day but is probably less known (but is very inexpensive and saves you money overall) is a Misto olive oil mister. I use this instead of aerosol nonstick spray, and refill it with olive oil that I buy in large quantities. It means you use a lot less oil than if you decant it from a bottle, and no cooking sprays to have to buy.

And as long as I'm on the topic of saving money in a starter kitchen, my first several kitchens didn't have dishwashers and I was hand-washing everything. I went through a lot of dishwashing liquid. A foamer pump bottle for dishwashing liquid saves something like 90% of the cost of buying soap. I bought one foamer bottle in 2010 and have been using it ever since, refilling it with a small amount of soap and the rest water, and a standard 1 liter bottle of dishwashing liquid lasts for an entire year. If you are looking to save money and packaging, a mister and a foamer both use the same concept (make a little bit of the product go a lot farther) and I would highly recommend both to anyone starting out, you will probably never go back. Now that I have a dishwasher I don't use as much dishwashing soap but I see no reason to throw it away either. These are not "essentials" but they just make sense.

What a great list :-)

When I moved into my first proper place - a studio apartment - my Mum gave me an old metal trunk filled to brimming with kitchen supplies - nothing fancy or expensive but everything I needed.

I'm with "too many knives", "no Paula Deen" and "who needs a slow cooker". I like both the Williams- Sonoma dinnerware featured and the Crate & Barrel set that someone mentioned in the comments. Keep it simple and, yes, if the person bakes or even just heats things up in the oven, a couple of cookie sheets would be nice.

Oh for heaven's sake, go to Marshalls or TGMax Homegoods for your beginner kitchen things, beautiful wood cutting boards are only $10.00-$20.00, their items come directly from the high priced stores. ~ Loads of wonderful things for your kitchen. I only purchase Stainless steel and glass items to cook with, purchased a set of three sizes colanders like the yellow one above in red for only $15.00. Gorgeous speckled green bowls ~ $5.00 each. And the list goes on and on. And yes, a variety of scissors are a must in any kitchen, I use them every single day several times per day.

Good for you, Sharon Ullman, for being a thrifty shopper! I'm a retired senior citizen on a limited budget, and must watch my pennies. I just bought a 3-quart stainless steel saucepan (Paul Revere, copper bottom) in excellent condition at Goodwill for $5.99. You can often find older, better-made items at Goodwill to replace the cheap stuff they make nowadays. One item I consider indispensible is my manual, hand-crank can opener. I'm talking about the really old kind, made of sturdy metal that doesn't bend like today's cheapies do. (See picture--if I can figure out how to attach it!) I don't like a bunch of appliances and gadgets on my kitchen counters, and gave away my electric can opener decades ago. I've had my manual can opener for 50 years, and it still outperforms the modern ones.

Many of us Houzz fans are on limited budgets and cannot afford some of the lovely (but out of our price range) items listed here, so I'm always glad when the article-writers and fans offer inexpensive alternatives.

About knife blocks - the best orientation for the slots is vertical rather than horizontal. But - you need to put the knives in with the sharp side UP, not down, otherwise every time you slide the knife in, you blunt the blade. If the slots are horizontal, as shown in the Ideabook, same applies - the block will slowly blunt the blades. So - go with one like this, but turn the knives the other way up!


Knives should be kept very sharp indeed, but, unless you've been trained how to sharpen your blades by a pro, my advice would be to take them to a pro and have them sharpened professionally. It's only a buck or two a blade, usually done while you wait, and they will last WAY longer than if you mess them up yourself. :) You can get them sharpened at most restaurant-supply stores. Sharpening them yourself may also void the warranty...

Thank you to everyone who mentioned turning your knives blade-side-up when using a knife block! I never thought of that, but it makes perfect sense. I'm planning on getting a small knife block as I am tired of having to rummage through the knife/kitchenwares drawer all the time. Worse yet is when a knife or spatula sticks up and prevents you from opening the drawer. I only use my 3 favorite knives anyway, so a small knife block is the ticket, especially since I don't have any convenient place for a magnetic knife strip (which, to be honest, I don't like the looks of).

Free tip for those of you who like to make homemade breads: in my opinion, the best tool for slicing bread is an electric knife. I know that sounds weird, but I learned this from a long-time chef/bread maker who showed me how much easier it is to get nice, even slices with an electric knife vs. a bread knife.

Thanks for the electric knife tip, sherrieholmes.

I would like to buy the Floral spoon rest. Pier import don't list it. I think it will look beautiful with the Flower Market MacKenzie-Childs canisters Thanks

Where can I get the "gerber daisy place cards", since Crate & Barrel does not carry them anymore???

Loved being gifted a Temp-tations set of cookware. Charming in my 1910 kitchen.