Essential Kitchen Items

I absolutely love kitchen stuff! Knives, pots and pans, mixers and food processers, graters, cutting boards, gadgets of all kinds – you can never have enough! And that’s all well and good if you have space to store it all. But, what if you don’t? Let’s talk about the must-have, most essential items for your kitchen!

When I set out on my own and got my first real job, you could easily fit all of my kitchen-related items in a (very!) small moving box. I had a pan, a pot, a bowl, a knife, a spoon, a spatula, and a small cutting board. That’s about it, and it was more than enough because I almost never cooked on my own! But eventually, I got interested in food and wine and started cooking on a regular basis. Our wedding provided the perfect opportunity to collect some essential kitchen items that neither Laurie or I had owned before, and we continued to add to those over the years. Eventually, we had a kitchen fully stocked with almost any kitchen-related implement you could think of, and thankfully, the room to store it all!

Then, we decided to retire early and move down to Sarasota, FL in 2021. The housing market was crazy back then, and it was impossible to find existing houses for sale – the only real option was to buy new construction. That meant that we would have to wait for our house to be built and bide our time in a rented apartment. Those were in extremely short supply as well since everyone else was doing the same thing as us! Thankfully, we were able to find a newer one-bedroom, one-bath apartment with a grand total of 900 square feet that included a very small kitchen.

We had our moving company store most of our possessions and moved down with only the most critical things we would need for our temporary stay in an apartment until our new home was ready. And all that stuff had to fit in our two cars – a mid-size SUV and a small sports coupe - with all the other stuff we needed while we were waiting for our house to be built! Turns out that the hardest decisions we had to make concerned what kitchen items we absolutely needed to bring down with us. Just for a bit of perspective, we were moving from this kitchen in Alexandria, VA with 52 drawers and cabinets and a separate pantry, …

Our kitchen in our home in Alexandria, VA before retirement

To this kitchen in our apartment in Sarasota, FL, with 18 drawers and cabinets, and no pantry!

 Our very small kitchen in our apartment in FL

We ended up having to do serious triage to neck down to only the most essential kitchen items so we could fit them into our temporary kitchen. This turned out to be a great exercise for us and helped us to better understand what the most critical items are for a functioning kitchen. And amazingly, we ended up getting the list mostly right!  So, for those of you planning to downsize either temporarily or permanently, or for those of you just starting out and trying to decide how best to outfit your kitchen with what you will really need and really use, this list is for you!

Pots and Pans

• 12-in non-stick pan

• Large saucepan

• Large soup pot or Dutch oven (doubles as pasta pot)

• Large rimmed baking sheet

• Large wire rack

• Medium roasting pan with rack

Bowls, Dishes, and Boards

• 4-6 assorted mixing bowls (small to large)

• Salad spinner (spinner bowl doubles as salad bowl)

• Assorted ramekins

• 13 x 9 baking dish

• 8 x 8 baking dish

• 4-piece dinner plate and bowl set

• Butter dish

• Assorted Tupperware/storage containers

• Large cutting board

Glasses

• 4 water glasses

• 4 assorted Tervis glasses (small and large)

Utensils

• Knife/fork/spoon set (6-8 piece each)

• 4 steak knives

• Kitchen knife set (utility, paring, bread, etc.)

• 2 wooden spoons

• Large metal serving spoon

• Large soup ladle

• Measuring spoon set

• Measuring cup set

• 2-cup glass measuring cup

• Large metal spatula

• Rubber spatula

• Tongs

• Medium strainer

• Whisk

• Rolling pin

Gadgets

• Hand juicer

• Peeler

• Grater

• Microplane

• Can opener

• Egg timer

• Bottle opener

• Instant thermometer

• Butane lighter

Appliances

• Blender

• Mini Cuisinart food processer

• Slow cooker

Other Miscellaneous

• Salt and pepper shakers

• Dishtowels

• Potholders

• Paper towel holder

• Small digital scale

Barware

• Corkscrew

• Shaker

• Jigger

• Small 4-oz. bar measuring cup

• Stirring spoon

• Mixing glass

• Strainer

• 4 wine glasses

• 4 coupe glasses

• 4 rocks glasses

As you can imagine, Laurie and I were very excited to have our full complement of kitchen items back when we moved into our new home in Lakewood Ranch, FL, with a kitchen that included 42 drawers and cabinets plus a walk-in pantry! Here’s where all that stuff (essential and not!) is stored now – everything is back to normal!!

Our kitchen in Lakewood Ranch, FL