If my house started on fire, I would grab my family and my Blendtec and get out as fast as I could. Just kidding. I’m not that tied to material possessions. But I felt it was worth a post to share my top 3 small kitchen appliances I feel I can hardly live without.
I’m not exaggerating when I tell you that these gadgets save me hours of time and energy every week. As I’ve worked to simplify my real food kitchen, I have been amazed at how I’ve come to rely on 3 very important appliances.
Could I do without them? Well yes. Grandma survived all her many years of cooking for a large family without any one of the items I’m sharing with you today. But Grandma also didn’t have indoor plumbing for a good many years, and then welcomed it gladly when it became available. I’m pretty sure if she was raising her family now, she would very much enjoy the appliances I love having access to!
My Top 3 Small Kitchen Appliances
If you’ve been reading here long, you can probably guess my top three small kitchen appliances. Just for fun, I added two runners up in my “if I had to choose to keep only 3 small appliances, which ones would I keep?” contest. :)
1. Blendtec
Indeed. If I could only keep one appliance in my kitchen, it would be the Blendtec. I use this multiple times each week, and sometimes multiple times each day.
I mix batter in it, whip cream in it, make smoothies in it, whip mini cheesecake filling in it, the list goes on and on. From cakes to muffins to pancakes – the Blendtec takes away my need to stir and mix. Cream goes from liquid to perfectly whipped in less than 30 seconds. Recently I dumped in all the ingredients for these Mini Crustless Cheesecakes and had them in the oven within a grand total 5 minutes. Beautiful!
In so many ways, my Blendtec makes my cooking and baking effortless. It is extremely high powered, which is reflected in the price. A $25 blender gives only $25 of effort (and in my experience, lasts less than one year in my kitchen). The Blendtec, though much higher in price, comes with a warranty and is so high powered it turns frozen fruit into liquid in just seconds. Unbelievable!
I highly recommend saving up and investing in a Blendtec. Oh the time and energy you’ll save!
Recipes you’ll need for your Blendtec:
- Crustless Cheesecake Cups
- Chocolate Whipped Cream
- Regular Whipped Cream
- All the Muffins :)
- Simple Whole Wheat Pancakes
- Easy Guacamole
- Cream Cheese Salsa Dip
2. Instant Pot
I stubbornly refused to get an Instant Pot for several years after they became popular (silly me), and now I am one of the biggest advocates for them! This gem saves so much time and keeps us eating healthy too!
I love that it makes wholesome, rich beef or chicken broth with so little effort on my part. I LOVE that I can cook 7 pounds of frozen hamburger meat in it in just 30 minutes!! And I love the many meals and side dishes I can make in it within just a few minutes.
If you can swing it, get yourself an Instant Pot. I have the 8-quart variety for my large family. Here’s the 6-quart Instant Pot if that fits your needs more!
Recipes you’ll need for your Instant Pot:
- Bone Broth
- Simple Creamy Chicken Soup
- Simple 10-Minute Mac and Cheese
- Simple One Dish Chicken Florentine
- Mashed Potatoes
- Beef Roast
- Simple Chili Mac
- Simple Lasagna Casserole
- How to Cook 5 lbs of Frozen Hamburger Meat in 30 minutes
- Simple Hashbrown Casserole
Psst: I highly recommend that you bookmark our Instant Pot Recipes page for easy access as we continue to update it!
3. Crock Pot(s)
Yes indeed. I have two large crock pots and I often use them both at the same time. My favorite is this 8-Quart Programmable Crock Pot, but I also have this Basic 7-Quart Crock Pot, which works great too!
I’ve learned many tricks through the years that help me throw VERY quick meals into the crock pot so that later in the day, our meal has cooked itself. (See recipe links below.) What a great way to continue putting real, delicious food on the table on busy days!
Recipes you’ll need for your Crock Pot:
- Simple Crock Pot Chicken Soup with a Kick
- Simple Creamy Chicken Stew in the Crock Pot
- Simple Hawaiian Crock Pot Chicken
- Simple Crock Pot BBQ Spareribs
- Simple Overnight Saucy Crock Pot Chicken
- Simple Overnight Melt-in-Your-Mouth Beef Roast
- Simple 3-Cheese Crock Pot Pasta
- Simple Crock Pot Shredded Ranch Chicken (for salad or tacos)
- Simple Crock Pot Pizza Casserole
- Simple Barbecue Beef Roast
- Simple Crock Pot Taco Pasta
- Simple Hawaiian Beef Roast
- Simple Hashbrown Casserole
- Simple Lasagna Casserole
- The Simplest White Chicken Chili
- Simple Crock Pot Applesauce BBQ Chicken
- Simple Three Cheese Spaghetti
- Simple Crock Pot Salsa Shredded Beef
- Easiest Beef Roast in the Instant Pot
- Simple One-Dish Chicken Florentine
- Simple Creamy Layered Enchiladas
- Simple Creamy Chicken Soup
- Simple Cheesy Salsa Chicken
Top Small Kitchen Appliances, My 2 Runners Up
Just for fun, I thought it would be fun to add a couple others to my list of appliances I love and use often!
4. Nutrimill
Could I live without my Nutrimill? I guess. Does it save me time in the kitchen? Not really. But do I love having such a great appliance to help me grind fresh grain for our baked goods? Oh my goodness, YES!
I frequently grind hard and soft white wheat in my Nutrimill, which turns out the most delicious flour, which then turns out the most delicious breads, muffins, cakes, cookies, pancakes, and waffles. Now that I’m so used to baking with freshly ground flour, I’d have a hard time turning back. We’re pretty spoiled! ;)
Details about using flour ground in a Nutrimill:
- The Difference Between Red and White Wheats
- How to Grind Flour in a Nutrimill
- What Kind of Flour is Best if You Don’t Grind Your Own?
- What is Pastry Flour, Where Do I Get it, How Do I Use It?
- All of Our Bread and Muffin Recipes
- Whole Grain Recipes
5. Coffee Maker
Last Mother’s Day, at the recommendation of several who frequently drink coffee at our house and help with our babies, we treated our family to this Bunn coffee maker. It is amazing!!!!!! I’ll never go back.
Recipes to go with your coffee:
- Low Sugar Coffee Milkshake
- Peppermint Cream for your Coffee
- How to make Iced Coffee for a Crowd
- How to make Coffee Ice Cubes so you won’t water down your cold coffee
- How to Cold Brew Coffee
- How to set up an Iced Coffee Bar
- Sweet Vanilla Coffee Creamer
- Homemade Chocolate Frappe
- Homemade Chocolate Caramel Creamer
- Chocolate Whipped Cream for your Coffee
I’d love to hear what your favorite small kitchen appliances are. Which ones do you feel you can’t live without?
Love your appliance choices! Question. have you found that your instant pot is taking the place of your crockpot…my understanding was that it did the same work, but much faster…thinking about getting an instant pot here! THanks.
Thanks for all you share when it comes to how you use your appliances and as well as all the recipes!
I, too, love my InstaPot (actually not InstaPot brand, just a good pressure cooker very similar to the InstaPot), and my blender which is just a Ninja, but works great!
Not sure which comes after this but the next two items I also need are my 18qt electric roaster oven especially when it comes to feeding more than my family; and my cast iron cookware save time and energy in that I don’t need to scrub and soak etc, to get it clean.
I own the Blendtec, Instant Pot and a Bunn Coffeemaker. I need a new Crock Pot so I am going to look at the one you posted about.
Thanks for a great post that included recipes.
I grab this item multiple times each week. It is inexpensive, lightweight and easy to store. You can chop up (fine) peppers and red onion for guacamole or you can uniformly chop up larger chunks of onion, carrot and celery for chicken soup and the like. I’ve been thru 2 of them over the last 15 yrs.
https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/vidalia-chop-wizard-trade/1014556052?skuId=14556052&gclsrc=aw.ds&&mrkgcl=609&mrkgadid=3253336427&enginename=google&mcid=PS_googlepla_nonbrand_kitchenfoodprep_local&product_id=14556052&adtype=pla&product_channel=local&adpos=1o1&creative=232742510626&device=m&matchtype=&network=g&gclid=CjwKCAjw7_rlBRBaEiwAc23rhjNy7ZZTZJz8sdWy-AqhCNcr9dEjbX1xwMgo-sqsIJ03LlG0zDO_qxoCW9oQAvD_BwE
I bought the nutrimill on your suggestion a few yrs ago. I don’t use it often but when I do bake, I enjoy having whole grain, home ground flour. I also have a large panini maker. We have panini bar dinner (like a baked potato bar) usually once a month…especially in summer when you don’t want to heat up the kitchen