You’ve made your first big step into adult life and moved out of your parents’ house into your own place. That’s wonderful, congrats to you. Now, we’ve seen those apartments with a TV, matters and a single chair, that’s not a proper way to live. Sure, it’s not always possible to completely decorate your whole apartment right away, that’s understandable. There are steps to this process. However, some stuff takes precedence over others and while minimalism is a great lifestyle, living without the essential kitchen supplies is just unacceptable.
You can survive without the new OLED TV or a PS5, you can manage without carpets or drapes, it’s not a big deal. However, eating with plastic spoons and forks from paper plates is just wrong. You’re not in a dorm room anymore, you should’ve outgrown that. Don’t get us wrong, we don’t blame you for not knowing with what to fill your kitchen drawers with, we’re going to help you with that, just stick around.
Unless you’re planning on eating out or having food delivered for breakfast, lunch and dinner, we’d recommend you buy some of the following things. Full disclosure, we’re assuming you have a stove of some kind and a refrigerator in your kitchen, however, if you don’t, get that first and then proceed down our list.
1. Pans
First up, you need a large and small frying pan. You’re going to be frying a lot if you’re learning how to cook and it’s your first time living alone (it’s fastest). So, eggs, bacon, meat, vegetables, whatever you feel like eating – it can probably be made in a frying pan so that should be your number one priority. Additional pans you could use are saucepan or a cast-iron skillet. There’s a large selection of pans out there, but for starters, you could just go with the first two,
2. Pots
Next up, we have the pans. Just as with pans, you need a large one and a small one. Contrary to the somewhat popular belief, you can survive solely on fried goods, so a pot could come in handy. Have at least two sizes, you never know when you might need to cook for several people or if you want to prep your food for a few days in advance. You’ll need these for soups, pasta and so on.
3. Baking sheet and casserole dish
Along with these two, you’ll have the essential stuff for food prepping. You’ll need a baking sheet (and baking sheet paper, trust me, it’ll save you a lot of time and nerves) to bake some cookies, whole chicken or a pizza. Basically, anything that goes into the oven needs one or the other, so get them both.
4. Plates and bowls
Like we’ve said, you’re not at a 7th birthday party nor at a dorm room so a paper plate is not an acceptable dish. Not sure it’s even a dish to be fair. Either way, get at least four plates, you’ll need them. Either you’ll be lazy to wash them or you’ll have people around, so, multiple plates.
Same goes with bowls. You’ll eat soup, you’ll eat cereal and you’ll run out of clean dishes more often than you’d expect to. Therefore, at least four bowls on top of four plates. That should be enough.
5. Utensils
Forks, spoons, small knives and a large knife – those are essential. You can go crazy with utensils as much as you like, trust me, you can never have enough knives. You should make your life easier and get a couple of additional trinkets like meat hammer, peeler and bottle opener as well. You can find those at OliveBranchKC along with some other stuff to fill your drawers with.
6. Mugs
Honestly, could you imagine living without your favourite mug? Coffee or tea, the mug is a necessity.
7. Appliances
These can be either those you will use almost every day or those you bought because you thought you’re going to use every day but you’ve actually only used them twice. So, we’re not going to talk about the latter, we don’t want you to waste money.
First of all, you’ll need a microwave. Sure, it’s not the healthiest thing in the world, but hey, what is healthy in 2024? It’s practical, it’s quick, and it’s more energy efficient than heating up an oven for two slices of leftover pizza. A microwave – must own.
Blender is something that has become widely and wildly popular in recent years. Sometimes you just don’t have the time to sit down and eat so you just have your morning smoothie. And if you buy a really fancy one, you can forget about chopping onions, just toss them in there for a second or two.
A toaster is basically a personal preference, if you eat toast regularly, get it – if not, toast your bread in the pan from time to time. Save money.
8. Plastic bags and containers
These are great for both leftovers and meal prep. Either way, they’ll keep your food safe for a few more days. Get a couple of different sizes and you’ll be good.
9. Condiments, spices and rest of the pantry essentials
We’re not going to mention filling up your fridge with food, because, well, obvious reasons. We will, however, mention a few things you might look over, but should definitely have.
First of all, salt and pepper, you can’t cook without these. Other than that, just go with the standard: chilli powder, garlic powder, cinnamon, ginger, basil, parsley, sage.
Other than that, you’ll need baking powder and soda, oil (whichever you prefer), flour, vinegar, sugar. Naturally, ketchup, mustard, mayo and all those are a personal preference.
10. Additional essential stuff
This list could go on for days, you definitely need a lot of stuff for the kitchen, so here’s some more.
- Trashcan
- Soap
- Dishwashing detergent and gloves (or a machine, if you can, get a machine)
- Dishwashing rack
- Oven mitts
- Sponge
- Spatula
- Cutting board (preferably hard plastic, easier to clean)
- Cooking and serving spoons
- Napkins
As far as tips go, don’t slack with the dishes and keep your kitchen clean at all times. Also, cook as much as you can. It’s fun, therapeutic, less expensive than ordering in or eating out and ultimately, you get to enjoy your food afterwards.
To sum it all up, you need a lot of stuff and you’re definitely never going to stop buying stuff for your kitchen. Things break, things become obsolete, you find better stuff and so on. Make sure you have these when you first move in and then you can build from there.
