Fine crafting a minimalist kitchen is precise work! The kitchen is usually the second-busiest room in the house next to the living room.
Especially if you have children, time in the kitchen needs to be clean and concise, or clutter and trash will easily amass. It helps not to have to fumble through a bunch of equipment to find what you need.
A lot of our kitchens are filled with kitchen gadgets, appliances, and tools we don’t need. We have to eat, we cook almost every day.
Hence, we let forgotten appliances take up space in our cabinet with the anticipation that our daily food adventures will one day lead us to it. That’s rarely the case.
Minimalist kitchen essentials
Declutter your kitchen and consider donating those appliances to someone who needs them.
Besides, as minimalists we can live without it. A standard set of kitchenware can replace the function of a lot of these extra tools.
We’re going to examine what we do (and don’t) need in our kitchens to fulfill our culinary genius!
Today’s “Automated” Cooking
True to the consumerist theory, society is constantly demanding more. More answers to more problems, more convenience, more automation.
Stay-at-home moms with their arms full, ever-moving business owners, and busy professionals are looking for the method that provides the best results the fastest, requires least effort, and requires the least attention. If they could, they’d have a robot cook their meals for them—and they do!
Smart kitchen devices are being purchased as quickly as they can be manufactured. The downside to this is that people are becoming so dependent on these appliances and machines that they have no idea how to do these things themselves.
Wireless meat thermometers that connect to an app on your phones. A vacuum marinator for marinating your steaks quickly. A vegetable chopper, because why use a knife?
When you introduce so many components and variables into a process, it’s more likely that something will go wrong.
Simple cooking utensils are generally more reliable than complex ones. Smart and complex devices are more likely to break, malfunction, stop working, or require some kind of maintenance (or batteries, which is even more money you’re paying for this one item).
Standard kitchen utensils are also predictable, easy to operate, and, within 2-3 tries of a dish, you’ve worked out a groove that allows you to cook it quicker and with less thought.
Anything cooked with your hands is much more special and energetically vibrant than anything a machine could make for you. You can tell when a meal is “made with love”.
We’re going to go over what tools you need to make these warm, flavorful, life-giving expressions of love, but first, let’s check out what minimalist cooking is.
Minimalist Cooking
Minimalist cooking incorporates simple cooking methods and easily recognizable ingredients. It doesn’t take much, so you don’t have to overinvest in cookware, which can be great if you’re following minimalism on a low income.
The idea is to keep the cooking process as straightforward and clean as possible. You want to assemble well-rounded meals without all the fuss. A bunch of kitchen gizmos just add fuss and noise.
Minimalist kitchen etiquette also demands that you make proper use of leftovers. Minimalists transform or incorporate leftovers into new dishes.
With that being said, you probably won’t be whipping out the pans as often as the usual person (unless you’re really into cooking) so you don’t need that many.
Minimalist cooking is also great in time crunch as it produces wholesome meals quickly.
But it’s hard to do anything quickly when what you need is lost among clutter. That’s why it’s vital to keep a neat cooking space (especially if you’re following a minimalist diet too).
Plus, now the cuffs of your shirt are singed because you had to yank something out of the oven with your sleeves over your hands after you couldn’t find the oven mitts.
Well, not if you’re a minimalist. Because your minimalist kitchen essentials are in their appropriate places and not taking up nearly as much space.
The Ultimate List of Minimalist Kitchen Utensils
Exactly what you need in your kitchen will vary depending on how much you cook and how serious you are about it.
Professional chefs might be found with a few extra goodies that the conventional cook. Speciality kitchen equipment serves purposes beyond your average sautéeing and baking.
We’ll take a look at some of those a little further down the road; you might need them depending on what kind of cooking you do.
Right now, we’re focused on what we absolutely need in our kitchens and what we can do without in order to free up our space.
Take yourself back to your grandma’s kitchen, back to the basics, and let’s look at what we need in our minimalist kitchen to stay simple and organized.
Kitchen Essentials: What You Need
- A spatula
- A cooking spoon
- A ladle
- A whisk
- Tongs
- A pizza cutter
- Measuring cups/spoons
- Liquid measuring cup
- Plate, bowl, cup (one or two dish sets per member of your household)
- Fork, spoon, butter/steak knife (one or two sets of utensils per member of your household)
- Small, medium, and large saucepan
- Small, medium, and large frying pan/skillet
- Small, medium, and large mixing bowl
- 2 baking sheets
- 2 baking dishes
- A strainer
- A colander
- A cutting board
- A knife set
- A blender
- A can opener
- A corkscrew/bottle opener
- Oven mitts/pot holders
- Tupperware/storage containers with lids
As previously stated, there’s more advanced kitchenware out there made for specialty cooks.
This section is reserved for items that serve special functions that aren’t necessarily what a person would need for an average meal.
Advanced Essentials
- A food processor
- A knife sharpener (This one really depends on how much you cook and how much wear is put on your knives. Even if you’re not an above-average cook, if you are chopping, slicing, and scoring almost every single day, invest in a knife sharpener anyway.)
- A food scale
- A miniature grill
- A mortar and pestle
- A hand mixer
- A meat slicer
Kitchen Essentials: What You Don’t Need
- A coffee maker (Try instant coffee instead. Or make it yourself using hot water, coffee grinds, and a filter—that’s all a coffee maker does anyway! A coffee press is another viable and smaller option.)
- A breakfast station (Cook it normally.)
- A wide array of different-sized pots and pans
- Cutting, slicing, and chopping products (Just use a knife.)
- Meat-shredding claws (A couple forks work the same way.)
- A stand mixer (These take up way too much counter space. You can mix by hand.)
- A rice cooker (Nope, just a large saucepan and water.)
- A salad spinner (Nope, just your hands or tongs.)
- A plug-in griddle (A skillet works fine.)
- Tupperware and containers with missing lids (They can’t serve their purpose without lids.)
- Baby food maker (You really don’t need this.)
- Ice cream scoop (A spoon will get you the same results.)
- Deep fryer (Fried foods just aren’t good for you, we all know this.)
- Egg cooker (Again, water and a saucepan.)
- A meat thermometer (Just cut it open and check it.)
How to Maximize Your Minimalist Kitchen
You know a minimalist kitchen when you see one. What you have in it is primarily what matters, but you can’t help but want it to look “minimal”. It’s not as satisfying to have a spacious kitchen that’s disorderly.
While you’re throwing out these kitchen items you don’t need, implement these tips as well to fulfill your minimalist kitchen dreams.
- Utilize food storage containers
Using food containers helps to stay organized and neat, while cutting down on the number of food boxes and bags that have to sit around your pantry and cabinets. Delegate containers for cereals, candy, beans, cookies, rice, crackers: dry foods.
- You don’t need a mountain of tupperware
Tupperware is easily accumulated because we acquire them from food places all the time. Throw out all the disposable and damaged tupperware. 2-4 functional pieces of tupperware should be okay.
- You don’t need a lot of knives either
And you don’t need more than one of the same kind of knife (you can only cut with one knife at a time).
Own a simple assortment of knives that serve a particular function: a chef knife, butcher knife, paring knife, bread knife, and a serrated knife. If you’re going about this extremely essentially, you only need a chef’s knife.
- Get intentional with your counter space
The only things that should be on your counters are appliances that you use everyday. If you make a breakfast smoothie every morning then keep your blender neatly placed on your counter. Anything that isn’t used on a regular basis should be put away.
- Keep your fridge up-to-date
Regularly go through your fridge and dispose of expired, rotting, or smelly things. Check expiration dates on things before you purchase them to ensure that they’ll last you a long time. You can also use clear plastic bins to keep your refrigerator organized.
Wrap Up
We spend money on kitchen conveniences to avoid doing things that we can easily do ourselves.
But what happens when we don’t have access to these gadgets? Will we still have access to good food? Part of the minimalist journey is regaining your independence and diminishing your reliance on things outside of yourself.
By relying on things outside yourself, you’re liable to fumble when those things aren’t there anymore to assist you. Limiting how much you let machines do for you and putting your minimalist kitchen tools to use is liberating and raises self esteem.
When you have the confidence to do things yourself, even everyday things, you don’t fret when the conditions aren’t perfect.
Cooking by hand is an act of love and care. Kitchen automation has taken the soul out of food. People today are trading their wooden spoons and pots for electric hand mixers and slow cookers.
You come out on top when you keep it simple, keep it essential, and let your culinary skills speak for themselves.
