Small kitchen essentials: the ten things worth the space

Small kitchens are often better kitchens. With no room for gadgets, everything in them has to earn its place, and the cook ends up using a few good tools well. The trick is choosing those tools carefully and skipping the ones that only look useful in a shop.

The ten things worth the space

1. A chef's knife, 20 cm. It chops, slices, dices and minces. Spend most of your knife budget here, and keep it sharp; our guide to sharpening and honing shows how.

2. A small paring knife. For peeling, trimming and anything held in the hand.

3. A large cutting board. Bigger than you think, at least 40 by 30 cm, so ingredients stay on it. Add a thin plastic board for raw meat, which the US Department of Agriculture suggests keeping separate from the board you use for bread and produce¹. Our cutting board guide covers wood versus plastic.

4. A 28 cm stainless steel or cast iron frying pan. For browning, searing and anything that finishes in the oven. Cast iron works on any heat source², which is useful if you move home or cook on a camping stove.

5. A 24 cm nonstick frying pan. For eggs, pancakes and fish, at gentle heat.

6. A medium saucepan with a lid. For rice, grains, sauces, boiled eggs and vegetables.

7. A large pot or casserole. For pasta, soup, stock and stews. An enamelled cast iron casserole does all of that and goes in the oven.

8. A rimmed sheet pan. For roasting vegetables, baking and catching drips. Choose one that fits your oven with room for air around it.

9. A digital instant-read thermometer. Small, cheap and the only reliable way to know when chicken, pork or leftovers are done. Put the probe in the thickest part, away from bone, fat and gristle; for thin foods, insert it from the side until the tip reaches the centre³. Check its accuracy now and then in iced water: it should read 0 °C (32 °F)³.

10. A few small tools. A wooden spoon, a silicone spatula, tongs, a ladle, a whisk, a peeler, a grater, a colander that doubles as a sieve, measuring spoons and a set of nesting bowls.

That is it. Everything else is optional.

Things to skip, or think hard about

• Knife blocks with eight knives. Two or three good ones do more. A wall magnet saves counter space.
• Matching pan sets. They add sizes you will rarely use. Buy the pans above individually; our cheat sheet of which pan for which job explains why each one.
• Single-use gadgets: egg slicers, avocado tools, garlic presses that are hard to clean, herb scissors. A sharp knife does all of it.
• Large appliances you use monthly. A stand mixer, a bread maker or a juicer takes a cupboard permanently. Borrow first.

Small appliances that can earn their place

• An air fryer can replace the oven for one or two people: roasting vegetables, cooking chicken pieces and reheating leftovers crisp. Our air fryer buying guide covers sizes and what the basket is made of.
• A kettle saves time on every pot of pasta and every cup of tea.
• A stick blender makes soups and sauces in the pot, and stores in a drawer.
• A portable induction hob adds a cooking zone in a kitchen with only two burners. It only heats pans made of, or with a base of, magnetic metal: cast iron and enamelled steel work, aluminium and copper usually do not unless they have a magnetic base, and a fridge magnet that sticks firmly to the base is the quick test⁴. The pan base should match the size of the cooking zone⁴. People with a pacemaker or similar implant are advised to take care near an induction hob in use and to ask their doctor or the device maker⁴.

Making the space work

Go vertical. A rail with hooks for pans and utensils, a magnetic knife strip, and shelves above the counter free the worktop.

Nest everything. Bowls inside bowls, lids stored upright in a rack, pans hung or separated with a cloth so nonstick surfaces are not scratched.

Keep the counter clear. Only what you use daily stays out: perhaps the kettle, a board and a jar of spoons.

Clean as you go. In a small kitchen, the washing-up is part of the workspace. Wash and put away while things simmer, and wash boards and knives with hot soapy water as soon as raw meat is done with them¹.

Store food in see-through containers. You use what you can see. Our weeknight pantry lists what is worth keeping in.

Buying well

Buy fewer, better things, and buy them when you need them. A good knife, a solid pan and a thermometer will last years and change how you cook. A drawer full of gadgets changes nothing except how hard it is to close the drawer.