11 of My Favorite Kitchen Appliances

Make your time in the kitchen more efficient and satisfying with my favorite small kitchen appliances.

How Efficient is Your Kitchen?

The kitchen is often considered the heart of the home, where meals are created, memories are made, and countless hours are spent preparing food for loved ones. While a well-stocked kitchen can be intimidating at first glance, it doesn’t necessarily require a vast array of large gadgets to create an efficient and enjoyable cooking environment. Small appliances are key to making everyday tasks more manageable, helping you save time, reduce effort, and elevate your culinary experience.

Every kitchen has its basic appliances and kitchen gadgets to function properly. Then there are those special items that make your life in the kitchen so much happier!

I may not be a professional chef, but I have cooked thousands of meals, and my cooking skills have come a long way since the early days of marriage and parenthood. I’m pretty sure my dear husband and three daughters would agree!

Which 11 Small Appliances are My Favorites?

As far as the small appliances in my kitchen, I am definitely partial to certain ones that work great, help me cook more efficiently and just make life in the kitchen so much better! I’m sharing my favorite small kitchen appliances that I personally own and love regardless of budget. I hope you find this list useful!

1.  Breville Espresso Machine: This is a recent addition to our kitchen, and it’s something I didn’t know I needed until I used my niece’s at a vacation rental property. Yes, my family members take turns bringing one on vacation if they are in driving distance. My sister has one, her daughter has one, my brother has one, my daughter has one…peer pressure prevailed. Happy birthday to me! Now I have one.

Note: there is a learning curve to make this work effectively! Go to Youtube college and watch videos, especially about frothing and coffee bean grind settings.

Breville has their own Coffee Guide playlist filled with helpful tips. That being said, my morning coffee is exceptional! I had no idea how boring my regular pot of coffee has been for the last 25 years!

Ginger Tip: There is a hot water feature that is perfect for making a quick of tea!

2.  Breville Microwave Oven:  This microwave sits on a shelf above our Breville toaster oven and pairs nicely with it to give our kitchen a professional appliance look. However, it’s more than just kitchen eye candy. It’s also very user friendly and an excellent performer.

The dials allow for easy adjusting of timers and temperature instead of repeatedly stabbing a digital button with your finger. The small buttons inside the microwave door include handy shortcuts and easy clock setting. Personally, I really love the soft door close feature.

3.   Breville Toaster Oven:  Clearly, I love my Breville appliances! My dream kitchen would have double wall ovens, but for now this toaster oven is a work horse in my kitchen. I use it everyday whether I’m reheating leftovers or cooking side dishes that can’t go in the regular oven due to space and/or different temperature requirements.

It also has an air fryer setting and wire mesh basket which is great for cooking crispy french fries or reheating pizza slices (trust me on that one!)

4. Hamilton Beach Food Processor: I use this budget friendly regular sized food processor several times a week in our kitchen. It’s not heavy and overloaded with lots of parts to store. Suction cup feet hold it securely to the counter.

It’s perfect for shredding cheese quickly, slicing vegetables and making recipes like pesto or hummus. I love how powerful and how user friendly it is! I reach for it all the time to make meal prep fast and efficient!

Bonus: clean up is a breeze! Parts are dishwasher safe!

5. Braun Handheld Mixer: I know people love their stand mixers, but I tend to avoid mine because it’s heavy and awkward to use. I find this little guy gets the job done 9 times out of 10 and it fits in a drawer instead of taking up precious countertop real estate!

Don’t get me wrong, I love my stand mixer for making pasta, heavy dough kneading and other unique chores, but the handheld is my go to for day to day kitchen work.

6. KitchenAid Immersion Blender: This handheld blender is an absolute necessity in my kitchen. I first bought one years ago for pureeing spaghetti sauce because my kids had a texture-thing with their food. Don’t judge-I know what battles to pick!

It didn’t take long to realize that my family also would eat more vegetables if I pureed them in soups. I think I’m on my third immersion blender by now; I use it that much! They also make great gifts!

7. Keurig: I know I have my espresso maker on this list already, but this single serve Keurig has been the best backup coffee maker over the years. If we have company or house sitters, I will put this out for easy coffee brewing. It doesn’t take up a lot of space and makes a decent cup of coffee or hot chocolate.

Ginger Tip: Try the Starbucks Hot Chocolate Keurig pods! They are soooo good!

8. PowerXL Vortex Air Fryer: For the longest time, I thought air fryers were just a trend and nothing I would ever want or need in my kitchen. Then my dad gave each of our kids a small one for Christmas to use at college. They raved about how handy it was and even brought one home over the summer for me to try. I realized pretty quickly that my dad was onto something!

This small appliance is now a workhorse in my kitchen. For the record, the Breville toaster oven listed earlier does have an air fryer setting which is great, but I don’t use it like a true air fryer. In this one, I can make fried pickles, chicken tenders, wings, etc and the clean-up is much easier than the toaster oven’s wire mesh basket.

9. Instant Pot: Just like with the air fryer, I asked myself if this was really something I needed to add to my already crowded kitchen and the answer was a resounding YES. I might not use it every single day, but it is indispensable when I do use it.

One of my favorite Instant Pot time saver is to cook frozen chicken breasts really fast and then shred them with a hand mixer in the pot…perfectly juicy shredded chicken to use for soup, casseroles or enchiladas in roughly 15 minutes!

It’s amazing and such a lifesaver on those last minute “what the heck do I make for dinner because I never went to the store and everything’s frozen” kinda evenings!

10. Alexa: I’m including this with my list of small kitchen appliances because I use Alexa all the time in the kitchen. She is unbelievably helpful and resourceful.

• Set multiple timers to monitor meals and side dishes. “Alexa, set a 20 minute chicken timer” or “Alexa, remind me in 10 minutes to flip the vegetables.”
• Ask Alexa for unit conversions like “Alexa, how many cups are in 500 milliliters?” or “Alexa, convert 2 tablespoons to teaspoons.”
• I also ask Alexa for meat doneness temperatures because even though I should have them memorized by now, I just don’t. “Alexa, what is the correct temperature for fully cooked pork?”
• You can also create a grocery list and ask her to keep track of it. “Alexa, add butter to my grocery list.”
• Ask Alexa to play music, podcasts and audio books while you’re cooking. My favorite is the Country Music for Cooking playlist while I’m cooking!

11. Lomi: My youngest daughter has been very effective at getting me to be more aware of how much trash we are making at every meal. Food scraps are a huge portion of it, too. She was thrilled that I bought a Lomi, a countertop composter.

By using Lomi to compost produce trimmings, leftovers, and food going bad; we have reduced our trash bin contents significantly. I run it in the evening when I run the dishwasher and close up the kitchen for the night. In the morning I dump the ‘dirt’ into the outdoor compost pile and then eventually add that to my garden when it’s really good and composted. Less garbage, more free soil- win win!

Final Thoughts

From the classic hand mixer to modern multitaskers like air fryers and espresso makers, small appliances can make a significant difference in the functionality of your kitchen.

By utilizing the right small appliances, you can streamline your cooking process, reduce the time you spend in the kitchen, and enjoy delicious meals that suit your lifestyle. Whether you’re a seasoned chef or just starting out, my favorite small kitchen appliances will help you make the most of your time and space in the kitchen.

Happy cooking!

My 11 favorite small kitchen appliances keep my kitchen running smoothly. Do you have a favorite to add the this list? Drop a comment below!

For more of my favorite kitchen items, read 15 of My Favorite Kitchen Items.