The Best Kitchen Essentials You’ll ACTUALLY Use!

This blog post is about kitchen essentials!

kitchen essentials

Moving into your first apartment could definitely be overwhelming, and in this blog I help you simplify it as much as possible with easy first apartment moving guides!

In this blog post, we are going to cover must-have kitchen essentials you are ACTUALLY going to use in your first apartment.

For more first apartment tips, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND following us on TikTok for more tips, tricks, and ideas!

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Serving Kitchen Essentials

Let’s begin with this great 12pcs dinnerware set from Target!

This awesome dinnerware set comes with 4 dinner plates, 4 dessert plates, and 4 bowls.

The set itself comes in white, gray, and black 🙂

Moving on to a beautiful glassware set! I love cute kitchenware, and I heavily think about and consider any essential I get 😉

I have the tall glass cups from a different set I got on Amazon, but this set comes with both sides which is great!

Next is a coffee mugs set! Make sure you drink those delicious hot drinks in style 😉

I LOVE this glass mugs set from Amazon, it comes with 6 glass mugs, and the price is perfect for a budget-friendly gal!

I also love this ceramic coffee mugs set. They are neutral and aesthetically pleasing, and can match any kitchenware aesthetic.

For my wine loving girlies, you can’t not get a beautiful wine glasses set!

Whether you are looking for a simple wine glasses set or upgrade your glassware collection with a beautiful colorful wine glasses set.

Having large serving bowls is perfect for when having guests over or when you are making yourself meals. 

I LOVE these neutral serving bowls from Amazon! They come in a set of 2 serving bowls, and they are great for serving different dishes.

Utensils Kitchen Essentials

A silverware set is definitely a must-have kitchen essential 🙂 I love rose gold utensils, I don’t like the regular silver utensils (although there are cute ones as well), and I LOVE rose gold.

This 20pcs rose gold silverware set also comes in gold, silver, and black!

I have a very similar cooking utensils set, and I can tell you that getting a complete set is much more recommended than getting every utensil separately.

This cooking utensils set comes with 17 cooking utensils, and is perfect for cooking!

Moving on to a kitchen gadgets set from Amazon! I have this exact set at home and I love it.

It comes with all of the kitchen gadgets you’ll need such as a can opener, ice cream scooper, peeler, pizza cutter, garlic press, cheese grater, and a whisk.

They are all great except for the peeler, I’ve used better haha

As for the colors, this gadgets set comes in black, gray, mint, blue, pink, and white. I have the blue one, but after seeing the pink color I’m definitely regretting my decisions 😉

Moving on to one of my favorite – this wooden utensils set from Amazon!

These utensils are perfect both for cooking or serving, and they are so pretty!

I have the pink set, but they also come in blue, white, gray, plaid green, red, and white checkered print.

Make sure you have good set of kitchen knives! I love this 14pcs kitchen knife block set from Amazon that comes with different sized knives and a pair of kitchen scissors.

Keep your knives sharp with this knife sharpener from Amazon! 

I have it as well, and it’s perfect for sharpening your knives and making sure they are sharp and ready for cooking!

By having your knives sharped, you can be sure that you are saving time and money by not taking longer to cut food, and saving money by not needing to buy new knives every once in a while.

Moving on to a pretty serving utensils set!

Make sure you serve food in style with this beautiful serving utensils set that comes in gold/silver/rose gold/or rainbow colors.

Preparation Kitchen Essentials

Whether you are baking or cooking, you will definitely make a lot of use out of mixing bowls. 

I love this mixing bowls set from Amazon that comes with different sized bowl that are perfect for any baking/cooking experience!

I am going to be honest here, I’m not a big baker at all, but I love using measuring spoons when cooking, or even worst – making coffee haha

I use measuring spoons for the most random things, but if you do bake or cook a lot, you can obviously make great use out of these wooden measuring spoons to make sure you get your measurements right!

This stainless steel grater is perfect for slicing and cutting anything you need! 

If I don’t buy pre-shredded cheese, I use this for cheese, or sometimes for different vegetables when making special salads.

Cutting boards are definitely a must-have kitchen essential you can’t forget. No matter what you are making or cooking, you’ll probably need a cutting board to cut something on it 🙂 

I like this bamboo cutting boards set from Amazon, it comes with 3 different shaped cutting boards.

My actual favorite cutting board option is this countertop cutting board from Amazon!

This is a game changer, and I’ll you why – with this cutting board, all you need to do is put it over your countertop, and cut on it anything you want.

When you finish, you can easily wipe and clean it, and that’s it! It’s just always there, easy to clean because it’s acrylic, and is the perfect kitchen essential to add to your place.

This stainless steel potato masher is perfect for making mashed potatoes, or anything else you need to mash together 😉

BTW, I love using this potato masher for avocado salads, it turns out PERFECT.

Another must-have kitchen essential is definitely a strainer.

This strainer set from Amazon comes with 3 different sized strainers. If you don’t like gold, you’ll be happy to know that it also comes in rose gold and silver!

I don’t have much to say about a lemon squeezer, since it’s pretty obvious what you can do with it. But this gold lemon squeezer is first of all – very pretty, and second of all – very easy to use and to squeeze your lemons!

I’m a HUGE cheese lover, and I love eating different types of cheese and having all of the essential tools.

One of them is this cheese slicer from Amazon! It comes in a pack of cheese slicers that are perfect for most cheese types.

The set comes in gold, as well as black or silver.

Cookware/Bakeware Kitchen Essentials

A bakeware set is definitely a must-have for any baker! This baking set comes with high quality baking sheets and everything you’ll need for the perfect kitchen baking set.

Obviously you are going to need a pots and pans set for your kitchen. My FAVORITE pots & pans set is this Carote detachable handle pots and pans set.

This is a nonstick cookware set that features detachable handles, making both cooking and organizing your pots and pans SO MUCH EASIER.

I love this vegetables chopper from Amazon! It is perfect for chopping different types of vegetables.

I mainly use it to chop onions and potatoes. So easy!

I am not huge in the meat niche, but my boyfriend and I have this ThermoPro meat thermometer at home and he ALWAYS uses this when cooking meat!

For my baking girlies, you can’t not get this marble rolling pin for baking!

Small Appliances Essentials

This microwave from Amazon is one of my favorite affordable microwaves that are not only affordable and “cheap”, but also very long lasting and high quality!

As I always say, after I got the Ninja Air Fryer, life split into before buying it and after. 

Honestly though, we make EVERYTHING in this! The whole cooking process is easy and quick, and you can make delicious meals with this air fryer!

I love making myself delicious toasts, and this retro toaster has place for two toasts, and is also very pretty!

It doesn’t only come in beige, it comes in multiple colors such as black, white, pink, light blue, mint, red, and more.

I’m obsessed with this Ninja personal blender as much as I’m obsessed with the air fryer. 

use this blender DAILY. I love making delicious smoothies, iced coffee, and I even used it once to make soup! (well, to blend the ingredients but you know what I mean ;))

I’m OBSESSED with the Keurig coffee makers, and especially with the Keurig mini coffee maker, since it’s perfect for any sized kitchen!

 

For my baking girlies, another must-have baking essential is definitely this KitchenAid mixer from Amazon!

It comes in many colors, but I recommend getting a white/cream/black one, to make sure it will match any kitchen aesthetic you’ll have in the future.

Another mixer option for your kitchen is this Cuisinart hand mixer!

It also comes in black or silver.

Another game changer you should definitely know about is an Instant Pot. You can quickly make almost everything in it, and it is super easy to use!

Other Kitchen Essentials

Make sure your bags are properly closed with these gold chip clips from Amazon!

I love unique trivets and I sure do love this cute silicone trivet from Amazon!

I love this Tupperware set from Amazon. It comes with 3 food storage containers and removable trays, making them perfect for lunch/meal prepping!

I’ll be honest I’m a kitchen towels freak, and I love getting cute kitchen towels for my kitchen.

But if want something more simple and neutral, you can’t go wrong with these white ribbed kitchen towels set from Target!

If there’s something I actually hate doing, is opening cans. It never goes easy for me, and I always struggle haha

Well, that’s until I got this electric can opener from Amazon, that made my life SO MUCH EASIER!

Honestly though, this is worth every penny! Such a game changer.

Easily open your wine bottles with this rose gold bottle opener!

If you don’t want to be rose gold, that’s okay too, because it also comes in silver, black, red, and gray.

One of the most important kitchen essentials you don’t want to forget, is definitely oven mitts!

I like these mini oven mitts from Amazon, just because I like the style more than the large ones. 

But these ribbed silicone oven mitts are perfect as well and will definitely do the job just perfectly. 

Another game changing kitchen essential for me is this sink colander from Amazon.

This colander set comes with 2 sink colanders and are perfect for washing vegetables and fruits, drain cooked pasta, and is super convenient and easy to use.

I love using glass straws. I care about the environment, so that was the first reason why I stopped using disposable straws.

But, after starting to use glass straws, I found out how easy and nice it is to use glass straws for my iced coffee and smoothies!

I’ll be honest here, I’m a sucker for cute salt & pepper shakers! 

Another cute option, is this salt & pepper grinder set from Amazon. So pretty!

dish drying rack is definitely a kitchen must-have for you to dry your dishes after you wash them.

I like this roll up over the sink drying rack from Amazon, and have the exact one. 

I just don’t like to fill up the counter space with a dish drying rack, and this roll up one is a nice find that doesn’t take space at all!

As I said I have a problem with an actual dish drying rack that takes space on my counter haha

So in addition to the roll up drying rack I like to use a dish drying mat as well, if I’m having more dishes to wash that day.

It’s always nice to have a good pair of kitchen scissors for any purpose 🙂

I honestly can’t imagine life without paper towels haha

I love this Amazon Basics paper towels set. Each pack comes with 6 paper towels, and for this deal you can buy 2 packs, 12 paper towel rolls, in one set!

Well, trash bags are definitely an important kitchen essential 😉

But HUGE pro tip – I like getting scented trash bags, it makes your trash can smell much better than it should.

If there’s another product I just can’t live without, it’s Ziploc bags.

This is a Ziploc bags savings pack that comes with 347 Ziploc bags, and even comes with a few bag clips too!

Aluminum foil is definitely a must-have kitchen essential you’ll find yourself using often.

Keep your food leftovers fresh, and make sure they won’t taste like fridge the next day, by getting a plastic wrap and wrapping them before you put them in your fridge.

Kitchen Cleaning Essentials

Microfiber cleaning rags will definitely come in handy 🙂 I LOVE these black cleaning rags. Finally! More aesthetic cleaning products!

I don’t like to wash the dishes/clean the house with my bare hands, so I ALWAYS use reusable cleaning gloves!

Also, I get gel nails on a monthly basis, and the dish soap and cleaning products don’t go well with that, so it’s always good to clean/wash dishes with gloves.

Dish sponges are definitely a must-have essential. I like these zero scratch sponges from Amazon. 

They are perfect for washing your dishes and NOT scratching them.

Using a dish brush when washing your dishes is a game changer. It’s nice to use while doing dishes, and it’s easier to get stains out of dishes with these dish brushes from Amazon.

You can’t wash your dishes without a dish soap 😉

If you have a garbage disposer in your sink, make sure to keep it fresh and lean with this garbage disposer cleaner.

Keep your food leftovers fresh, and make sure they won’t taste like fridge the next day, by getting a plastic wrap and wrapping them before you put them in your fridge.

Keep your food leftovers fresh, and make sure they won’t taste like fridge the next day, by getting a plastic wrap and wrapping them before you put them in your fridge.

Kitchen Organization Essentials

Let’s start this section with an ultimate must-have – this expandable silverware organizer.

I love the fact that it’s expandable, because it could fit any kitchen drawer, and you can literarily organize all of your kitchen utensils in it, including large cooking utensils.

I can’t have messy drawers, it drives me crazy. So I love organizing almost any drawer in my apartment with these clear drawer organizers from Amazon.

They come in a pack of 25 different sized drawer organizers, and they are perfect for nicely organizing almost anything.

Cooking Utensils Holder

Since I can almost never find nice cooking utensils holders, I like getting planter pots an using them as utensils holders.

I love this white planter pot from Target, so pretty!

nice paper towel holder is always nice to have so you can easily grab a piece of paper towel whenever you need 🙂

Using cabinet organizers is definitely a game changer. Maximize your cabinet space with these cabinet organizers and plate organizers from Amazon!

You can fit so much more in one cabinet with these organizers.

Organize your spices with this 36 pcs spice jars set! 

They come with 36 jars, a collapsible funnel for you to put in the spices, 100 white spice labels, 100 black spice labels, and 40 blank labels for you to customize and write on if you want to.

I love putting my syrups in nice syrup dispensers. 

This pack comes with 2 olive oil dispensers and lots of label stickers for you to choose exactly what to put inside. 

You can use these for olive oil, canola oil, maple syrup, avocado oil, coffee syrups, and more!

If you want to organize your kitchen drawers but don’t want to use drawer organizers, I HIGHLY RECOMMEND these bamboo kitchen drawer dividers!

They are perfect for organizing your drawers exactly how you want. They also come in gray and black.

Spice up your pantry and beautifully organize it with these glass food storage jars from Amazon!

They come in a pack of 6 glass jars and with 100 food labels stickers for you to choose exactly what to put in each glass jar.

If there’s something that “changed my life”, is having an organized fridge.

It’s not only the aesthetic part of it, but it’s also very functional and nice to have everything organized in storage bins and knowing exactly what you have.

These reusable silicone storage bags are so good! You can use them as food storage containers, they are also microwave and dishwasher safe, and perfect for keeping leftovers fresh!

They come in a pack of 3 reusable bags, and are perfect for keeping your food fresh.

If there’s something that can give me anxiety, it will definitely be a messy under sink cabinet.

If you can relate, I highly recommend getting this under sink organizer that comes with two tires, and the bottom tire is actually a drawer which is very nice.

Protect your under sink cabinet with this waterproof under sink mat from Amazon!

It’s a silicone sink mat that will protect your under sink cabinet from any leaks or drips.

If you want to nicely store your trash bags, and have good spot to just easily take them out, this trash bags holder is definitely the perfect option!

This plastic bags holder is perfect for neatly storing all of your plastic bags in one place.

It is wall-mounted, but you don’t have to put it there. You can easily place it under the sink and not think about it too much.

Instead of having all of your wraps randomly placed in one messy drawer, you can get this wrap organizer from Amazon, that comes with cutters and labels, and is perfect for storing your plastic wrap/aluminum foil and wax wrap!

If you are looking for an awesome way to organize your pans and lids, I highly recommend this expandable pans & lids organizer from Amazon!

I actually made a TikTok about this when I organized it, and I highly recommend checking it out.

Make your Tupperware drawer organized by getting this food storage container lids organizer from Amazon!

It’s perfect for neatly organizing all of your container lids and have everything organized in one place.

And that’s it for today! I hope you found the best kitchen essentials 🙂

This blog post was about kitchen essentials!

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