It’s your kitchen. Build accordingly.
This guide is for home cooks, not restaurant chefs. You don’t need a commercial kitchen or a video studio. You need the right few pieces for the way you cook and eat. Start with the dishes you want to make, and build from there.
The guide, in four parts
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Part 1: First kitchen cookware essentials
Stove types, what pans are made of, and the smallest set that does the job.
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Part 2: Essential kitchen tools for beginners
Knives, boards, bakeware, measuring, and thermometers: what to buy first.
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Part 3: Your first kitchen essentials checklist
Oils, salt, pantry staples, food safety, and storage.
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Part 4: The best resources to learn to cook
Where to learn real technique. No affiliate links.
Setting up a kitchen for someone you love?
Send the family recipes with them.
Pans are easy to buy. Grandma’s soup isn’t. Add a grown child to your Capseta household, and the family recipes go with them to their first kitchen.
Buy this to start your kitchen
34 things to start. Everything else can wait, and some of it you’ll never need.
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Cookware
7- 3-quart saucepan (opens in a new tab)aka a “cooking pot”; with the skillet, your jack-of-all-trades
- 10-inch skillet (opens in a new tab)the other jack-of-all-trades
- 9-quart Dutch oven (opens in a new tab)does everything from pasta to chili, stews, and soups
- 10-piece set (opens in a new tab)if you’d rather not buy piecemeal; cheaper than the same pieces one at a time
- 8-inch nonstick skillet (opens in a new tab)if you’re partial to eggs or omelets
- A lid and a splatter screenfor skillets; they don’t have to fit perfectly
- Bar Keepers Friend (opens in a new tab)brings stainless steel back to new
Knives
4- 8-inch chef’s knife, or a santoku (opens in a new tab)whichever fits your hand and your budget
- Three paring knives (opens in a new tab)you’ll use them for everything
- Serrated bread knife (opens in a new tab)cut bread instead of smushing it
- Honing steel (opens in a new tab)plus a plan for real sharpening
Boards
1- Two cutting boards, wood or bamboodifferent sizes, to avoid cross-contamination and messes
Bakeware
2- Two half sheet pans (opens in a new tab)the fastest way to feed a group
- Parchment paper (opens in a new tab)enough to cover them; a whole meal on one pan
Measuring
4- Liquid measuring cups (opens in a new tab)
- Dry measuring cups (opens in a new tab)and actually use the right one
- Measuring spoons (opens in a new tab)
- Shotglass measuring cup (opens in a new tab)for pouring just a few teaspoons or tablespoons
Tools
8- Slotted spoon (opens in a new tab)
- Fish spatula (opens in a new tab)never on nonstick
- Silicone spatulas
- Tongs
- Wooden spoons
- Scoops
- Dish towelsmore than you think
- Apronno matter how neat you think you are
Thermometers
1- Instant-read thermometer (opens in a new tab)the one that keeps you from poisoning people
Pantry
4- Olive oillow heat, and drizzling at the end
- Avocado oilthe high-heat neutral
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt (opens in a new tab)the granules are the right size for pinching
- Pepper grinderor a self-grinding jar, to skip a step
Disposables
3- Plastic wrap, foil, and resealable bags
- Food prep gloves (opens in a new tab)raw meat and fish, chiles, and anything that stains — beets, turmeric
- Sharpie and sticker labelslabel it the moment you open it
Add as you go
Not urgent, but you’ll want them within a few months. Spread the cost out; none of it is a rush.
- Tools
- Turning spatula (opens in a new tab), Microplane (opens in a new tab), Box grater
- Prep
- Big mixing bowls, Colander
- Bakeware
- Broiler pan (opens in a new tab), 9×13 baking dish (opens in a new tab), Ice packs, and something deep for an ice bath
- Thermometers
- Fridge and freezer thermometer (opens in a new tab), Oven thermometer (opens in a new tab)
- Pantry
- Maldon flaky sea salt (opens in a new tab), Red pepper flakes, Herbes de Provence
Only if it fits how you cook
Genuinely useful to some people and clutter to everyone else. Buy these when a recipe makes you wish you had one, not before.
- Carbon-steel wok
- Two-burner oven-safe griddle
- Roasting pan with a v-rack
- Cast iron skillet
- Salad spinner
- A second colander
- A simple blender
- Immersion blender
- Knife block set, with a boning knife
Don’t buy these yet
- Stand mixer: expensive, and most people don’t use one enough to justify the counter space.
- Food processor: same.
- Anything that does exactly one thing: be skeptical of single-use gadgets.