Top 3 Basic Kitchen Essentials for Cooking If You're on a Budget

If you're new to cooking, or you just moved into your first apartment or home and are on a budget, you will need some kitchen essentials. These three things are affordable. I can't imagine my kitchen without them! Next to a wooden chopping board, a microwave and a can opener, these three things are the most important bare necessities.

Non-stick Skillet with a Glass Cover

If you're really going for the bare necessities, I would opt for the largest pan they have at the store. The non-stick element is important so you can avoid a lot of scrubbing during clean-up and it will be easy to flip pancakes, eggs or any kind of meat you are trying to brown. I use this for everything from stir-fries to French toast. I also find that having a glass cover is convenient because some recipes require a lid, but I want to still see what's going on under the lid. I want to see if my potatoes are sticking or my vegetables have wilted.

Wooden Spatula with Flat End

Since you'll be using a non-stick skillet, it's important that all the utensils that come into contact with the pan won't do damage to the Teflon surface. If you use something metal, it will eventually scrape off the non-stick part of the pan. If you use something plastic, the plastic will melt into your food. There are already numerous studies that show that ingesting any amount of heated plastic, whether from microwaving with plastic containers or using plastic instruments for your heated dishes causes cancer. The safest bet is to use a wooden spatula. When you go to the store, you'll notice that a lot of large spatulas have spoon-like ends. They are usually round. Avoid these! A round end is only good for dishes in large pots, like stews and soups. I highly recommend getting a spatula with a flat end because your pan has a large, flat, bottom surface and using a spatula with a flat end makes it so much easier to stir.

Large, Long, Wide, Knife-Part Serrated, Part Straight-Edge

I use garlic for almost every salty dinner recipe. Even with a garlic press available in my kitchen now, I still use my large knife to press the garlic. I find that the garlic press makes the garlic pieces too small and the garlic easily gets burned before it's able to release it's flavors. It's convenient to use the knife because I already have to dice the garlic, so I lay the knife down on its side and press the garlic to the chopping board. This opens up the garlic and allows for easy removal of the outside. You'll notice that depending on what you're cutting, it's easier to use a serrated knife on some things, and a straight edge knife on others. With a large knife that has both a serrated and straight edge, you really don't need another knife in the kitchen! I've also noticed that it also takes less effort to chop ingredients when you use a large knife.

Check out the pictures!