How to videos

With a quality blender, not only can you make smoothies, but I use mine to make everything from all sorts of sauces, pumpkin cheesecake, vegan cheeses, coffee cream, pasta sauces, salad dressings, soups, dips, and more.

Best on a tight budget: Ninja Professional
Best bang for your buck: Breville Fresh & Furious
Best overall: Breville The Super Q

After a blender, the next investment piece I recommend is a food processor. This will allow you to make all sorts of vegan cheeses, seitan, crusts, pates, dips, veggie burgers, hummus, and more.

Best on a tight budget: Hamilton Beach
Best bang for your buck: Cuisinart
Best overall (what I use): Breville Sous Chef

The number one reason why baked goods don’t turn out correctly is due to poorly measured ingredients. I’m very careful about measuring all my ingredients using a simple set of cups and spoons and my baked goods (and all my other recipes) turn out perfectly every time!

Check out this link Here if you are interested in picking up a set of measuring cups and spoons!

If you don’t have a quality can opener, now is the time to get one to open beans, tomatoes, jackfruit, and all sorts of other goodies. Almost every savoury dish I cook starts with a couple of cloves of garlic. A press can save you the hassle of finely mincing the garlic and you can avoid the smelly fingers too! A squeezer makes juicing lemons and limes a sinch. I use lemon juice in many of my baked goods and also add it to my drinking water.

Here are some links if you are interested in picking up any of these helpful tools:

Can Opener

Garlic Press

Citrus Squeezer

This one is just for fun, but a grill pan is a great addition to a kitchen. You can use it instead of a BBQ and it makes drool-worthy grill marks on veggies, tofu, seitan or whatever you choose to toss in there. Check out the link Here if you are looking to pick one up!

My number one most important tool in the kitchen is a good knife. Skip getting the knife set, you really don’t need all the extra sizes. Instead, invest in one quality chef’s knife about 8 inches long. Don’t be intimidated by its size, the length will make cutting large fruit and veg such as melons and squash a breeze. The weight of it will aid in chopping, and the width will allow you to scoop up chopped veg and herbs to add to your pan. Buy a knife sharpener and be sure to use it! A dull knife is not only difficult to work with, but it’s also much more dangerous as it can unpredictably roll off of food instead of cutting straight through it. An extra-large cutting board will give you lots of room for all your prep work or to chop larger items such as watermelon. Check out these links if you are looking to purchase any of these kitchen essentials!

Chef’s Knife

Knife Sharpener

Cutting Board

I use parchment paper all the time. It provides a non-stick surface when baking and unlike aluminum foil, it’s completely compostable. It’s also one of my most common photography backgrounds! Check out this link Here to get your hands on some!

You don’t need the largest set, but a decent selection of pots and pans will last you for years. I’m a big fan of stainless steel for its durability and ease of use. They last much longer than most non-stick pans, and because the handles are also stainless steel (instead of wood or plastic handles) it allows you to use these pans in the oven as well. When it comes to pan-frying I always, always reach for my cast iron skillet. Its natural non-stick surface gets even better with age. The pan cooks evenly and can even be popped directly in the oven. A simple set of baking pans will allow you to do everything from roasting veggies, to making muffins or cupcakes, baking layer cakes, or preparing sweet or savoury loaves. I found this cool set Here if you are interested in getting a set!

I actually prefer spatulas over other types of stirring spoons. Not only can they stir, but they are great at scraping all the bits from the sides of the bowl and are handy for more delicate tasks, such as tossing tofu in marinades, or folding aquafaba into batter. For whipping up sauces, combining marinades, and making baked goods a whisk is a must-have tool. I particularly like this flat whisk as it makes it easier to get into corners of pans, or deglaze pans. I’ve provided links to both a spatula and whisk if you are looking to get either!

Spatula

Whisk

While you can press a block of tofu by wrapping it in a tea towel, and placing some heavy objects on top, if tofu pressing is something you think you might do often, I recommend grabbing yourself a tofu press. I love this one as I can toss my tofu in there, pop it in the fridge, and it can press for up to a few days. Here is a link to the Tofu Press that I use and find really helpful in the kitchen.

While I am not a big fan of kitchen “fads” and specialty gadgets, I can’t deny the fact that I use my Air Fryer multiple times a week. This is not a mandatory kitchen item, but I thought I would include a video for it because it can be applied to a number of recipes in the Easy Vegan Meal Plan. This fryer is great as it requires little to no oil to make things crispy and delicious! Here is the Air Fryer I recommend. 

Pretty self-explanatory! But definitely worth covering as these are staples and are used in pretty much all the recipes you will find in the Easy Vegan Meal Plan!