27 Products That Might Make Cooking Feel More Doable

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A Dash rice maker if the biggest barrier to you eating an at-home stir fry is your fear of burning the rice. Again. BUT SUCH NEWS: You no longer have to be afraid, because this handy little gadget will make perfectly fluffy rice EVERY TIME! As a former Rice Freaker-Outer, I promise this is the answer to all your kitchen wishes.
Promising reviews: "Does an amazing job cooking my sushi rice. Had it for a year now and it's still going strong. Does not burn your food simply keeps it warm. I constantly forget I'm cooking something and will normally burn my food by accident but this little cooker has been a life saver for me and my food." —Deisi Cervantez"This mini rice cooker is small but mighty—like the kitchen version of a chihuahua. I blink and suddenly there's perfect rice and zero judgment for my single-person meal. It's like having a personal chef who only knows one recipe, but nails it every time." —Ce CeGet it from Amazon for $21.95 (available in five colors).
A folding silicone splatter guard to keep you safe from splattering oils and popping veggies because cooking is hard enough without dodging around your kitchen. Bonus points: This doubles as a trivet so you can set your fresh-off-the-burner dishes down without burning your countertops and furniture.
I LOVE that this one folds in half for easy storage and checking on whatever I'm cooking while still protecting from the splatters. It's machine washable, too, so I just chuck it in the dishwasher when I'm done (lovingly) abusing it. Easy peasy. Get it from Amazon for $19.99 (available in two colors).
A Pioneer Woman stand mixer so you can mixy-mixy like a pro, but without shelling out the wad of cash you see for That Big Brand. (Lots of reviewers have both and love this one MORE!) Whether you're making pastry dough for pizza, pot pies, or a lil' after-dinner dessert, you and your tired arms be thrilled to have this mixer in your kitchen corner.
Promising reviews: "The mixer is as good or better than my daughter-in-laws Kitchen Aide, and more included attachments. I'm just thrilled with my pretty, heavy duty beauty." —Kristen"LOVE LOVE LOVE this!!!! I have a kitchen aid stand mixer and this one is so much better. Smaller and lighter to lift and put on counter, but just as powerful!!!! Love the clear guard to keep contents from spilling out while mixing. Highly recommend!!!!" —JillGet it from Walmart for $129.
An Our Place 6-in-1 Wonder Oven my fam is personally in love with because it does everything (toast, roast, air fry, and bake) while taking up the world's smallest footprint on our counter. We've had other combo ovens in the past, but we use this one so much more because it makes it SO EASY to get what you need done fast, in part because the dials are analog, not digital. (No school like the old school when it comes to speed!)
Look, I love digital stuff as much as the next thirty-something, but sometimes there are just too many options on those tiny screens and you want to just turn a dial and get it done now without having to scroll through one hundred choices, thanks. Plus, I SWEAR it cooks faster than our others did, and the reviewer below agrees!Promising review: "This oven replaced a 25+ year old toaster oven for us. The only downside was the learning curve for how much faster and more efficiently this cooked things! Chose it for the wide variety of functions - we didn't have an air fryer, and as said our toaster was old enough to vote and drink - as well as the looks ("like a grown-up easy bake oven"). It fits great in our kitchen, very well made and pleasant to use, and it works great as well." —William RothGet it from Amazon for $140+ (available in two sizes and four colors).
A Kitchen Mama automatic can opener that'll speed up those casseroles that involve a bunch of canned veggies and cans of broth without requiring another counter-based gadget. This one works with a quick click of the button, so you can totally do other prep things while this does the opening work for you!
A Cospro 3-in-1 wireless charging stainless-steel grinder set I will PERSONALLY never go without again because it is one less barrier to me *thinking* about cooking and me *actually* cooking. The one-handed grinding is a real game changer because I can season with freshly ground salt and pepper simultaneously and move on to the next step. Plus, it holds a charge FOREVER, so even if you don't want to keep the base plugged in all the time, it's good to go. This gadget is SO sleek, y'all, and it works as good as it looks!
Promising review: "I purchased the 3-in-1 Salt and Pepper Grinder Set. I like the modern and clean design of the grinders. They feel sturdy and well made and look nice sitting on my countertop. It was very easy to fill each grinder with my preferred spices and seasonings. I really like that you can adjust the coarseness of the grinders. They have helped speed up food preparation as I no longer have to manually grind my various salts and peppers." —GlobeTrotter77Get it from Amazon for $55.96 (also available in sets of one, two, and five).
A Masterbuilt portable charcoal grill and smoker if your ideal dinner is smoked meat and grilled veggies, but your ideal aesthetic does ~not~ include a hulking piece of metal chilling permanently in your yard or spending $$$ to have it dashed to your door. This handy-dandy grill/smoker comes with a removable cart so you can take it just about anywhere, including your tiny porch. You're welcome.
Promising review: "This baby was super easy to set up and get running. I love the heavy duty build and design is simple and effective. We're going to be testing it out on the boat next weekend and I will report a review again to share our story!" —Deep Creek OutfitterGet it from Walmart for $335.55 or from Masterbuilt for $329.99.
A breakfast sandwich maker that's so fast and easy, it basically means you're ENCOURAGED to have breakfast for dinner whenever you want, which gets you back to your fave TV spot all the faster!
A hand-powered chopper if you can't be bothered to find an empty outlet because you've gotta finish dinner and rush back to that DIY project you're finishing up. (Or your hot, morally gray book crush. No judgment.)
A rotating pizza oven if homemade pizza is on the menu tonight (and many nights thereafter). This rotates to evenly cook homemade OR frozen pizza and saves up to 60% of the energy of using the Big Bad Oven... which also takes forever to preheat, let's be honest.
Reviewers cook everything on this, not just pizza. A lot of them use it as a substitute air fryer and love how easy it is to store. And if pizza is what's for dinner, don't forget to throw some Mike's Hot Honey in your cart to drizzle on the top. (You're welcome in advance if you haven't tried this life hack.)Promising reviews: "I use it to make pizza, corn dogs, tater tots, chicken stripes, and almost anything else that you would have use your oven for and it cooks things faster than your oven. 😋" —Tonia O."We first saw it at a friend's home and had to try it. It is faster and more efficient than heating up the oven for frozen pizzas, which we add additional toppings to. It heats from above AND below, which turns out not only to be great for frozen pizzas but also for small bites, appetizers, and other items like canned cinnamon rolls. Best of all, it is amazing at reheating leftover pizza to practically like the first time, with a crispy crust and hot cheese — so much better than the soggy, limp microwave reheating. Now, we LOVE leftover pizza." —FigswayGet it from Amazon for $84.04 (available in two colors).
Or a brand new splurge-worthy propane rotating stone pizza oven from All-Clad, the company that has been making stellar bonded cookware in Pennsylvania for over half a century. (You've for CERTAIN drooled over their pans.) This ultra-compact magician of a gadget means you'll have evenly cooked pizza in less than two minutes, just like in a traditional brick oven, but without needing to live in a pizza joint to get it.
See it ~doing the thing~ in this TikTok vid and try to resist the urge to turn your kitchen into Insert Your Name Here's Pizzeria. Get it from All-Clad for $999.99 (originally $1,299.99).
A super simple cookbook from Your Barefoot Neighbor so you can make a meal that feels cozy and doable, even on your emotionally overdrawn Tuesdays. Don't forget your handy cookbook holder, too!
Check out his TikTok here! In a sea of "fresh tomatoes hand grown in your garden is best" kinda chefs, Matthew is here to champion the, "Eh. It'll be fine from a can and still taste great" method, and I ADORE HIM FOR IT.Promising reviews: "The bomb-digity of easy cooking! Absolutely the lazy cooks cookbook. I believe cooking is a waste of time and I'd rather fold laundry or wash dishes then cook. This book contains the best most delicious short cuts! Run and get it!!!" —D. Stansberry"This book is perfect! Easy meals, offers lots of variety, and every recipe has a picture! I made the Hawaiian Pork immediately and it's delicious. Real food, simple ingredients, big flavors. I'm going to start on page 1, and make every single one. Can't wait. Yum!!!" —ChubbymuggleGet it from Amazon for $14.99+ (available in paperback, hardback, spiral-bound, and e-book).
An electric tea kettle you can use for making a pot of tea, a bowl of your favorite instant ramen or oatmeal, or for speeding up your "watched pot never boils" time by heating it in the kettle first! This one includes the ability to schedule your kettle, meaning it's one less thing to do when compiling all your meal prep goodies in the kitchen.
Great Jones is a woman-run, New York-based small business that wants equip and empower you to cook at home — and make your kitchen your happy place. I *personally* have a couple of their items (shoutout to my impossible-to-cook-in-without-smiling mustard casserole dish) and let me tell you: The quality is simply stunning across the board.Promising reviews: "Excellent kettle. Heats quickly pours great looks fantastic and comes with nice extra features. The scheduled heat-up time alone makes this worth the money...cuts back significantly on the routine time in the morning." —Anonymous"Five star form AND function! It's just perfect! It's technologically savvy and drop dead gorgeous. So easy to set up and use. I love the temperature hold feature…game changer!" —AnonymousGet it from Great Jones Goods for $225 (also available in a limited edition here).
A microwave panini press that'll fulfill your grilled cheese and tomato soup hankering in a jiff. Be sure to life-hack yourself and grab some Campbell's microwavable soup because, again, this is supposed to be quick and easy.
A Black + Decker air fryer if you need a quick side of fries, mozzarella sticks, or anything else that needs a FAST (but crispy!) turnaround. We use this all the time for my kiddo's emotional support chicken nuggets when we're trying new foods, and it's perfect because it truly is a "program and leave it" situation while everything else is cooking.
Don't forget your air fryer liners for even easier cleanup. I bought these and they fit PERFECTLY in this model!Promising review: "I bought this because my old air fryer stopped working. I used it almost every day. It was my favorite appliance. I say all this because I did not know an air fryer could be even better and this one is. It's amazing. First off it's so quiet, I didn't even know it was on it first. It cooks incredibly fast.. much faster than my old one that I already thought was fast. Food comes out perfect. Even crispier. I can't vouch for its longevity but it's a stellar air fryer. Lots of bang for your buck. The only complaint I have is that the drawer is a tiny bit sticky but not enough to deduct any stars or want a different model. Buy it. You won't regret it." —Julie HallGet it from Amazon for $54.39+ (available in four sizes).
A fast-prep kitchen slicer because faster can also mean safer! Spare your fingers (and your precious not-cooking time) by cutting chicken, tomatoes, and other weirdly hard-to-slice foods with ease.
A rapid ramen cooker for those nights when a bowl of ramen would really hit the spot, but lots of prep time would not.
A rapid fruit and veggie divider that'll cut everything from berries to carrots into four lengthwise quarters for the perfect snacking, cooking, and girl dinner size.
A silicone clip-on colander if one of your fam's main food groups is mac 'n' cheese and one of your main food groups is making your life easier.
Promising reviews: "I hated digging for a colander every time I wanted to drain my kid's noodles. Now I just reach for this clip on the pot and strain. So much more convenient." —Melissa"Super easy to use and convenient with all my pots. Has made the pasta and grease straining process faster and cleaner. Ended up buying a couple more for family and friends!" —AshwoGet it from Amazon for $11.97+ (available in seven colors).
A HelloFresh everything-you-need meal kit subscription if you would like to decrease your grocery shopping trips, simplify your meal planning, AND change up the four things you know how to make. HEAR ME OUT. I — like you — have heard the podcast ads forever and kinda just rolled my eyes, BUT I AM A CHANGED WOMAN.
My partner signed us up on a whim and now we... eat vegetables? NIGHTLY. And they're delicious and easy enough that I, a simpleton, can make them??? I could go on, but just trust me on this one: Absolutely worth the chore-saving hype and then some. We spend wayyy less at the grocery store per week because so many meals are "already taken care of" via HelloFresh. I like to lay out the recipes at the beginning of each week and use my best Mufasa voice to tell my family, "Everything the light touches... is our dinner." The best part? The recipes are divided up into individual bags so I can just grab one out of the fridge and get to gettin' on making dinner even if I have no brain cells left by the end of the day. Oh, and did I mention it's all delivered directly to our door (in the best recyclable packaging, I might add)? ~Perfection~.Get it from HelloFresh starting at $21.96+ per box (originally $56.95+; available for two, four, or six people, and with two, three, four, five, or six recipes per week).
A microwave pasta maker since carb loading shouldn't have to mean "dish loading" when you're done prepping. This handy dandy pasta maker comes with a straining lid, so you don't even have to mess with a colander, and you will have your pasta done before your kid can finish two full Bluey episodes.
A microwave potato bag that's both functional and adorably feels like tucking your wee lil' potato into a sleeping bag. It'll also save you the trouble of heating your whole house up with an oven for one small tuber.
These bags can also be used for sweet potatoes and corn!Promising review: "I gave these as a gift after buying for myself. These eliminate the waste of energy making potatoes in the oven. I am using every possible product to eliminate having to turn on my oven and these bags are at the top of the list. The people I gifted these to were really pleased with how easy and well they worked. And having a baked potato in under 10 minutes sure beats an hour in the oven." –Jacqueline Get a two-pack from Amazon for $8.49.
A self-stirring multi-cooker for those of us whose grown-up version of a fairy godmother would be a private chef. This dream machine uses an automatic paddle to shred meats and stir soups and stews so you can spend less time in the kitchen and more time doing literally anything else.
Promising reviews: "Works as advertised. Made apple butter without it sticking. Cleaned super easy, basically rinsed it out with some soapy water. No scrubbing." —Elizabeth"This is going to save hours of my life. Caramelized onions perfectly. Every 5-10 minutes I'd scrape down the sides so it's not 100% hands-free but it's way less hands-on. Yeeeessssss." —HGet it from Walmart for $51.47 (originally $99)
An 8-quart Instant Pot and air fryer if you've loved the original Instant Pot Duo and want an upgrade. Reviewers say this newfangled version heats faster and has more functions that will help you cook a whole meal here instead of in your oven. Set it, forget it, and still end up with a meal that tastes like you tried!
Promising review: "Wonderful all-arounder. Have no regrets buying this product. I have been using Instant Pot for over five years, and this is my second one. The product is high quality and works perfectly without any issues. The air fryer is amazing and easy to use. You can feel the new features and differences compared to Duo if you have used the Duo before, and it feels like a pretty big upgrade." —DeepakGet it from Target for $199.99 (originally $269.99).
A Souper Cubes freezer tray truly made to get you back to your couch in record time because ~meal prep~ is an investment in your glorious just-watch-TV-and-rot recharge time. Each cube has enough room for a cup of pasta sauce or soup so that you can make a big ol' batch, save the extras, and run your microwave panini press for a whirl, and voilà! Dinner is served!
A hybrid digital food scale and measuring cup for those more ~precise~ recipes that are delicious but painstaking. This will help cut down on the time it takes to make sure you're putting the right amount of ingredients in those yummy baked goods you're making for the next big friend hangout.
A pair of cute bat kitchen shears because my life was changed when I realized you can use scissors on anything: Chicken breasts, those annoying stumpy parts of lettuce, shrimp tails, tomatoes. Nothing is stopping you from using scissors instead of a knife and I swear it can be so much quicker.
Promising review: "Not only are these the perfect kitchen scissors, but basically the perfect everything scissors! I use these 24/7 since I got them. Not to mention how CUTE they are! They cut amazingly and are sooooo worth the money." —Matthew Z. Get them from Amazon for $11.35.