1. A pair of herb scissors that'll make Taco Tuesday prep even easier with five-blade shears ready to chop up extra cilantro. Who doesn't love extra cilantro? Promising reviews: "I’ve recently tried growing some herbs on my patio and have loved using herbs in cooking.
These make life so much easier. After I clean my herbs, these scissors make it easy to quickly cut them into small pieces. The design is brilliant.
The plastic cover helps get herb pieces off the scissors, so there’s no waste. It’s easy to wash, too." — Lori "These scissors are good and sturdy, I like the cleaning tool it came in handy.
These will speed up my chopping time. It cuts evenly and the blades are sharp." — Khan Get it from Amazon for $7.
18 . 2. A 4-in-1 chopper, spiralizer, dicer and slicer ideal for meal prepping.
You can chop onions and nuts, mince herbs, or spiralize zuchinni. And it's compact, which makes it a great addition to kitchens with little to no counter space. Promising review: "This kitchen tool speeds up food prep.
I wish I had discovered it years ago. No more crying over onions! It's only limitation that I have found, is it can't handle sweet potatoes." — Bill B Get it from Amazon for $29.
97 (available in three colors). 3. A crepe maker in case you've constantly tried to make those buttery, thin, flakey sheets of utter goodness only to be left with a burnt paper-like bready structure.
It stops today! Promising reviews: "This thing is great. You can cook a pile of crepes in half the time it takes using a large pan or griddle, and it's way easier. They're perfectly sized and shaped too.
" — MixedProducts "This crepe maker cooks crepes about twice as fast as our old one (a different brand). Speeds things up when we want to cook a lot of crepes!" — SJ Get it from Amazon for $31.99 (available in four colors).
4. A two-basket Ninja air fryer that'll let you cook just about anything you want from the comfort of your dorm. You won't even miss your oven back home.
With the double baskets, you can cook two different foods at the same time. Promising reviews: "So I had the original air fryer with one compartment and I was just fine with that. But getting this opened me up to more possibilities.
You can cook double the food at separate temperatures much faster. It’s got a bit of weight on it but it’s sturdy. A little more quieter than I expected, too.
" — UncleNahshon "I have 3 kids and this speeds up dinner time by A LOT. It’s one of if not the best kitchen item I’ve purchased." — David Garrison Get it from Amazon for $159.
99 (available in different sizes). 5. The Thaw Claw here to help you thaw out meat in under half an hour because, when you live alone, you can't call home and have someone take the meat out in case you forget.
Don't worry, dinner isn't ruined. It'll just be delayed a few minutes. Thaw Claw is a Black-owned small biz that's been featured on Shark Tank , HSN, and Good Morning America ! Promising reviews: " This device, with its suction base and spread design, keeps the food item under its fingers to allow the thawing process to complete in less than half the time by just putting it in the water.
And before you object, 'that’s not safe, the temperature will rise too much and promote bacteria growth' — I have ServSafe certs. I know my time and temp levels and those are in no way even close to approaching the danger zone unless you leave it for hours before cooking. I recommend this item for anyone, but especially anyone who has time constraints for evening dinner prep or any other time for that matter.
" — mudhen7 "This things is excellent. I make my own dog food and frequently decide to do it at the last minute. This makes life so much easier.
It really does allow the meat to thaw in about 15 minutes which speeds up browning the ground meat. Thank you for a very simple but very much needed kitchen tool!" — Jane K Learn more about safe food thawing methods here . Get it from Amazon for $18.
95 (available in four colors). 6. An Instant Pot here to do just about anything you want it to.
It's a pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice cooker, steamer, sauté pan, yogurt maker, and food warmer all rolled into one nifty appliance. Read our Instant Pot review for more deets! Promising reviews: "Everybody says these things are awesome and it's because they really are! Faster and easier cooking, less cleanup and delicious food. " — Perry Rush " I've heard so much hype about this product from my friends and had to see if this lived up to it.
I borrowed my friend's 6qt for a week (only allowed because she had just gotten her 8-qt), and I was so pleased with it that I had my own 8qt being delivered in the mail by the time I gave the 6qt back. I work full-time, go to school, and have a family of four so the idea of something that speeds up making dinner really appealed to me. This is a great tool for busy weeknights and it has quickly become a staple in my kitchen.
" — TC Flo Get it from Amazon for $79.95 . 7.
An herb stripping tool in case you're anything like me and know nothing about how you're supposed to get the herbs off of their...
stems?! Help. Promising review: "I had this little gem on my list for a long time. I thought I might need it, and I was right!! We eat a lot of cilantro and this speeds it up 100%! Have used it a few times already.
The blade is super short, scares me! Totally worth the small price!!! Highly recommended!!" — Cheryl Oman Get it from Amazon for $5.99 . 8.
A rapid ramen cooker , as seen on Shark Tank, that'll let you make perfect noodles without having to boil water on the stove. Promising reviews: "Makes cooking ramen easier, no cover needed. Thought it was a bit expensive but it makes perfect ramen without the mess.
Best texture noodles, way better than the stove." — Rupert " LOVED this product! I will be using it a TON! Worked exactly as advertised and you can tell it will hold up well in the future! It's the perfect size and impossible to screw up. Made for the microwave, it has a fill line for the water and you cook it for 4 minutes.
I've added the seasoning both before and after cooking and it made no difference for me. Solves the problem of having to dirty a pan to cook the noodles and speeds up the whole process greatly. The noodles are cooked perfectly and a wonderful texture.
The pan cleans quickly and easily and then you can eat out of it!! Handy handles that don't burn your hands. LOVED this item. An absolute MUST for the Ramen Noodle lovers out there!! BUY this, you WON'T regret it! What a useful, wonderful invention!" — Kay A Get it from Amazon for $9.
99+ (available in various multi-packs and in 15 colors). 9. A rapid egg cooker so you can boil, poach, scramble, or even make an omelet super quick.
Now, you can finally fit breakfast into your morning routine. Picture perfect eggs every time, just look at the picture below. 👇🏽 Promising reviews: "This little device speeds up cooking of soft, medium and hard boiled eggs by at least 10 minutes because I don't have to wait for water to boil in a pot first.
Water starts steaming very quickly. The alarm isn't super loud either. Put the eggs in an ice bath afterwards and they peel easy.
Comes with a measuring cup that also has a pin on the bottom to puncture the eggs before cooking. Excellent instructions too. It also makes poached and small omelets too.
" — D.G. "This is the best kitchen appliance I have bought in a long time! Super easy and quick to use.
I have a busy schedule, and I make egg salad a LOT to take with me...
this saves me SO much time and effort. Set it and forget it, but the super loud continuous buzzer/alarm will NOT let you forget it, which is a nice safety design. Takes exactly 16 minutes to boil eggs and they are perfect.
They're also REALLY easy to peel! I've never peeled eggs so easily before. Huge plus that I hadn't even considered. This little contraption is also pretty small and stores easily.
Even if you only boil eggs once in a while, it's worth it!" — Jaime Bosworth Get it from Amazon for $18.99+ (available in six colors). Check out our Dash rapid egg cooker review for more deets! 10.
A splurge-worthy Instant Pot pressure cooker with a lot of really fancy features so you can go from being a PB&J cook to a top chef that can pressure cook, slow cook, sear/sauté, steam, and more. It has a built-in scale to help you measure ingredients as well as an auto-release that'll let the steam out when it's done cooking. Promising reviews: "I cook mostly meat and this pot comes up to pressure faster than the Duo Pot.
Because it heats faster it speeds up the entire cooking process. " — kerry kjargaard Get it from Amazon for $149.95+ (available in two sizes).
11. A vegetable slicer because despite the number of tutorials you've watched, cutting veggies just isn't your strong suit and that's completely okay. Promising review: " This mandoline has made my life a lot easier when it comes to cooking.
It is incredibly sharp, can be adjusted to slice even the most paper-thin slices and I really like the attachments for salads/garnishes/pickle making, etc." — Angeline " I really have enjoyed using the slicer. I do a lot of raw foods and it certainly speeds up the process.
" — Sheila Larson Get it from Amazon for $30.64 . 12.
A set of stainless-steel measuring cups (and spoons!) for quickly portioning off your ingredients so you can get all your ducks in a row before it's time to combine them all for your secret marinade or cupcake batter. Promising reviews: "Simply love everything about the measuring cups and spoons. The extra measuring markings on each cup surprised me and makes my “baking time” go so much faster! Now I can free up drawer space by discarding old plastics with unreadable markings.
Thank you for a great product!" — Kricket "This is my secod set. I just wanted an extra set to help speed up time on big cooking days. Love them!" — Beth Get it from Amazon for $32.
99 . 13. A dishwasher-safe garlic peeler that TBH is one of those things that you think you have in the kitchen until you buy garlic and then you realize you don't have it.
You'll never not need it because everything is better with garlic. This includes a ventilated case for storage. Promising review: "This thing is awesome.
Made of a thick, quality silicone, it feels like it's made to last. This doesn't feel like a cheap, flimsy kitchen tool. Plus I like that it has a plastic box to keep it clean.
I read a bunch of reviews before buying, because there are a ton of garlic peelers on Amazon for super low prices. I chose this one because I trust OXO as a brand, have many of their other products and they've lasted. Plus, positive reviews and a protective case.
I'm SO happy I got this thing. I put in 2 cloves of garlic, press lightly on the countertop and roll it, and BAM. Fresh, clean cloves ready to mince for my recipe.
A great kitchen tool to simplify and speed up your process. " — Afrobella Get it from Amazon for $9.99 .
14. And a garlic press you can use to, of course, mince garlic, *but also* to crush seeds, fresh spices, and more to make your next dinner top tier. Bonus that it's dishwasher safe and keeps your hands from retaining any strong garlic odor.
Promising review: "Recently got this as I use garlic almost daily but the find the pre-minced loses flavor too quickly. This speeds up my prep and I love that it’s dishwasher safe." — Sami Get it from Amazon for $12.
99+ (available in two sizes and seven colors). 15. A pancake batter dispenser sure to make you the ruler of hotcake perfection.
You'll ~wow~ with your next set of pancakes, waffles, crepes, and more, as long as you get the measurements right. You can also use it to dispense cake batter, too. KPKitchen is the small business that created this nifty contraption.
Promising reviews: "I just upgraded my pancake game!! This thing was SUPER easy and not messy at ALL!! 5/5 review from me! Get yours NOW!" — Bobbi Ocker " I saw this on Instagram and had to get it. I am pretty much happy with the product. It’s very to use.
Really anyone can use it and it doesn’t make a lot of mess. It can be a pain to clean but just a little. Make sure to throughly clean.
And make sure to have no lumps at all or you will find the batter difficult to dispense. Overall, I am satisfied and speeds up the process. " — Jessica A.
Get it from Amazon for $19.19 . 16.
A mini food processor aka a compact mighty wonder to help you make homemade sauces, dips, butter, and more. It can even chop herbs! Why do it yourself when you have a helper who'll do it with no complaint? Promising reviews: "Was a little skeptical about ordering, the size is small but I was pleasantly surprised at the remarkable results. I need onions or celery or anything for baking or cooking this product makes my job easier and faster.
Would definitely recommend" — Sandy " This chopper works great, and speeds up prep time! It was a little tricky to figure out how to secure the cup onto the machine, but I finally figured it out! It’s a compact, so it doesn’t take up a lot of space!" — Connie Flanagan Huet Get it from Amazon for $33 (available in five colors). 17. A rice cooker here to take over the task of making your side dish.
Just throw your grains in the bowl, set it up, and let the magic of not having to do anything take over. Promising reviews: "For the size and price this is a great rice cooker. I've been using my Instapot for years to cook rice, and it's been mostly fine; however, this cooker just works better.
Not only that, it comes with a vegetable steamer. Now I can use the instapot for cooking actual meat/stew and use the rice cooker along with it speeding up cook time. " — Adam S.
Get it from Amazon for $19.50+ (available in five sizes). 18.
A 5-in-1 countertop cooker — sure, you can use it to prepare burgers. You can also use it to cook salmon. Oh, it can grill veggies as well.
Want to make a panini? It can do that, too. You can also lay it flat for a dual griddle. This baby right here? It can pretty much deliver anything you want to make in less time than ever before.
Imagine barbecuing in the middle of winter. *chef's kiss* This combines a contact grill, panini press, full grill, full griddle, and half grill/half griddle into one counter-space-saving device. So yes, you can use it to grill burgers on Friday night *and* make pancakes Saturday morning.
Promising reviews: "Great product. Have made steak, burgers, shish-kabobs, and veggies. Everything turned out great.
Was a chore cooking steak on the stove as the smoke alarm would go off each time and the steak would often be overcooked. With this, not only is it faster cooking time, but easy to use. The smoke alarm never goes off.
Get great grill marks. Cooks well, juicy. And a breeze to clean.
Just let it cool, scrape off residue quickly, toss in dishwasher, and ready to use again. Great purchase. Use it regularly.
" — rudeboyrg " Love this Grill. I have cooked on it a lot Does Steak in about 10 minutes. Great for anyone that needs to speed up cooking time.
My husband got this grill for me for Christmas LOVE it. you won't go wrong on the price either." — JoAnn Davis Get it from Amazon for $99.
95 . 19. A meat shredding tool for anybody who loves a pulled pork sandwich or some shredded chicken tacos.
This thing makes the whole using-two-forks-to-rudimentarily-shred-meat process obsolete. Simply place your meat between the two pieces, push down, twist, and voila! Perfectly shredded bits. Promising review: "I've only used it one time so far, but it works.
I cut the chicken breast into large chunks and placed them in the bottom tray. It took a few hard tugs to get it started, but once it started breaking up the chicken the shredding got easier and easier. It definitely speeds up the tedious process! " — Mary J.
Get it from Amazon for $19.99 (available in three colors). 20.
A stainless-steel scraper and chopper tool that will greatly speed up any at-home baker's bread-making process. Reviewers also love this for easily scooping up sliced veggies and dropping them into pans! Promising reviews: "I do a lot of vegetable chopping, and this scraper really speeds things up. Much faster and easier than using the knife or your hands to transfer chopped food.
Dishwasher safe and inexpensive. Should have bought one years ago." — renae c "This is a great tool for anyone who chops a ton of veggies.
Just scoop the veggies up and pop them into the pan. Not to mention it helps speed up cooking. " — Melissa Get it from Amazon for $11.
99 . 21. A hand immersion blender to make your cooking smooth, literally.
Perfect for smoothies, sauces, and soups. Promising reviews: "So happy I bought this. My old one, from the thrift store, cracked.
It was an oldy! This one is awesome! Blends the soup so well and fast!!!! Great find!" — Sandy Butler " Used for the first time to speed up the breakdown of strawberries for a strawberry reduction for a cake. Did a beautiful job. I am most impressed with the weight and construction of the pieces.
Great buy for the money." — Amazon Customer Get it from Amazon for $24.99 .
22. A set of two cast-iron burger presses you can use for all your grilling needs in these last few weeks of summer (*sobs about the impending end of grilling season*). The set comes with one circular press and one rectangular press! Promising review: "Bought them for smash burgers and to help cook quickly.
They work great and are easy additions that speed cooking if you are on a flat top. Burgers to Bacon, they make light and fun work of grilling. They also fit inside most of my cast iron pans too.
" — RAKJ Get it from Amazon for $27.99 (also available as individual sets and other set variations). 23.
A nonstick meat and potato masher ready to break up and ~chop chop~ ground meat, potatoes, and other foods in a flash. It's way easier and more efficient than trying to force another tool to do it. This is made for the *chop* and more than 46,000 reviewers agree.
Promising reviews: "Why did I wait so long to buy one of these? The same day I received it, I was making broccoli and my hubby doesn’t like it in big chunks, so I decided to try to break up the broccoli with it and it was SO fast and easy !! I wish I would have bought one sooner!" — Jennifer139 "I've seen the chefs use this device and thought I would give it a try. It did speed the process up in breaking up a block of ground beef." — Lore Get it from Amazon for $16.
99 (available in black and blue). 24. A no-touch cooking thermometer to simultaneously make sure you're not serving under or overcooked meat while also making cleanup a breeze! No actual meat touching = no scrubbing in the sink later.
Hallelujah. Promising review: "Wonderful..
.cant believe I waited this long to get one of these. speeds up the whole process.
" — JoAnn Mahaffey Get it from Amazon for $19.60 (available in three colors). 25.
A KitchenAid stand mixer because...
.well, duh. If you've ever tried to bake, mix, cook, etc.
without one of these babies, you know the struggle. This makes the whole putting all the ingredients together process so much easier and faster. Promising reviews: "Great helper if you love to bake; speeds up the work, easy to use, and the attachments available are big plus.
" — Trelane Dante "I love that this mixer is so heavy-duty. My kids and I like to bake a lot. The way the paddle blade whips up a bar cookie dough is super fast.
I like that I can lock the stainless steel bowl down and control the speed of the mixing process. I've yet to have a tough cookie after switching from my hand mixer to the stand mixer. The wire whisk blade also creates the most fluffy meringue, so light and airy.
Once again being able to control the speed of the whisking action has been key in this process. I also love, love, love the dough hook. I have a sourdough bread recipe that calls for a total of 6 cups of flour.
Mixing it with my hand mixer was impossible, and stirring by hand was exhausting. However, this mixer's dough blade attachment did the work in hardly no time at all. I was able to put all the ingredients together and get on with the good part of baking bread much faster and having that wonderful aroma permeate my house.
" — Amazon Customer Get it from Amazon for $449.95 (available in 22 colors). 26.
A manual vegetable chopper you simply throw chunks of onion, carrots, celery, etc., underneath and then bang! bang! bang! on the top until you have perfectly chopped ingredients. Promising review: "I absolutely love all things Oxo good grip.
This food chopper did not disappoint! It is extremely easy to assemble and disassemble/wash, the size is perfect, great and sturdy quality, and a breeze for speeding up prep time in the kitchen. The price is also very affordable, you will be very happy with your purchase." — Shannon Get it from Amazon for $22.
94 . 27. And a set of colorful knives if you're tired of wasting time in the kitchen wondering if you used this knife to cut the raw chicken or that one.
With these, you can always know the red one is for meat and the yellow one is for veggies! Promising reviews: "Great value and very sharp. Should cover every knife u will ever need. Each comes with a great knife cover.
Life changing; speeds up prep time. " — M "For some reason, I have continued to use old, dulled chopping and paring knives I've had for a long time. These were such a great deal and I don't know why I waited so long to purchase them.
Chopping with a sharp knife makes me not dread cutting up veggies anymore! It may seem silly, but I went so long struggling with chopping and didn't realize how dull my old knives were until I began using these. I also love the sheaths/covers for the blade. These are not to be put in the dishwasher, so if that's a deal breaker for you, I wouldn't recommend.
However, I have found it's worth it to hand wash them and preserve the knife quality. Would recommend and would purchase again if I needed to!" — AJ Get it from Amazon for $15.28 .
You to yourself after making a delicious meal in half the time: Some reviews may have been edited for length and/or clarity..
