The Fullstar Vegetable Chopper is an Eater-editor favorite that lives up to its name by easily cubing, chopping, and dicing veggies straight into a handy storage container (meaning, less countertop cleaning), which is especially handy if you’re cooking sweet potatoes for a crowd over the holidays, prepping vegetables for a hearty stew, or if you have a hoard of onions to chop (no more onion tears). 

If you’re new-ish to KitchenAid, know that these mixers come with a trusty tilt-head design, 10 speed settings, as well as a coated flat beater, dough hook, and 6-wire metal whip. And whether you’re shopping on a budget or have limited kitchen space, KitchenAid’s smaller mixer model can still handle 3.5 quarts of your finest mashed potatoes (all while looking like a serious countertop flex). 

When Eater spoke with Great British Bake Off Star Dylan Bachelet about his takeaways from the show, the wünderkind chef stressed the game-changing nature of Thermapen’s unflinchingly accurate thermometer. As Bachelet explained, “I stopped using the skewer [to check my bakes] and started with Thermapens, and now I use it all the time.” Your future pastries will thank you. 

Eater’s special projects director Lesley Suter is a big fan of gifting salad tongs and serving spoons to friends and party hosts, too, writing “it’s just one of those things that everybody needs, but nobody ever buys for themselves — too utilitarian to count as self-care.” This set looks like it came straight from Matisse’s atelier with its Mediterranean-inspired cutouts.   

I’m a big fan of salad spoons with a little bit of girth; they come in handy when you’re trying to serve up a solid portion of a Greek salad. Plus, this set is dishwasher-safe, 

Originally designed in 1966, the Italian-made Alessi wire basket is a design house classic worthy of your finest farmer’s market bounty.  

Spring is unofficially the season for parting with all of those old, cheap plastic takeout containers you have been using to store leftovers, and upgrading to non-plastic storage containers for a reset. This whopping 24-piece glass set is dishwasher- and freezer-safe, and includes secure lock-in lids, so you can tote your goulash around town with peace of mind. 

At this point, the efficiency of air fryers has been more than proven; Eater’s special projects director Lesley Suter relies on her own to make crispy fried chicken, charred broccoli, flaky scallion pancakes, and more. My only gripe with most air fryers is that they’re not the chicest-looking appliance, but Breville’s stainless steel powerhouse is a sleek iteration that can 

roast, air fry and dehydrate with up to four different food trays and thirteen cooking functions.

When Eater put the cult-fave Instant Pot to the test, it emerged as triumphant against a classic slow cooker. As Jaya Saxena writes about the showdown, “If set-it-and-forget-it meals are your jam, most of our judges go with the multifunctional Instant Pot, using it to cook rice, saute vegetables, and pressure cook, especially if you’re doing a lot of South Asian cooking.” 

As Joseph Hernandez writes for Eater about rice cookers, “In the age of single-use appliances, the rice cooker is anything but. Its ability to transform a variety of grains into multiple different rice dishes (thanks to my particular rice cooker’s settings) has made it my go-to…”  This rice cooker is by the Eater-fave brand Zojirushi, and is designed with a blissfully large and explicit power switch, and stay-cool handles for easy transport.

This stainless steel and silicone utensil set is a lifesaver if you just moved, got a new place, or are looking for the perfect housewarming gift; it’s filled with whisks, tongs, spatulas, as well as a basting brush and cheese knife.