The best way to ensure that you’re cooking healthy and delicious foods is to do it yourself. While it can take time to plan, prep and then actually make the foods, there are things that you can do to minimize the time spent in the kitchen and to make your life much easier. One of them is by ensuring that you have all the essential kitchen tools you need for healthy cooking available.

This way, you won’t get started with a meal, only to discover that you don’t have the tools you need to actually do it. And it’ll mean that you can try out many recipes on the spot (if you have the ingredients as well, of course), without having to buy new equipment. So, here are four essential kitchen tools you need for healthy cooking.

Four essential kitchen tools you need for healthy cooking

Quality knives

Knives are vital in cooking. Whether it’s used for chopping or slicing, you’ll need a knife in most, if not all of the meals you cook. However, what most people tend to overlook is that your knives should be of high quality. It actually makes such a big difference when you have a set of good, sharp knives, when it comes to your cooking.

Blunt knives makes it harder to quickly and easily chop and slice your vegetables, meats or other products. It can make what should be a fast task into one that is much more tedious and time-consuming than it needs to be. Dull knives can actually also be more dangerous as well as you’ll need to use more force.

Sharp, high-grade knives will make the way you chop and cut your food will be much neater, faster and easier. It’s really well worth investing in a set of quality knives for your kitchen. Once you get them, you’ll never be able to go back.

This also extends to your chopping boards. Good ones will protect your countertop and tables as well as the blade of the knife. It will be ideal as well to get more than one chopping board of different colors so that you can use one for meat and the others for fruit and/or vegetables.

To keep your sharp knives sharp, invest in a sharpening tool and ensure that you use it a few times a year or when needed.

Non-stick pan

A non-stick pan is another essential kitchen tool you need for healthy cooking. When you cook something on the pan, you’ll need to use oil or butter so that the food doesn’t burn on the surface. Depending on how much you use, this can all accumulate to add extra calories onto your day.

If you’re looking to cut down on fats and calories from butter and oil, then purchasing a non-stick pan is ideal. With the non-stick coating on the surface, you won’t need to use these ingredients as the food won’t stick to it.

It’ll also make it easier to cook foods that tend to stick on the pan such as eggs, so it’ll be easier to wash and clean up.

Food processor

A great way to control what you consume is by making your own dressings and sauces. Store-brought ones can be really delicious but can also have more calories than you’d probably like. There are many easy-to-make homemade recipes that you can use to make them yourself for your healthy cooking, which is where a food processor comes in.

Most healthy sauces/dressing recipes require blending the ingredients. By having a food processor in the kitchen, you can easily make any as needed, in a quick and efficient way.

Not only that, but a food processor can hep mix dough, dips and soups. It also has the added functions of being able to chop or whisk and purée food, so this multi-functional kitchen tool will be very beneficial.

Storage containers

Having storage containers is a must-have in your kitchen. It’ll definitely make your healthy cooking easier as it means you can make batches of food and store them for later. Having plenty on hand also will help organize your meals, separating them into ingredients or days or meals.

You could potentially use bowls or plates but they’re not as easily stackable as containers and will take up more room in the fridge or cupboard.

It also means that you’ll be able to securely keep any opened ingredients or products that you don’t need to use until a later, in an air-tight container. This will assist in keeping the food fresh and lasting longer so you reduce wastage.