Every Vegan Kitchen Needs These 7 Gadgets

Posted by Bridget on March 10, 2023

Want to have a well-equipped vegan kitchen? When it comes to making delicious food, there are a few gadgets that will help you up your game quite a lot. Of course, you don’t need any of these tools to make flavorful vegan dishes that slap, but we’ve found that these seven items make cooking easier and thus more fun:

Tofu Press

A tofu press lets you squeeze the water out of your tofu so that it cooks nicely and gets crispy—because no one should have to balance a stack of textbooks on top of their tofu. With the water squeezed out, your tofu will be able to absorb more of whatever marinade you choose for the most bussin tofu dish of your life. Say tofu one more time: tofu.

Microplane Zester

A microplane zester is a lot like a grater, but you use it to add a zhuzh of lemon or lime zest to your dishes. Don’t be surprised if all your meals start giving Master Chef and people want the recipes you’re using. Little will they know that it’s all in the microplane zester. Shhh.

Countertop Grill

Cook up vegan burgers, veggie dogs, grilled cheez sandwiches, veggie skewers, or even corn on the cob in between classes by grabbing a grill from your local department store. Countertop grills come in a range of prices and can be very inexpensive, but they’ll make your life much richer.

Citrus Press or Reamer

By using a tool to squeeze your lemons, limes, and oranges, you can easily get all the juice out, which helps prevent waste and keeps seeds from getting in your food. Once the juice is loose, the possibilities are endless!

Blender and Food Processor

A life without smoothies, cashew cheese, and blended soups is, how you say, meaningless. We recommend getting a two-in-one blender/food processor combo to diversify your menu options and save space. We think you’ll agree that a homemade vegan pesto hits different than a store-bought one.

Garlic Press

Garlic is the base of pretty much every savory recipe. Now think of all the meals you’ll cook over the course of your life—and all the wasted years you will have spent chopping clove after clove manually if you don’t get a garlic press! This tool lets you pulverize three cloves at once and is perfect for adding little bits of raw garlic to homemade sauces, marinades, dips, and dressings, thus upping the flavor profile massively. Plus, the manganese, selenium, and vitamins C and B₆ in raw garlic make it super-healthy. It also contains allicin. Who is she, you ask? Allicin is actually a type of antioxidant that you can activate by crushing or slicing raw garlic and keeping it away from heat for 10 minutes. Purr.

Air Fryer

Not you entering your air fryer era! You’ll feel like you have magical powers when you start roasting sweet potatoes or Brussels sprouts in just a few minutes and making fried vegan chicken that lives in your head rent-free. Welcome home, you glorious nugget of joy.

Getting into cooking is a great life skill and hobby to start building in your youth. It gives you creative control and the power to eat gourmet vegan dishes that could otherwise be unattainable or too expensive to order at restaurants. Cooking mindfully is also good for your mental health and can be a really fulfilling and satisfying activity. Get into it!