Sturdy Chef's Knife - The Most Important Vegan Kitchen Tool
Without access to a good kitchen knife, cooking quickly becomes miserable. We would argue and say that a good knife is the most essential vegan kitchen tool and something you should not cheap out on.
That being said, you don’t have to buy a complete knife set unless you actually know what you're doing, and for most people, a sturdy chef’s knife will do the trick.
A chef's knife is usually the largest knife in a set, and it's a versatile knife that is good for slicing, dicing, and chopping.
We have been using this 8-inch stainless steel chef's knife lately since it has exceeded our expectations for the price and because it is easy to pack and bring with us whenever we travel.
It might sound silly but it's really worth it. All of the AirBnBs we've ever stayed at all have one thing in common, they lack a good knife to cook with.
- Pros: The patented fibrox handle provides a great and sturdy grip and the knife comes with a lifetime guarantee.
- Cons: It doesn’t come with a case so we had to buy this Victorinox knife travel case on its own.
Food Processor - A Versatile Gadget for the Vegan Kitchen
A food processor might be one of the most useful kitchen tools for vegan cooking. The sheer versatility of a good food processor is what makes it so popular and we love how easy it can make otherwise tedious tasks.
Use a food processor to blend together the ingredients for an epic vegan burger, get the perfect texture of your next pesto, or use it to puree some frozen berries for a healthy and refreshing smoothie bowl for breakfast.
We love this powerful food processor because it comes with a built-in scraper which means you don't have to stop and remove the lid to scrape down the sides of the bowl which is a big time saver.
- Pros: It’s versatile and can be used for everything from pureeing and blending to chopping and much more. Also, the built-in scraper will save you a lot of time and headaches.
- Cons: All the separate parts that are needed for different tasks make it hard to store in one place, and it makes it a bit harder to wash after heavy use.
Air Fryer - Cook Using Less Oil
We recently bought one ourselves and have already tried several amazing vegan air fryer recipes and cooked a bunch of dishes we would have never done before.
In addition to making super crispy no-oil french fries and potato wedges, the air fryer can be used to make vegan cauliflower wings, fried tempeh, and so much more.
Not only is the vegan kitchen tool practical and nearly oil-free, but it’s also quick - french fries that would take at least 40 minutes in a regular oven are now done in less than 15!
- Pros: An air fryer is the healthiest way to fry and deep fry foods with almost no oil which in turn opens a lot of doors and allows you to cook dishes you might normally try to avoid.
- Cons: It requires you to learn a whole new method of cooking which can be time-consuming. Also, because using an air fryer is still so new many of the recipes out there are the same or very similar.
Vitamix Blender - The King of Vegan Blenders
Blenders are great for all kinds of reasons, but we especially like that blenders keep the fiber of fruits and veggies intact which unfortunately is not the case with juicing.
In fact, we consider a blender to be such a vegan kitchen essential that we have been traveling with one for the past few months making green smoothies, smoothie bowls, pesto, and other plant-based delights on the road.
At the moment we’re using this blender which is great for the price but ideally, we can’t wait to get our hands on a Vitamix.
The problem with many of the blenders that we've used so far is that they get overheated easily and start to smell like burning plastic when we use them.
This is especially true when mixing frozen bananas or harder vegetables like carrots for a smoothie.
The Vitamix, on the other hand, is the Rolls Royce of blenders and it will be the first thing we invest in as soon as we decide to settle down. A good friend of ours has one so we’ve had the pleasure of using it on multiple occasions.
Trust us, nothing is too tough for the Vitamix and you can blend anything from carrots and ice in a matter of seconds.
Although the Vitamix is expensive, we think it's an investment that will pay for itself and will last for years to come. And as we mentioned, other blenders have a much shorter lifespan and can't handle nearly as much as a Vitamix.
- Pros: The Vitamix is probably the best blender on the market and the options of things you can make are endless. If you don't have one you should try one. There is good reason why this blender is considered one of the best vegan kitchen tool in the world.
- Cons: The price is obviously steep which is why the Vitamix should be looked at as an investment for your kitchen that will last you many years.
Moka Pot
The Moka Pot's small size makes it very easy to bring with you wherever you go, and we’ve noticed that you can buy espresso coffee at pretty much any grocery store in the world.
However, it is the quality of coffee and the simplicity that really sold us on this vegan kitchen tool. In a matter of two minutes or less, you can have a few cups of perfectly brewed cups of espresso ready, and all you need access to is a stove.
Now, all Moka Pots aren’t compatible with induction stoves, we learned the hard way, so we recommend that you buy one in aluminum that can be used without limitation.
Also, try to get your hands on a Bialetti. Bialetti is the original Moka Pot brand, and they rarely cost more than other brands which tend to be of a lesser quality.
Dutch Oven - An Essential Staple For the Vegan Kitchen
The best part is that it can easily be used in an oven as well and can be used for lasagnas, vegan eggplant parm, and much more. However, one of the most common usages for a dutch oven is deep frying since the pan can hold a lot of oil and is very heat resistant.
Adam inherited a dutch oven from his great-grandfather, and it has been one of his most priced vegan kitchen tools ever since.
- Pros: Helps create food full of aroma and can be used both on the stove and in the oven.
- Cons: Heavy and bulky which means you can’t bring it with you and the weight makes it difficult to wash.
Tofu Press - For Effortless Cooking
In Europe, a lot of the tofu that's sold is pressed and often stored semi-dry which makes it easier to cook with, but in the US, the tofu is usually sold wet and it's a problem.
Just trying to dry it off using a cotton cloth or paper towels isn't enough and, in the end, you tend to have to dry it in a pan on low heat before you can start cooking. However, there is an easy solution to this problem.
We got ourselves a tofu press not too long ago and it has made the cooking time shorter than ever before, which is a huge advantage for two people that eat tofu almost daily.
All you have to do is rinse the tofu and place it in the press a short while before you start cooking and you will literally cut the cooking time in half.
Not only is it faster, but because you remove all of the excess water with the press, the tofu cooks much better and gets crispy all the way through. We now consider this tofu press a vegan kitchen essential that has made things so much easier.
- Pros: Cuts your tofu cooking time in half!
- Cons: It’s quite a bulky tool for a very simple task.
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