Every vegan who is not living in the stone age is going to require a few handy kitchen tools at some point.

I’m all for watermelon seed-spitting contests and mango juice dripping down my hands, but once in a while, us veg-heads need sharpened knives (not for cute animals, of course) and other gadgetry to make kitchen life a little easier and more user friendly.

Luckily, our modern world has no shortage of cool tools to utilize, and that’s why I’ve made a condensed list of some of my kitchen must-haves for you below with easy-to-obtain links for direct delivery shopping as an added convenience to your plant-based and cruelty-free living.

Welcome to my Gamut of Gadgetry:

Knife sharpener — essential for chopping, ’cause ain’t nobody got time for dull knives.

 

 As an added note, this works great on most knives in general, but should not be used for any specialty or upper-crust knives (or those with giant serrated teeth) as it will likely damage said specialty knives. This is a more affordable-for-anyone sharpener that I personally use and I’ve found does a great job at getting the edge back on my lower-cost knives of all sizes.

 

 

 

Garlic press — IKEA does it again!
 Gone are the days of tedious chopping with this bad boy at your disposal. If you live near an IKEA, I highly recommend throwing this in your cart on your next trip out. This is easy to use, easy to clean, stainless steel, and does in SECONDS what takes a knife a few minutes manually to do a lesser job of. Garlic is a WONDERFUL holistic aid with many benefits, and call me Mediterranean, but I throw garlic in damn near everything. Keeps the vampires away, you know?

 

Stainless strainer — Fruit up your life (or veg, for that matter).

Again, we’re sticking with stainless steel because easy cleaning and lasting quality, enough said. The beauty with this tried-and-true, and heavily reviewed strainer is that it’s commercial grade (again, longevity) and it’s specially built so that it’s easy to use by hand, or props right into your sink and under the faucet by the outer lip and easy-grip handle on the sink’s back end for precision rinsing your produce. Can’t go wrong as fruits and veggies (hey, legumes too) should ALWAYS be washed. Also usable for draining pasta and the like.

SAVING THE BEST FOR LAST:

Multi-function tool, anyone? My bullet blender is a life saver. There are many days when I’m on the go I don’t have time for a nice sit-down meal, and have to make do since I don’t want to rely on fast food every time my schedule is in a bind. This is not only the BEST blender /bullet of three models I’ve used for cutting right through frozen fruit for smoothies (which account for about half my meals with intermittent fasting), but this is also my favorite kitchen tool because of how many other ways in which it’s come in handy.
Like? Pureeing soup — I can choose tomatoes to use as a soup or make my own homemade pasta sauce, and blend them right up before tossing them into a saucepan with some olive oil and spices. Whipped hummus spread? Chickpeas chopped and whirled like a charm.

You get the idea — the bullet is not by any means limited to just smoothies and protein shakes — it’s an all-in-one-kick-ass blender, and this one I got comes with double holder cups, a variety of take-on-the-go lids with handles, AND a little recipe booklet for those who want some user-friendly ideas. Again I say: You can’t go wrong, my friends!

Now, if you’re not a fan of home cooking or delicious acai bowls, this might not be the investment for you. Granted, I’ve seen units that retail into the HUNDREDS, while this one is more than affordable at a mere $99, and I’ve had mine over 3 years and it’s still kicking butt. So, what are you waiting for? Experience the “smooth” life (ha-ha) and hop on the bullet train. 😉