Basic equipment

It can be intimidating to set up your first kitchen, but you probably don't need as much as you think to get started. Here's what you need for a basic kitchen, broken out into what's really essential and what's super helpful but not 100% necessary on day one. There's a whole world of equipment beyond this list too.

If you're looking for a guide to shopping for kitchen stuff, check out our buying guide.

Knives and cutting stuff
You can find an overview of common kitchen knives here, and for more info about what knives to buy, head to the knives buying guide.

Essential

 * 8" (20cm) chef's knife: This will be your most-used knife and no kitchen is complete without one. You can check out the buying guide above for more details, but tl;dr is you should get a Victorinox Fibrox if you're on a budget or a Wüsthof Classic or Ikon if you have more money to spend.
 * Bread knife: Bread knives have serrations to help them cut through baked goods that are too soft to cut cleanly with a smooth blade.
 * Cutting board(s): There are many schools of thought on cutting boards and it may take some trial and error to find a setup that you're really happy with. In general though, you want to make sure you have plenty of room to work so usually the bigger the board, the better. Wood is kind to knives and much more hygienic than you might think, but involves a bit more maintenance than plastic. One common setup is a big wooden board that lives permanently on your counter plus a couple smaller plastic boards that you can use for things like meat and then easily wash.

Highly recommended

 * Paring knife: Paring knives are one of the three knives that are generally considered essential, but you may or may not actually end up needing one all that often. If you don't often do (or use another tool for) things like peeling and de-eyeing potatoes, coring strawberries, or supreming citrus, you might not really need a paring knife. But they're pretty cheap and it's definitely not a bad idea to have one around.
 * Honing rod: Sooner or later, your knife will need to be honed, which is basically just the process of realigning the edge (not the same as sharpening, which is a more involved process). In a perfect world you'd quickly hone your knife every time you used it, but you can get away with doing it much less often. If you hone every time your knife isn't cutting as well as you like (and sharpen it when honing doesn't fix it), you'll be in good shape.
 * Bench scraper: Bench scrapers are often overlooked but have tons of uses, especially if you use a large cutting board that isn't easy to carry around. Use it to transfer diced vegetables to the pan. Use it to clean off the board when you're done cutting. Use it to cut up doughs.

Cookware
You can learn more about different types of cookware here. For detailed shopping recommendations, check out the cookware buying guide.

Essential

 * 10" or 12" stainless steel frying pan: This will probably be your most-used piece of cookware, so it's a good one to invest in. 10" (26cm) is probably the right size if you normally cook for one or two people, but if you regularly cook for more than two, 12" (30cm) is probably better.
 * Saucepan(s) or saucier: You'll need something for boiling and other liquidyier jobs too. That's where saucepans come in. You may want to have a couple in different sizes: around 2qt/ltr and 4qt/ltr are good general sizes for most people. Sauciers are less common pots that can fill the same role. They're wider and shallower than standard saucepans with rounded bottoms to make them easier to stir.
 * Baking sheets: Not only are baking sheets a must for baking cookies or roasting potatoes, they also come very in handy for all kinds of organization and prep tasks. You'll probably want 1–2 half sheets, which are the biggest size that fit in a standard oven, as well as some quarter and eighth sheets, which are great for baking smaller portions, prepping meat, and much more. Nordic Ware is the best brand for baking sheets.

Highly recommended

 * Dutch oven: If you want to make a stew or braise, you'll probably want a dutch oven, which is basically just a large heavy pot. For many people, your dutch oven can also act as your stock pot.
 * Cast iron or nonstick frying pan: Stainless steel is great, but it's not nonstick. For delicate or sticky things like eggs, you'll want something different. A nonstick pan would be one option, but cast iron can be nearly as nonstick and doesn't come with a lot of a classic nonstick downsides.

Essential

 * Dry measuring cups: Dry measuring cups are used for measuring (you guessed it) dry ingredients like flour. If you don't cook from American recipes, you may be more familiar with cooking by weight. In which case, you can probably skip these and just get a scale (see below).
 * Liquid measuring cup: And you've probably figured out that this is for liquid ingredients. Pyrex is the default brand for these, but use whatever you can find.
 * Measuring spoons: These are useful for measuring small quantities of dry or liquid ingredients. Fun fact: teaspoons and tablespoons aren't exactly the same quantity everywhere in the world, but they're close enough that you don't need to worry too much about which teaspoon a recipe is talking about.

Highly recommended

 * Instant read thermometer: A good thermometer takes all the guesswork out of cooking meat and fish. Thermaworks is universally considered the gold-standard brand in thermometers. Their affordable Thermopop model is perfect for most home cooks, or you can upgrade to their Thermapen.
 * Scale: Depending on where you live, cooking by weight may or may not be super common. American recipes are generally volumetric, but going by weight is more accurate (and easier once you're used to it) so some high-quality American recipe sources are weight-based. You may not need a scale when you're first starting out, but they're very handy to have in the kitchen.

Essential

 * Mixing bowls: Not only are these important for mixing stuff, they're also useful for countless kitchen tasks where you just need some kind of big vessel. Look for nonreactive (glass or stainless steel) bowls and get a few in different sizes.
 * Silicone spatula
 * Fish spatula
 * Tongs: A good pair of tongs is pretty indispensable in the kitchen. It's good for everything from flipping steaks to draining long pasta to snapping just for fun. Although they can't be used with nonstick pans, tongs with metal tips give better grip and dexterity than ones coated in plastic or rubber. OXO makes a great pair.
 * Grater
 * Strainer

Highly recommended

 * Wooden spoon(s)


 * Spider: Scary name, but useful utensil. Think of a spider kind of like a strainer meets a ladle. They're super handy for fishing things out of hot oil, or hot water, or really any liquid of any temperature. In fact, between your tongs and your spider, you'll never need a colander to drain pasta again. You'll often see spiders that look kind of like wire nests on wood handles. Those are fine, but the wire can have sharp edges that can damage delicate food or hurt you during washing. All-metal versions that are constructed more like slotted spoons drain slightly slower, but are much easier (and safer) to clean.
 * Whisk
 * Vegetable peeler: You can also use a paring knife to peel fruits and veggies, but you'll probably find a good peeler a lot more effective. The best ones are Kuhn Rikon Y-peelers. They're dirt cheap but the blades aren't stainless, so don't put them in the dishwasher or let it stay wet for extended amounts of time.