Roasting Pan
First things first, let’s talk about the bird. While we know many modern homes these days skip the turkey for a juicier centerpiece (A roast, rack of ribs, lamb chops — we support all these options!) We still love to cook a massive turkey once a year and enjoy the leftovers between two slices of sourdough for a week thereafter. Our all-time favorite roasting pan is unsurprising by All-Clad, the brand makes great looking last-forever brushed stainless steel incredibly well. The All-Clad Stainless Steel Roaster fits up to a 25 lb bird and is totally dishwasher safe. Don’t worry, it’s no one-trick-pony, use year-round for roasts, veggies, Samin Nosrat’s buttermilk chicken…whatever you’re into!
Professional-Grade Stainless Steel Cookware
Now is a great time to upgrade your cookware. The thing is, an incredible meal starts with your very good cookware. Restaurants use 5-ply stainless steel in the kitchen and that’s why we do. We love this Kitchara Stainless Steel Cookware Set for both its quality and price point. It’s a newer brand to the market and doesn’t come with the high price tag that we see with more well-known brands. Each piece of this 10-piece set will help you elevate all your sides and mains this year.
Sous-Vide
Are you having a tiny get-together this year? Us too. The Breville Joule Sous-Vide is amazing for a turkey breast centerpiece for a smaller crowd. It’s ideal to cook the breast alone without the rest of the turkey since light and dark meats cook at different rates (this is how turkey gets a bad rap!). This sous-vide comes with a very 21st-century doness feature that will display on your phone exactly how the food’s doing.
Potato Ricer
A potato ricer is one of those cooking tools you may overlook but you’ll never ever regret this purchase. The OXO Good Grips Stainless Steel Potato is highly, highly rated and makes smooth mashed potatoes (or yams!) a breeze. One try and you’ll be hooked, kinda like mashed potatoes themselves.
Mandoline Slicer
This simple kitchen gadget will take your dishes to the next level. Not only do perfectly even slices help the aesthetic appeal of your dish, but they also help ensure everything cooks evenly at the same rate — which truly makes all the difference in the taste. 10/10 recommend the OXO Grips Chef Mandoline Slice.
Meat Thermometer
This one may ~seem~ like something you can skip when you’re sauteing a few chicken thighs on a weeknight but take our word for it, you need to be sure when feeding up to 25 lbs of turkey to your loving guests. It’s truly worth it for the peace of mind. The Lavatools Javelin Digital Instant Read Meat Thermometer is also multi-use, check the temp of candy, oil, home brewing experiments too.
Dutch Oven
We’ve included this on other “must-have” lists but that won’t stop us from singing its praises. If you didn’t already hear about Le Creuset Dutch Ovens from your mother, this french cookware brand is iconic. This is the kind of product you’ll pass down to your children. Its oven-to-table appeal is perfect for mashed potatoes, yams, or creamed corn this T-day. After the big day, you’ll want to leave this out just to admire her beauty.
Stemware
If you’re like us, you generally buy wine glasses in packs of four and slowly break three of each set until no two of your wine glasses match each other. We can get behind this bohemian vibe most of the year but we’re splurging for a full set of creme de la creme Riedel Ouverture Wine Glasses this holiday season. You’ll have each red & white & champagne for your guests. Yes, our New Year’s Resolution is to be more careful.
Stand Mixer
Stand Mixers are a great investment for year-round baking but come in handy extra for us around the holidays. Use the greatest, undisputably, Kitchanaid Stand Mixer to whip up pie crusts and fresh whipped cream for the aforementioned pie. Pro Tip: also fantastic at getting lumps out of your mashed potatoes if smooth is what you’re after.
Chef’s Knife
The time is now, pre-holiday, treat yourself to *really* great knife. We like our Made In 8” Chefs Knife for making all foods slice like butter. We adore this brand, it meets at the perfect intersection of high-quality and reasonably priced. It’s also made in the USA.
These are the best kitchen gadgets and tools we know! Planning ahead and having the right tools always keep us from stressing too much around the holidays. Hope you enjoy these Kitchen Witch Approved tools this Thanksgiving. Let us know if you have any questions in the comments below.