We’ve all been in this situation: You get home from work, you’re exhausted, but you haven’t planned or prepped anything for dinner. It’s so easy to order out, but you’re also tired of takeout and want to start making better eating choices, too. When feeling tired and uninspired, sometimes, all you need is a new kitchen appliance or gadget to make your life easier and get excited about cooking again!
With that in mind, we reviewed the top kitchen appliances on the market, and selected the ones that will help put dinner on the table in under 20 minutes.
Don’t worry, we made sure these appliances are easy to use and make your life more convenient while you’re prepping dinner. Eating healthy doesn’t have to be complicated. Looking for more? We’ve got you covered with 9 Kitchen Tools Every Beginner Cook Needs.
“The microwave is a classic kitchen appliance that has helped us get dinner on the table in a hurry many nights! It makes quick work of steaming a side of veggies or reheating individually portioned frozen leftovers. Plus it’s hands-free so you can just put the food in and focus your attention on cooking the rest of your meal,” Bell says.
You may not have seen this one coming, but a quesadilla maker can easily level-up dinner in less than 20 minutes. With a little cheese, beans, corn, and tomatoes, there is very little prep and you get a balanced meal in no time.
And if still unsure what to cook once your quesadilla maker arrives, we’ve made that easy for you too, with 13 Easy Quesadilla Recipes to Make Right Now.
“The Instant Pot is a must-have appliance for a quick and easy dinner! You can throw in uncooked ingredients such as chicken, rice, and vegetables, and have a meal ready in less than 20 minutes,” reports Bethany Keith MS, RDN, LD, CNSC.
With seven different functions, you can make everything with an Instant Pot from soup to stew, steamed rice to braised beef. If you have an Instant Pot but feel like you could get to know it better, try one of these 30+ Healthy Instant Pot Recipes.
Does anyone really love chopping up their vegetables? Chopping and prepping can feel overwhelming—and sometimes be the number one reason we let our vegetables go back in the veggie drawer graveyard. Using an electric food chopper helps save you time and prevent food waste.
“Using a food chopper can greatly cut down on time spent in the kitchen! Dice an onion quickly to use in your favorite recipe. Slicers and choppers are kitchen essentials to save time,” says Dietitian Amanda Lane, MS, RD, CDCES.
Immersion blenders don’t get enough credit. These powerhouse appliances offer plenty of versatile functions in the kitchen. Simple tasks like blending, frothing, and whisking are quickly accomplished with an immersion blender.
We especially love to use the immersion blender to blend soups and add a thicker, creamy texture. Immersion blenders work their magic best when used primarily to blend vegetable soups like the black bean soup, minestrone, or the blended butternut squash soup in this list of 25 Cozy Soup Recipes.
The Vitamix blenders are notorious for their powerful engines. They make life easier by quickly prepping salad dressings, doughs and batters, or sauces. Vitamix has features that allow you to mince garlic, chop vegetables, or shred cheese. Cut down your prep time significantly with this all-in-one appliance.
Air fryers cut down on preheat time, and use hot air that circulates in a small space to quickly heat your food.
