The Top 5 Kitchen Tools Every Vegan Needs (Vegan Kitchen Tools)

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In this article you will learn about the top 5 best kitchen tools that vegans can’t live without! And, no, one of them is not a tofu press; I’ve been vegan for over 7 years, vegetarian for over 21 years, and not once have I used a tofu press.

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Are you trying to go vegan, or up your health level, but not sure which kitchen gadgets and appliances you need?

If eating ‘vegan’ food is foreign to you, or eating more whole plant based foods is; don’t worry, there is nothing to fear! Depending how you ate before, you may not need many more pieces of kitchen equipment than you already have.

Of course, you will need the basic kitchen amenities, which aren’t in the top 5 kitchen tools for vegans, however those basic appliances are:

an oven
stove
fridge
freezer

I’m sure you have those from before going, or trying to eat, vegan!

Other than those, keep reading to find out the few other essential kitchen equipment that some vegans use every single day!

Want to Remember This? Pin The Top 5 Kitchen Tools Every Vegan Needs to your favorite Pinterest Board!!

1. A High Speed Blender

healthy kid snacks, strawberry cheesecake smoothie, healthy smoothie, smoothie for kids, vegan cheesecake smoothie — You need a blender to make this Vegan Strawberry Cheesecake Smoothie!!

You can’t make smoothies, or smoothie bowls without a high speed blender.

If you haven’t gotten into drinking smoothies on a daily basis, then you are missing out!

Smoothies are a great way to get tons of nutrients into your body, and not just fruits and veggies either.

My go to smoothie is the one my girls and I drink most days (because it’s the easiest and contains life giving nutrients that makes us feel great)! The smoothie contains flaxseed and chia seeds for protein, fiber, and omega-3 fatty acids (the really good kind of fat).

Smoothies are also a great way to sneak veggies into your child’s diet without them even knowing it, which is quite useful for picky eaters.

As for the type of blender you get, I can guarantee you that a nutri-bullet or nutri-ninja will work just fine. I’ve used both and they both work really well for smoothies.

Learn more about the Nutri-bullet I love and recommend here.

Learn more about the Nutri-ninja I love and recommend here.

If you’re fortunate enough to have a high end high speed blender like a blendtec or vitamix, that will work, as well. A high end blender may even be able to be used in place of a food processor for recipes that call
for one.

However, I have not been fortunate enough to own a high end high speed blender like those, and am basing my assumption on their reviews and product descriptions.

There’s plenty more you can make with these high speed blenders, too! Like the chocolate chia pudding below, it doesn’t even taste like chia is in it, just like pudding!

Vegan smoothie recipes and more reasons to get a high speed blender:

2. Food Processor

Chocolate Chip Chickpea Cookies stacked on a white plate with a bite out of the top one, with melty chocolate. — Food processor in use while making chickpea chocolate chip cookies!

Food processors are awesome! Even the cheap ones you can get off amazon; if I remember correctly, the one I bought was maybe $40, and I’ve used it at least once a week for the past 4 years.

This is the food processor I have.

It’s great for making a lot of different types of foods, such as :

sauces
protein bars
grinding oats into flour
flax seeds into flax meal
shredding veggies (like cabbage for spring rolls!)
shredding potatoes for hash browns
vegan ice cream

Seriously, if you can’t afford a high end high speed blender that claims to do the same as a food processor; get yourself a food processor, the investment will be worth it with all the time you will save with one of these things.

Before becoming vegan I didn’t even know what a food processor was. Now I use it once a week, usually more, and enjoy every minute of it doing the hard work, so I can sit back and enjoy the results!

Also, vegan ice cream tastes so much better when made in a food processor than in a nutri-bullet or nutri-ninja. 🙂

Check out the best rated food processors here.

3. Silicone Baking Cups & Ice Cube Trays

Silicone baking cups aren’t only great for making muffins, you can also use them as small bowls for your kids. Great for small snacks like trail mix or a tiny fruit salad, or used to make frozen vegan yogurt cups with fruit inside!

The uses are pretty much limitless, just like silicone ice cube trays!

Silicone ice cube trays make getting ice cubes out of the trays super easy. Unlike the ice cube trays with only a silicone bottom, I’ve never been cut by a fully silicone ice cube tray, lol.

But, ice isn’t all you can use them for! They can also be used for making coffee ice cubes for us moms for blended coffee drinks or ice coffees. And, they can be used to make desserts; like bite sized healthy homemade protein bars or candy bars.

Both silicone baking cups and ice cube trays can be used for:

date bars
mini vegan cheesecakes
other small mini desserts
homemade vegan reeses
other homemade vegan candy bars or chocolate
ice cubes (or flavored ice cubes, like coffee ice cubes)
vegan ice cream (I’ve also used silicone donut molds for this and my kids loved it!)

The silicone kitchen items I have and love are:

Regular Baking Cups (these are slightly different than the ones I have, mine are all shades of pink and I can’t find them for sale anymore)
Heart Shaped Baking Cups
Ice Cube Trays
Donut Molds

4. Chef’s Knife

I still remember the day my husband and I went into Bed Bath & Beyond to get my first chef’s knife and nice cutting board. I was super frugal back then (still am), but all I had was a $50 gift card to spend and thought it was ridiculous to spend $20 + tax on a knife.

That knife was one of the best investments I’ve ever made!

No more working super hard to cut open a melon with a dull knife from a hand-me-down knife block.

No more worry about cutting myself accidentally from the amount of pressure I had to use with the hand-me-down kitchen knives from the knife block.

A nice chef’s knife will slice through a watermelon or hard veggies like slicing a banana.

If you’ve never used a chef’s knife before; you will be amazed!

Check out some of the best rated, and affordable, chef’s knives here.

5. A Wood Cutting Board

Wood cutting boards are the best, especially if you remember to oil it! I would not recommend getting a cheap plastic one, unless that’s all you can get. Just like investing in a good chef’s knife, you’ll want to invest in a good quality cutting board.

I bought my wood cutting board at the same time I bought my chef’s knife, it was also just over $20. (The only other thing I bought that day was some oil to keep the cutting board nice.) And again, I thought it was too expensive!

Luckily my husband was with me that day and talked some sense into me, and talked me out of just buying a plastic cutting board.

Plastic cutting boards apparently don’t clean fully, easily, and can leave behind bacteria. Just the thought of that is gross, even with being vegan and not having to worry about cross-contamination with meat.

Find the best rated and affordable wood cutting boards here.

Other Cooking Gadgets for Vegans…That You Don’t Really Need

I’ve been vegan for several years now, vegetarian for most of my life, and there are simply some kitchen gadgets that you don’t need as vegan, that you may think you do need. Like….

A Tofu Press

If you think you need a tofu press to be vegan, and that’s what’s holding you back; I’m here to tell you that you do not need one.

You can find lazy vegan tofu recipes, that doesn’t require pressing tofu.

Buy extra firm tofu if a recipe does call for a press. Then simply drain the tofu, place on a clean towel or paper towels on a plate, place another plate on top, and then stack some old textbooks (or something else heavy) on top. Ta-da, you have yourself a DIY tofu press!

These tofu cubes were made without a tofu press!

A Spiralizer

Unless you like the taste of veggies in pasta form, leave this one off the wish list!

I bought one, I used it many times; no one here likes spiralized veggies, no matter how I made them.

We’ll stick to eating veggies in other ways, that doesn’t replace pasta.

An Instant Pot

Unless you used one before become vegan, there’s no need to purchase one of these for a vegan diet. Of course, if you decide you want to try one out, go right ahead! I’ve never used one before, so I can’t tell you if it’s worth it or not.

A Juicer

You don’t need a juicer to eat, or drink, vegan. You need one if you want to make fresh juice.

Certain health conditions can benefit from drinking fresh juice with loads of fruits and veggies (mostly veggies). But, for an average person, who wants to eat real food and doesn’t want to go over their food budget for juice; a juicer is a luxury.

I had a juicer at one point, we used it for a couple of weeks. The juice was delicious, and we loved using it. But, the cost of the amount of fruits and veggies we had to buy to make it every morning for everyone in the family, on top of buying regular groceries; it just wasn’t worth it.

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You will get loads of more veggies into your diet this way; but you’ll also be paying for all of those veggies. And, it’s not that produce is expensive by itself, but when it costs $35 extra dollars to make 3 days worth of juice for a family, it’s simply not cost effective.

We went back to our smoothies, which also includes loads of fiber, and enjoy our fruits and veggies that way, among many other ways!

Other Cooking Essentials For Eating on Any Diet

If you’re wondering where I’m going to mention pots and pans and other cooking essentials, it’s right here. However, those cooking essentials are not unique to any specific diet, just like:

a peeler
salad spinner
casserole dishes
pie dishes
baking sheets
crockpot
dishes and silverware
mason jars
toaster
kitchenaid
coffee pot
and many more kitchen items!

The kitchen tools and appliances you used before going vegan will still get used after starting a healthier and more plant based diet! Even your grill, if you have one.