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I’ve tested basically every meal kit on the market over the past few years. And while there’s no denying the absolute convenience they offer, there are also a few tips and tricks I’ve learned to make the experience even smoother—namely, the gadgets and gizmos I reach for every single time a new box arrives at my door, full of ingredients to cook. From my favorite pan to the best oil to have around, consider these essentials if you’re cooking more at home. Of course, you probably already have a cutting board and a pan. But if you’re looking for an upgrade, I highly recommend the pieces in this guide.
Be sure to check out our other kitchen guides, including the Best Carbon Steel Pans, Best Soda Makers, Best Wireless Meat Thermometers, and Best Gifts for the Home Chef.
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Is There Anything Else I Should Have on Hand?
I go through a lot of paper towels when I’m making meal kits. I also highly recommend having a Rachael Ray–inspired “garbage bowl” on the counter for things like random plastic bits and aforementioned paper towels. (And a separate one for veggie scraps, if you compost.) Another thing worth noting is that you will likely use a lot of dishes when cooking meal kits. Start with your dishes done and your dishwasher empty for the best experience. And finally, I like to have a pair of scissors around for cutting open sauce packets or snipping green onions. I don’t think you really need specialty kitchen shears, but if you’ve got some, they’ll come in handy. Otherwise just grab whatever (clean!) pair you’ve got on hand.
I’ve used every single item in this guide while cooking dozens, if not hundreds, of dishes, both for work and in my personal life. I’ve washed them, I’ve stored them, I’ve chopped on them, and I’ve recommended them to my friends. (Congrats, reader—we’re friends now.)
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My Favorite Pan
Our Place Always Pan 2.0
The Our Place Always Pan 2.0 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is an update to the original Always Pan (3/10, WIRED Review), which WIRED contributor Joe Ray found to have significant quality control issues, including a convex cooking surface and easily chipped paint. This new newer pan has improved nonstick performance, better stain resistance, and a new induction-friendly, oven-safe design. I love that the high walls and sloped design mean that you can cook nearly every dish in it. It’s the first thing I reach for when I’m cooking basically anything.
I especially like it for meal kits because the versatile design means you can probably use it for every part of a recipe—for example, when I recently made a burger for a meal kit, I used this pan to toast the buns, cook the veggies, cook the burgers, and melt the cheese on top. The nonstick surface is easy to clean, and the pan is oven-safe up to 450 degrees Fahrenheit as well.
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Photograph: Louryn Strampe
An Excellent Cutting Board
Great Jones All Aboard Cutting Board
I love this big green BPA-free cutting board from Great Jones. It’s got a large cutting surface, coming in at 12 inches by 16 inches, and the textured design doesn’t slip and slide across my counters. Meal kits often involve a lot of veggie prep, and having a large surface to cut on makes the task easier—I can push my prepped veggies to one side and still have room to cut others. There’s a juice groove to keep things tidy, and it looks good in my kitchen when it isn’t in use. I haven’t noticed the surface taking too much damage from my knife (nor has the board itself damaged my knife).
If you don’t want a large cutting board, or you’re on a tighter budget, I also like this pack of cutting boards from Oxo Good Grips, which includes a large and a small size and is handy to have for cutting while avoiding cross-contamination. Some meal kit recipes require you to prep proteins and fresh ingredients, and it’s nice to have two boards rather than needing to clean one between steps (and find a place to store the ingredients you already prepped). These will probably be a better fit if you have limited counter space.
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Photograph: Louryn Strampe
A Great Wooden Cutting Board
John Boos 20-inch R-Series Maple Cutting Board
John Boos cutting boards make great gifts for the home chef, and in this instance, perhaps the home chef in question is you. The board is made in the United States from sustainably harvested wood. John Boos has been in business since 1887, and many restaurant chefs swear by its products. You can choose from maple, walnut, or cherry constructions in a few different sizes. I find 20 inches to be nice and large without taking up my entire counter. It’s also designed to fit in standard cupboards.
Similar to the Great Jones board mentioned above, this is handy for meal kits because there’s so much room. You can prep ingredients and push those you’ve already cut to the side. It makes for a good battle station when you start cooking. The surface requires some conditioning from time to time—the manufacturer recommends using its pricey Mystery Oil and Board Cream, but you can DIY it with food-grade mineral oil. The board is hand-wash only, but it is excellent for intensive chopping without damaging your knife. It’s also great for presenting charcuterie boards.
Be aware that the wood may stain—mine has a cute purple splotch from some blueberry goat cheese. I think it adds to the character. Largely, whether you go for a plastic cutting board or a wooden one comes down to personal preference. Wood can stain, it can retain smells, and it requires more upkeep, but it’s also gentle on knives, it can last for years, and it doesn’t release microplastics. If you’re a wood person, John Boos has the best wooden boards I’ve found. There are many cheap wooden cutting boards available, but this investment will last for decades with proper care, unlike some others (like the one I purchased at Walmart in my twenties, which cracked and splintered despite my diligent conditioning of it).
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Photograph: Louryn Strampe
A Multipurpose Knife
Kiwi 6.5-inch Utility Chef’s Knife
We’re currently revamping our guide to the Best Chef’s Knives, and this is going to be my submission for the whole guide. (Just kidding.) But really, Kiwi knives have a cult following for a reason. They’re so darn affordable, and they’re so darn good. This design is great for smashing garlic cloves, mincing onions, or cutting carrot matchsticks. And the wide body is great for scraping everything up and off your cutting board. When cooking meal kits, you’ll run into a wide array of ingredients. This knife will be able to handle prepping all of them. It’s easy to clean and maintain. Simply oil the handle every once in a while and make sure to hone the edges from time to time.
The steel is soft, which is a benefit (in my opinion), since the knife is easy to sharpen without dropping a ton of money on a sharpener. You can literally hone this thing on the back of a plate. (Or just use the honer that’s in the knife block you got as a gift years ago.) I reach for this cleaver over and over again, for basically every task except for when I need a serrated edge.
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Photograph: Amazon
Cooking Oil
Chefs Life Cooking Oil (2-Pack)
Meal kits require you to provide your own cooking oil, salt, and pepper. (More on those last two later.) Chefs Life oil blends are awesome in general, and I especially like having the cooking blend around when making meal kits. It’s a combination of avocado, olive, sunflower, and grapeseed oils. That means it passes along good flavor while also maintaining a high smoke point, so you can heat it up to 550 degrees Fahrenheit. I also like the variety pack (which includes finishing oil and blending oil), but the cooking oil is the most versatile for meal kit purposes. No matter whether you’re searing meats or just cooking up some veggies, this oil will be useful. And the packaging is nice!
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Photograph: Louryn Strampe
The Best Salt
Maldon Sea Salt
Meal kits require you to bring your own salt and pepper. I don’t have strong feelings about pepper, but I absolutely have strong feelings about salt. This is a big ol’ tub of sea salt flakes that have absolutely excellent flavor and a good texture that can be used for finishing (like on top of breads) or basic tasks like salting pasta water. The flakes are both crunchy and soft, and they’re easy to crush between your fingers to sprinkle on top of a dish or toss over your left shoulder. A little goes a long way, and you won’t have to fiddle with a silly plastic grinder trying to decipher how salty you’re making your food.
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Photograph: Amazon
Tiny Bowls
Dowan Ramekins (6-Pack)
TV chefs got one thing right with the sheer amount of tiny bowls they use. These 4-ounce porcelain ramekins have come in handy many, many times during my meal kit adventures. Sometimes when making meal kits, I need to set an ingredient aside—into the tiny bowls it goes. Sometimes I have to inexplicably juice a lime, whip up a finishing sauce, or separate carrots for use in two different steps. Tiny bowls! Having these around has saved me a lot of counter and dishwasher space.
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Photograph: Louryn Strampe
Instant Peace of Mind
ThermoWorks Thermapen One
Meal kits offer tons of different proteins to the meat eaters among us. You might be cooking seafood, chicken, steak, or burgers. The ThermoWorks Thermapen One makes it really easy to tell whether your food is safe to serve (or approaching the realm of “overcooked”). You’ll be able to reach your ideal doneness on steaks, or ensure that your chicken is fully cooked without needing to cut into the meat and let all those juices escape. It’s an excellent gift for the home chef, and it comes in handy any time I’m cooking meat for a meal kit. I’ve had one for many years, as has WIRED reviewer Scott Gilbertson, and it’s darn handy. Pop the probe in and it’ll instantly spit out a reading of the internal temperature. It folds up neatly and won’t take up too much space in your utensil drawer. For more options, check out our guide to the Best Wireless Meat Thermometers.