15 Must-Have Small Appliances for Home Cooks

Slow cookers take the effort out of stews, soups, meat dishes, and so much more. This 6-quart cooker is fit for family dinners as well as potlucks. The super-tight sealed lid allows you to transport it with ease.

Buy It: $69; Amazon or Best Buy

Whether you're cooking white rice, sushi rice, brown rice, or porridge, this rice cooker has a setting that's just right. It even includes a microcomputer to keep the cooking temperature and time on point.

Buy It: $174; Amazon, Target, or Sur La Table

This large food processor powers through whole fruits and veggies, nuts, and cheese. Its size makes it ideal for soup and sauces, too. Cuisinart's small appliances are consistently among our top-rated picks in testing, including our selection for best food processor.

Buy It: $90; Amazon, Williams Sonoma, or Walmart

This hand blender (aka an immersion blender or stick blender) relies on a single stainless steel blade to purée, emulsify, and whip up food. Plus, it eliminates the need to pull out another appliance.

Buy It: $60; Amazon

Choose between four recipes and seven noodle shapes to prepare perfect pasta at home — all in less than 20 minutes.

Buy It: $110; Amazon, Walmart, or Bed Bath & Beyond

Turn out up to 10 pancakes and a dozen eggs with this top-rated electric griddle. Its cast-iron surface (which can be tilted to drain grease) makes it excellent for meat. 

Buy It: $40; Amazon or Wayfair

This sleek four-slice toaster not only comes with seven settings to toast bread to perfection, it also regulates the heat so that you're not left with toast that's burnt on one side and barely thawed on the other. 

Buy It: $150; Amazon or Williams Sonoma

Food scales help you measure ingredients even more accurately than measuring cups. Consider it handy for baking and essential for fermenting veggies.

Buy It: $50; Amazon, Sur La Table, or OXO

This efficient can opener also works its magic on jars, pop-top cans, bottle caps, twist-off caps, and plastic packages.

Buy It: $23; Amazon, Walmart, or Target

Bake fresh bread like a pro with this compact bread machine. It includes settings for white, French, whole-wheat, sweet, gluten-free, and artisan bread, so you can really customize your loaf. You can even use it to make jam and compotes. 

Buy It: $130; Amazon, Williams Sonoma, or Walmart

Grilling indoors means you're no longer at the mercy of the weather. This countertop electric grill emits next to no smoke. Plus, cleaning its nonstick grill slats and dishwasher-safe drip tray couldn't be easier. 

Buy It: $300; Williams Sonoma

This game-changing Instant Pot doesn't just cook food up to 70 percent faster. It's also programmed with settings for sous vide, baking, and preparing everything from rice to ribs. 

Buy It: Amazon, Williams Sonoma, or Bed Bath & Beyond

Your waffles will reach their crisp-but-fluffy potential with this waffle maker's nonstick grids, rotating handle, and browning control dial. Breakfast at its most convenient. 

Buy It: $50; Amazon, Target, and Bed Bath & Beyond

This powerful stand mixer takes baking to the next level. Available in 20+ colors, it also looks gorgeous on a countertop.

Buy It: $430; Williams Sonoma, Walmart, and KitchenAid

This top-rated air fryer is large enough to air fry food for the whole family — like up to three pounds of crispy, oil-free French fries. Just add its nonstick basket to the dishwasher come cleanup time.

Buy It: $140; Amazon or Target