9 Essential Kitchen Cookware One Must Have In Their Kitchen

Written by: Kaushik Jethva

Last Updated: January 31, 2023

a picture showcasing all the essential cookware and utensils in a kitchen
A picture showcasing all the essential cookware and utensils in a kitchen.

It takes a lot of planning and drafting skills to set up a new kitchen and home. The choice of the right kitchen cookware set is crucial for the smooth and efficient operation of your food service operation. Having a fully furnished kitchen for everyday cooking is critical for anyone who loves to cook or plans to get into it.

Here is a list of some of the essential cookware available for cooking with added benefits and sustainability. Apart from helping you understand some of the basic kitchen tools and utensils, this guide also discusses which types of dishes can be prepared with which cookware.

If you are fond of cast iron cookware or stainless steel cookware, read our separate article to know more about each cookware.

1 Tadka Pan

a tadka pan with some neem leaves and chilies
A tadka pan with some neem leaves and chilies.

Tadka is a method to briefly warm and infuse various spices and herbs like neem, ginger, garlic, or any other spices into hot ghee or oil. The aromatic flavors of tadka are commonly added to vegetables and beans to enhance their flavors and textures. Indian cooking is heavily reliant on this pan, which is considered one of the essential cooking tools for Indian cooking.

Why should you have a Tadka pan?

We mainly use tadka while cooking Dals, Fried Rice, and Rasam. Tadka pans with hard anodized handles are really handy since you only need a couple of tablespoons of oil. This tadka pan can also be used for grinding and toasting small amounts of dry spices at home.

2 Small Sauce Pans

a sauce pan filled with tomato sauce and small tomatoes
A sauce pan filled with tomato sauce and small tomatoes.

Having a saucepan as a cooking tool is an interesting experience. As the name clarifies, saucepans with straight sides and bases are used to prepare sauces. The distinctive shape of a saucepan makes it useful for certain tasks that normally would be reserved for stock pots or small pots. In comparison to any pans online, it is usually deeper and less wide with a long handle.

Why should you have a small Sauce Pan?

Besides being smaller, it is taller, narrower, and wider than a stock pot or Dutch oven. It is always a delicious experience to cook the chocolate sauce, perfectly boiled eggs, pancakes, and seafood.

3 Sauté Pan

a saute an filled with green and fresh veggies
A saute an filled with green and fresh veggies.

With sauté pans, you get taller sides set to the perfect angle with the base, providing you with a larger cooking area that avoids your food from splattering the sides and you get much space for cooking. Because we Indians love to cook Dal, curries, and vegetables, please make sure that the saute pan you purchase comes with a lid.

Why should you have a Saute Pan?

The sauté pan is ideal for searing or frying large batches of food, such as a sabzi or chicken. You should use medium heat for warmed sauces, and gravies, and stir frequently to prevent catching the liquid.

4 Stir Fry Pan

a stir fry pan with noodles and a spatula for stirring
A stir fry pan with noodles and a spatula for stirring.

One of the best pans we have ever used. Almost every kitchen should have a large Kadai. If you can find a wok or kadai with a lid, that would be great. In the case that it does not have a lid, you can always use a lid or dish from the kitchen.

Why should you have a Stir Fry Pan?

You can use a stir-fry pan for making paneer sabzi, aloo bhaji, stir-fries, Hakka noodle soup, and many other tasty meals. In comparison to stir-fries made in a skillet, stir-fries made in a cast iron wok are a great alternative. This is due to the wok’s material and shape, and how heat is transferred to it

Note: Stir Fry Pans are incompatible with induction cooktops or electric stoves.

5 Deep Frying Pan

samosas frying inside a deep frying pan
Samosas frying inside a deep frying pan.

Deep frying pans are durable and come with a thick base. When buying a deep frying pan, make sure you buy one made with pure iron or aluminum. Because iron requires oil to maintain its rust-free status, your kadai won’t get spoilt from oil scalding. Its thick base provides equal heat distribution so that the food you cook does not burn at high temperatures.

Why should you have a Deep Frying Pan?

You can use the deep-frying cooking pan for making samosas, curries, and puri in larger quantities. You need to cook the dishes on low flame and use less oil to ensure further reuse of the oil for other dishes. Besides deep frying, they are also suitable for preparing curry, gravy, and sauce.

6 Iron Tawa For Roti

an iron tawa used for making rotis and crispy dosas
An iron tawa used for making rotis and crispy dosas.

Investing in an iron tawa is a wise decision if you are fond of crispy dosas and eat rotis every day. Having a well-greased and seasoned iron tawa is essential when making dosas. For a better non-stick surface, grease and season the tawa for a few minutes before cooking dosas or roti.

Why should you have an Iron Tawa?

Because an iron tawa heats evenly, you can prepare crispy and crunchy uttapams, dosas, and rotis without worrying about them sticking to the cooking surface.

7 Grill pan

different vegetables with chicken grilled in a grill pan
Different vegetables with chicken grilled in a grill pan.

Generally, grill pans are used as baking pans to grill fish, steaks, sandwiches, and many other dishes. You can use a grill pan with a wide range of induction cooktops. Grill pans are oven-safe and are not easy maneuvering, which means you can griddle food even at high temperatures in a microwave oven. The dual handles enameled cast iron construction in the grill pan ensures excellent heat retention and even cooking at high heat.

Why should you have a Grill pan?

Stimulating the same feeling of outdoor grilling, you can use grill pans as baking pans to add flavor to any dish. A roasting pan is known for the easy release of increased grease, fats, and oils used to cook the food, whereas grilling drains excess fat from cooked foods. You can easily grill sea foods, sandwiches, meats, and vegetables.

8 Non-stick pans

a nonstick pan used to cook omelet
A nonstick pan used to cook omelet.

With its superior non-stick coating, nonstick pans will ensure you a healthy lifestyle. Not only does it save time, but it also reduces the use of excess oil. You should keep in mind that non-stick cookware is not dishwasher safe.

Why should you have a non-stick pan?

With an endless list of delicacies it can prepare, it is versatile for every occasion, from dry vegetarian preparation to pan-frying meats, fish, boiled eggs, or omelets.

9 Non-stick frying pans

frying with a non stick frying pan using butter
Frying with a non stick frying pan using butter.

A nonstick frying pan is extremely affordable than various materials including iron, stainless steel, or copper cookware. A non-stick frying pan allows food to slide off the surface more easily than cast iron cookware. This prevents food from burning easily, and non-stick cookware allows for easy handling of curries and dry foods.

Why should you have a non-stick frying pan?

A non-stick frying pan is commonly used in every house. You can easily flip pancakes, turn sausages, and fry eggs with its nonstick coating. A frying pan works well with cheesy dishes, delicate fish, and bacon. It is important to note that you should not cook acidic foods with these pans.

10 Wrapping Up

With our list of must-have cooking utensils, we hope you have gained a better understanding of how you can use this kitchen cookware to prepare different dishes. Let us know in the comment section, which of the following cookware you found the most essential while cooking!

FAQ's about Essential Cookware Set

What pan can you use for everything?

A cast iron pan can be used to cook almost everything you can think of! With the ability to withstand temperatures past 500 degrees Fahrenheit, this versatile and durable material can be used with an oven as well as on the stovetop. You can use a cast iron pan for frying, baking in a microwave, making omelets, searing steaks, and frying fish. However, it is not advisable to cook acidic foods with cast iron cookware.

Most chefs prefer using stainless steel cookware. But, occasionally they also use cookware made of cast iron, aluminum, or iron. Chefs tend to prefer stainless steel cookware over aluminum due to the fact that they need to handle a wide and dynamic range of dishes and cooking every single day. There are very rare chances for professional chefs to use non-stick cookware, especially non-stick fry pans. Chefs need to prepare thick gravies and pan sauces, which cannot be produced by non-stick fry pans.

As discussed in our previous blogs, cast iron cookware is the healthiest cookware to cook in. Cast iron cookware retains heat better than any cookware material. They are easy to clean and maintain. Also, it is researched that while cooking with cast iron cookware, there are chances that the food you cook will be rich in iron.

The list of essential cookware includes:

  • induction cooktops
  • pressure cooker
  • grill pans
  • tawa
  • stir fry pans
  • deep fry pans
  • non-stick frying pans
  • sauté pans
  • saucepans
  • tadka pans

A cast iron skillet is the most essential cookware for almost any home. It is also the most practical cookware you will ever use. You can use a cast iron skillet to bake, braise, roast, fry, sear, and saute different foods like pizza, eggs, fishes, vegetables, and curries.

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About This Article

Kaushik Jethva
Written by: Kaushik Jethva author

This article has been viewed 730 times.

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Updated: January 31, 2023
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