5 Budget-Boosting Kitchen Tools That Frugal People Swear By
Written by
Karen Doyle
Edited by
Chris Cluff
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Any frugal person knows that cooking at home is cheaper than going out or ordering takeout. But buying the tools you need to create a dinner masterpiece at home can be pricey. The trick is to buy tools that have more than one use, and make sure you’re not paying for more than you need.
Here are five multi-use tools for frugal cooks.
Silicone Spatulas
Silicone is a great material for spatulas. It’s heatproof, doesn’t scratch non-stick pans like metal does and doesn’t hold odors like wood does. The result is that you only need one or two that you can use with every pan you own. The spatulas last longer and so will your pans.
Bundlepro set of two silicon spatulas: $13.99 at Amazon.
Slow Cooker
You can make so many things in a slow cooker, and, for most recipes, you just dump in the ingredients and let them cook all day. The bonus here is that slow cooking makes even the toughest — and cheapest — cuts of meat tender and delicious.
Crock Pot mini slow cooker: $16.99 at Amazon.
Vegetable Chopper and Slicer
You know that one of the things that keeps you from cooking at home is all the prep work involved. With a multi-purpose chopper, slicer, dicer and mandolin, you can easily chop and slice all the vegetables you need for salads, soups, casseroles and more.
Fullstar veggie chopper, slicer, dicer: $31.95 at Amazon.
Freezing Cubes
Cooking in big batches is cost effective, and so is freezing that food to be heated and eaten later. Silicone freezer cubes let you freeze soups, stews and other cheap-to-make meals in single-serving portions. When it’s dinner time, just pop out one cube and microwave it. Easy peasy!
Ztomine silicone freezer container with lid: $22.49 at Amazon.
Rice Cooker
Rice is a pantry staple that’s as inexpensive as it is versatile. But it can be tricky to cook on the stove. A rice cooker can be a worthwhile investment and, despite its name, can be used for other things as well. You can use it as a slow cooker for soups or stews, or even make deserts like lava cake in it.
Aroma Housewares rice cooker: $19.69 at Amazon.
The right tools don’t have to be expensive, and they can really up your cooking game.
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