Student Cooking Utensils

When it comes to buying your utensils, stick with the basics – you’re not competing in Masterchef, so buying nearly every cooking implement on the shelf isn’t necessary.

Some of the fancy gadgets currently on the market can actually increase the preparation and cleaning up time of a meal, and are in fact more of a hindrance rather than a help.

A good frying pan (preferably the nonstick type, which last longer and are more efficient), several medium sized, stainless steel pots and a good knife set are the most important kitchen items to take with you.

It is worth splashing out a bit more money for these, to ensure you are getting good quality.

It’s important to shop around when looking for utensils to take to university – it’s best to purchase them quite cheaply, except for those mentioned above, as some of them are likely to go missing (courtesy of your flatmates!) by the time you finish your degree, and you probably don’t have a lot of money to spend on them anyway.

Good places to get them from include your local supermarket, Argos and Amazon.

The number and type of cooking utensils you decide to take with you is really a matter of personal choice, but we’ve put together a list of items we recommend to make sure you don’t forget any of the basics, and give you an idea of what you may need:

  • Frying pan
  • 2x medium sized pots
  • Small casserole dish
  • Spatula
  • Wooden spoon
  • Can opener
  • Knife set
  • Chopping board
  • Colander
  • Vegetable peeler
  • Whisk
  • Garlic press
  • Blender
  • Cheese grater
  • 2x sets of cutlery
  • 2x mugs
  • 2x glasses
  • Tin opener
  • Corkscrew/bottle opener
  • Baking tray
  • Masher
  • Microwaveable bowls

By all means, you don’t have to have everything on this list to get by in the kitchen at university.

Some of the tools above will just make your life a bit easier, so are more optional than required.

However, you can still get by without them – for example, peel your vegetables with a knife instead of using a vegetable peeler; drain vegetables using a pot and covering it with the lid instead of using a colander; use a fork instead of a whisk for beating eggs; cut cheese using a knife rather than grating it, etc.

Before splurging on appliances such as a kettle, toaster, mini fridge, coffee maker and a toasted sandwich maker, check that the university doesn’t already supply these if you are staying in university accommodation.

If you are house or flat sharing, it may still be worth holding off, as it’s likely at least one of your house/flat mates will have brought one or more of these appliances with them, so hopefully you can just share theirs.

Further information

For more tips and advice on student cooking, please see: