Updated on Sep. 04, 2024
What are the best kitchen products and gadgets for your home? Our Test Kitchen has sampled hundreds of them this year. Check out the winners for 2025.
Our editors and experts handpick every product we feature. We may earn a commission from your purchases.
Learn more.
At Taste Recipes, we’re serious about good food. That’s why every single recipe we publish is made and sampled by our team of culinary experts.
The same goes for products. Our pros want to know what gadgets, food and cleaning supplies are the best to fill your pantry and home. We put every product through a rigorous testing process. Then our Test Kitchen team chooses the winners. Those best-tasting and top-performing products get our stamp of approval: Test Kitchen-Preferred. While you’re at it, these are what we think are the best cool Amazon products for the home and kitchen.
There’s a reason you see the Cosori Air Fryer Max XL in so many of our videos (like this one for air-fryer chicken tenders): this machine is a star!
The 5.8-quart Cosori air fryer consistently delivers good-looking and delicious results. Our Test Kitchen staff loves how batch after batch of Nashville hot chicken comes out of the basket brown, crisp and too tempting not to sample before going to the photo studio.
Each recipe we test with this small appliance turns out exactly as our team envisions. Breaded recipes—like these air-fried pickles and popcorn shrimp tacos—have a crunchy coating and tender interior. Proteins, including pork tenderloin, fish and beef are cooked to the proper temperature all while staying juicy. See more of our top air fryers.
If you’d rather fire up the grill than switch on the oven, this is the gadget for you. Our pros agree the Looftlighter Original Electric Fire Starter is quick, versatile and a cinch to use.
Not familiar with the Looftlighter? To use it, you just touch this supercharged gadget to your charcoal. Within a minute, this burning hot (we mean it—1,000ºF or more!) tool lights the fire. But don’t fret—the safety casing cools down in just seconds. Yep, you read that right: in two minutes you can fill your grill with charcoal, light it and have your Looftlighter cooled and stashed away. Also check out these unique kitchen gadgets you won’t believe are real.
And if you need any more reasons to check out this fancy gadget, know that it does more than start up your grill: you can also use it to start your smoker, outdoor pizza oven and even a bonfire. Read more about the best charcoal starters.
If you’re serious about countertop convection ovens, you might just want to splurge on the Breville Smart Oven Air. This appliance has more settings (13!) than any other brand we tried, and our pros love every single one.
This oven is simple to use right out of the box and each setting delivers terrific results: potatoes are perfectly roasted, air-fryer chicken wings are crisp, sausages roast up juicy and leftovers are heated through and never soggy. And frozen pizzas (we all buy ’em!) bake up evenly and slide off the nonstick pizza pan with ease.
The Smart Oven Air feels solid and looks clean sitting on any countertop. It is a bit more expensive than the other countertop convection oven brands we recommend, but all the features, accessories and performance make it well worth it according to our expert testers.
No surprise here: Lodge, the maker of the Internet’s favorite affordable cast-iron skillet, also makes a phenomenal Dutch oven for well under $100.
Weighing in at a little over 13 pounds, this heavy-duty 4.5-quart Dutch oven has generously sized handles that make it easy to pull out of the oven. Heavy pots like this heat more slowly and retain heat for longer, which is perfect for braised dishes like this balsamic pot roast.
While Lodge came in as the least expensive brand in our test, it managed to keep pace with the spendier options out there. Learn about more Dutch oven brands our testers recommend. Did you know a dutch oven is one of the 21 essential kitchen utensils every cook should have?
Kitchen scales see a lot of action. One day you’re measuring flour for loaves of bread, the next you’re weighing apples for pie or cuts of meat for grilling. With all those ingredients coming and going, it’s essential to have a kitchen scale that’s easy to clean. Enter the Salter Digital Kitchen Scale.
Of course, the Salter scale is accurate. It can detect as little as 2 grams by itself—a feat! You can also weigh liquids, in liquid ounces or milliliters. Do professional cooks really use the fanciest gadgets in their own homes? A poll of our Test Kitchen staff reveals all.
This scale is outfitted with a large removable top so you can clean up any messes your ingredients may have left behind. While this feature isn’t unique to Salter, our Test Kitchen pros find that this brand’s removable cover is easier to maneuver and clean than our other favorite kitchen scale brands. Then, check out these other popular kitchen gadgets people can’t stop buying on Amazon.
When you’ve got a family, no one wants to wait on individual plates of leftovers to reheat. You need a larger microwave, like the LG NeoChef. This 1.5-cubic-foot microwave easily accommodates a 13×9 dish or large bowl.
Beyond size, LG’s microwave ticks all our boxes: intuitive controls, even heating (no cold spots!) and even fancy sensor cooking that helps detect when food is hot.
Looking for more options? Find out all the best microwave brands according to our Test Kitchen.
If you host a crowd for the holidays, chances are you buy the biggest turkey you can find. And you’ll need the biggest roasting pan to prepare that bird. Our Test Kitchen’s favorite oversized roaster comes to us from Calphalon Premier.
This hard-anodized, nonstick roaster is just what our Test Kitchen pros need to prepare a whopping 26-pound turkey. It also can easily roast 5 pounds of potatoes—perfect if you’re used to making large quantities. This pan, while large, isn’t too heavy. You can easily lift it thanks to the sturdy handles. Our testers also love the cleverly designed rack that sits low in the pan, but still allows air to circulate for even roasting.
Cleaning up after making turkey and potatoes is relatively mess-free. The hard-anodized surface is durable (you can even use metal utensils on it) but it’s also nonstick, meaning you can soak this pan and have it clean in just a few minutes. See more of the best roasting pans.
You want to focus on cooking in the kitchen, not the cleanup. That’s why our Test Kitchen team enjoys using the PowerXL Smokeless Grill Pro.
The machine’s attached lid keeps spatters at bay while it grills—meaning you don’t have to scrub the walls and backsplash after flipping a few burgers. The grill plate is also dishwasher-safe so it takes no effort to clean.
But what about the grilling? The PowerXL grill does it well. Food sizzles on the grate and the crosshatch pattern gives everything from grilled chicken breasts to veggie burgers beautiful grill marks.
There are two kinds of breakfast-makers out there: people who push down the level on the toaster and let it go, and people who have to peek at their bread every 30 seconds. If you’re one of the latter, this Breville Die-Cast Smart Toaster is the best toaster for you.
This two-slice toaster has a wealth of features ideal for the impatient among us, first of which is a progress bar. You can see how much toasting time is left, giving you a minute to make a quick cafe-style drink or wash a few dishes. Breville’s toaster also includes a “Lift and Look” button so you can peek on the status of your toast without having to cancel the cycle. Learn about our other favorite toaster brands.
Not sure where to begin when shopping for wine glasses? It’s best to stick with a classic shape from a company that does stemware right: Lenox Tuscany Glasses.
With a quintessential white wine glass shape, this stemware sits comfortably in the hand. Thanks to the glasses’ slightly thicker (but not bulky or unattractive) construction, you can kick back and enjoy your pinot grigio without worrying you’ll crack the stem or chip the rim. Our testers love that the thicker glass here also makes hand-washing these much less nerve-wracking, though you can also wash them in the dishwasher. Read up on more of our best wine glasses.
The biggest name in baked beans is also a winner when it comes to black beans. Bush’s black beans are satisfying heated right from the can. These beans look a bit smaller than other options, but tasters find them shiny and delicious. Our Test Kitchen pros agree that Bush’s recipe is perfectly seasoned. These beans are definitely ready to add to your recipes without any fuss. Check out all the best black beans.
Bob Evans Original Pork Sausage Links gain our Test Kitchen’s attention because they absolutely hit the mark. These sausages have a great pork flavor accompanied by the seasonings we crave in a link like this: black pepper, sage, salt and a bit of rosemary. Finding all these flavors in perfect harmony can be challenging, but our testers unanimously agree that Bob Evans nailed it. See our other favorite breakfast sausage brands.
Our Test Kitchen reaches for Land O Lakes time and time again. In fact, it’s the brand you’ll see in our Test Kitchen coolers—and for good reason.
Sticks of this butter are creamy and pale—lighter in color than most brands but absolutely creamy with just a whisper of salt. Because of the lower salt content in this butter, it’s a great choice for baking. You’ll find that your recipes turn out as expected instead of overly seasoned.
On its own, Land O Lakes butter is perfectly satisfying. The dairy used in this butter gave it a luscious flavor and texture that would make it a welcome addition on top of a steaming hot baked potato or a great base for flavored compound butter. Learn about the other best butters on the market.
The breading is often what sets good frozen chicken tenders apart from the great ones, and our Test Kitchen says that Tyson Crispy Chicken Strips are among the best. The breading on these chicken strips is perfectly crunchy and golden with the crispy (but not too crispy) texture our pros look for.
In fact, these remind testers of their favorite fast-food chicken strips, with moist, tender white meat inside. If you’re looking for a great chicken tender, reaching for the biggest name in chicken is always a good idea. Want variety? Find out what other brands rank in our chicken tenders taste test.
New to cooking chili (or to the kitchen in general)? You might not know exactly what you’re looking for in your soon-to-be-signature recipe. But McCormick Chili Powder is a great place to start for your homey favorites.
Our tasters appreciate McCormick’s great chili aroma and earthy, satisfying flavor, thanks to the just-right balance of garlic, cumin and oregano. Use this spice blend for chili (obviously), sloppy joes, chicken wings and all sorts of barbecued classics. The flavors here are great on their own but can be easily built upon; so add more heat, more cumin—more of whatever you like to customize your recipes. If you want choices, discover more top chili powder brands according to our Test Kitchen.
We don’t want to say that Ghirardelli Double Chocolate Cake Mix was better than homemade, but our Test Kitchen thinks it gives scratch-made cakes a run for their money.
This cake mix hits all the marks: it’s moist and tender—exactly the texture you want when you think chocolate cake. It also has the appropriate amount of lift—not too dense, not too airy. When you slice into a birthday cake, this is the type of cake you want to see.
Ghirardelli also delivers on big chocolate flavor; this mix has great dark chocolate taste and touches of vanilla. Keep it, or these other Test Kitchen-approved chocolate cake mix brands, in your cupboard for chocolate emergencies and last-minute desserts.
If you ask our Test Kitchen pros, what makes ice cream such a decadent treat is that ultra-creamy texture. And achieving that smoothness can be a challenge (especially when making homemade ice cream)—but not for Kemps Old Fashioned chocolate ice cream.
This ice cream is smooth, smooth, smooth. As it melts on your tongue, you’ll get a sweet, milk chocolate flavor that’s a bit nostalgic. Another bonus of Kemps’ formula: it’s super easy to scoop. Our favorite ice cream scoops glide right through without any trouble. Use them on these other top chocolate ice cream brands, too.
When you reach for a block of cream cheese at the store, you’re hoping to get a creamy, tangy spread perfect for your morning breakfast (or plenty of other cream cheese recipes). Here, Philadelphia delivers!
Our tasters say Philly is pleasantly tangy with a very soft, smooth texture. If you’re looking for cream cheese to spread over your bagel with a few slices of smoked salmon, this is the one to buy. Our pros rank these other cream cheese brands well, too.
You’ll find most pickle options in the condiment aisle, but don’t forget to take a look in your grocer’s deli section. That’s where you’ll find Grillo’s Pickles.
Unlike many pickles, Grillo’s manages to retain a lot of that refreshing cucumber flavor. True to the name, these pickles are loaded with fresh dill, too—the most dill flavor of any pickle brand our Test Kitchen has sampled. They look just like a good homemade refrigerator pickle and have a satisfying bite: crunchy with a snap.
Because these pickles are fresh, they don’t have as long a shelf life as traditionally canned pickles, but believe us when we say not a single spear will go to waste. We rank them among the best pickles anywhere, along with these other pickle brands.
We know it’s just rice. You aren’t looking for anything flashy—just a good base for your next healthy side dish or easy dinner. For a great basic, go for Target’s Good & Gather Instant White Rice. This instant rice has a tender texture and a beautiful snow-white appearance making it a great start to any dinner recipe and especially good for soaking up delicious stir-fry sauces. Find out what other instant rice brands our testers love.
In our blind tests, Heinz Tomato Ketchup always comes out on top. What can we say: this ketchup has the best balance of tomato flavor, tanginess and sweetness. This is exactly the type of ketchup we all want to have on the table at our cookouts and in the fridge when we whip up some frozen fries in the air fryer. These other ketchup brands earn high marks, too.
Sometimes, no matter what you do, pasta turns out a little too soft. But with De Cecco, you never have to worry about too-soft noodles! Our testers say this pasta has a phenomenal al dente texture and doesn’t turn to mush when boiled for a minute too long. It holds its shape well and has the slightly chewy texture we crave from macaroni. This is a great option when your recipe calls for a noodle that holds up, like in a pasta fagioli soup. These macaroni brands are Test Kitchen-preferred, too.
If you use mayo for more than just sandwiches, dips and salads, you need a good all-purpose ingredient like Hellmann’s Real Mayonnaise. Hellman’s combines all of what we want from mayonnaise in a single jar: it’s thick but spreadable; tangy but not too overpowering.
Overall, our Test Kitchen team finds Hellmann’s to be a great go-to for many applications. So crack open a jar to make coleslaw for a cookout and keep it open while you make yourself a snack before the party starts. It might sound odd, but a Southern-style peanut butter and mayo sandwich is pretty delicious! Learn about the other brands we’ve ranked for best mayonnaise.
Approximating the texture and consistency of dairy milk is a challenge—many dairy-free options fail. But here Oatly succeeds. The original oat milk company offers a beverage that has the same consistency as a glass of milk which makes it easy to drink, easy to stir into coffee and easy to add to recipes that would normally call for milk, like a smoothie bowl. Having this just-right consistency is key; you don’t want to alter your routines and recipes significantly just to accommodate a new ingredient.
As for the taste, Oatly is pretty mild. That’s not a bad thing at all. Think of Oatly as a supporting player that lets the stars of the show—be it your morning latte or latest dairy-free bake—shine. Find out what other oat milk brands top our list.
Want a sauce that reminds you of your favorite fancy pizzeria? That store-bought sauce is Rao’s. According to our test team, Rao’s tastes fresh and homemade. Is there any higher praise than that? When it comes to any store-bought item, we’re all craving scratch-made taste.
What makes Rao’s really stand out was the fresh tomato flavor as well as oregano and garlic. All these ingredients are visible in the sauce—even a few tomato seeds which makes this brand feel like the real deal. This sauce stands out and won’t get lost—even with a great homemade crust and fresh mozzarella. Our Test Kitchen pros say these other pizza sauce brands are good bets, too.
If you’re a beef-burger fan looking to try meatless ones (at least some of the time), you’ll want to pick up Impossible Burger. These much-hyped burgers are one of our Test Kitchen’s favorites because Impossible really replicates the experience of a beef burger using soy and other veggie ingredients. This burger looks like a real burger, sears up like a real burger, has the texture of a real burger and tastes a lot like…yep, a real burger. This patty has even our most serious burger fans willing to reach in for seconds. We named these other plant-based burger brands among the best, too.
The biggest compliment our Test Kitchen can give to a packaged product is to call it almost homemade (our pros’ palates know the difference between purchased and from scratch). When it comes to Hunt’s San Marzano Style Tomatoes, you might just think these are garden tomatoes that have been canned at home. It doesn’t get better than that—other than making your own canned tomatoes.
These tomatoes from Hunt’s (also one of our favorite ketchup brands), have a mild, sweet flavor much like plum tomatoes picked from the garden. There are no bitter or tinny flavors like you might get from lesser quality tomatoes. The texture here is firm, meaning they would hold up well to dicing for recipes like bruschetta or certain soups. In any recipe where tomatoes are the star, Hunt’s tomatoes will shine. Our Test Kitchen recommends these other San Marzano tomato brands, too.
If you keep just one brand of soy sauce in your fridge door, let it be Kikkoman. Our Test Kitchen pros agree this sauce has a solid balance of sweetness and saltiness with just a kick of acid. This nicely balanced sauce is perfect for making Easy Pad Thai or Grilled Huli Huli Chicken. As a soy sauce, though, the primary flavor is salt, and that’s just fine. This is precisely the ingredient you need to emphasize all the other ingredients in your recipe. Just remember: when using generous amounts of soy sauce, you can omit the salt.
Testers also appreciate that it’s readily available. Kikkoman is sold at nearly every supermarket and big box store, so you’re never far from one of the best soy sauce options.
Need a taco seasoning with some personality? You want Old El Paso Original Taco Seasoning Mix. This standout spice mix boasts the smoky cumin flavor we look for in tacos, but balances that spice with hits of chipotle, chili powder and black pepper. This mix has a little kick—but not so much that it would offend sensitive eaters.
Also worth noting with Old El Paso: the sauce this mix produces. Tasters love how the beef gets nice and juicy, but not sloppy. It’s easy to scoop into taco shells or spoon over tortilla chips for nachos. That’s a winner in our Test Kitchen’s book! So are these other top taco seasoning brands.
Are you the type of person who reads a recipe calling for two cloves of garlic and thinks I’ll add four? Then you’ll want to snag a box of New York Bakery Texas Toast next time you’re shopping for frozen garlic bread.
The Test Kitchen team appreciates that this garlic-forward Texas toast delivers on real garlic flavor as advertised, as well as some other Italian herbs like parsley and oregano. No preservatives or artificial flavors in this brand—it’s the real deal. If you can’t find New York Bakery, our pros recommend these other Texas toast brands.
With its large chunks of flaky albacore tuna, StarKist is our team’s favorite. It’s juicy and bright with just the right level of salt. Packed in water, this brand is super healthy—it has 17 grams of protein, 60% of your vitamin B12 for the day and is just 80 calories per pouch. That’s pretty darn good if you’re trying to eat well and want to incorporate more seafood into your diet. These other tuna brands are good bets, too.
While vanilla really shines in vanilla-forward recipes like ice cream or creme brulee, you can’t forget that its main job in most recipes is to enhance the flavors of other ingredients. Good vanilla makes chocolate, fruit, nuts, sugar and butter all taste better. And that is the real strength of Nielsen-Massey Pure Vanilla Extract. It elevates all these ingredients and makes them shine.
Our testing team finds that frostings made with this vanilla extract taste richer and more buttery than other options—not just vanilla-forward. But don’t think that Nielsen-Massey is good only for bringing out the best in other flavors. This vanilla is smooth and smells like a bouquet of vanilla beans. Delicious! Learn about our Test Kitchen’s other preferred vanilla extract brands.
Getting the right balance of flavor is crucial in recipes and in the ingredients we use in those recipes. Our Test Kitchen team thinks that Ghirardelli Classic White Chips have the perfect balance of sweetness, creaminess and flavor that we all want from white chocolate chips. These Ghirardelli chips are creamy and melt easily, perfect for using in recipes like these white chocolate cheesecake cups and cranberry scones.
What really has our test Kitchen pros in love, though, is the flavor of these white chips. Ghirardelli white chocolate isn’t overly sweet; instead, caramel and cream flavors take center stage. The spot-on texture and taste here make these a clear winner in the eyes—err mouths—of our Test Kitchen cooks. If you can’t find Ghirardelli, try one of these other white baking chip brands.
When it comes to vanilla flavor, our pros think Duncan Hines Classic White Cake Mix gets it just right. This snowy white cake is delicate and light with just the right amount of vanilla flavor—and it tastes of real vanilla, not the artificial stuff (our Test Kitchen is particular!). Our team agrees this airy cake is moist and a joy to sample—definitely a must-buy if you need a cake in a hurry. They recommend these other white cake mixes, too.
For a sleek countertop drying rack with plenty of nifty features, opt for the KitchenAid Full-Size Dish Rack.
Our testers say this pricier dish rack is worth every penny for the useful features and generous size. It easily accommodates larger pots and pans along with their lids. Plus, the configuration of the interior slats makes it easy to fit in dishes of all sizes. The rack’s divided cutlery caddy is also super convenient. You can easily remove this component to bring silverware across the kitchen or to clean up. Find all our dish drying rack reviews. Oh, and as an alternative, you can check out these over-the-sink dish racks, too.
Finish Quantum Dishwashing Tablets clean everything. Dirty lasagna pan? Spotless! Flatware? Sparkling clean. Lipstick-smeared glasses? Not a single smudge left. Load after load, these dishwashing pods—a blend of detergent gel and powder—perform. Our testing team has never had to rewash anything that came out of the dishwasher when we used Finish—and that’s truly the sign of a great dishwasher detergent. Find the results of our dishwasher detergent test.
Speaking of keeping your kitchen sparkling clean, you’re going to wonder how you made it this long without the silicone utensil rest.
Want an eco-friendly option for scrubbing up? Try Seventh Generation Hand Wash. With 97% biobased ingredients and a hypoallergenic formula without synthetic fragrances, this soap is ideal for folks with sensitive skin. This soap is also dye-free, cruelty-free and paraben-free. And don’t think that this natural formula means sacrificing performance.
Seventh Generation’s hand soap formula is great at tackling dirty hands without drying skin, which is much appreciated by our testers. For the best foaming and hypoallergenic hand soap brands, check out our full test.
Want a mop that’s so much more than a mop? That’s the Bissell CrossWave. This awesome piece of cleaning equipment mops and vacuums. That’s right: as you push the Bissell CrossWave across the floor, it sucks up all the little bits and debris, then mops everything away. Our busy testers love that there’s no need to sweep before you start mopping.
The CrossWave delivers so much more than just convenience; it also gives our kitchen floors a spectacular clean. The Bissell cleaning solution leaves the floors sparkling and free of grit, grease and grime. Floors feel and look terrific for days—or until the next big spill.
This vacuum-mop hybrid gives the best clean out of any options our Test Kitchen has tried. It’s pricey, though: be ready to shell out about $250 plus the cost of cleaning solution. Want something more affordable? Get the scoop on our favorite manual mop brands.
One of the greatest updates to the classic trash bag has to be the webbed plastic that allows bags to stretch but not break. While there are several options out there, our Test Kitchen’s favorite is Glad ForceFlex Drawstring Trash Bags.
These Glad bags snuggle right into the can liner and cinch around the lip so you can fill the bag without worrying it’ll slip into the can. And when it comes time to walk that bag to the curb, have no worries; the trash bag will stretch but won’t split. Our test team has never had a single mess to clean up. Want options? Read our trash bag reviews.
Up Next: You Need a Mini Rolling Pin in Your Kitchen—Here’s Why
