First home, first kitchen. You’ve just left home, where your parents have lived for ten thousand years, and they have every single utensil possible. Garlic crushers, sandwich toasters, ten different kinds of spatula. But what do you actually need? Surely you can’t go out and spend all that money! Nope – just buy the kitchen items you actually need.
Two saucepans, a wok or deep sided frying pan, and a flat frying pan. That is all you are going to need initially. You want a pan big enough for things like pasta and potatoes. The wok is for one pot type dishes like Bolognese, and the flat frying pan is for pancakes and fried eggs.
A plastic jug – for making gravy, measuring out stock or water for recipes, and also to use to microwave things like beans in!
Two or three spatulas and a wooden spoon – these will be multitasking in baking and frying.
A plastic or glass mixing bowl. If you fancy doing some baking, you will need this, But also, its great for just generally having in the house. If you want to peel some spuds but not use them yet, cover them in water for a couple of days in your bowl.
Plates, bowls, glasses and cutlery. Work out how many you need for two days per person. Just in case you aren’t that great at washing up or loading the dishwasher, add another day in. 6 piece set would be plenty for a couple. You are very unlikely to need cups and saucers. Buy 6 cheap mugs that match your décor instead. Get a few wine glasses and champagne glasses too, and pint glasses if that’s your thing.
Washing up bowl – don’t fall into the trap of having a gorgeous shiny stainless steel sink you want to show off. If you do that, it will get scratched. I speak from experience.
Gadgets. Gadgets are a nice to have. Ask for them for your birthday or housewarming gifts. Things like a microwave, toaster and kettle are essential though! Buy some Toastabags (Dunelm or pound shop!) for yummy and quick cheese toasties, you don’t need a proper sandwich toaster.
Food storage boxes for batch cooking.
Of course, there are more items that you will need, but this is a great starting point for any kitchen.