The Best Kitchen Utensils for Everyday Cooking, According to 17 Chefs

Of all the storage spaces in a kitchen, the utensil drawer might be one of the most chronically overfilled. It can easily pile up with one-trick tools (like the avocado peeler you used once) or double- and triple-ups of tongs, serving spoons, spatulas and beyond. But there are also the favourites you use again and again (for me, it’s Joseph Joseph’s measuring spoon). 

It can take a lot of research and testing to find the cooking utensils that are actually worth adding to your collection. We asked chefs from across the country, including five former Masterchef contestants, to share their favourites. Picks range from classic staples like a Microplane zester and a good set of kitchen shears, to niche pieces with a cracking backstory (like Toby Wilson’s spurtle, with which he won the World Porridge Championships in Scotland). Knives come up again and again, from compact deba knives to hefty cleavers.

These are the cooking utensils chefs swear by for your home cooking.

Reki Rei, chef-owner Sachi, Atsu and Common Cuts

My Japanese chef’s knife, deba. Traditionally used for breaking down fish, it has a thick, heavy blade that gives me incredible control and precision. With a deba, I don’t need fish scissors, and it’s strong enough to handle chopping through thicker ingredients as well. For me, it’s like an extension of my hand, sharp, balanced, and grounding. Using it feels almost meditative, and it always brings me back to my sushi roots.

Gareth Whitton, co-founder, Tarts Anon

A superfine grater like a Microplane. In the professional kitchen [it] can elevate the simplest recipes to that next level, but in the home kitchen [it’s] handy for making simple tasks a bit easier and achievable. Freshly made pesto and fluffy parmesan on top of your pasta, restaurant style.

Lux Hoang, head pastry chef, Sani

My chasen matcha whisk. I love it because it gives you that beautiful texture and micro-foam, and it makes the whole process feel more zen and intentional. It’s the only utensil in my kitchen that can make me look calm while I’m absolutely not.

Andre Ursini, former Masterchef contestant

My Japanese bronze fish scaler. It’s so precise and gentle, it feels like giving the fish a day spa treatment while you’re scaling it. It glides over the skin, massaging rather than tearing, and makes the whole process feel almost therapeutic.

Stefano Marano, owner-chef, Avia

My Le Creuset cast-iron casserole pot – for braising, sourdough baking, roasting chicken, making mapo tofu, you name it. It’s large enough to cook a meal for four, looks great on the table and it’s easy to clean.

Jamie Fleming, former Masterchef contestant

It’s straight-up my chef’s knife. I got given my first proper knife at 13 and had that one for nearly 20 years until it was stolen. I went out and bought the exact same Wusthof chef’s knife and haven’t looked back. It has carried me through both professional cooking and cooking at home.

Glenn McCue, owner-chef, Jujube Dining

Quality scissors are vital to me, from breaking down chickens or fish to opening packaging and cutting tape. I use Kitchenaid utility shears.

Vasili Petropoulos, chef-owner Vasili’s Table

My spatula. Chefs are sentimental, we can’t let go of certain tools. It might be a special knife or a simple piece of equipment we’ve carried through every kitchen we’ve worked in. To anyone else it might seem meaningless, but to us it’s priceless. My spatula has seen it all, every kitchen I’ve worked in over the last 25 years, and it’s racked up plenty of kilometres along the way.

Brendan Pang, cookbook author, former Masterchef contestant

My favourite knife – the Furi Pro East West santoku. This is the knife I reach for the most. It does just about everything – chopping vegetables, slicing meat, smashing garlic and scooping ingredients straight into the pan. If I could only have one knife, this would be it.

Toby Wilson

My spurtle (a traditional Scottish porridge-stirring instrument) from my first-ever World Porridge Championships in Carrbridge, Scotland. Every contestant is given one that is spun by Charlie Miller, the local porridge chieftain. They’re not commercially available. But Molly’s Grove, near Orange, New South Wales, makes a great local spurtle, spun using olive wood from their grove.

Quang Nguyen, owner Noi, Ong

I love Matty Matheson’s cast-iron pans. It’s incredibly thick, holds heat well, and it’s got a big lip too so it is super versatile.

Alana Lowes, former Masterchef contestant

I find myself consistently reaching for my silicone spatulas, whether I’m whipping up a cake or making a sauce. I have them in various sizes, each perfectly suited for its own task. I find such joy in scraping up every last bit from a bowl or jar as it means no waste! Honestly, I use them so frequently that I’m convinced it's time to expand my collection with a few more.

Giovanni Pilu, Pilu at Freshwater

The mezzaluna [a knife with a curved, half-moon-shaped blade]. It’s simple but effective and perfect for chopping herbs finely without bruising them. I’ve used one for years. There’s a rhythm to it and when you use it properly it gives such a clean result. It’s one of those tools that’s been around forever.

Declan Cleary, former Masterchef contestant

A fish spatula. Lightweight, precise, and perfect for flipping delicate fillets, it’s basically an extension of my hand.

Oscar Solomon, The Apollo Group

The fish weight or any weighted press is so versatile! I absolutely love it. Anything from cooking protein or vegetables in a pan or on a BBQ to sandwich press. Even weight distribution in your cooking is so helpful, it can be understated enough. They also look amazing.

Annita Potter, Viand

It’s a close call between a mortar and pestle and a cleaver. I stumbled across this incredible bladesmith in Thailand where I bought my cleaver. Perfect size, perfect weight and a joy to use for anything and everything. A cleaver, unlike a regular knife, needs to have blade weight to help the movement – I like a smallish, 17–18cm blade [that extends] into the handle for strength. Chinese grocers sell them – I wouldn’t buy a fancy expensive cleaver – you can get the same results from a decently priced one.

You can pick mortar and pestles up from most Asian supermarkets – Thai Lee IGA in Haymarket, [Sydney] or Kung Fu Grocery [in Marrickville, Sydney]. Find one about 20 or more centimeters.

Khanh Nguyen, executive chef, Ashe, King Clarence

A good chef’s knife, obviously. Sakai Jikko and a Konosuke HD2 are the knives I use most. They were bought from Japan, so I don’t have the exact models. And chef tweezers. Some people might laugh, but tweezers or chopsticks make life easier.

Quotes have been edited for length and clarity.