The best kitchen gadgets under £50: The cheap kitchen appliances you need in your home

If you’re anything like us you’ll have a whole lot of wooden spoons with singe marks and burnt bottoms. These sleek Hang Around spatulas and spoons have a clever little slot in the back, so that they rest easily on the lip of your pots and pans, helping to avoid cooking injuries to themselves. They’re not the cheapest wooden spoons on the market but we love how easy they make cooking, saving on all those usual drips on the worktops when you put your spoon down.

Buy the Hang Around spatula and spoon on Made In Design for £25

Whether you love salsas, stir-fries or fritters this little contraption is for you. The sharp stainless steel blade effortlessly removes all the corn from a cob in one swift movement giving you perfectly separated pieces ready for cooking – you’ll never want to use the frozen or tinned kinds again. And because the blade is nice and sturdy this can be used on both raw and cooked corn.

Buy Chef’n Corn Stripper on Amazon for £6.10

There’s nothing quite like homemade ice cream, but why does it have to take SO long? Well, not any more! Keep this amazing Chef’N Sweet Spot Ice Cream Maker in the freezer and when you’re in need of a sugar hit, pour your ice cream base onto the plate, scrape and scoop it for a few minutes and all of a sudden you’ll have a delicious frozen treat, ready to eat. Have fun inventing different flavour combinations. We find ready-made custard makes a pretty delicious instant ice cream.

Buy Chef’N Sweet Spot Ice Cream Maker on Amazon for £43.02

Get your little chefs in the kitchen and understanding where their meals come from with this adorable Opinel set. The finger guard means you can happily give the kids something to chop without worrying about injuries, and the positioning in the knife and peeler encourages them to hold utensils in the right way to avoid injuries when they move onto adult knives.

Buy Opinel le petit chef knife and fingers guard on Amazon for £31.90

Who doesn’t want to eat more pizza, frankly? This nifty little table top number allows you to cook individual portions of pizza to perfection. The terracotta topper gives a wonderfully crisp crust and fluffy finish towards the centre – ideal. The hardest part of creating your pizzas on this will be to choose which toppings you fancy, never an easy choice.

Artesa Tabletop Mini Pizza Oven on Amazon for £29.93

If you thought getting a checker board cake finish was reserved to Great British Bake Off contestants only, think again. These clever cake tins from Wilton make it a piece of cake (sorry!) to get a perfect multi-toned finish with their separating rings that sit inside the various tins. From chocolate and vanilla checked cakes to multi-coloured rainbow sponges, this set means you can have all sorts of fun creating beautiful bakes to impress your friends and family.

Buy Wilton Chequered Cake Pan Set on Amazon for £11.88

These sleek weighing scales are designed by none other than Heston Blumenthal, so you know that they’ve been made to pretty high standards. On the left is a scale that can weigh up to 10kg for your big bakes and on the right is a precision scale for small weights up to 200g. The smaller side is perfect for getting spices and seasoning spot on. And these sleek scales also feature an add and weigh function, so you can mix everything in one bowl really easily.

Buy Salter Precision Dual Platform Flat Digital Kitchen Weighing Scales on Amazon for £43.78

Eggs are tricky things to get just right, what with everyone liking theirs different. One of the most inexpensive but most useful gadgets we have is this Kitchen Craft’s colour changing egg timer. Simply pop it into the pan with your boiled eggs and it’ll tell you exactly at what point they are soft, medium and hard.

Buy Kitchen Craft colour changing egg timer on Amazon for £1.98

We all know the virtues of leafy greens like kale, but one thing that always has us feeling less than enchanted is the woody stalks. This small green contraption does away with this downside by stripping the leaves from the stalk in one swift movement. similarly it works wonders on herbs like thyme and rosemary, where you only want the leaves.

Buy Chef’n Kale & Herb Stripper on Amazon for £8.47

The cheap alternative to a toastie maker, Lakeland’s Toastabags fit straight into your toaster without the need for an additional appliance. They’re reusable and can be thrown in the dishwasher, freezer or microwave. Simply make a sandwich as usual, drop into the toaster and remove after a few minutes to reveal the perfect toasted treat. Note: Cheese is always necessary.

Buy Lakeland Toastabag on Amazon for £6.59

Try this Chef’n’s potato ricer instead of a traditional masher to get restaurant-style, ultra smooth mashed potatoes. Something like a huge garlic crusher, this potato ricer pushes boiled potatoes through small holes to get rid of any unwanted lumps. We also use ours to make smooth fruit purees from cooked berries or soft fruits.

Buy Chef’n potato ricer on Amazon for £27.49

This specially designed non-stick cooking pot lets you create real home-made food in the microwave – amazing, we know! Microwave Hot Pot cooks poached eggs, tomato sauce, omelettes, tapas and many more dishes. It’s easy to use and easy to clean too!

Buy JML Microwave Hot Pot, on Amazon for £10.69

If you’ve ever accidentally stuck a knife in the toaster to get your slice out before it burns then you need these in your life. Much safer, these wooden tongs allow you to grab your toast straight from the toaster without the risk of electrocuting yourself, or burning your fingers. They have a handy magnet on the side too, that sticks to your toaster for when they’re not in use so you can’t loose them.

Buy Magnetic Lakeland Wooden Toast Tongs For Toasters on Amazon for £4.29

We all know the pain of wanting a sandiwch only to discover there’s no room temperature butter on hand and then promptly ripping your bread apart with hard-to-spread butter. This slightly strange looking gadget eliminates the need for keeping any of your butter out of the fridge by enabling you to almost grate your block onto bread, to make spreading a breeze.

Buy Cookit Easy Butter Mill on Amazon for £26.60

Letting barbecues go is one of the saddest parts of winter approaching, but with this clever balcony BBQ you can easily make barbecues all year round. Hooking onto balcony rails, this takes up very little space, can’t be kicked over by little feet and makes covered barbecues all year round quick and easy, using standard barbecue coals.

Buy the Balcony BBQ on Amazon for £36.55

Omelettes have just got a whole lot easier thanks to this Lakeland exclusive product that makes cooking and flipping them so simple. The non-stick material these pan liners are made from means that there is no sticking during cooking and there’s the bonus of not needing oil or butter to fry in, too, so they’ll help you stick to healthy dinners even when you’re short on time.

Buy the Omelit Non Stick Liner For Frying Pans on Lakeland for £3.99

Anything that saves us cleaning is a sure winner and Morphey Richards’ 3-in-1 scales do just that. These scales from Morphey Richards don’t just weigh, they also measure and act as a mixing bowl, all in one. You can zero the scales as you go too, adding each ingredient as a new weight, perfect for recipes with lots of ingredients.

Buy Morphey Richards 3-in-1 scales on Amazon for £16.95

If you’re a baking fanatic but haven’t quite mastered the more intricate levels yet, this tin is ideal for you. In a pretty bundt shape, the set includes two pans, one with indents that will produce spaces to fill with whatever you fancy and one that will create the top of your cake. The end result is a filled piece of cake with every slice – which is sure to impress family and friends.

Buy Fillables 29cm Fluted Ring Cake Tin on Lakeland for £17.99

Ever wish you had another pair of hands? This automatic mixer, called üutensil stirr, travels round your pan in a circular motion to make sure nothing burns or sticks to the bottom while letting you get on with something else. Genius! 

Buy üutensil stirr on Amazon for £16.99

Get your pastry or dough to the exact thickness required with this Joseph Joseph adjustable rolling pin. The changable discs on the two ends lower or raise the rolling pin to the needed depth, giving you an even and consistent thickness for your tart bases, pies and pasties. Use the colourful ends to give you pastry varying in depth from 2mm, 4mm, 6mm or 10mm.

Buy Joseph Joseph Adjustable Rolling Pin on Amazon for £19.80

It wouldn’t be fair to yourself to keep pancakes for Pancake Day only, they’re such a glorious food! This specifically designed Breville machine makes crepe disasters a thing of the past with its evenly heated smooth surface and batter distributor.

Buy Breville crepe maker on Amazon for £28.94

Now we’re not saying this is essential, but warm plates are a lovely thing, don’t you think? This electric warmer is perfect for parties when you have lots of food to serve and don’t want it getting all cold while you get the plates on the table. You can stack up a couple of plates in each slot and keep your dinners warmer for longer with the results, lovely for winter comfort food!

Buy Hot Ideas Electric Plate Warmer on Amazon for £34.95

If you’ve got a drawer of utensils but can never find the right thing, this magnetic knife strip should do the job. You’ll never be able to loose your favourite knife again. Easily mounted on the wall this sleek bar adds a modern feel to any kitchen and will keep your knives right where you need them.

Buy Stellar Magnetic Knife Rack on Amazon for £17.15

Juicing citrus fruit isn’t always the easiest of kitchen tasks with their slippery skins and shape. This simple lemon squeezer is great at taking the hassle out of making salad dressings, citrus icings and more. Simply put a half lemon into the squeezer with the tip cut off and give it a good grip to release all the juice from your fruit in one easy motion. You’ll notice you get a lot more juice out of the fruit than you would by hand. They come in different sizes too, for limes and oranges, in appropriately coloured green and orange.

Buy Eddingtons lemon squeezer on Amazon for £7.25

We could always do with a bit more space in the cupboards. This soft silicone Colourworks’ collapsible colander means you don’t lose any functionality in your kitchen, while saving you room at the same time. It comes in lots of lovely bright colours but this lime green is our favourite.

Buy Colourworks collapsible colander on Amazon for £6.99

We’re a little obsessed with this latest gadget, the Vegetable Spiralizer. This handy gadget will help you transform your 5-a-day into spaghetti spirals. It’s a clever way to get the kids more interested in veggies and a great way of making your mid-week meals look restaurant worthy. We love it!

Buy Lakeland Vegetable Spiralizer on Amazon for £34.99

If you’re baking biscuits for an event or occasion, add an extra special touch with this embossing rolling pin. Your cookies will look elegant and one of a kind with this gorgeous pattern. This rolling pin could also make a lovely gift for friends who like to bake!

Buy Folk Embossing Rolling Pin on Amazon for £21.80

Iconic English brand Mason Cash provides the answer to oil-free roasting with this gorgeous traditional terracotta roaster. This easy to use Mason Cash’s clay oven insulates foods, steaming and roasting it in its own juices, to intensify flavour. The good news is that it’s glazed inside too, making It easy to clean.

Buy the Mason Cash clay oven on Amazon for £21.66

No more lumpy soups or smoothies with this compact Breville Pick and Mix Hand Blender. It matches the hand mixer in its range and is pretty with a 1950s style. It also includes 500ml Beaker and 500ml Mini Chopper with Stainless Steel Blades. We’ll be making soups with ours!

Buy Breville Pick and Mix Hand Blender on Amazon for £29.99

Small and easy to use, Eva Solo’s pen grater is perfect for ginger, garlic or nutmeg and will save you on washing up the big one every time. The small space on the back gathers all your grated ingredients to make sure you don’t waste anything on a chopping board and it hardly takes up any space in the drawer either.

Buy Eva Solo pen grater on Amazon for £16.91

Make sure your gravy is the best ever with this simple OXO Good Grips’ separator – the perfect solution to getting rid of excess fat. A little bit of fat is delicious in gravy to start off the thickening process, but too much and you’ll get a grease slick on the top and oily finish. This crafty jug from OXO Good Grips pours the juices from the bottom, leaving the fat behind, giving you deliciously flavoured gravy without excess calories.

Buy OXO Good Grips fat separator on Amazon for £12.96

A mezzaluna, meaning half moon in Italian to describe the shape of the blade, makes chopping herbs finely a doddle. We fell in love with this Bliss in the Woods’ rabbit mezzaluna and board with its adorable design and couldn’t look at any alternatives, since they surely won’t have rabbit ears included. The blade even has a cute bunny face and the handy chopping board can be turned over and used on the other side with any flat knife too.

Buy Bliss in the Woods rabbit mezzaluna and board on Amazon for £19.89

We love a good slow-cooker recipe and Morphey Richards Sear and Stew slow cooker is slow cooker with a difference, allowing you to sear your meat in the same pot you stew it in. Turn this slow cooker onto its high setting to brown meat, releasing those delicious cooking juices, before turning down to get delicious slow-cooked results.

Buy the Sear and Stew slow cooker on Morphey Richards for £29.99

Get veggies in perfectly thin slices with this easy to use mandolin by ProCook, perfect for making gratins and salads. With is safety cover and non-slip feet, this is safe and savvy, all in one.

Buy ProCook mandolin slicer, on Amazon for £39

Not just for coffee, this Lloytron coffee grinder is perfect for grinding herbs and spices in seconds to make your meals even more tasty and flavoursome. It’s the perfect little gadget to have instead of laboriously crushing spices traditionally with a pestle and mortar – everyone’s a winner!

Buy the Lloytron 50g Capacity Spice Grinder on Amazon for £20.63

Banish mess from your kitchen top with Joseph Joseph’s elevate tongs, which keep themselves up above whatever you need to rest them on. By ensuring your tongs don’t touch your surfaces you’re keeping cooking hygienic too. Comfortable to hold, spring loaded and non-stick, these are some of the best tongs we’ve found on the market.

Buy Joseph Joseph elevate tongs on Amazon for £13

You won’t need to wrestle with your tins of beans anymore with Culinare’s one touch can opener, which clips onto the top of your can to do all the hard work for you. Press the button and watch as this gadget cuts the top off, allowing you easy access with fewer jagged edges.

Buy Culinare one touch can opener on Amazon for £12.50

John Lewis’ pasta maker has nine thickness settings for kneading and rolling and can make a variety of your favourite pasta shapes, from lasagne sheets to fettuccine. It comes with a clamp that fixes firmly to your tabletop or worktop to prevent slipping, too.

Buy this pasta maker on John Lewis for £32

Stop the smell of garlic getting on your hands with Chef’n’s garlic chopper. Fill the little wheel and give it a roll to get evenly chopped garlic chunks. The more you roll, the finer your garlic will be. Great for doing a lot of garlic in one go if you’re making sauces or dressings. Don’t worry about fiddly cleaning either, this little chap is dishwasher safe.

Buy Chef’n Garlic Zoom garlic chopper on Amazon for £10.31

Ninja has just saved you from the pain of cutting up onions and other various veg with their food chopper. This is a portable and compact device which comes with two sealable containers, perfect for if you prepare too much food. The near £30 price tag is definitely worth it to take all the hard work out of food prep.

Buy Ninja Proffessional Stackable Chopper on Amazon for £29.99

Get professional looking cupcakes with two-tone icing by using this magical answer to standard piping bags. The bag is divided into two sections to allow you to fill it with two separate colours of icing, giving you a pretty rainbow-coloured swirl on your cakes and bakes. At under a tenner, this is one of the best value for money gadgets in our round up, coming with 6 nozzles and eight disposable bags, in two different sizes.

Buy Lakeland duo icing colour kit on Amazon for £6.29

Pizza cutters are fun, but pizza scissors, or scizzas, are a new level of fun. We might be a little bit sad in our enthusiasm for kitchen gadgets but these Dreamfarm’s Scizza pizza scissors are efficient, allowing you to cut, slice and serve pizza with just this one nifty utensil. Give them a try and you’ll see just why we love them so much.

Buy Dreamfarm Scizza pizza scissors on Amazon for £23.95

We just couldn’t resist including this Breville’s pick and mix stand mixer with its retro style and high-powered motor. We think this is a bit of a bargain, what with other brands selling alternatives for nearly 10 times the price! Between the bowl and detachable hand mixer, you have 10 mixer speeds, meaning you’ll be able to make a variety of homemade treats.

Buy Breville pick and mix stand mixer on Amazon for £49

Vegetable spaghetti is very trendy these days and we like to think we can keep up with the trends. Helping us on our way is this Joseph Joseph’s switch peeler. One side is a normal peeler, great for spuds and the like. The other is a fancy julienne blade, which you just flip round to use. The julienne side easily makes courgette or carrot ‘spaghetti’, which is a great no-carb alternative to pasta.

Buy Joseph Joseph switch peeler on Amazon for £16.56

We love a multi-purpose gadget in the kitchen that helps speed things up. This Pyrex Kitchen Lab Measure and Brush makes delicious dressings and sauces simple and also includes a removable silicone brush for marinating, a pipette for basting and an accurate piping nozzle for precision decorating. The silicone lid also keeps everything airtight, meaning you can store it in the fridge to use over a couple of days. We like using our pipette to fill pastries and cakes with a surprise sweet centre.

Buy Pyrex Kitchen Lab Measure and Brush on Amazon for £24

Make the kids happy with this fun Gourmet Gadgetry chocolate fondue kit. Melt down high quality milk, white or dark chocolate to make the perfect dipping sauce. The warming plates keep the chocolate at a consistently smooth texture, perfect for dunking strawberries, marshmallows or doughnuts in.

Buy Gourmet Gadgetry chocolate fondue on Amazon for £26.95

If there’s one gadget you must buy it’s one to jazz up your gin and tonics with, and we think this ice cube mould is perfect! The easy-release silicone shapes give you freezing cold Titanic and iceberg shapes to sit inside your glass. Friends and family will love them!

Buy Fred Gin and Titonic Ice Cube Tray on Amazon for £6.90

There’s nothing worse than making a delicious gravy and then pouring half of it all over the work tops. This nifty funnel slots onto the side of any pan to help pouring liquids into smaller containers a doddle. We like it for getting soup straight into the bowl, no ladle needed (which also means less washing up!).

Buy Homi silicone pan funnel on Amazon for £10.99, for two