Moving into a place with your very own kitchen can be super exciting, until you realize you have to stock it. While your parents might give you a spare spatula or knife they aren’t using at home, you still need to get the basics down.
Second-hand shops like Goodwill are great places to pick up the essentials for a great price, but you shouldn’t stop at the bare minimum. There are tons of different tools and gadgets designed to make cooking more efficient and Target is the place to find them. Here are the 17 most fun, useful, or just plain weird kitchen gadgets you can buy at Target.
1. Deluxe Can Crusher
Time to step up your recycling game — for only $9.99. This can crusher does exactly what it sounds like to save space in your recycling bin. Plus, I can only imagine that crushing cans at the end of a stressful day is really satisfying.
2. Hamburger Press
Hamburgers. Turkey burgers. Veggie burgers. Salmon burgers. Burgers have progressed way beyond just beef, and they’re all perfect for meal prepping and freezing. Save yourself the effort and invest in a press. This one is $17.99.
3. Guacamole Set
Basic? Maybe. But this guacamole set can be used for so much more than your favorite dip. Use the scooper for any other avocado recipe and the masher for mashed potatoes. At $29.99, it’s a pretty solid deal if you consider how many uses you’ll get out of each item.
4. Bacon Press and Egg Ring
If you cherish a home-cooked breakfast, you’re going to want to add this bacon press and egg ring set to your wishlist. Coming from someone who could live solely on fried eggs, I would pay $10.99 just for the egg rings.
5. Silicone Herb and Spice Infuser
This $6 gadget is for all the people who freaked out when they found a bay leaf in their Chipotle. Save your dinner party guests the stress and use this infuser to easily flavor soups. Could also see it being useful for brewing loose leaf tea.
6. Apple Corer and Lemon Zester
It’s peak apple season in the Northeast. Gift this $23.99 apple corer/lemon zester to your friend who went apple picking just for the seasonally-relevant Insta and they might just gift you a pie in return.
7. Vegetable Spiralizer
Pasta is life, but only 1 percent of American adults meet both the fruit and vegetable recommendations every day. This $8.99 spiralizer makes it easy to eat your veggies. If you add a good sauce on top, you’ll barely notice the difference (or you will, but it will still taste good).
8. Kale Slicer
If you live a lifestyle that requires you to de-stem a lot of kale, I have finally found the tool for you. This green leaf-shaped device is less than five bucks, yet it can take the leaves off any piece of kale (and even herbs). The future is now.
9. Interlocking Corn Holders
Corn holders… that interlock… for $9. The game is actually changed. I am going to be genuinely upset if these have existed for a while and I’ve been living without them for no reason.
10. Corn Slicer
Speaking of ways to improve your corn-eating experience, enter the corn slicer. Perfect for the times you can’t be bothered to pick kernels out of your teeth for the rest of the night. Definitely worth the $4.99 price tag.
11. Color-Changing Egg Timer
I dare you to tell me this is not the coolest sh*t you’ve ever seen. This revolutionary egg timer is less than $5, but I would pay sooo much more for this scientific accomplishment.
12. Water Bottle Ice Cub Tray
File this ice cube tray under “ways to make your life easier for under $3.” Because that’s exactly what you’re going to do after you buy this.
13. Koji Squeeze Pops
This squeeze pop mold reminds me of those bomb-ass Minute Maid frozen lemonade popsicles I used adore as a child. You know, the ones with the paper tubes that used to get just a little bit soggy. I’d say you can’t put a price of childhood memories, but $15 will do pretty nicely.
14. Silicone Muffin Cups
Silicone, queen of the reusables, killin’ it once again. If you’re still paying for muffin liners, do yourself a favor and invest in a set of these for only $8.
15. Bear Paws
Just like the name would suggest, these bear paws make handling hot objects ultra-safe for only $14.99 a pair. Like the Ove Glove, but dishwasher-safe and waterproof.
16. Jumbo Ice Ball Maker
Frankly, I’m not 100 percent sure what this $7.99 gadget even is, but the description encourages filling them with “juice, whiskey, lemon or lime segments.” Seems legit.
17. Silicone Microwave Mat
The last thing anyone needs is a dirty microwave. Luckily, you can snag this silicone microwave mat for only 5 bucks and make cleaning up mishaps a breeze. It’s also useful to pick up hot containers, but use your best judgement.
You might not need every kitchen gadget you come across, but some of these can genuinely improve your cooking experience. A kale slicer is a bit excessive, but the bear paws? You’ll never get burned again. Whatever gadget you decide to purchase, remember that Target will always have you covered.