7 kitchen appliances that do all the work for lazy home cooks
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Sometimes I wonder if cooking is worth it. I often spend more time preparing, cooking, and cleaning than I do eating and enjoying my food. Other times, I get home from a long day of work or school wishing I already had a cooked meal waiting for me on my dining table, and I wonder whether ordering takeout just one more time this week would hurt (it does, it hurts my wallet a lot).
For the lazy, tired, and uninspired, the one-pot cooking trend is a godsend.
You throw all your ingredients and spices into the pot or pan, turn up the heat, and wait for the appliance to do most of, if not all, the cooking for you. It's perfect for multitasking. You can go to work, class, and the gym, watch a show, read, or study all while your meal quietly simmers and stews away. Plus, the beauty of one-pot cooking is it gives you more than one serving, so you can meal prep for the week or serve an entire family.
Once you've chosen your dinner savior weapon of choice below, check out one of these cookbooks to spark some ideas. You might actually start to enjoy cooking!
- "One Pot: 120+ Easy Meals From Your Skillet, Slow Cooker, Stockpot, and More," $15.91, available at Amazon
- "One Pan, Two Plates: More than 70 Complete Weeknight Meals for Two," $15.24, available at Amazon
- "The Instant Pot Electric Pressure Cooker Cookbook: Easy Recipes for Fast and Healthy Meals," $10.11, available at Amazon
A Crock-Pot
This pot is the Insider Picks' choice for best Crock-Pot for a few reasons. Its 6-quart capacity is great for large roasts, so you'll have meals for days or you can bring it to large get-togethers. You don't have to be home to turn it off because its programmable digital control lets you set a cook time of anywhere from 30 minutes to 20 hours. It also has a secure locking lid and rubber gasket, preventing any spills and messes.
Crock-Pot 6-Quart Programmable Cook & Carry, $34.75, available at Amazon
The Instant Pot
You've seen the Instant Pot all over the Internet and Insider Picks, and it very much lives up to the hype. It's a little pricier, but that's because it combines seven kitchen appliances in one: pressure cooker, slow cooker, rice cooker, steamer, sauté, yogurt maker, and warmer. You can adjust the pressure levels, and it has a lot of presets for different types of meals. Even after the cooking timer has gone off, the Instant Pot will still keep your food warm for up to 10 hours, so you'll have dinner ready for you however late you get home.
Instant Pot 6-Quart 7-in-1 Multi-Use Programmable Pressure Cooker, $99, available at Amazon
A cast iron skillet
Bring the delicious skillet meals from your favorite brunch spot right into your home with this affordable, pre-seasoned skillet. The magic of the skillet is that it can be used on various heat sources, so you can take it from stove top to oven to grill to campfire. This particular skillet has vegetable oil baked into it to make it easy to release food from the bottom. The material and shape will distribute heat evenly and retain heat well.
Lodge 10 1/4-Inch Pre-Seasoned Skillet, $15.92, available at Amazon
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