Make family dinners quick and easy with these handy gadgets – National

Whether you’re cooking in bulk on the weekend or making a batch of chicken cacciatore on a weeknight, PowerXL’s latest gadgets are designed to save you time and effort. It has nine presets, including slow cook, risotto, and sauté, and also includes a 360° automatic paddle to stir food while cooking. It can handle two 3-pound chickens and makes family-approved rice pilaf in under 30 minutes. Cleaning is also very easy. Simply remove the ceramic coated pot and wipe it or place it in the dishwasher.

Autumn is the season for soup. Nothing blends a delicious pot like an immersion blender. I’ve also used my KitchenAid for years to blend homemade pasta sauces before rehydrating meat, to make quick pesto and aioli, and to make super easy (and super fresh) whipped cream. Ta.

I downsized to this pot last year after getting tired of multiple pots taking up space in my cupboard and I’ve never looked back. Not only is it incredibly light and beautiful to look at, but more importantly, it can be used in eight different ways: boil, bake, fry, roast, braise, strain, serve, and preserve. I’ve made everything from stews to roast chicken at home, and I love that it can be used from stovetop to oven. Easy to clean, even if dishwasher is not recommended.

A rice cooker is a unique tool that delivers perfect rice every time, but it’s not so great for cooking other grains like quinoa or beans, oatmeal, lentils, and more. This all-in-one cooker has changed the way we put together meals. It has multiple functions to perfectly cook a variety of staple foods, whether cooking with water or your favorite soup.

Unless you’re a knife whiz, you’re likely to spend a lot of time eating onions and scraping off vegetable scraps. With a mini food processor, you can make a quick stop and save time on chopping and saucing. Quickly cook vegetables in the pot or make pico de gallo, hummus, and dressings in minutes.

If you’re looking for something to specifically chop (and spiralize!) your vegetables, this chopper is another favorite kitchen gadget. It has multiple inserts for quickly cutting vegetables, slicing fries, and spirally cutting zucchini and carrots. The chopper also includes a variety of brushes to make cleaning easier while preventing onion tears from getting into your eyes.

If you forget to take the protein out of the freezer again, you don’t necessarily have to microwave it. At least not if you have one of those nifty Shark Tank gadgets that help you defrost frozen meat faster. It comes with a suction cup that fits on any sink and keeps the package underwater so it doesn’t float, so you’ll be ready to cook faster, even on busy nights.

This dual-basket air fryer saved me a lot of last-minute family meals and allowed me to cook multiple things at the same time. Think fresh salmon and fish sticks, chicken wings and fries, or pork chops with vegetables. And whether it’s baking frozen croissants in under 15 minutes or baking crunchy hash browns for a quick breakfast or lunch, it’s one of the most used kitchen gadgets day and night.

Is it easy to boil pasta? of course. Do you always have time to wait for the water to boil and keep an eye on the pot to make sure it doesn’t overflow until the noodles are soft? Negative. This microwave-safe tool provides cooked pasta even faster on those nights when you need a meal. Just measure it out, strain it in the microwave, and enjoy.

If you don’t have an Instant Pot yet, you’re missing out. We’ve used this versatile tool to make many last minute meals for the whole family. From lazy lasagna and cabbage rolls to chili and teriyaki chicken. This model includes a steam rack and 10 multifunctional features, including a cake maker, egg cooker and sterilizer (for those who want to make their own pickles and sauces on the weekends).