Top 10 kitchen appliances designed for quick, easy and efficient meal prep

If you’re a passionate lover of cooking, or you’ve recently kickstarted your cooking journey, and want to accelerate it even further in 2023, then you’ve reached the right place. Having an efficient and streamlined cooking process is the key to preparing dishes that simply taste excellent! And the number one aid you need in having an effortless process is an arsenal of great kitchen appliances. With the right kitchen tools and appliances, cooking can be an increasingly fun and simplified process. The right products can reduce your prep time in half, make the little cooking tasks much easier, and help you with tedious and complicated techniques. From ‘The Tesla of Ovens’ to a compact induction cooker that fits every conceivable cooking method in its modular stackable design – these innovative and exceptional appliances are all you need in your kitchen.

1. Brava

Meet Brava, an oven that harnesses the power of pure light to cook food to perfection. Unlike radiant heat, which heats the entire oven chamber, light can be precisely delivered to specific zones within the oven chamber, allowing you to cook with precise control and no energy wastage.

Why is it noteworthy?

With three dedicated zones on the cooking tray, and lights above and below it to match, Brava can cook three-part meals at three different temperatures at the same time, on the same tray, and in minutes as opposed to hours on a grill or oven

What we like

The three light zones help focus the heat into three distinct categories, letting you cook meats and veggies on one tray, but at different temperatures
A camera built into the smart oven gives you a literal window into the oven’s interiors, letting you see your lasagna bake and your meat sear in real-time

What we dislike

Some people may prefer ovens with transparent displays

2. The BlendQuik

Designed to be used on the kitchen countertop as well as on a mountaintop, the BlendQuik is the world’s first mason jar-style portable blender that can do everything from making smoothies at home and protein shakes at the gym to churning up quick guacamole at a picnic or even a frappe in your car.

Why is it noteworthy?

The BlendQuik is a nifty blender with a vessel big enough to hold your daily smoothie, and a 10-blade design powerful enough to cut right through dense ingredients like carrots, nuts, ice cubes, etc. The blender’s motor and blades are built right into its leak-proof cap. Chuck your ingredients into the mason jar, lock the cap in place, and hit the power button before flipping it over.

What we like

Makes everything from shakes to dips, cocktails, slushies, batters, emulsions, purees, and everything else you’d otherwise need a large blender for
Features a portable design, so it’s not restricted to the kitchen

What we dislike

We don’t know how durable it is, so it could get damaged when you travel

3. Pronto

Rather aptly named the Pronto, this relatively compact gadget handles every part of the cooking process, from weighing to sautéing, slow-cooking, simmering, reheating, and even air-frying thanks to its modular companion, the Alto.

Why is it noteworthy?

With its small footprint and multipurpose design, the dynamic duo of Pronto and Alto occupy a fraction of the countertop space and let you prep elaborate meals without all the messy dishes and dread-inducing clean-up. Pronto and Alto were designed to take the effort out of cooking, so you can focus on the most important part… eating!

What we like

Multipurpose design
Make meal prep easier, faster, and smarter

What we dislike

There is a learning curve involved in getting used to the design

4. The Affinitea Brewing System

Designed as an elegant tabletop device, the Affinitea Brewing System expertly makes you a fresh cup of luxury loose-leaf tea in just 90 seconds. The Clearview re-usable chamber takes care of every aspect from agitating, pressurizing, and steeping the tea brew, before straining and dispensing it directly into your cup.

Why is it noteworthy?

The patented chamber uses pressure and agitation to handle the steeping cycle perfectly, creating a brew that has fewer tannins (the chemical that creates that bitter aftertaste) while extracting the maximum flavour.

What we like

An LCD screen right above the control panel lets you view and confirm your choices
Has a subscription service allowing you to try different teas

What we dislike

Space-consuming and bulky design

5. Makit’s Portable Microwave

This cordless microwave uses the cordless XTGT system to help you heat your meals and snacks when you’re on the go. It has 40-volt rechargeable batteries and can use up to 500 watts for eight minutes and then 350 watts after that to save energy.

Why is it noteworthy?

When the batteries are fully charged, it will be able to warm up 11 meals or 20 drinks. It also has a USB port so you can also juice up your smartphone or a gadget, but of course, you’ll probably have to choose between your meal or your device. The microwave also comes with a handle and a strap so you can carry it around with you.

What we like

If you’re worried about safety, the design has safety measures in place for user’s convenience
It also deactivates when it’s tilted or when the door is opened

What we dislike

If you’re warming up frozen meals, it might take up more energy so you’ll be able to reheat fewer meals

6. The Slide Toaster

The toasting process begins in the Slide toaster with an LED ring indicating the toasting level and completion. The slide-up tray has a translucent design element to it so that you can keep an eye on the toast turning perfectly brown to your delight Level of the toast crispness can be set with an adjustment dial like all other toasters we’ve seen countless times. This is ably aided by audio indications to keep the user well-informed.

Why is it noteworthy?

Harry Rigler wants to reinvent the trusted image of the toaster with a detour to the soft form design of this household kitchen appliance. That too keeps in mind the requirements of modern users, and the present as well as future design progression of kitchen interiors. Rather than being a pop-up toaster like most out there, this is the Slide toaster which rolls the toasting grill to the side like a rollable smartphone. The tray slides out – you put in the bread and slide it back in.

What we like

Audio indications to update the user on their toast
Unique slide-out tray

What we dislike

The radically changed design may not be easily accepted in households

7. The CookMate

Designed for this new, ‘smaller than life’ home, the Cookmate is an all-in-one kitchen appliance that goes from prep to cooking to serving, in one device. Its modular design has stackable pieces that turn the cooktop into a pan, crock pot, and even a steamer. The induction coil on the inside works on electricity, saving the need to place a gas cylinder under the hob.

Why is it noteworthy?

The Cookmate looks at the cooking process as something that goes from idea to ingredient to table. Rather than focusing on just the cooking, this induction cooktop (although it seems highly reductive to call it just that) considers every aspect of the cooking process. This isn’t just clever, holistic design thinking, it also helps the Cookmate be more universally applicable so you save effort, energy, and space with other utensils.

What we like

Features an integrated weighing scale
Can be split into 6 parts

What we dislike

As we can either use one at a time or them all together, the cooking time has to be finely balanced for each layer

8. The SüpKüp

The SüpKüp is a travel mug that is not really a mug in itself but serves more as an alternative to the disposable paper coffee sleeves. It is able to hold the paper cups (medium and large at least) that most coffee shops provide, including the still pretty popular Starbucks.

Why is it noteworthy?

It is made from durable polycarbonate and has a pretty elegant and minimalist design that can still display whatever cup is snugly placed inside. This holder doesn’t need any liquid transfer or constant cleaning that’s why it’s more convenient.

What we like

Your hot drink can remain hot for longer, 50% longer, than when you just hold your paper cup
Has a double helix screw ejector that lets you eject the cup when you’ve finished just by twisting the rotating base

What we dislike

It helps retain your coffee drinkability rather than an alternative to disposable cups, leaving scope for future plastic-free design

9. The 4T7 Smart Chopping Board

The 4T7 Smart Chopping Board is meant to help simplify every stage of meal prep and go beyond it as well. Made up of different parts, all the components of the chopping board come together to create a rather innovative, united, and creative product.

Why is it noteworthy?

The 4T7 breaks meal prep into its different components, adding good design and tech wherever necessary. The board comes with 4 distinct parts, a main bamboo chopping board, a secondary silver-ion anti-bacterial board for veggies to prevent cross-contamination, a third heat-conducting defrosting tray that helps rapidly thaw frozen foods, and lastly, the 4T7’s base, which has its own built-in weighing scale. The only part of the 4T7 experience to exist outside the actual board is its smartphone app, which counts calories as you weigh your ingredients. Once your prep work is done, the digital display on the 4T7 can also function as a kitchen timer, while the board itself becomes a magnetic knife holder.

What we like

All of 4T7’s components are designed to be wonderfully functional as independent items
The board works equally well for fruits/veggies as well as for meats

What we dislike

It precisely counts calories for you, which isn’t always the best route to healthy eating, since many users can get unhealthily hooked on counting calories

10. Roll

Roll is an attempt to preserve not only the flavors of food but also their presentation. It eschews the traditional square or rectangular shape of food containers in favor of something round.

Why is it noteworthy?

What makes Roll different from bowl food containers (which do exist, of course) is that it wholeheartedly embraces the culture of using the lid or dish cap as a plate. That’s why the cap itself was made to look presentable, using soft and clean tones like ivory, sky blue, and terracotta. The idea is that you set the freshly cooked food on the lid itself and then later just cover it with the glass bowl when it’s time to put it away.

What we like

The next time you want to eat the food, you don’t have to rearrange the food again to make it presentable
Roll takes the food container concept upside-down, literally, by making it usable, whether as a bowl with a round lid or a plate with a bowl cover