7 Kitchen Tools Giada De Laurentiis Can’t Live Without
Ever since since Giada at Home first premiered on Food Network in 2008, Americans have fallen in love with Giada De Laurentiis’ effortless Italian cooking style. Whenever she lets us in on one of her recipe tips or ingredient secrets, we’re all ears, adding them to our shopping lists and weekly meal plans — STAT.
The same goes for the kitchen tools: If Giada recommends a certain vegetable peeler, you can bet your bottom dollar that we’re going to add it to our arsenal. Speaking of vegetable peelers, here’s Giada’s all-time favorite, plus 6 other kitchen gadgets she can’t live without.
1. Kuhn Rikon Peeler
According to Giada, this humble-yet-handy vegetable peeler is a must-have (she swears by it on her lifestyle website, Giadzy). The $5 peeler also has nearly 4,000 4- and 5-star reviews on Amazon and is recommended by most culinary schools. Bonus: Ina loves it, too.
Buy: Kuhn Rikon Straight Peeler, $7.69
2. GIR Silicone Ultimate Spoonula
When talking about her favorite can’t-live-without kitchen tools on a Today Show segment, Giada singled out this spatula. “This guy can be used for something as simple as scrambled eggs but is also for getting every last bit of cake batter from the bowl,” she said. It’s one of our favorites, too. (We even interviewed its inventor!)
Buy: GIR’s Silicone Ultimate Spoonula, $12.99
3. A Wooden Spoon
Giada doesn’t want you to underestimate the humble wooden spoon. “I love tools that can be utilized in more than one way. [Wooden spoons] are great for risottos or stirring anything on the stove, really. Put two together and you also have salad tossers,” Giada told Today.
Buy: Beechwood Spoon, $7.95 at Williams Sonoma
4. Pasta Spider
For someone who makes pasta as often as the queen herself, this tool is an absolute essential. The secret to perfect pasta (according to Giada) is to put the pasta in the sauce — not the other way around. This spider lets you drain your pasta at the stovetop and then toss it directly in the sauce, without pouring all the pasta water down the drain (which you might need later).
Buy now: Open Kitchen by Williams Sonoma Spider, $22.95 at Williams Sonoma
5. Microplane Zester
Giada coats her pasta and salads with fluffly sprinkles of parmesan with the help of this grater/zester. And it’s good for so much more: “This mighty kitchen tool is not just great for Parmesan, either! It’s how we zest our citrus, grate fresh nutmeg, or even shave a fresh dusting of chocolate over affogato and tiramisu,” she says on Giadzy.
Buy: Microplane Classic Zester Grater, $14.99 on Amazon
6. Boos Board
According to Giadzy, “a good cutting board is often overlooked, but it makes all the difference at prep time.” Boos Boards, in particular, are Giada’s go-to. “Boos Boards are made of solid hardwood (I love the maple) and are a favorite among professional chefs,” Giada writes.
Buy: John Boos Block Maple Wood Edge Grain Reversible Cutting Board, $192.55
7. Berti Chef’s Knife
Giada refers to Italian-made Berti knives as her “all-time favorite.” She loves them partially because they’re “handmade in Italy, [and] have been made in the same way since 1895.” Berti knives even appeared on Giada’s Food Network series, Giada in Italy.
Buy now: Berti Chef’s Knife, $345 at Saks Fifth Avenue
Do you have any of Giada’s favorite tools in your kitchen?