9 Essentials for a Raw Vegan Kitchen
I love kitchen gadgets. I also hate kitchen clutter. I am pretty picky with what I keep around but there are certain essentials that make my life so much easier.
If you are embarking on a raw vegan diet or even if you are just trying to increase your consumption of plant based foods, you really just need a good knife and a cutting board. You can create some really amazing meals with these two simple tools. However, there are some appliances and utensils that will make your life so much easier. Easy meal prep makes it much more likely that you will stick with a raw or plant based diet. I’m including on this list the items that I really love. Sure, I could get by without them but I hope I never have to.
This site contains affiliate links to products. I may receive a commission for purchases made through these links at no extra cost to you. However, I only recommend products that I love and use myself.
Blenders:
I use my blender at least once a day and there are many days when I use it more than that. I use it for smoothies, raw soups, sauces and so much more. If you are only to going to get one kitchen appliance, I highly recommend getting a high speed blender!
I have a Vitamix blender and I love it. When I was a teenage vegan, I would often buy “Vegetarian Times” magazine. I grew up in a place and time where veganism was not at all common and this magazine was one of the few places I saw vegan food. I vividly remember seeing the ads for the Vitamix. It really seemed like a miracle machine. The ad said it could grind flour, make juice, make smoothies, heat up soups and crush just about anything. I knew I wanted one. I also knew that the Vitamix was outside the budget that my after school job grocery store store provided. So, many many years later, as an adult, I bought one. I was obsessed! That was over ten years ago and I still use the same Vitamix every day and it has never failed me.
Last year, I did some research into personal sized blenders. I wanted to make green smoothies at work and I didn’t want to lug my Vitamix back and forth. I ended up getting the NutriBullet Pro. I knew I wanted something with enough power to pulverize the greens in my smoothies and this definitely does the trick. It is also more financially accessible than the Vitamix and I use it often in my kitchen when I am blending smaller quantities.
Dehydrator:
The are many options for dehydrators. For a raw foods diet, you will want to find one with adjustable temperature control. I also highly recommend getting one with removable trays (as opposed to stacking circular trays). The removable trays allow you to dehydrate things of various thickness without restriction.
The Excalibur Dehydrator is what I’ve used for years. I’ve tried other brands in the past but was finally happy when I bought the Excalibur. It has removable trays and a temperature control. The temperature control ensures that the active enzymes in your food are preserved. Excalibur also offers a warranty on their products and it is easy to find and order replacement parts from their website should anything ever go wrong. This is really refreshing to me, in a day when most appliances are just disposed of when something goes wrong.
Juicer:
I realize there are a LOT of juicers out there and there are many really great ones. I’m only going to recommend products I’ve used. I’ve been so happy with the blender I’ve had for 15 years so that’s the only I can really recommend. I’m the kind of person who does a lot of research before I buy a product. I ended up getting an Omega Juicer long ago and I’ve been so happy with it. A few years ago, I had minor issues with it and it was promptly repaired by the company at no charge!
This Omega Juicer is a slow masticating juicer. This means that it won’t heat up your food. Since heat destroys the enzyme rich qualities of your food, this is important! I regularly use my juicer to make juice and am happy that this one is good at juicing even the toughest greens. I also use it to make raw nut butters. That’s as simple as running nuts through the juicer with the blank screen (which it comes with). If you haven’t tried fresh ground raw nut butters you are really missing out. I even use this juicer to make some cooked recipes, including this vegan falafel!
Spatulas:
Spatulas are essential! They might not seem like a big deal, but they make it so easy to get every last bite of food out of your mixing bowl or blender. They are one of those inexpensive utensils that will make your life so much easier!
Strainer:
This is another little thing that makes a big difference. Soaking nuts, seeds and grains is an important step in creating raw meals. The soaking aids in digestibility. A strainer allows you to easily strain and rinse everything after soaking. I even use mine for sprouting sometimes. After soaking and straining nuts or seeds, I’ll leave them in the strainer (which I will rest on a bowl). This makes it super easy to rinse them as needed.
Fermenting Lids and Weights:
I like to ferment things. A Lot. I used to use large glass bowls and crocks and that was great but I recently changed my approach and it’s a lot simpler and less messy. I now ferment things (I love sauerkraut!) in wide mouth glass jars and I use these fermentation lids. These silicon lids fit on the jars and “burp” as needed and the glass weights keep every submerged. They were a serious game changer for me. I no long have issues with mold while fermenting.
Knives:
Really, Get a good knife and keep it sharp! There’s plenty of fruit and vegetable chopping on a raw vegan diet and you don’t need to be messing around with dull knives. Plus, you are much more likely to cut yourself with a dull knife.
Cutting Boards:
You need cutting boards to go with your sharp knives! I like to keep a variety of sizes of bamboo cutting boards on hand and I use them all.
Mandoline:
This is a new one for me. My mom bought me a mandoline for Christmas and I don’t know how I got by without it. With a mandoline you can easily slice and shred vegetables. Throwing together impressive looking salads is a breeze now.
You absolutely do not need all these gadgets to embark on a raw vegan diet. They just make things a little easier. Do you have other kitchen essentials that make life easier? Please let me know!