15 Budget-Friendly Kitchen Must-Haves to Purchase at Target

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Whether you’re shopping for your first apartment or looking for some new kitchen tools to replace those that have seen better days, you might be surprised by what you can find at Target. If you’ve been relying on Target solely for grocery, clothing, or home decor needs, it is time to take a shopping trip to check out everything that is available in the kitchen department. From cooking tools and utensils, bakeware, cookware, cutting boards, and everything in between, you could fully stock a kitchen with just a single shopping trip.

While Target does offer products from different brands, some of which are on the more premium and expensive side, many of the kitchen tools carried by the retailer are very reasonably priced. For this product roundup, I wanted to more closely examine some of these budget-friendly picks. I visited my local Target, headed to the kitchen and dining section, and assessed what was available for under $20 (prices may vary by location and whether you are shopping in-store or online). 

I was pleasantly surprised by all that I found. To help me narrow down the options and determine which items to add to this list, I assessed the quality to the best of my ability, considered the reputation of the manufacturer, and consulted reviews on Target’s website to see what real users had to say. You can learn more about the methodology I used at the end of this piece. In the meantime, continue reading and pick out a few affordable kitchen essentials to add to your Target cart.

Don’t even think about baking if you don’t have the proper measuring tools. Eyeballing ingredients will only end with burnt cookies, a runny cake, or muffins that simply fall flat. Fortunately, you don’t have to even contemplate the possibility of such outcomes if you make sure to pick up some measuring cups and spoons at Target. There are several different options available in-store to help you measure wet ingredients, dry ingredients, seasonings, and everything in between.

For example, this OXO Measuring Cups and Spoons Set might be a good pick for those who are trying to stick to a tighter budget. With a set of four measuring spoons and four measuring cups for dry ingredients, you’ll have almost everything you need (don’t forget to grab a liquid measuring cup, too). As of the time of writing this piece, the set is listed at right around $10 — meaning you’ll be paying only about $5 for the four measuring cups and about $5 more for the four measuring spoons. The measuring spoons and cups feature a color-coded label, can be grouped together using the included ring, and are dishwasher safe.

Every kitchen needs at least one good pair of tongs. Well, when you shop at Target, you’ll have several affordable options to consider, including these two from respected manufacturer OXO. The OXO Softworks 9-Inch Stainless Steel Locking Tongs can help you flip steaks, serve salads, dish up noodles, and so much more. The slimmer and shorter design of the OXO Stainless Steel Mini Tongs makes them the ideal tool for removing pickles from a jar, picking up individual pieces of fruit from a fruit salad, and serving appetizers.

Both of these tongs have a scalloped head to prevent food items from slipping and are dishwasher safe. OXO also designed them with a nonstick grip and a thumb rest to keep your hand comfortable while working. When you’re ready to store the tongs, simply pull up on the tab to lock them.

If you’re looking for some new cooking utensils, then you might want to check out what Figmint, one of Target’s store brands, has to offer. These cooking utensils feature a nylon head that is heat-resistant up to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. The nylon material is also safe to use on any type of cookware without fear of scratching it. Each utensil is also BPA-free, dishwasher safe, and designed with an integrated hole for hanging.

Beyond their utility in the kitchen, these nylon cooking utensils are also very attractive. Their Champagne-colored metal handle, combined with the white nylon head, gives them a very sleek look, which could beautifully complement a modern kitchen. If you desire a simpler look, Figmint also offers an all-black set as well. With different tools available, including the Stainless Steel and Nylon Solid Spoon, the Stainless Steel and Nylon Solid Turner, and the Stainless Steel and Nylon Slotted Turner, you can make sure you’re prepared to make everything from pancakes to spaghetti sauce. Customer reviews for these utensils also speak to their quality and value — an overwhelming percentage of users have given them a four- or five-star rating.

It pays to use clear containers for your pantry storage. Doing so allows you to easily find what you’re looking for when preparing a specific recipe and to easily take stock of what you have as you put together a shopping list for the grocery store. If you’re ready to revamp your pantry, Target can help you do so with the OXO POP food storage containers. These come in a wide assortment of sizes, many of which cost under $20 at my local store.

You can use them to store dry ingredients, such as rice, sugar, and flour, to keep small snack pouches organized, and so much more. Each container offers an airtight seal to ensure its contents stay fresh and features a fill line to help you avoid adding too much, which prevents the lid from locking properly. The containers are dishwasher safe, BPA-free, and come very highly recommended by most customers who have given them a try. Two of the size options that cost under $20 at my local store include the OXO POP 2.8-Quart Plastic Big Square Airtight Container and the OXO POP 1.7-Quart Plastic Rectangle Tall Airtight Container.

If it feels like a constant struggle to keep your flatware set and various cooking utensils from turning into a jumbled mess in your drawers, then it is probably time to rethink how you are storing them. Consider trying one of these reasonably priced OXO drawer organizers that you can pick up from Target.

You’ll find different types of organizers to help match your specific storage needs. For example, the OXO Expandable Kitchen Tool Drawer Organizer might be the best pick if you need to keep your nylon and metal tools easily accessible, while the OXO In-Drawer Knife Organizer would be a better pick for preventing accidental injury from a sharp knife when reaching into a drawer. Both of these organizers are BPA-free and offer non-slip feet to keep them from sliding around in a drawer.

If you’re deciding between ceramic and Teflon pans, there are a lot of things to consider. Some people prefer ceramic-coated cookware because it is free of the potentially dangerous chemicals that may be hiding in Teflon-coated options. Ceramic-coated pans offer additional benefits as well, including providing a nonstick cooking surface and distributing heat more evenly.

You can experiment and discover these benefits for yourself with the Figmint 8-Inch Nonstick Ceramic-Coated Aluminum Frypan. While the ceramic coating helps prevent foods from sticking and simplifies cleanup, the aluminum beneath it works to ensure that the heat is distributed evenly to avoid hot spots and make sure each item is cooked to perfection. Since you can purchase this 8-inch pan individually, you won’t have to commit to a full set until you decide whether ceramic-coated pans are right for you. The pan is compatible with gas, electric, and induction cooktops, is PFOA- and PTFE-free, and is oven-safe up to 500 degrees Fahrenheit.

From keeping your countertop and stovetop clean to pulling double-duty for tea lovers, spoon rests are one kitchen item you won’t want to skip. For that reason, you shouldn’t overlook this OXO Stainless Steel Spoon Rest. Its budget-friendly price makes it all the more appealing — spending a few bucks is certainly worth the benefits of not dealing with sticky countertops or dirty cooking utensils, isn’t it?

The spoon rest features a simple design with a slightly indented center portion to cradle the head of a spoon and prevent it from slipping off one of the sides. Because it is made from stainless steel, it is not only dishwasher safe, but it can also add a modern touch to your space.

Stocking your pantry with the absolute best canned foods won’t do you much good if you don’t have a reliable can opener to open them with. Fortunately, when you shop at Target, you can pick up one of the Room Essentials Manual Can Openers. These were listed at just $3.00 from my local store, and are the same price online as of the time of writing. At this price, you might even want to pick up a second one to make sure you’re never left trying to figure out how to open a can without a can opener.

The can opener — which comes in mint green, black, and gray — is designed to be easy to use with its long handles and easy-to-twist crank. Unlike many other can openers, this model is even dishwasher safe. Customer reviews for this budget-friendly tool are also very high. They are pleased with its performance given its low cost.

You might not realize that you need kitchen shears. However, the time will come when you need them to cut through the cartilage on a piece of chicken, to trim cooking twine to tie your beef roast, or to make chopping herbs easier and more efficient. If you don’t discover that you need the shears until you’re faced with one of these tasks, you’ll be out of luck. Save yourself the hassle and frustration of not having a pair of kitchen shears by grabbing one from Target.

The retailer offers a range of brands and styles. One that you might want to try is this pair of OXO Kitchen Shears. They feature durable stainless steel blades with a micro-serrated edge to help ensure that they don’t slide off of what you’re trying to cut. To ensure you’re able to easily — and fully — clean the blades after working with raw or sticky materials, you can separate them before popping them in the dishwasher. According to reviews, these are another customer favorite. The majority of reviewers gave them a four- or five-star rating, with some sharing that the sharp blades make it easy to cut through various materials.

If you’re finally ready to make the switch to glass containers over plastic ones, then you might want to pick up a pack or two of these Pyrex Simply Store Lidded Rectangular Storage Containers the next time you’re at Target. The set comes with two 3-cup glass containers with BPA-free plastic lids. The containers are safe to use in the microwave, pre-heated oven, freezer, refrigerator, and refrigerator. The lids are also dishwasher (top-rack) and microwave safe, and can also be used in the fridge or freezer.

So, whether you’re looking for a solution to help you freeze leftovers, containers for meal planning, or even something to hold your lunch for work, these might be a good pick. When the containers are not in use, you’ll appreciate that they can nest together to minimize the amount of cabinet space they’ll take up.

Graters and zesters are two other kitchen tools that often don’t get the love they deserve. In fact, Bobby Flay even says that a zester is the most underrated kitchen tool. Make some room in your kitchen and be sure to add a new grater or zester to your cart the next time you’re shopping at Target.

There are various OXO models that you can choose from, depending on your specific needs and the recipes you want to be able to prepare. For example, the OXO Etched Stainless Steel Zester might be the ideal choice if you want to add fresh lemon zest to your baked goods or even shred some fresh Parmesan cheese over your homemade gnocchi. If you’re looking for something to help you grate cheese, vegetables, chocolate, and other items, then you might like the flexibility offered by the OXO Softworks Box Grater. With fine, medium, and coarse graters integrated into the design, you can use this one tool to tackle a lot of tasks in the kitchen.

Whether you’re measuring ingredients for a double-batch of a favorite recipe or whipping up your favorite buttercream icing for a special birthday cake, you need the right vessel to help you mix or measure. Once again, Target offers some great deals on products that will help you accomplish your goals. The Figmint 8-Cup Batter Mixing Bowl offers a handle to help you keep it from sliding around as you mix. It is also made from glass, so unlike stainless steel options, you can put it in the microwave to thaw ingredients or heat up leftovers. Measurements are etched along the side in different units to help you achieve greater accuracy with every use.

In addition to the 8-cup batter bowl, Target also sells an 8-Cup Glass Measuring Cup With Lid from Figmint. This measuring cup is large (it has the same capacity as the mixing bowl above). It also has an integrated handle, so you could easily use it for mixing ingredients. However, one key difference between the two products is the fact that this one comes with a lid. You can use it to store leftover batter and other recipes in the fridge more easily because of this feature.

This OXO Three-Piece Wooden Utensil Set is a budget-friendly pick that will equip you with three different tools for your kitchen — a spoon, a slotted spoon, and a turner. Made from solid beechwood, each utensil is light brown, allowing them to fit in with different design styles. They have a long handle, which is designed to keep your hands comfortable as you work and ensure that you are not getting too close to a hot pot. OXO added a natural oil finish for protection. However, it is still recommended to hand-wash these and towel-dry them immediately.

By and large, customers have a positive opinion of these wooden utensils from OXO, with the majority giving them a four- or five-star rating. Reviewers appreciate being able to use them safely with their nonstick pots and pans. Overall, customers find them to be a quality pick, though a few do mention that some of their tools split after a relatively short period of time.

When you’re looking to keep your costs down, it can be challenging to find a knife set that matches your budget. Well, if you browse through the aisles at Target, you might be happy to come across this Cuisinart Advantage Six-Piece Utility and Paring Knife Set. It retails for under $15 (at the time of writing). The set includes three knives, each with a protective blade cover. The pieces included in the set include a 5-inch serrated utility knife, a 4-inch paring knife, and a 3.5-inch paring knife.

Each knife has a durable stainless steel blade with a nonstick coating to help prevent it from getting stuck in food and to make cleaning easier. The knives are color-coded to make it easier for you to quickly grab the one you want. If desired, you could even use the color-coding to assign different types of tasks to each knife, helping to prevent cross-contamination in the kitchen. While these won’t match the quality of a much more expensive professional knife, they do come very highly reviewed by customers and are even backed by a lifetime warranty from the manufacturer.

Don’t forget that you’ll also need a cutting board to go along with that new knife set. Consider this large, 11-inch by 14-inch Nonslip Recycled Poly Cutting Board from Figment. The BPA-free polypropylene material used to make the board gives it a smooth finish to help you more easily work with ingredients and move them from the cutting board to the bowl or pan. Another feature of this model that can make it even more useful in the kitchen is the juice groove that runs the perimeter. This will allow you to cut juicy watermelons, tender roasts, and other items without making a huge mess on your countertops. A few other notable features include the nonslip grips along the edge to keep it from sliding as you work and the tapered edges that will make it easier to pick up the board when it is flat on a countertop.

Customer ratings for this Figmint cutting board are impressively high on Target’s website. In their write-ups, reviewers praise the overall design of the board. They like that it is lightweight and easy to lift or carry, find that the juice helps minimize messes as they work, and appreciate that the board is dishwasher safe.

As I looked for products to add to this roundup of affordable kitchen essentials to buy at Target, I started by checking the price of each item. To keep the list to truly affordable options, I set a price limit of $20 (prices may vary by location and are subject to change) and didn’t include any products that were more expensive than that. Additionally, I tried to include tools and other products that many would consider essential. These are items that most home chefs will need at some point, even to follow more basic recipes.

In addition to choosing items that were affordable and that would be useful for preparing everyday meals, I also considered the overall quality and value of each pick. I looked up the customer ratings for the various items on Target’s website and tried to assess the quality of each pick as I was browsing in the store.