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Small kitchen appliances that fit a tiny apartment
15
items Fifteen small kitchen appliances that earn their counter space, picked for studios, rentals and any kitchen where every inch counts. There's breakfast and hot-drink gear, compact cookers, and a few small prep tools.
I'm a Gold Amazon Influencer with 1,100+ product review videos and a mom of three, so I spend a lot of time researching what's actually worth owning in a busy kitchen. I pick on honest reviews and fair prices, and I'll flag a caveat where there is on...
Contains affiliate links, so I may earn a small commission at no cost to you.
I'm a Gold Amazon Influencer with 1,100+ product review videos and a mom of three, so I spend a lot of time researching what's actually worth owning in a busy kitchen. I pick on honest reviews and fair prices, and I'll flag a caveat where there is on...
Contains affiliate links, so I may earn a small commission at no cost to you.
Sections
3
Breakfast and hot drinks
Cookers and countertop heat
Prep and blending
Breakfast and hot drinks
Morning gear that takes up almost no space, from waffles and eggs to a proper cup of coffee.
A slim single-serve brewer, under five inches wide, that makes 6 to 12 oz cups and has built-in cord storage. You add water per cup, so there's no big reservoir eating counter space. Caveat: it's a K-Cup machine, so one cup at a time and no carafe.
Keurig K-Mini single serve coffee maker
A four-inch waffle maker that stores upright in a drawer, so it barely counts as an appliance. Cheap, fun, and easy to justify in a small kitchen. Caveat: it makes one small waffle at a time.
DASH Mini Waffle Maker (4-inch)
Cooks up to seven eggs hard, soft or poached or as an omelette with one button, with an audible timer. Saves a pan and a hob ring in a kitchen where both are scarce. Caveat: it does one job, so only worth it if you eat a lot of eggs.
DASH Rapid Egg Cooker (7 eggs)
Cooks a full breakfast sandwich in about five minutes, then comes apart for washing. Small enough to live in a cupboard between uses. Caveat: it's a single-purpose gadget, so it earns its place only if breakfast sandwiches are already your thing.
Hamilton Beach Breakfast Sandwich Maker
A fast-boiling 1.8L glass kettle with auto shut-off and boil-dry protection. Quicker and cheaper than boiling water on the hob, and it takes up very little room. At this price it's one of the easiest upgrades in a small kitchen.
Mueller 1.8L glass electric kettle
A narrow espresso machine that heats up in seconds and has a manual steam wand for milk. The splurge pick if you're replacing a daily coffee shop habit. Caveat: the steam wand is manual, so there's a learning curve, and you'll want a separate grinder...
Breville Bambino espresso machine (BES450)
Cookers and countertop heat
Compact cookers and an extra burner for the kitchens where the oven is small or the hob is missing.
The 3-quart version of the classic multi-cooker, covering pressure cooking, slow cooking, rice, steaming, sauteing and yoghurt. One appliance instead of four in a small cupboard. Caveat: 3 quarts suits one to three people, not a big family batch.
Instant Pot Duo Mini 3 Qt 7-in-1
A two-quart slow cooker sized for one or two portions, with a removable stoneware pot. Set it before work and come home to dinner. Caveat: it's too small for a family-sized batch, but that's exactly why it fits a tiny kitchen.
Crock-Pot 2-Quart manual slow cooker
A compact fuzzy-logic rice cooker with settings for white, brown, porridge and more, plus a retractable power cord for tidy storage. It's the splurge here, and the one rice cooker people tend to keep for years. Caveat: it's pricey for a 3-cup machine...
Zojirushi Micom 3-cup rice cooker
A slim portable induction burner that gives you a fast extra ring, or a whole hob if your kitchen has none. Stores flat against a wall when you're done. Caveat: induction only works with magnetic cookware, so test your pans with a fridge magnet first...
Elite Gourmet portable induction cooktop, 1500W
A compact toaster oven that bakes, broils and toasts, handy when a rental oven is unreliable or oversized. It handles most small meals without heating the whole flat. Caveat: it fits four slices of toast or a small tray, so it won't replace a full ov...
BLACK+DECKER 4-slice toaster oven
A compact 0.7 cubic foot microwave with preset one-touch menus. It's the right size when a standard microwave would swallow half the worktop. Caveat: 700W is on the low side, and the small interior won't fit a large dinner plate or big dish.
COMFEE' 0.7 cu ft countertop microwave
Prep and blending
Small prep tools that do the job of bigger machines without needing a cupboard of their own.
A cordless, rechargeable blender that blends smoothies straight into the vessel you drink from. No jug, no base unit and nothing permanent on the counter. Caveat: the 18 oz vessel is single-serve, so it won't handle batches or tough frozen mixes like...
Ninja Blast portable blender (BC151)
A six-speed hand mixer with a snap-on case that keeps the beaters together, so nothing goes missing in a drawer. Far more realistic than a stand mixer in a tiny kitchen. Caveat: it handles cakes and whipped cream well, but very stiff doughs are bette...
Hamilton Beach 6-speed hand mixer
A three-cup food processor for herbs, nuts, dressings and small batches of chopping. Small enough to leave out and light enough to actually use. Caveat: the bowl is tiny, so it's for small jobs rather than shredding or big batches.
Cuisinart Mini-Prep Plus 3-cup food processor