I live in a studio apartment with a kitchen more fit for a dorm room than a home. Most of the precious counter space goes to a drying rack for hand-washed plates and a spot for my cutting board. That leaves just a narrow sliver of countertop for appliances to live against the backsplash, and another skinny space right between my stove and fridge.
But I moved into my apartment as a single woman who couldn’t afford anything larger, so I made it work. Through the years, I’ve carefully selected the best compact appliances through hours of window shopping, and even trying and returning some items that didn’t work.
These are the little gems that earned their place on my compact counter. Whether you’re a recent graduate, thrifty trend-seeker, or just like cute things, I think they’ll work for you, too.
All prices current at time of publication.
Bella two-slice slim toaster
$24.98 at Walmart
$24.99 at Amazon
I refused to buy a toaster for years because I insisted you could just toast bread on a frying pan. This technique worked until I started freezing my bread, which didn’t warm up quite the same way on the pan and ruined the texture. That’s where the Bella slim toaster comes in.
The matte finish and the blossom pink color were enough to convince me to buy it just for the looks, but it’s practical, too. One long slot rather than two bread-sized slots means you can toast larger items or multiple smaller ones, and a little knob makes it simple to adjust how toasty you want your bread to be. At just 3.5in (9cm) thin, it’s also the slimmest long-slot toaster I could find.
Sadly, I wasn’t as impressed with how it looked in real life. It’s made of plastic, so the “matte finish” wasn’t as smooth as I expected, and the pink was a more bright, warm color than the pastel shade I hoped for. But it only cost $25, which was well worth the toast I now have for breakfast.
Nutribullet Pro 900W blender
$78 at Walmart
$88.87 at Amazon
I bought the Nutribullet Pro 900W to replace my anemic Ninja Blast Portable Blender, which couldn’t even handle a protein smoothie. I wanted to do more, like blending my own hummus without needing to stir the cup every 10 seconds to get it smooth.
The Nutribullet Pro 900W shrugs off protein smoothies, rips through pasta sauces, and whips up all the hummus I want. It also comes with two blending cups and a cap, making it easy to take my concoctions to go. That said, it’s not unstoppable: I got really annoyed at it the other day for not ripping through my latest cottage cheese concoction, which was particularly thick with cheese and not a lot of liquid.
It works as a compromise for people with big-blender dreams but small countertops and smaller pockets. However, if you’ve been blending for a while and have the money and space, I’d spring for a Vitamix 5200, which came out on top in our test of the best blenders in the US.
Crock-Pot electric lunch box
$39.99 at Amazon
$39.99 at Wayfair
Don’t let the brand name fool you: this is not a slow cooker. It’s an electric bowl that warms up your food when you plug it in. Just be sure to start warming it up about half an hour or so before you’re ready to eat. Soups should warm up within 20 minutes, but heartier, meatier dishes could take twice as long depending on how dense they are.
The Crock-Pot lunch box is perfect for bringing stewed lunches and soups to work in a cute, little portable container. Unlike a Thermos, you can warm food up on the spot and keep it warm throughout the meal. While it doesn’t get hot enough to cook with, I often use it to heat up noodle dishes and warm bento lunches. Bento boxes, a popular, Japanese-style lunch, typically include things such as meatballs, chicken katsu, rice and other kinds of food I’m used to eating warm.
I’ve also used it to serve hot food to friends at potlucks. It means I can only bring small servings, but it’s still another use for this inexpensive gadget. I also convinced one of my friends, who doesn’t have a microwave, to use it as an alternative to warming up his food.
Crux x Marshmello air fryer
$42.50 at Amazon
I’ll admit that in my mid-20s, I thought air fryers were just a fad for gullible yuppies to pretend they were eating healthy when they could’ve just bought a less stylish but equally useful toaster oven.
Then I saw how fast they work. I use the Crux x Marshmello Digital Air Fryer less as an “air fryer” and more as an “express toaster oven.” From meatballs to green beans, salmon to granola, anything I can make in the oven can be made in this, faster and crispier. It’s also easier to keep clean because of the smaller washable surface and the optional liners that they sell specifically for air fryers (I don’t use them).
This model is an odd collab product between the Crux kitchen appliance brand and the DJ Marshmello, but I just chose it because it was the same price as smaller and better-looking 2-quart models I was comparing it to. One drawback is that the icons on the digital screen are difficult to decipher without written labels on them, but the explanations were probably in the instruction booklet I threw out.
Zojirushi electric kettle
$70 at Wafuu
This one’s cheating a little bit. My mother gifted me a 1-liter Zojirushi electric kettle in college. Other than some ugly yellowing on the handle, it’s still functioning as good as it ever was. One liter is surprisingly a lot, enough so I can fill cup after cup without needing to repeatedly refill at the sink. It only has two options: boil or not boil, so it isn’t as fancy as kettles that have preset temperatures to choose from. Besides tea, I can also use it for pour-over coffee and single-serve French press.
But I can’t find the exact Zojirushi electric kettle anymore. This one from Wafuu is pretty close, but note that you’ll need to pay international shipping for it. For a more readily available alternative, I recommend the Hamilton Beach Glass Electric Tea Kettle. Many of my friends own it, so I’ve used it at multiple different apartments at multiple points in time. While it isn’t as stylish as I’d like, it’s small, cheap and effective at boiling water.
$30.95 at Walmart
$30.95 at Amazon
Jess Reyes mostly writes about games, tech and trends. She loves cute things but prioritizes practicality in her recommendations, searching for the best of the best at the lowest price. You can find her work in IGN, GameSpot, PC Gamer, Digital Trends, and more.
