12 Must Have Kitchen Products Worth Buying From Dollar Tree

If there's one section in Dollar Tree no home cook should sleep on, the kitchen aisle is hands down the winner. Where else can you find deep discounts on gadgets, tools, and utensils that would otherwise take a huge bite out of your household budget? Even with the extra quarter added on to the price in recent years, this bargain outlet still offers some of the most durable pieces to make cooking and baking easier. Add to that the attractiveness of these pieces, and you have a recipe for success you can't afford to pass up. They're as necessary for your culinary life as Dollar Tree spices, and just as affordable.

Obviously, some Dollar Tree kitchen products are more desirable than others. To give you a cook's-eye view into which purchases provide the best bang for your buck, I did some research on the various brands and their offerings. I have personal experience with Dollar Tree kitchen pieces, many of which have lasted close to a decade. If I can get extended use out of bargain kitchen items with near-daily use, imagine how far your $1.25 can take you. With these 12 prime pieces added to your collection, you may never need to spend full price on kitchen gear again.

Getting your eggs and pancakes turned over without issue takes a confident grip on a sturdy tool, the kind Cooking Concepts provides in its silicone flipper. The soft surface will give you confidence when separating slightly stuck-on food from any metal pan, and it lets you scoop your creations out of non-stick pans without fear of scratching the Teflon coating. And if you already own silicone kitchen tools, you know how easily they clean up, a feature that makes picking up this flipper an easy choice.

For cooks with a countertop collection of kitchen tools, Cooking Concept offers a variety of stylish colors to coordinate with your decor. Turquoise and red are available as accents for your existing palette, while black and dark gray will fit nicely with any color set. If you're particular about presenting your utensils in their most pristine state, remember that each of these costs $1.25. You can easily buy one for show and one for use to keep your utensil anxiety to a minimum. They also make attractive additions to housewarming baskets and kitchen gift sets for foodies who could use a little pizzazz in their cooking life.

A simple silicone spatula can set you back $3 or more at a big box store like Walmart; take your business to a department store like Macy's and that price jumps to over $20. But stick with Dollar Tree and you can get a solid silicone spatula from McCormick for a cool $1.25. It's not a prestige item or a status symbol, so why would you pay more than you have to for a bougie brand name option? The Dollar Tree version is from the same company that stands as the first name in spices, which should be endorsement enough for any home cook to appreciate.

This is one of my favorite Dollar Tree purchases ever; I picked up the flat spatula seven years ago and have used it regularly with fantastic results. Folding batters and mixing all types of frosting is a cinch, and clean-up is quick and trouble-free. You can double up and invest in a scoop-shaped version as well to have the right tool for any spreading or scraping task that arises. It's a budget-friendly way to stock up on multiples, especially for busy cooks who run home businesses, or expansive households that require multiple utensils to be in use simultaneously.

Scoops are the unsung heroes of the kitchen tool arena. They're less awkward than measuring cups for doling out flour and sugar, and they make handy additions to canisters holding bulk items like cereal and pasta. The generous scoop lets you gather as much or as little as you need without having to pour troublesome ingredients that can scatter and make a mess. They're also a solid choice for serving dry food to your pets — a different kind of kitchen responsibility, but a valid reason to buy enough scoops for all your tasks.

Similar scoops made of stainless steel start at around $8 on Amazon, and even the cheapest plastic scoop (one that looks pretty identical to the Cooking Concept version) is a $5.97 purchase. With the dollar-plus price provided by Dollar Tree, you can pick up a whole collection for less than that. It's this type of helpful kitchen item that makes discount shopping a money-saving kick.

It's necessary to have a flexible tool on hand when you need to dig the remaining bits of batter out of your mixing bowl. The McCormick silicone scraper is the perfect size and shape for making sure you get every last schmear of whatever you happen to be cooking up. The double-ended tool gives you two different shapes and sizes to accommodate any container you have, while the soft-yet-sturdy silicone blade can take the pressure when you dig into crevices and corners.

With its compact shape and straight, wide edge, this scraper doubles as a mini spreader. It takes the place of a butter knife when you need to pile frosting onto cupcakes, peanut butter onto toast, or jelly onto bagels. And because it's dishwasher safe, you don't have to waste time removing sticky or oily substances by hand. Just pop it in the silverware holder and let your kitchen technology do the work for you.

If you've watched MasterChef or any televised cooking competition, you've undoubtedly seen competitors using a stainless steel chopper like the kind Dollar Tree sells. Otherwise known as a bench scraper, these seemingly simple rectangles of metal can be one of your best friends when your cutting board is covered with slices and shreds. Cooking Concept puts the power of professional level tools in your hand for just over a buck; other brands price theirs at $5 and up for even the most unadorned version.

One kitchen job that will get the most out of a scraper like this is bread-making. Bakers use the thin, flat edge to loosen sticky dough from cutting boards and countertops. The edge also glides through dough with precision, creating even slices without a knife. There's also a handy ruler that helps you measure dough lengths before cutting for added consistency and uniformity. It may have an uncomplicated design, but don't be fooled; this gadget may turn out to be one of the most useful items in your arsenal.

It's all well and good to have a mesh colander until you're ready to store it in a cabinet. Then suddenly, the handle keeps the cabinet door from closing and the mesh sieve gets bent from conforming to the shape of the bowls it rests in. McCormick eliminates the destructive trickery with a collapsible silicone colander that's flexible enough to shrink to suit its environment. It's one of the cleverest redesigns of a kitchen gadget I've ever encountered, and it's a Dollar Tree no-brainer for cooks with limited storage space.

When you need a full-sized strainer, expand the vessel to its complete depth. When you need to stash it away for storage, collapse it down to a flatter profile. In between uses, toss it on the top rack of your dishwasher for a convenient clean-up that subtracts handwashing from your to-do list. A kitchen tool this smart and useful should cost at least twice what Dollar Tree charges. Since it's a mere $1.25, you can make the discovery without eating into your grocery funds.

The age of microplastics has made acrylic cutting boards a danger to everyone's health and well-being. With Cooking Concepts' bamboo cutting boards on your Dollar Tree shopping list, you have a healthier alternative that's as environmentally friendly as it is lightweight and easy to store. It measures 9.8 inches wide and 6.9 inches long, a nice size for smaller cooking chores as well as for sliding into a drawer when not in use. Though it isn't dishwasher safe, it's easy enough to hand-wash in the sink with water only, to prevent soap from soaking into the surface.

This is the sort of kitchen item you buy in multiples so you can have one for meat items, one for fruits and vegetables, and even one or two for your home bar garnish slicing needs. At a little more than a dollar a pop, you can stock up without drastically diminishing your checking balance. You'll even find reviews from customers who've laser-engraved slogans and designs into the surface to create a stylish — and highly economical — piece of kitchen decor.

Yes, this sleek red set is nothing more than a nested collection of four measuring cups, the kind you can get at any kitchen supply store or big box retailer. But some brands take a more stylish approach with shape and design, which drives up the price to unjustifiable levels. Why spend the extra for a set of kitchen tools that sit in a drawer or rest in a cabinet where nobody sees them? The more important aspects of such an unseen gadget are affordability and sturdiness. At Dollar Tree, McCormick measuring cups offer both features in abundance. The four-cup set has standard ¼-cup to 1-cup quantities, rendered in robust plastic that's easy to clean by hand and can withstand a top-rack cycle in the dishwasher.

These measuring cups are one of my favorite kitchen purchases. They're also among my longest-lasting utensils; I've yet to have a handle snap when scooping cupfuls of flour or sugar for big holiday baking projects. There is a small issue with the printed quantities on the handles wearing off after a while. But with only four cups in the set, it's easy enough to identify the amounts by the size of the cup and its position in the stack.

Sure, you can use Cooking Concepts 'mesh strainer to drain canned vegetables and separate citrus juice from seeds and pulp. But the more upscale use of this smaller-sized strainer is the powdered sugar shake-over that makes an unfrosted cake look like a delicious winter wonderland. Spend $1.25 at Dollar Tree, and you'll have exactly what you need to pull off the finishing touch when your baking adventures call for a light dusting of confectioner's sugar. It's such an elegant trick that you may find yourself adding cinnamon sprinkles to the foam on your latte, cocoa sprinkles to the whipped cream on your hot chocolate ... the possibilities are delicious.

Before you reach the dusting stage of your baking endeavors, you may discover that sifting flour, baking soda, and baking powder is a necessary step in your recipe. This is especially important when trying to conjure light, fluffy cakes and muffins; sifting helps separate lumps in the powder while incorporating air between the particles. This mesh strainer lets you sift your ingredients without needing an awkward hand-cranking sifter. Think of it as a baking Swiss Army knife, minus the corkscrew and the shiny red shell.

Another unseen hero of the cooking and baking world, measuring spoons just need to be the right size to scoop out your ingredients and the right shape to avoid blocking your kitchen gadget drawer from opening. McCormick measuring spoons do exactly that, and for a price that makes it easy to stock your culinary toolbox without worrying about affording the food you'll measure with them. This four-spoon set ranges from ¼ teaspoon to a full tablespoon, all kept in place with a handy plastic hoop that snaps open easily to separate the spoons for individual use.

They may just be pieces of plastic, but my set of McCormick measuring spoons has kept me on the straight and narrow in the kitchen for years. I've depended on these durable tools for accuracy during baking tasks and for effortless, worry-free scooping when filling my coffee machine. Because the price is so prime, I'm tempted to pick up another set every time I stop by my Dollar Tree. But the originals are in such great shape, there's no need to repeat the purchase. You're sure to find the same is true for your set.

This modified spoon from Cooking Concepts is a secret weapon for cooks who create liquid-based dishes, where draining the entire pot goes beyond the call of duty. Cooking Concepts provides a stainless steel skimmer that lets you remove boiled ingredients like poached eggs, steaming hot pasta, and hot potatoes from the liquid they cooked in without disturbing the rest of the contents in the pot. It's also a necessary instrument for the art of deep frying, when removing items quickly and cautiously from hot oil requires generous drainage to prevent burns and spills.

Comparable skimmers start at $6 or so on Amazon, and even Walmart doesn't go lower than about $4.99. Dollar Tree jumps to the head of the list with its dollar-plus version that withstands the heat of oil and water, with a long enough handle to stand clear of spatters. With such a solid purchase available for a fraction of what the others cost, there's no reason to shop anywhere but Dollar Store for this useful implement.

Shifting away from plastic to bamboo-based utensils isn't difficult when Cooking Concepts makes the prospects so attractive. The silicone grip adds a touch of comfort with a splash of contrast to make the usual bland wooden texture more stylish and functional. And because these wooden spoons and flippers withstand heat and resist picking up flavors from the food you cook with them, you can rest assured that you'll have a safe and clean experience every time.

Each piece in this collection is sold separately, so rather than being locked into a whole set, shoppers can cherry-pick the tools they need or want most. You can pick up your choice of slotted and non-slotted spoons and spatulas, as well as a broad fork, all with the same light finish that gives them flexibility as chic serving tools. Pick up extras as salad servers and store them separately so you'll have dedicated pieces ready for the job.

I'm a Dollar Tree shopper with a collection of kitchen gear I purchased back when everything in the store still cost just $1. I used my purchases as a frame of reference for the most useful and long-lasting items in the kitchen section, some of which I've had for nearly a decade. Regular use throughout the week has proven these spatulas, scrapers, and measuring cups and spoons to be as durable as any higher-priced brand I've used in the past.

To hone in on the best kitchen items currently available, I selected pieces made from safer materials like silicone and bamboo. I also chose implements that I find to be the most helpful in the kitchen — tools I reach for when engaged in both simple daily food prep and more involved special-occasion cooking. Because brand availability is limited, the most suitable choices for this list ended up being from McCormick and Cooking Concepts, though you may find other brands with similar pieces on Dollar Store shelves that could make equally worthwhile purchases.