Kitchen Tools and Essentials for The New Autoimmune Protocol
The recipes and techniques in The New Autoimmune Protocol don’t require a specialty kitchen or expensive equipment. Most people already own many of the tools needed to prepare the meals in this book.
This page includes the cooking tools and kitchen equipment referenced throughout the book, along with practical recommendations and links to products I personally use or suggest when helpful.
Basic Kitchen Tools
These are the core tools that support most of the recipes in the book and are the best place to start when evaluating your kitchen setup.
Baking Sheets
Useful for roasting vegetables, sheet pan meals, and batch cooking.
Recommended:
Blender
Helpful for smoothies, soups, sauces, and purées.
Recommended:
Colander or Mesh Strainer
Useful for washing produce, draining vegetables, and straining broths.
Recommended:
Cooking Utensils
Including: Mixing spoon, ladle, metal spatula, silicone spatula, whisk, tongs
Recommended:
Cutting Boards
Having both a large and small cutting board can make prep more efficient.
Recommended:
Roasting Dish
Useful for casseroles, braises, and roasted meats or vegetables.
Recommended:
Stockpot
Helpful for soups, stews, and bone broth.
Recommended:
Measuring Spoons & Cups
Recommended:
Affordable & Helpful Tools
These tools are optional but can make preparation easier and more efficient.
Box Grater and/or Microplane Zester
Useful for garlic, ginger, citrus zest, and vegetables.
Recommended:
Handheld Citrus Juicer
Helpful for quickly juicing lemons and limes.
Recommended:
Mini Prep or Immersion Blender
Useful for sauces, dressings, soups, and smaller prep tasks.
Recommended:
Mandoline Slicer
Helpful for evenly slicing vegetables.
Recommended:
Spiralizer
Useful for vegetable noodles and additional vegetable preparation options.
Recommended:
Thermometer
Helpful for cooking proteins accurately.
Recommended:
Garlic Press
Recommended:
Bench Scraper
Useful for transferring chopped ingredients and cleaning work surfaces.
Recommended:
Kitchen Shears
Helpful for trimming herbs, vegetables, and proteins.
Recommended:
Advanced Tools
These larger tools are not required but may support batch cooking and simplify meal preparation.
Food Processor
Useful for chopping vegetables, making purées, sauces, and doughs. Especially helpful for reducing prep work.
Recommended:
High-Powered Blender
Useful for thick soups, smooth purées, sauces, and blended recipes.
Recommended:
Dutch Oven
One of the most versatile cookware pieces for soups, braises, roasting, and batch cooking.
Recommended:
Multi-Cooker
Helpful for bone broth, braises, dried beans, and time-saving meal prep.
Recommended:
Tools You Don’t Need
Many specialty appliances are optional rather than necessary for preparing nourishing meals.
Examples include:
- Stand mixers
- Juicers
- Toasters
- Waffle irons
- Tortilla presses
- Ice cream makers
- Countertop fryers
- Air fryers
- Dehydrators
If you already own these tools, they can certainly be enjoyable to use, but they are not required for implementing NAIP successfully.
Final Note
Good cooking relies more on basic techniques and quality ingredients than on specialty equipment. Focus first on creating a functional, comfortable kitchen setup that supports consistent meal preparation.
