Energy-efficient appliances are designed to reduce energy consumption, reduce their impact on the environment, and reduce your utility bills. Old, outdated, and inefficient appliances draw more power than they need or run longer to achieve effective results.
When churning out cover after cover at the saute station you can't exactly be picky about what's on the shelf above the stove. But that doesn't mean professional chefs don't have opinions about the pans they use every day during service.
If you throw away a plastic item today, it'll very likely still be around for decades to come. In fact, some research suggests that certain plastic items could take up to 500 years to decompose. To put that in context, that means that if, say, Henry VIII threw away a plastic coffee pod in Tudor England, it would only just be finished degrading now. He didn't, of course; plastic wasn't used regularly until the 20th century. But you get the point.
Fortunately, there's nothing super eclectic going on with 2026's hottest kitchen trends, making them easy to incorporate and suitable for pretty much any aesthetic. We caught up with HomeGoods Interior Expert Jenny Reimold to get the inside scoop on what's in and what's out this year, and we were delighted by what she told us. 2026 is the year of warm tones, gentle visual interest, and kitchens that embody your own personality. Here's how to capitalize on the hottest kitchen trends of 2026.
My aunt regularly hosts my family, and every time she laments how challenging it is to juggle multiple dishes in a single oven, causing her to frantically reheat one side at a time so everyone enjoys a warm meal. But between you and me, something's always lukewarm (or just plain cold) in the end, making a trip to the microwave inevitable.
Whether you've lost the lid to your favorite pan or you're trying to use less plastic wrap in your kitchen, silicone lids can play an important role in your kitchen routine. Some of these lids are large enough to cover a pan on the stove, preventing excess moisture from escaping. Others are smaller and are ideal for covering cups, bowls, and food storage containers that don't have tops.
If you've ever mixed something vigorously in a large bowl during a cooking project, you have probably experienced the universal frustration of a tilting, wobbly bowl. Maybe you're whipping cream by hand, whisking a vinaigrette, or even just beating eggs for a casual, but perfect, omelette, and notice the bowl starts migrating across the counter. There are some low-tech workarounds, like a damp towel or a silicone mat slipped underneath the bowl. Neither works terribly well, especially with super-slippery granite countertops.
But once food has carbonized and bonded to metal, the issue is mechanical, and you need something to physically break the residue apart. Eggshells are mostly composed of calcium carbonate, the same mineral found in chalk and limestone - you've probably encountered it in your toothpaste, too. When crushed into a powder, these shells become a mild abrasive, which can gently sand down the grime.
Instead of using parchment paper (which comes with its own set of potential mistakes to make), which you can use a maximum of a few times before you have to throw it out, you can keep using the same silicone baking mat over and over again. They're also great when you want to keep a really even, consistent temperature while baking your pastries, since they're known for distributing heat well.
You don't need to spend an arm and a leg to get sleek and functional kitchenware. Dollar Tree makes it easy to stock your home with practical, everyday kitchen essentials that look good and get the job done. And one of the most underrated kitchen tools sold at this dollar-store chain is the Cooking Concepts stainless-steel chopper/scraper, also known as a bench scraper. Best of all, it's just $1.25, a fraction of the cost of many similar scrapers elsewhere.
From the Crofton kitchenware line, Aldi's Gold Pizza Pan costs just $4.99, about the price for one or two slices from your local shop. In a nearly identical color to Williams Sonoma's Goldtouch Pro Nonstick Pizza Crisper ($29.95) and 16-inch Pizza Pan ($39.95), this Aldi dupe has the same look and function. While exact product specifications are not available for the Crofton version, previous pizza pan releases from Aldi have come in at a little over 15 inches.
Whether you love cooking already or you want to try to cook more at home to spend less money on takeout, there are tons of gadgets that can make your time in the kitchen even more enjoyable. As food lovers and tech reviewers, the Engadget team has tried out pizza ovens, sous vide machines, air fryers, ice cream makers and more.
