6 Must-Have Kitchen Products for Holiday Hosting
theCityMoms use an affiliate link or two to support our staff and work, but our opinion is never influenced. We only share items we use and love.
I know: Literally every article this time of year starts with "the holiday season is fast approaching, and you need to start preparing for all those holiday feast/holiday dinner/family gatherings/dinner parties" etc. But fact is... for as repetitive as those statements are, they're true. And if you're not kicking off your prep in September (because who on earth has the time, even if for your favorite holiday), the last thing you want is to feel behind the game for the big day.
Enter us, ready to help you take the guess work out of your holiday celebrations, with a few new products to drop in your kitchen arsenal for the main event.
If you add anything for holiday cooking to cart, here are a few of our favorites:
6 Must-Have Kitchen Products for Holiday Hosting
Grab your own personal bartender
Meet the Barsys 360 Cocktail Maker, the smartest party guest you’ll ever invite over. This sleek, app-connected cocktail machine turns you into an instant mixologist—no bartending degree required. Just pour in your mixers and spirits, pick your drink from the Barsys app (or let it recommend one based on what’s already in your bar), and in under 30 seconds, you’ve got a perfectly balanced cocktail or mocktail ready to serve.
Why we love it: It’s the ultimate host hack. The Barsys 360 keeps ingredients chilled for up to eight hours, cleans itself between uses, and looks gorgeous sitting on your counter. Translation: You can spend less time playing bartender and more time actually enjoying the party.
Queue up a charcuterie board
Say cheese... boards: This set is flashy enough to impress even your Grinchy-est guests at the dinner party. This bamboo cheese board and knife set feels luxe, comes with enough board space to plate meats, cheeses, and crackers for the entire family, and has separate ceramic dish containers perfect for dips or other wet food like olives. (After all the rule of thumb when creating a board is to keep the dry and wet goods separate from each other!)
Why we love it: It comes with not one but two wooden boards - the second disguised as a mini knife set that slides out from underneath for easy storage but with a chic look. For some simple tips to creating the perfect charcuterie board, visit this sister piece on our blog!)
Swap in stylish slow cookers... or three
No doubt the kitchen can be bustling with an assortment of dishes needing attention at once. Trying to find open plugs for more than one pressure cooker can be a pain, so enter this stylish but super functional Triple 1.5QT Slow Cooker and Buffet Server. This appliance allows you to effortlessly prepare a variety of hearty dishes, saving precious time to focus on other essential tasks. From side dishes to all the extras you'll need for a delicious holiday meal, this slow cooker set will help you create a seamless holiday feast.
Wrangle a warming tray
A food warming tray is one of the popular and right kitchen appliances we never knew we needed until it arrived. It's designed to keep cooked food warm - and at a safe serving temperature for an extended period - and is the ideal solution for popping onto a baker's shelf or island to keep plated dishes ready but out of the way. The Laudlife warming tray from Amazon keeps food warm for up to 6 hours, and comes in a foldable design that ensures easy storage, preserving your kitchen's precious space. It's so easy to pull out for holiday gatherings to drop potluck dishes or warm holiday appetizers on.
EXPECTING GUESTS FOR THE HOLIDAYS? YOU NEED THESE:
More Must-Have Kitchen Products for Holiday Hosting:
Get a good meat thermometer
Nothing is worse than having all the foods prepped, and needing to babysit the turkey (or ham!) at Thanksgiving dinner or Christmas dinner. Meat thermometers have come a long way in the past couple of years and make great additions to your kitchen arsenal. We love the ThermoPro Bluetooth - and wireless! - Digital Meat Thermometer (added bonus: It makes a great gift for the grillmaster in your family!). The product reviews state "this wireless thermometer can monitor your cooking from up to 500 feet away with obstacles" and we concur. Its temperature probe feature becomes your best friend by monitoring your meat for you. Simply fire up the accompanying app and it will send you alerts throughout the cooking process.
Cook it up in a new cookware collection
If it's been a while since you refreshed your cooking ware, now is definitely the time especially with a product line that is gathering nonstop five-star ratings. We are obsessed-capital-O with the Caraway collection. Caraway cookware is made from eco-friendly materials, and their pots and pans are designed with functionality and simplicity in mind. They are also free of harmful chemicals found in conventional cookware, making them a healthier option for cooking.
Why we love it: Caraway's products come in a range of eye-catching colors and are easy to clean, making them the perfect addition to any kitchen. If you add any Caraway to your collection, we recommend two specific products:
The Caraway Roasting Pan
It's ideal for for everything from main event recipes to Sunday dinner turkey roasters, and looks gorgeous when pulled from the oven to the dining room table.
The Caraway Bakeware Line
We also love their entire bakeware line, perfect for prepping all your best holiday baking and cookie exchanges but also again because it looks so incredibly beautiful in the kitchen.

