Hailee Catalano Shares the Tools She Swears By for Making Restaurant-Worthy Food

After a year and a half of posting coffee-making videos on TikTok starting around 2020, Hailee Catalano finally graced our feeds (and thankfully, my feed) with her true passion: cooking. Now, just a few years later, she has 1.8 million followers and a page that’s filled with expertly crafted beach sandwiches to the most deliciously composed roasted radish appetizer you’ve ever seen. 

Her ultimate goal is to make recipes that are restaurant-quality with none of the uneccessary intimidation. And this ethos directly translates to the kitchenware she swears by. “I always am like ‘Less is more!’ And that’s something that I definitely learned in restaurants,” Catalano says. Now, a full time recipe and video creator at home in New Jersey, her perfect kitchenware collection is filled with items that can do at least three different tasks. 

She was kind enough to share all of her top picks, all in the hopes that you can outfit your collection with some incredible multitaskers, too.

Hailee Catalano’s Favorite Kitchenware Picks

• Made In 10-Inch Stainless Steel Frying Pan, $119 at amazon.com 
• Vitamix Ascent A2300 Blender, $300 (originally $350) at amazon.com 
• Lodge 10.25-Inch Cast Iron Pre-Seasoned Skillet, $20 (originally $34) at amazon.com 
• Escali Primo Digital Food Scale, $25 at amazon.com 
• Nordic Ware 2-Piece Half Sheet Pan Set, $22 (originally $25) at amazon.com 
• Mac 8-Inch Chef’s Knife, $140 (originally $175) at amazon.com 
• Gir 3-Piece Silicone Utensil Set, $27 (originally $31) at amazon.com 
• Staub Ceramics 2-Piece Rectangular Baking Dish Set, $50 at amazon.com 
• Earlywood Thin Saute Spatula, $19 at amazon.com 
• Ateco Stainless Steel Cake Tester, $6 at amazon.com 
• Winco Stainless Steel Rectangular Sizzling Platter, $13 at amazon.com 
• Material Kitchen The reBoard, $35 at materialkitchen.com
• JB Prince Straight Tip Tweezer, $22 (originally $24) at amazon.com 

Made In 10-Inch Stainless Steel Frying Pan

By far, stainless steel is Catalanto’s favorite cookware material. She loves how versatile it is, and says that as long as you have a stainless steel pan, stockpot, and smaller sauce pot, you can pretty much make anything. She gravitates most towards Made In’s pans because of how sleek and durable they are. “They’re a touch pricier than maybe some other brands, but they’re less expensive than All-Clad. So they’re a good in between option,” she adds. She uses them to pan fry, make sauces, sear meat, toast spices, saute vegetables, and pretty much everything else. 

Vitamix Ascent A2300 Blender

“Vitamix is another brand I love. I always tell people to get a Vitamix blender, because it is an investment but you’ll have it your whole life. It really makes a difference in smooth sauces and stuff like that,” Catalano says. The Ascent A2300 is the one she uses in her kitchen. It has a 64-ounce pitcher with a built-in blade that creates the classic Vitamix vortex the brand is known for. The base has a timer display, a dial for speed control, and a pulsing button for an overall well-rounded design. She uses it, like she noted, for sauces, but its also great for soups, fruit butters, and more.

Lodge 10.25-Inch Cast Iron Pre-Seasoned Skillet

Lodge cast iron pans are Catalano’s preferred choice. “Lodge is very affordable and timeless,” she says. A simple 10.25-inch pan from the brand only runs about $20 right now thanks to a discount — a small price for the amount of ways you can use it in the kitchen, from baking to frying. Catalano thinks that if you’re intimidated by the price of stainless steel, this cast iron pan is another great option, though she likes to have both materials on hand for different jobs. 

Escali Primo Digital Food Scale

Catalano swears by this Escali kitchen scale for all things baking and cooking. She loves that using a scale not only helps make things more exact, but it also relieves you of needing to use and clean a ton of cup measurements moving forward. This scale measures grams, pounds, and ounces, with accuracy. Plus, it lasts a long time, too (I’ve had mine for almost a decade). 

Nordic Ware 2-Piece Half Sheet Pan Set

No kitchen would be complete without sheet pans, and Catalano swears by Nordic Ware. The brand makes durable, sleek pans that  can handle everything she throws at them, from roasted vegetables to homemade pistachio pignoli cookies. A half sheet tray is the standard size most folks should start off with, since they’re not too big or too small, but having a few on hand is key. It’s not a bad idea to scoop up some full sheet pans and quarter sheet pans either, especially for smaller tasks like toasting nuts or toppings like coconut in the oven. You’ll often find a cooling rack nearby her sheet trays too, which is another essential for her.

Mac 8-Inch Chef’s Knife

Catalano says that she started with Mac knives, and thinks they’re a great beginner option (this knife is also our overall favorite chef’s knife). She prefers to use a 7- or 8-inch chef’s knife for the majority of her kitchen tasks because it’s not too big or bulky, but it has enough versatility to get a lot of things done. If you want to splurge, she also loves the unique designs (especially the serrated knives) from New West Knifeworks, too. 

Gir 3-Piece Silicone Utensil Set

Gir’s spatula and “spoonula,” which conveniently come in this tree piece set, are two pieces Catalano loves. It’s their unique, smooth and durable design that makes them an essential.She likes that they don’t come apart, which makes them  easy to use and clean. Of course, while rubber spatulas have long been known as some of the most essential, versatile tools to have on hand, the spoonula adds another level of use (like scooping or serving), plus this set also comes with a nifty flat spatula for flipping. 

Staub Ceramics 2-Piece Rectangular Baking Dish Set

These Staub baking dishes are Catalano’s go-to. This two-piece set of ceramic bakers is a great place to start, and can be used for desserts, vegetables, casserole dishes, and more. You’ll find everything from her zucchini stuffed shells to her beer cheese mac. The set includes a smaller 7.5 by 6 inch pan and a larger 10.5 by 7.5 inch pan that you can grab for a wide variety of recipes. They’re also chic enough to double as serveware. You can shop the set, or shop other sizes, like this 9 by 13 inch option. 

Earlywood Thin Saute Spatula

The Earlywood tools are a fun and unexpected must-have for Catalano. She loves the spatulas, as well as this long, thin spoon. These tools were designed to be used for everything from sauteing to stirring (and a myriad of other uses), which speaks to the simple and effective yet multitasking requirement Catalano has for her kitchenware. 

Ateco Stainless Steel Cake Tester

This unexpected kitchen tool has become a kitchen essential for Catalano. “I just love cake testers. They’re something I would have never thought to use for more savory applications until I worked in restaurants. Now I use them a lot,” she says. This cake tester is perfect for testing cakes, of course (like her recent coconut one), though Catalano also uses it to check the progress of any thicker ingredients, from mozzarella sticks to filets of salmon, especially while frying. She sticks them in the ingredient, then feels the tester to see if it’s warm inside. Because it’s small and thin, she can use them without leaving a gaping hole in her ingredients. They’re also great for poking tiny holes in food for marinating, or for making something like a tres leches cake where you need to poke tiny holes for the milk mixture to soak in. 

Winco Stainless Steel Rectangular Sizzling Platter

“I love sizzle trays,” Catalano says. “That’s a thing that I started using in restaurants, but it’s lovely to have for even a standing breading procedure, like flour, egg, and bread crumbs. You have a lot of space. I also just love them as landing zones,” she says, adding it’s great for mise en place, too. These trays are long, smooth, and keep everything in one spot, making them another versatile tool in her collection. 

Material Kitchen The reBoard

This is the plastic board Catalano uses the most. “It has a texture to it, so things don’t slide around and your knife doesn’t slide around on it. I feel like a lot of plastic boards are sometimes so smooth that it’s very easy to slip and cut yourself,” she says. And, typically, she’s using the plastic board for raw meats, so it’s even more important to keep things all in one place.

JB Prince Straight Tip Tweezer

Catalano swears by these JB Prince kitchen tweezers for a variety of kitchen tasks. “I know that it maybe not doesn’t sound like a basic tool, but I think if you have a pair, you can use them for so much. I would rather have a large cooking tweezer than clunky tongs.” She uses them in the same way as tongs, just with more control (and they take up less space). From stirring and twirling pasta, to whisking eggs, she loves the grippy ridges and pointed precision on these tweezers for just about everything.