The 10 Best Small Kitchen Appliances for Compact Spaces

Best Microwave

Hamilton Beach P90D23AL-WR 0.9 Cu. Ft. Stainless Steel Microwave Oven

4.5

View On Amazon View On Walmart

When it comes to microwaves, more affordable options often work just as well as pricey models. This one is particularly space-efficient, but still comes with plenty of presets and functions including baked potato, popcorn, pizza, beverage, frozen dinner, and reheating. Our tester particularly liked that the beverage function allows you to choose between 4-, 8-, 12-, and 16-ounce options. There are also express cook settings, adjustable power level settings, and a child-lock function to keep your settings from being messed with.

Despite its compact size, this microwave still fits a full-size dinner plate easily—it's also extremely easy to set up and clean. Our tester noted that over a full month of testing, this microwave performed as well as more expensive models again and again. If you're looking for a microwave that won't eat up lots of counter space, you're unlikely to find a better value out there.

Price at time of publish: $80

Capacity: 0.9 cubic feet | Turntable Diameter: 10.5 inches | Cooking Power: 900 watts | Dimensions: 17.09 x 14.25 x 22.2 inches | Warranty: 1 year

Best Air Fryer

Philips Premium Airfryer XXL HD9650

4.2

View On Amazon View On Walmart View On Williams-Sonoma

A good air fryer can be your best asset in a small kitchen due to how many jobs it can do in one⁠—it's not just for cooking with less oil (although it can do that too). This model, in particular, can air fry, bake, grill, roast, toast, dehydrate, and reheat, which eliminates the need for several other appliances. Despite being an XXL model and having a 7-quart interior capacity, it's still fairly space-efficient. It has presets for foods like French fries, whole chicken, fish, and more, and its design allows excess fat to drain away from your food, giving you a crispier end product. There's also a keep-warm function that runs up to 30 minutes after cooking.

All the removable dishwasher-safe parts are easy to clean, though the plastic fat drain rack needs to be hand-washed. There are lots of add-on accessories for making pizza, dehydrated snacks, and baked goods, but they're on the pricier side.

Our testers raved about how well the food came out every time on all the different functions, from baked cornbread to air-fried chicken drumsticks. It's not one of the more affordable air fryers on the market, but between taking the place of several other appliances and out-performing the competition every time, we felt strongly that it deserved a spot on this list.

Price at time of publish: $350

Capacity: 7 quarts | Power Rating: 1750 watts | Dimensions: 15.55 x 15.55 x 15.67 inches | Warranty: 1 year

Best Food Processor

Cuisinart 14-Cup Food Processor

4.9

View On Amazon View On Williams-Sonoma View On Home Depot

For a busy home cook, a food processor is almost like having your own sous chef in the kitchen. It aids in quick completion of mise-en-place, does the heavy lifting for holiday dinner prep, and makes mezzes in a flash. Whether you're grating cheese, preparing pie dough, slicing vegetables, or making pesto, the Cuisinart 14-Cup Food Processor is a smart choice.

The design could not be more user-friendly. There are just two large, paddle-style buttons: one for "off/pulse" and the other for "on." There's no fussy touchpad and only one bowl to worry about. The base is solid and doesn't slide around during heavy use. It has an extra-wide feed tube, which means you can slice larger vegetables and grate blocks of cheese without having to cut them into small pieces first. It comes with a shredding disc, slicing disc, removable disc stem, and metal blade for chopping, mixing, blending, and pureeing. 

Our tester appreciated that the food processor could handle smaller tasks, such as pureeing hummus, and larger ones, including making pastry dough. She also noted that it blended both wet and dry ingredients consistently.

Price at time of publish: $250

Power: 720 watts | Capacity: 14 cups | Size: 11 x 7.9 x 14.8 inches

Best Espresso Machine

Mr. Coffee Café Barista Espresso and Cappuccino Maker

4.5

View On Amazon View On Walmart View On Home Depot

Trips to the coffee shop can be an expensive habit. An espresso machine at home can add a lot of savings to the monthly budget and offer the convenience of espresso shots, cappuccinos, and lattes whenever the mood strikes. Mr. Coffee is a trusted brand, especially for electric drip brewers. Its espresso and cappuccino maker maintains this reputation with its semi-automatic operation, simple interface, and customizable brewing options.

The Mr. Coffee Café Barista Espresso and Cappuccino Maker is a sleek, modern addition to your kitchen countertop. The intuitive design boasts a one-touch control panel, simple indicator lights, removable water and milk reservoirs, and an automatic sleep mode after 15 minutes. You can also switch from automatic to manual mode if you want more control over drink customization.

Our tester loved that the machine fit full-sized mugs with ease. Another highlight was the sleek and modern design which looks great on any countertop.

Price at time of publish: $250

Power: 1040 watts | Capacity: 1.6-liter water tank | Size: 12.6 x 8.86 x 11.22 inches

Best Coffee Maker

Cuisinart 14-Cup Programmable Coffee Maker

4.8

View On Amazon View On Wayfair View On Walmart

Sometimes, waking up to a ready-brewed cup of coffee is exactly what you need to start the day right. The Cuisinart Perfectemp Coffee Maker affords this option and more. It's programmable up to 24 hours in advance, and you can choose your carafe temperature and coffee strength. The display is easy to use with large, simple buttons, and you can make as little as 1 cup or as many as 14 cups.

There's more to this model, though. You can grab your cup mid-cycle with the "brew pause" function, and there's an alarm to let you know when the pot is finished, which was the favorite feature for our tester. It has a modern, stainless steel exterior and compact footprint, making it an attractive, space-saving addition to your counter top. It also has a reusable, gold tone filter, so you can ditch paper filters and reduce your kitchen waste.

The self-cleaning feature helps keep calcification at bay, ensuring a fresh cup of coffee every time. The auto-shut-off option lets you safely leave the house without worrying whether you left the coffee maker on.

Price at time of publish: $99

Weight: 9 pounds | Capacity: 14 cups | Size: 7.75 x 9 x 14 inches

Best Blender

Vitamix 5200 Professional-Grade Blender

4.7

View On Amazon View On Vitamix.com

A good blender can be used for a lot more than smoothies, though the Vitamix 5200 excels in that department. This multi-use appliance cuts time when preparing smoky barbecue sauce, emulsifying vinaigrette, or smoothing out chunky soups. With a spacious 64-ounce, heavy-duty, BPA-free, Tritan plastic jar, you can blend large quantities, too.

The intuitive design of the Vitamix 5200 makes it easy to use. A single dial allows control over ten speeds, and a mode switch for high/variable options could not be simpler to operate. The rubber lid is spill-proof and features a drop-in hole to add ingredients or utilize the included tamper to break up air pockets or push stubborn ingredients toward the blade mid-session. The powerful stainless steel blade crushes ice in an instant.

You don’t have to worry about overworking the motor because it has an automatic shut-off to keep it from burning out, and the hefty sticker price comes with a seven-year warranty to keep you blending for years.

Price at time of publish: $550

Power: 1380 watts | Capacity: 64 ounces | Size: 20.5 x 7.25 x 8.75 inches

Best Pressure Cooker

Instant Pot Duo 7-in-1 Electric Pressure Cooker, 6 Quart

4.9

View On Amazon View On Walmart View On Instanthome.com

If you're pressed for time but don’t want to order takeout, the Instant Pot is your answer. Its large 6-quart capacity can feed a family, and the seven functions take you from pressure cooker to steamer to sauté pan and more. It has three temperature settings and two pressure settings, as well as 13 cooking programs to accommodate foods like rice, stew, and yogurt. For even quicker prep, the machine will remember your exact time and pressure settings for the next time it's used.

The Instant Pot Duo 7-in-1 Electric Pressure Cooker has a stainless steel insert with a three-layer base for even cooking and a steam rack for veggies or baby back ribs. Schedule meals with the delay start option (this can be set up to 24 hours in advance), 10-hour automatic keep-warm function, and manual keep-warm function that will maintain safe potluck temperatures for up to 100 hours.

Our tester appreciated the built-in safety features, like overheat protection and safety lock, which avert potential hazards. The exterior is fingerprint-resistant, and accessories are dishwasher safe.

Price at time of publish: $99

Weight: 11.8 pounds | Capacity: 6 quarts | Size: 13.39 x 12.21 x 12.48 inches

Best Indoor Grill

Cuisinart GR-4N 5-in-1 Griddler

4.8

View On Amazon View On Walmart View On Williams-Sonoma

Craving a steak, but it's raining? Yearning for a panini, but the restaurant is closed? The Cuisinart Griddler is the machine for those moments and more. It's incredibly versatile with options for a contact grill, panini press, full grill, full griddle, and half grill/half griddle. The grill plates are reversible, too, so you can have a flat or ridged surface depending on your needs. The hinge adjusts to accommodate thicker or thinner items and opens fully, so you can avoid steaming foods or pour on heaping helpings of pancake batter. 

The simple controls make it effortless to operate. The selector dial allows you to choose between griddle and grill, and then the temperature is adjusted with the appropriate dial to the left or right. Indicator lights let you know when the griddler has reached the set cook temperature. Cleanup is easy with the nonstick, dishwasher-safe removable grill plates.

Our tester loved how easy the griddler was to operate, but noted it the hidden drip tray was easy to forget while cleaning.

Price at time of publish: $100

Power: 110 volts | Material: Aluminum plates with nonstick coating | Size: 13.5 x 11.5 x 7.12 inches

Best Juicer

Breville Juice Fountain Compact

4.7

View On Amazon View On Wayfair View On Abt.com

Most people think of juicers as bulky and expensive, but this one from Breville's highly reputable Juice Fountain line is surprisingly affordable and space-efficient. It's a centrifugal juicer with a 14,000 RPM motor, which makes it very fast and very powerful. Since it has a wide feed chute, you can put whole fruits and veggies in without having to spend lots of time chopping them first.

Note that this juicer doesn't do as well extracting juice from leafy greens, although bundling the greens together helps a bit. The resulting pulp is not as dry as some other juicers, meaning there could be more juice extracted, but overall its efficiency is good. Although juicers are notorious for being hard to clean, this one's parts are dishwasher-safe; the only trickier part to clean is the fine mesh strainer, and a cleaning brush is included to make that much easier.

Overall, our tester felt that this juicer is an incredible value that can help you incorporate lots of fresh produce into your daily life without monopolizing your counter space.

Price at time of publish: $100

Style: Centrifugal | Dimensions: 7.4 x 10.4 x 12.7 inches | Weight: 9.68 pounds