You Only Need These 2 Kinds Of Pots In Your Kitchen

Pots are one of the most basic tools you need in any kitchen. Besides the frying pan, this is the second most used cookware in the kitchen. However, there are those who might be wondering what kind of pot they actually need since there are many kinds of pots in the market. 

To be quite honest, you only need two kinds of pots for your kitchen. These are the two basic pots that can do the bulk of most of your soup and stew cooking needs:  

Photo by Shopee

Soup Pot

You need a pot to simmer and boil food in, including pasta. This can come in two sizes: small and either medium or large depending on the size of your family. The small pot is perfect for making sauces, gravies, making a small batch of a soup, or reheating leftover soups and stews.

You can even use this small pot to deep fry small batches of fried chicken since it uses less oil than a bigger pot or pan will need. Since it's a deep pot, it will keep your food submerged while using less oil!  

Pasta is easily boiled in this pot, too, so a big pot would be perfect if you love cooking different kinds of pasta recipes at home. 

Kaisa Villa cooking pot, available in a set of 3 (16 cm, 20, cm, and 24 cm), P999, Shopee

Kaisa Villa cooking pot, 16 cm, P349, Shopee 

Photo by Lazada

Casserole Pot

This is also known as a Dutch oven. This is any heavy-bottomed pot that can go from stove to oven. It can be made from heavy-duty cast iron but it doesn't need to be. The easiest way to determine if it's a Dutch oven is almost any cast iron pot with a lid since it's heavy. A Dutch oven can be any pot that has a tight-fitting lid, a heavy bottom or is made from a heavy-duty material such as cast iron, and can go from stove to oven and back again. 

Use this pot to cook soups, stew, braises, and almost any big batch recipe you may want to cook.   

Tramontina Enameled Cast Iron Casserole Pot, 24 cm, P4,000, Lazada and Shopee 

If you have your pots, here are recipes to try using either of these pots:

Photo by Mira Angeles

1 Crab and Corn Soup Recipe 

Fast and easy but totally made from scratch, this soup comes together easily in a pot if you have the right ingreidents. Ask your fish vendor for fresh crabmeat or you can use shredded imitation crab, too, for an easier time making this. 

Photo by Roselle Miranda

2 Pork Pares Recipe

You can make a stew like menudo, pochero, or this addictive pork version of the beef pares. The dish is just as delicious and meaty as the beef version but using pork. It still has the crispy garlic on top and that distinctive star anise flavor that makes pares so aromatic and appetizing.     

Photo by Bianca Laxamana

3 Beef Kaldereta with Olives Recipe 

This classic recipe for the local version of the beef stew is definitely our own. It's got similar ingredients such as beef, tomato paste, potatoes, and carrots but our version also uses bell peppers, peanut butter, coconut milk, and olives for a briny pop of flavor. 

If you want your kaldereta to start to "mantika", you should either reduce it on the stove or place it in a preheated oven with the lid on, so it can reduce the sauce until the oil separates.  

 

These pots are easy to find and range in prices! Pick the ones that are within your budget and the size that is perfect for your needs. 

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Thinking about what to cook next? Join our Facebook group, Yummy Pinoy Cooking Club, to get more recipe ideas, share your own dishes, and find out what the rest of the community are making and eating!

Got your own version of the classic dishes? Pa-share naman! Get your recipe published on Yummy.ph by submitting your recipe here.