I Never Thought I’d Use This $6 Tool and Now It’s Seriously My Favorite

I pride myself on being a minimalist in life, especially in the kitchen when it comes to tools, gear, and gadgets. So when my mother-in-law offers me new kitchen tools she thinks I’d find useful, I tend to politely decline. However, after too many refusals, I finally agreed to take a tiny spatula a few years ago. I figured I’d just put it in a drawer and never actually use it, or just bust it out when she comes over. Oh, how quickly I realized how wrong I was: It’s now one of the most-used tools in my kitchen!

Why is a mini spatula necessary when you have a perfectly good regular-sized spatula? I kept asking myself this when I was gifted the tiny thing, but soon after I brought it home, I quickly understood its worth. There are a whole lot of small jobs that are made much easier with a mini spatula.

At about eight inches long and one inch wide, it can fit into spaces the regular tools cannot. It helps me get every last drop out of jars and bottles be it peanut butter or mustard. I use it to help me scrape things like homemade pesto and hummus from the food processor. I reach for it when making a single serving of scrambled eggs. It helps smooth out batter in cake and muffins tins, and even makes frosting cupcakes easier, too.

I’ve found so many uses for my mini spatula that I now realize I reach for it at least a few times each and every day. It’s so well-loved, in fact, that it almost never even makes it back to its home in our utensil drawer. Most of the time, it simply lingers on the drying rack, ready and waiting to be grabbed again. I’ve since purchased a second one — all-silicone model — so that I’ll never be without at least one mini spatula and ready for whatever small cooking task’s on hand.

Buy: di Oro Seamless Series Mini Silicone Spatula, $9.97

This post was originally published on Kitchn. Read it there: I Never Thought I’d Use This $6 Tool and Now It’s Seriously My Favorite