Why the Thermomix is the only kitchen appliance busy mamas need

Every year, there are tons of new kitchen gadgets that claim to make your life easier and cut down time spent in the kitchen. They all achieve that to some degree, but with such an oversaturated market, it’s tough to know which will do what it claims while giving you quality. But, there is an easier way to make delicious meals from scratch without the hassle.

Enter: the Thermomix.

Where other appliances fall short in delivering complete, tasty meals, this product can whisk, caramelize, brown, chop, steam, sauté, blend, boil, knead, emulsify and so much more all with the touch of a button. It’s basically a very powerful blender that also cooks and stirs. And if you want a cooking tool with an intuitive interface, it has that, too.

The high-end gadget is popular abroad (it’s made by the German company Vorwerk), but it made its US debut a few years ago. It recently upgraded its features (it can now ferment, pre-clean and sous vide for perfectly tender vegetables and meat), and it’s a winner.

After using it for a few months, [Full disclosure: Thermomix gave us a unit for testing, but did not pay for this review. All opinions expressed are completely my own] I’ll admit it’s a bit of a cheat in the kitchen—but that’s a good thing if you’re a busy mama with zero time to spare.

Here’s what I loved about it:

1. You’ll never need a cookbook again.

The recipe platform has more than 40,000 recipes from around the globe. So you can pretend to have breakfast in Rome, lunch in South Africa, cocktails in Australia and dinner in Paris. Yum!

Each recipe is also preset with the time, temperature and speed for each step so you can’t overcook a meal. Just press start and follow the step-by-step instructions.

2. It’s perfect for mamas on the go.

If you love to cook—particularly if you’d like to prepare entire meals in one pot—but don’t have tons of time, this is for you. You no longer need several appliances for one dish—everything you need is in one place. It’s also pretty cool because it allows you to cut down on waste, too. For instance, you can add vegetable stalks to a morning smoothie, make fruit juice with peels and even turn leftovers into a delicious quiche in minutes.

3. The built-in scale is a huge help.

If you’re anything like me, you hate measuring ingredients for recipes. I usually find myself eyeballing a measurement until it simply “feels like it’s enough.” But when cooking complicated meals, precision and accuracy is a must. I love that this product doesn’t let you down with its built-in digital weighing scale. Just throw items into it and it tells you the exact weight.

4. It simplifies meal planning.

Thermomix TM6 allows you to easily generate, organize and email shopping lists based on what’s scheduled in your weekly planner. Just download the app to start planning (and sharing with your family) weekly meals.

5. Takes the place of baby bottle warmers + food makers.

Instantly heat 3.5-63.5 ounces of water for baby bottles and purée almost any fruit or vegetable in minutes. I use it to make baby food for my 7-month-old fairly regularly and having this on hand in the kitchen is seriously a game-changer.

6. You can ask for help anytime.

Thermomix TM6 can seem complicated at first, but if you need help, you can ask a Thermomix consultant to show you how it can meet your needs and tastes. If you have the time, you can also attend cooking classes and purchase booklets and accessories to educate yourself.

So is it worth it?

In short, the Thermomix TM6 is a bit of a unicorn in the kitchen appliance world and that’s why it won 2019 for me. It has countless benefits for hectic mamas—or foodies in general. The downside? It’s rather oversized so if you don’t have the kitchen counter or storage space, this may not be for you.

Also, if you have little ones, you may not want to use it while they are sleeping. Depending on what you’re cooking and the feature you’re using, the Thermomix TM6 can be noisy. Also, the price ($1,499) is extremely hefty. So if you think you’ll only use a small portion of the features, it’s not worth it. But, if you’re up for the challenge and want to consolidate many of your kitchen tools with this, you can unlock thousands of recipes to provide you with cool ideas, inspiration, and good food—for even your pickiest toddlers.