[noddingham]

As someone that likes to cook, two things

1) Kitchen dish towels. The white with blue herringbone kind you see in restaurants or cooking content creators. I bought two dozen of them (~$1.65/each) and keep them all around the kitchen and use them with reckless abandon (some for drying, some for wiping spills, etc.). Having plenty of them means I can use one per day for general use and not run out by the time laundry day comes.

2) Deli containers. Picked up 48 in 8 oz, 16 oz, 32 oz sizes with airtight lids. Completely changed how I prep food and save leftovers. Almost entirely I've switched to using these over what hodgepodge of tupperware I have accumulated over the years.

[yen223]

While you are at Ikea, load up on a stack of $0.80 bowls. Those are great when cooking, for some mise-en-place action.

[eps]

+1 for towels, IKEA sells them by a dozen.

Along the same vein - a good high-carbon knife, an end-grain cutting board and a Thermapen.

[dzhiurgis]

> Deli containers.

Man I would love these, but my zero-waste partner would kill me for not re-using the old jars...

[kortilla]

Turn the jars into spare screws/bolts/etc.