Best Vegetable Steamer Reviews 2023

Like most people know, myself included, adding more leafy vegetables to your daily meal is a must to have good health.

Vegetables contain many nutrients that can help maintain a healthy body and lower your risk of common diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity, developing kidney stones, and even cancer.

However, we all know that preparing and cooking veggies are not an easy task. But, you know the old saying that there is always a solution to every problem.

For those seeking a quick and healthy cooking solution, may I introduce you to a must-have kitchen tool called “vegetable steamer“?

If you want to revolutionize your cooking and drastically boost the nutritional content of the meals you prepare, then you should buy a vegetable steamer.

But, with so many available steamers out there, how can you pick the right one? I’m here to help you with that.

Below I have listed the best ones in the market, each with more than 4.5 ratings by other users.

The Top 5 Best Vegetable Steamers

Because of the availability of so many steamers, and while all manufacturers and sellers insist they only have the highest quality steamers, many people can be confused and have difficulty choosing the right one.

To help you choose only the best vegetable steamer, we gave her the top five steamers you should try out.

#1: OXO Good Grips Stainless Steel Steamer with Extendable Handle

What makes this steamer different than the others is its extendable handle. Why? The handle fork keeps your hands away from the steam, protecting them from getting burned making them safe. Moreover, its extendable handle can lock into a position for transporting and filling and can be retracted to the accommodation of pot lids while steaming.

This vegetable steamer is also perfect to use together with a multi cooker or a pressure cooker. There are also handle holes for a fork that keep the hands away from the steam. It fits in pots with a diameter of 8 inches and more.

It has sturdy stainless steel construction and can be folded flat when not using it for compact storage. Furthermore, it is dishwasher safe, making it quite easy to clean without being vulnerable to cuts.

#2: Hamilton Beach Digital Food Steamer

This top-rated electric steamer is most suitable for cooking your entire family’s meal. With a capacity of 5.5 quarts, it can accommodate larger sizes of vegetables and other foods. Not to mention it has dividers that can separate your vegetables from meat. Plus, a small rice bowl at the base of the machine. Meaning, you can create an entire meal using only one kitchen appliance.

This versatile, nested storage, stackable 2-tier steamer fits neatly in any cabinet. It has a digital touchpad that makes setting countdown timers and other functions quite easy. It also has a function called “Automatic warm”, wherein when the food is ready, it switches to warm mode so that your steamed food will be kept warm while you prepare other ingredients.

It also alerts you with a beeping sound when the cooking time is finished. Moreover, it has a function called the “Delay start” timer that lets you add ingredients to the steamer in advance and start steaming later.

#3: Farberware Classic Series Sauce Pot/Saucepot with Steamer Insert

This versatile classic steamer and saucepot from Farberware give you ease when simmering, steaming, heating, and boiling different kinds of foods. You steam veggies on the steamer by adding water to the saucepot and bring to a boil. Even without the steamer insert, you can boil yams and cook your favorite soup dishes on the saucepot. That’s 2-in-1 kitchenware for you.

The lid and pot of this steam pot are made of stainless steel for durability. This 3-qt pot can be used as a baking casserole (oven safe up to 350°), simmering sauces, or making soups and not just steaming. Its base gives an even distribution of heat and prevents the food from getting burned even you simmer for too long.

This steam pot is stain-resistant and is dishwasher safe for easy cleaning. Moreover, its comfortable handle provides a confident and firm grip, and the self-basting lids aids in sealing moisture and heat inside.

#4: Steamer Basket Stainless Steel by Consevisen

This steamer basket with stainless steel petals can steam desserts, meats, eggs, seafood, veggies, baby food, and more. It is also collapsible and expandable to accommodate various food sizes to be steamed.

The “wings” of this vegetable steamer basket can be folded in and out to allow the steamer to fit pressure cooker and instant pots. It has a telescopic handle that is removable and has three foldable legs, each with silicone to prevent scratching your pot.

Moreover, because of its stylish designs, it cannot only be used as a steamer basket but can also be used as a fruit container or a filter.

#5: Hatrigo Instant Pot Steamer Basket

The Hatrigo Instant Pot Steamer Basket is not like the other steamer basket brands. This basket is designed and custom built-in to fit inside the instant pot and steam your favorite veggies.

This instant pot steamer basket is covered in silicone to prevent burns when removing the basket from hot pots. Moreover, it has legs covered with silicone to prevent any scratches to your instant pots and avoid slipping when it is placed on the counter.

It is dishwasher safe, so it is easy to clean and made with grade-quality stainless steel. Its handles are firm and will not fall off even though it contains heavy ingredients such as meat. It can hold over 10 pounds of food!

What is a vegetable steamer?

Vegetable steamers are very simple kitchen tools that heat and cook vegetables and other foods you want by steaming. It can be a sealed appliance made of plastic that can be electric OR a bamboo, plastic, or metal basket that can be placed at the top of a pot with boiling water and sealed by a lid.

The idea of steaming vegetables is that the vegetables themselves are not directly placed in the water or on the hot surface.

Vegetable steamers only cook food only through steam, and there are electric versions of this tool that usually get the job done in lesser time than the traditional steamers.

Brief History of Steamers

Steam is incredibly fascinating and sensual. Steams are used for all kinds of things like powering boats and trains, cooking, and even bathing.

Steaming played a great role in preparing staple rice dishes in Oriental cooking.

And for more than three thousand years, Chinese people used steaming devices back in the Yunnan Period, where archaeological digs found remnants and artifacts. The Chinese people mastered the arts of making thin strips of cypress into steamers during the 8th century. Today their very sophisticated steamers are made from bamboo.

India, too, has been fond of steaming food for centuries. Their famous dish, modak, dumplings made with rice flour covers filled with grated jaggery and coconut cooked through steaming. Meanwhile, in Africa, their most famous dish called couscous is made from semolina which is steamed, that becomes famous across the world in the past few years.

Why Steam Food?

So why is there a need to steam food? Or rather, why do other people want to steam food than other cooking processes? While steaming is nutritious and delicious, it is also very easy to help from a good-quality steamer. Many streamers are of circular shape containers that can be made of bamboo or metal. Others have a tight-fitted lid so that no steam can escape, therefore cooking your food thoroughly.

Most people, who don’t own a steamer, typically fill a pot halfway with water. It is then placed into a metal frame on top of it for the food to sit. There are modern microwaves that have a separate steam setting and water container. Alternative methods can still work; however, there is no hassle-free and excellent way to steam food than food steamer. Not convinced yet? Here are some of the best benefits of steaming food:

1. Preservation of Nutrients

A 2007 USDA study compared the distinction between boiling and steaming of vegetables. The study reveals that vitamin C and folic acid in vegetables had a 15% drop when boiled.

This study shows that steaming is a great process of preserving water-soluble vitamins like Vitamin C, Vitamin B1, and other nutritional mineral salts naturally present in vegetables.

2. Maintains Texture

Citing the previous study, it also showed that the foods become mushy and limp when boiled, in contrast to the steamed food that retains its firmness.

This means that each vegetable’s unique texture can be maintained through steaming.

3. Great for Syrups and Purees

If you love fruit mashes and fruit juices, steamers can help you with that. You can add plums, cherries, or grapes to the steamer and create sauce or purees from the finished process.

Juicers can be messy when straining and squeezing, but with steam, you can prevent this.

4. Ease of Adding Flavor

Who says using steam can result in a bland meal? There are various ways to add flavor to your steamed food.

You can add the spices to the water, and its aroma and taste will infuse with your food on the top compartment without even having direct contact.

5. Saves Energy

Steaming saves energy. There are various types of the steamer that have multiple tiers in which you can place different ingredients. You save effort, time, and energy by simply cooking in one appliance!

If you consider these many benefits of a steamer, there is no reason why every kitchen should not have one this handy appliance.

Various Steaming Methods

While steaming is a general process, there are various methods available for steaming food. Here are some of them:

1. Immersion

It is the most basic and popular way to cook rice. The traditional oriental use of steam to cook rice involves the immersion of rice in stock or water. It is then cooked over the steam until the rice is cooked and the liquid is absorbed.

2. Sealing

This traditional steaming method involves sealing the food in bamboo leaves (Chinese Method), plantain leaves (Indian method), or pleated wax paper.

The steamed food is cooked in its juiciness and will taste amazing by securing the container with a string and placing it on top of boiling water to rest.

3. Suspension

This is the easiest steaming method in which you will suspend the food on top of boiling water. You can cook anything from fruits and vegetables to meat with this method.

Different Types of Vegetable Steamer

Today, more and more sophisticated and innovative steamers make their way to the market nationwide. Many of these products are specifically designed to do the work of steaming without you, constantly watching it to prevent overcooking.

1. Microwave

Most microwave steamers are usually made of plastic and have a cake pan shape. It comes with a lid for steaming, and since it functions in the microwave, the timing can be easily regulated, and the steaming of food is incredibly quick.

2. Electric Steamers

The greatest and latest of all steamers. The electric steamer involves less work since it manages the steam time for you. Such steamer looks like crock pots and comes with removable bowls and pots that hold several vegetables and other food.

Moreover, other models have three tiers and include warmers to keep steamed vegetables hot while the rest of the ingredient is prepared.

3. Bamboo Steamers

This type of steamer is usually tiered to accommodate more than one dish at the same time.

In Asia, this is the fundamental cooking method. Like the steamer basket, the bamboo steamer is also placed on top of a cooking vessel containing little water.

4. Steamer Basket

The least complicated form of steaming tool, but it always works. A high-quality stainless steel steamer basket can fit into any bigger vessel and keep the food out of the boiling water’s contact.

Once the pot is sealed with the lid, the food will be heated and cooked through steam. However, you will need to monitor the food you are steaming to prevent overcooking.

Considerations when Buying Vegetable Steamer

If you are thinking about buying your very own vegetable steamer, you need to consider some factors that can help narrow down the competition. Here are some of them:

1. Steaming Process

It would help if you first considered what steaming process you are more interested in. For example, water amount and cooking time will vary based on the type, quantity, and size of your food and what methods are involved when cooking them.

Cooking time will be different whether you are using a basket or electric steamer and when you understand what method is best for you will very much depend on how much time you will spend.

2. Material type

Most steaming baskets meant to fit into a cooking pot can be made of bamboo or stainless steel. Both are incredibly durable materials that are proven effective.

But, the primary difference between these two is that bamboo baskets will change color over time while stainless steel will always be the same.

Microwave steamers, on the other hand, are always made of plastic. Electric steamers are made in different materials, usually with plastic inserts for the process of actual steaming.

3. Storage Space

If your kitchen is not that spacious and you only have limited space for storage, then a collapsible steaming basket will be good.

Electric steamers can also be broken down in several ways, making them very easy to store.

4. Steamer Size

If you choose a simple steamer basket, you will find that these steamers are designed to collapse and expand to fit different pot sizes. Some are designed to fit a specified pot size only.

On the other hand, bamboo steamers come in multiple tiers and several different sizes that allow you to steam more than one type of food simultaneously. Microwave and electric steamers are fixed in size, and they usually take up most of the storage space.

5. Frequency of Steaming

Ask yourself how often do you need or plan to use the steamer. If you want to steam every day, you can choose high-quality steamers that can withstand the test of time. You can invest in a good machine built with the best durable materials.

However, if you only want to use it on rare occasions, you can purchase a less expensive one like the simple steam basket.

The Final Judgment

Among the top 5 vegetable steamers that I listed, the Hamilton Beach Digital Food Steamer would be my top pick.

Why? Because it is a rice cooker, steaming basket, grill, and crockpot in one which you can use to create your whole meal. Furthermore, it is compact, so it does not take up too much space.

Purchasing a steamer can be challenging, especially when a person is not really into steaming when cooking their meals.

However, steaming is very beneficial to health-conscious people because it can retain more minerals and vitamins from the food, unlike boiling. Moreover, it is a great way to preserve the true quality and flavor of vegetables.

So why don’t you start steaming today?