Martha Stewart's Best Tip For Building An Outdoor Kitchen

If anyone knows how to design a functional yet stylish dream kitchen — indoor or out — it's Martha Stewart, a woman full of baking wisdom and the queen of culinary perfection. She has cooked in more set-ups than most of us have cooked ever, so when she drops a tip, we grab our notebooks (and start mentally renovating our patios). In an interview with Frederic Magazine, Martha revealed her best advice for crafting an outdoor kitchen and spoiler, it's not about outdoor pizza ovens or fire pits. Instead, Stewart put's a premium on making a practical, utilitarian space.

And she means it. Her open-air kitchen features a full freezer, refrigerator, three stoves (because of course), ample workspace, and a long open pantry stocked to the rafters with ingredients. It features everything, including cans of evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk."If I don't have something in the farmhouse kitchen ..." she told Frederic Magazine, "I go straight outside and it's there."

The takeaway? Forget the fantasy of a tiny cart and a rusty grill. Martha Stewart's best outdoor kitchen tip is about building a real kitchen; one that can stand on its own without constant trips back to the house for supplies. To her, all those chain restaurant condiments, canned goods, and cold storage belong outside too. Her pantry-first mindset might not be flashy, but it is wildly functional and kind of genius when you think about the chaos of trying to flip burgers while running inside to grab foil or forgotten spices. Of course, not everyone has the acreage (or appliance count) of Stewart's place. 

But the principle scales down beautifully. A compact weather-resistant cabinet for dry goods, a mini fridge for cold ingredients, and a reliable burner or two can turn even a small patio into a serious cooking station. Add a few hooks for tools, some storage for oils and seasonings, and you have got a setup that feels intentional — without a luxury price tag.

You don't need a sprawling estate to make this tip work either. Even a smaller backyard kitchen can embrace the idea: install a compact fridge or a weather-proof cabinet, organize your dry goods in airtight bins, or stash a few go-to pantry items in a repurposed toolbox (yes, really). It is all about building a space where the cooking — and the cook — can stay outside. Because at the end of the day, Stewart's not just giving you style goals. She's giving you survival tips for outdoor entertaining. And that, friends, is what makes it her best tip.