Sunday sauce is an all-day project, and the kitchen shows it — blender splatter, overflow containers, a pot that fought back. These six finds from Five Below are built for exactly that chaos.
1. Rechargeable Portable Blender 12.8oz – $10.00
Pureeing cooked tomatoes or a handful of garlic and herbs into a silky sauce base used to mean dragging out the full-size blender and fighting the cord. This 12.8oz rechargeable blender runs on a built-in 800mAh lithium ion battery, so there’s nothing to plug in on a counter already crowded with cutting boards. Blend directly in a bowl, rinse it out, and get back to the pot.
Standout Features: The built-in rechargeable 800mAh lithium ion battery means genuinely cordless operation — not just a short cord, actually untethered. At 12.8oz it’s compact enough to use inside a mixing bowl or small pot of softened tomatoes without the commitment of a full machine. I find it works best on already-cooked, softened ingredients rather than raw hard vegetables.
Best For: Anyone who wants a smooth blended sauce base without cleaning a full countertop blender afterward. The sweet spot is mid-cook, when you need to smooth out a chunky tomato base in under two minutes.
Parting Thoughts: At $10.00 it’s a legitimate impulse buy — just manage expectations on dense or very fibrous raw ingredients.
2. Food Storage Set 42-Piece – $5.55
Sunday sauce always makes more than fits on the table, and this 42-piece set means you’re actually organized about the leftovers instead of stacking mismatched containers. You get 21 containers and 21 matching lids across a range of sizes — small enough for a portion of garlic paste, large enough for a full batch of sauce. They’re BPA-free, freezer-safe, dishwasher-safe on the top rack, and microwave-safe for reheating, so what you made Sunday can live in the freezer for a weeknight rescue.
Standout Features: Twenty-one containers with twenty-one matching lids in multiple sizes is what actually makes this set useful — no hunting for a lid that fits. They nest together for storage so the cabinet doesn’t become its own disaster. BPA-free plastic that handles the freezer, the microwave for reheating, and the dishwasher top rack.
Best For: Big-batch cooks who want to portion and stash sauce, prepped aromatics, or both. My trick is using the smallest containers for garlic paste and chopped herb mixtures made the day before.
Parting Thoughts: For a set this complete at $5.55, the value is undeniable — a genuine kitchen workhorse well beyond sauce night.
3. The Original Scrub Daddy® Flex Texture® Scrubber – $5.00
Tomato sauce that has been simmering for three hours leaves a ring around the pot that requires real persuasion. The Scrub Daddy’s flex texture changes with water temperature — soft and flexible in warm water for gentler scrubbing, firm in cool water when you need more abrasion. One sponge, two modes, and it handles the baked-on sauce ring without scratching.
Standout Features: The temperature-responsive texture is the whole point: warm water softens it for delicate surfaces, cool water firms it up when you need to bear down on stuck residue. It’s the Original Scrub Daddy, the same one you’ve seen everywhere, just at a better price point than most places charge. Includes one scrubber.
Best For: The stubborn, sauce-glazed Dutch oven or stockpot that has been on low heat all afternoon. Also handles greasy stovetop splatters without much elbow grease.
Parting Thoughts: Scrub Daddy regulars will grab this on principle — $5.00 here is a better deal than most retailers offer.
4. Handheld Power Scrubber Brush – $5.00
Burnt tomato on the bottom of a stockpot is nobody’s idea of a good time, and this battery-powered scrubber cuts through it faster than you’d expect. The motorized brush head does the actual work — you’re mostly just guiding it — and at 4.4in x 2.6in x 1.25in it reaches the corners of a pot and along a stovetop edge without much maneuvering. The brush head is replaceable, which matters if you put it through regular sauce-night duty.
Standout Features: A motorized brush in a compact 4.4in x 2.6in x 1.25in body is genuinely surprising at $5.00. The brush head detaches and is replaceable so the body stays useful long-term. Ergonomic grip, requires 4 AA batteries (not included).
Best For: Anyone who lets the sauce simmer low and long and ends up with caramelized residue on the pot bottom. Also works on stovetop grates and tile grout when you’re doing a full Sunday kitchen reset.
Parting Thoughts: Pick up AA batteries the same trip — without them it’s just an ergonomic handle.
5. Liquid Soap Dispenser With Sponge Holder – $3.00
A sauce-night sink gets chaotic fast: the sponge is waterlogged, the soap is knocked over, there’s nowhere to set anything. This combo unit keeps the soap and sponge in a single footprint with a one-handed press-to-dispense mechanism, so you’re not wrestling with a bottle when your hands are coated in tomato. A built-in drain design keeps the sponge from sitting in pooled water between uses.
Standout Features: The dispenser and sponge holder share one base, which reclaims more counter space than you’d expect from a single small accessory. One-handed operation lets you dispense soap directly when needed, and the drain design means the sponge actually dries out rather than going slimy overnight. Leak-proof and easy to clean.
Best For: Small-sink kitchens where things pile up fast after cooking. The Scrub Daddy above fits right in the holder, which makes these two a natural pair for sauce night cleanup.
Parting Thoughts: Three dollars is almost nothing for how much calmer this makes the post-dinner sink situation.
6. Multi-Purpose 360° Ribbed Plastic Spinner – $3.00
Three bottles deep in the cabinet, and the sauce is starting to bubble — that’s the moment a spinning turntable earns its counter space. Park your olive oil, dried herbs, garlic, and a few seasonings on this 360° spinner and every one of them is within a half-rotation’s reach without shuffling anything. The ribbed plastic surface keeps bottles from sliding when you spin.
Standout Features: Full 360° rotation means you’re not committed to one angle of access, which is the entire value during active cooking. The ribbed surface adds friction so jars and bottles hold their position rather than drifting. Works equally well on a counter or tucked inside a deep cabinet where things tend to disappear.
Best For: Cooks who keep olive oil, dried herbs, and a few spice jars within arm’s reach of the stove. Genuinely earns its place in any deep cabinet where bottles get lost behind each other.
Parting Thoughts: Honest disclosure: it’s marketed as room decor rather than a kitchen gadget — but at $3.00 it pulls its weight on sauce night.
