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I didn’t grow up with a perfectly well-stocked pantry, nor was my pantry perfect when we started adding children to our family. However, over the last 15 years, I learned what ingredients to source, buy, and store. And come to think of it, the ingredients we enjoyed eating were very simple.
The Right Stuff (Stocking the Pantry):
The beauty of cooking from scratch is combining the ingredients you have, using a few simple techniques to create a satisfying and comforting meal. You should feel comfortable cooking on the fly with pantry staples. Be sure to only buy and stock ingredients you would absolutely use and would want to have backed up.
For me that’s something like potatoes or beans. I can always make a quick potato dish or serve beans over a tostada.
Shop for food minimally, I try stock up once a week because long-term meal planning is too unpredictable. However, I usually know what I need and end up stocking simple pantry items. These are things I know we could use extra of or things like fresh produce.
I’m not huge on snacks, we make a lot of healthier homemade swaps so, leaving out something like that saves us lots of money.
Keeping it simple is key here, many cooks make the mistake of running to the store repeatedly for lack of planning or simply not making a shopping list.
Do yourself a favor and invest in a magnetic shopping list. It will save you lots of money and time!
My Pantry Staples
For me, dry goods are essential. I keep things like leaven in bulk (baking powder or yeast), dried pastas, dried beans (I make canned beans), wheat berries, natural sweeteners, cooking oils, tomato products, and vinegars.
I always try to have potatoes, onions, and garlic in abundance because you can make countless of meals or soups with those ingredients!
For the fridge, dairy is a must! From raw milk to grass-fed butter, to cheeses, yogurt, and sour cream, these dairy products are handy for quick meals. And they make great additions to many recipes, like casseroles.
Other things you’ll find in my fridge are dry yeast, carrots, celery, sometimes leftover rice (for vegetable fried rice), and something canned or pickled like sauerkraut. I make sure to have home canned ketchup, salsa, and pizza sauce for easy meals throughout the year.
In my freezer, you’ll find no-nitrates bacon, frozen vegetables, fruits, grass-fed beef, homegrown chickens, fresh-milled flour mixes, pie crusts, and a few freezer meals for unexpected plans. I also make plenty of strawberry freezer jam to slather on soft homemade bread.
I compiled a list of my pantry staples for free in the printable pdf below to see what I stock on an everyday basis. However, for restocking bulk foods see our food ration chart to build your pantry in bulk!
More Fridge Items:
Okay, so you saw my staples now how do you learn to cook with them? Great news, my meals are simple!
All my vegetables are usually cooked in one way or another, but mostly steamed.
Meat or fish is generally baked or fried in a skillet. I buy one type of lettuce, two if I’m making a salad mix.
I usually keep a few different types of pastas for all my Italian dinners. Some kind of lunch meat and a few vegetables from a can like mushrooms, black olives, corn, and peas.
I don’t like spending hours of preparation, for a weeknight dinner. It shouldn’t be more than 30 minutes to make dinner on an average day, unless it’s intentional or special.
With a decently stocked pantry you can cook very simple. Learn a few cooking techniques that make it easier on you, like making a stir-fry (hello leftovers) or making a mirepoix for soups, and one-pot meals. Maybe it’s as simple as chopping some ingredients before hand for meal prep.
Learn how to use up ingredients that are cheap and available in bulk. Such as eggs (if you have chickens), rice and beans, or your favorite cut of meat.
Think desserts or appetizers when it comes to cleaning out the fridge. Make a charcuterie board to use leftover salami or a spinach dip to use that half a bag of fresh spinach. The formulas are endless but some techniques will really be the foundation to a lot of your cooking.
Dry Mixes
Homemade mixes like an instant cream of soup mix or pancake mix can be so handy!
My friend likes to have a batch prepping day where she would whip up a lot of different mixes using fresh milled flour for things like cookies, cakes, and brownies. She then freezes the mixes and pulls one out at any given moment.
I think having mixes can enable you to make healthier snacks and desserts at any given time.
After all they are “convenience foods” for a reason and popular for that.
The same works for seasoning mixes. Combing a blend of staple spices enables you to make your own taco seasoning, Vegeta, and Fajita seasoning.
Set aside 20 minutes to restock on your favorite spice mixes or dressings. It doesn’t take that long and can be so rewarding.
Sourdough
Ah sourdough…This homemade wild yeast is nearly free and has served our family well. I have made countless of loaves using this amazing leavening and it’s so good for your gut. It definitely imparts better flavor and texture to baked goods.
I’ve noticed breads stay more moist and chewy with sourdough. Over the years I have simplified my sourdough routine to make it work for my family. It can work for you too.
I honestly don’t even use a mixer for my sourdough breads. And the exciting news is that it works so well with whole grains!
Salad Dressings
After learning how to make my fail proof mayonnaise, I don’t buy it anymore.
I make all of my salad dressings from this creamy base like ranch, caesars, honey mustard sauce, and so much more!
It really doesn’t take long to whip up your own mayonnaise. Usually, I triple the batch to fit into my old mayo container. This stuff lasts a very long time in my fridge but we go through it fast for all of our needs!
The only dressing I splurge on are vinaigrettes like Italian dressing. I actually found a brand that doesn’t use soybean oil so I stock my pantry with that.
If you don’t want to make your own mayo, making salad dressings from packets are more frugal, but really it takes seconds to make your own from scratch!
Homemade Herbal Teas
We grow lots of raspberries in our garden. My children will go snip some raspberry leaves and bring it inside. I’ll then steep a few raspberry leaves in my French press and let the rest of the leaves dry by the window. That’s free raspberry leaf tea full of healthy antioxidants!
There are so many ways to make frugal tea! We dry wild cherries and make mint tea concentrate for the freezer for refreshing summer drinks. Sometimes I’ll throw a few dried elderberries or dried cherries into my French press if I’m feeling adventurous.
Homemade tea can save you lots of money in the long run and are way better than the store-bought tea bags!
Deeper in My Freezer
If you look deeper into my freezer you will find meat in bulk, freezer jam, and lots of homemade bread. I make sure to always have these stocked! Homemade bread goes with so many things and if all fails at least you can make sandwiches or bread pizza.
Sometimes I’ll make a triple batch of my favorite chocolate chip cookies and roll the cookie dough into logs for the freezer. They slice easily (frozen) and can be baked in seconds.
Ground beef and chicken is my favorite protein source. Beef goes into so many weeknight dinners like taco salad, chili, hot sandwiches, and pasta. It can cook from frozen, quicker than you think!
Chicken cooks fast and is considered a fairly cheap protein so there are many easy chicken recipes available. We raise our own chickens so I find myself cooking with whole chickens. I typically, roast them whole and use the carcass for chicken broth.
Learning a few canning techniques is very handy. If you need to start somewhere start with freezer jam. You don’t need to water bath the jars and it’s pretty fail proof.
I love to have a few freezer meals on hand for busy days. You just never know when you’ll need it.
Summary
Ultimately, to build a pantry you’ll need to figure out the meals you cook and stick with them. Creating a pantry list takes discipline and being consistent in cooking ensures that meals get on the table from a day-to-day basis. It’s really as simple as that!
If you found this post interesting, I’d love to hear from you! Comment below to share what’s working for you and your pantry!