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Must-have ingredients to always have on hand in your kitchen pantry and refrigerator
![Keeping a well-stocked kitchen pantry (and refrigerator) is a great way to save time and money when it comes to cooking meals for your family. See our must-have list to keep on hand! Keeping a Well-Stocked Kitchen Pantry](https://www.afamilyfeast.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Keeping-a-Well-Stocked-Kitchen-Pantry-Collage1.jpg)
Keeping a well-stocked kitchen pantry (and refrigerator) is a great way to save time and money when it comes to cooking meals for your family.
Save Time
When you keep a collection of basic ingredients on hand – at any given time, and no matter how crazy your schedule gets – you can prepare a quick and delicious meal with only a quick shop for a fresh ingredient or two from the supermarket. Or, in some cases, you can skip the supermarket entirely – and make a meal from the foods you have on hand!
Save Money
When you keep a well-stocked pantry, you can also buy your favorite kitchen basics when you see them on sale at the supermarket. You’ll be using these ingredients in lots of your family’s favorite recipes, so you don’t have to worry about them going to waste.
Become A Better Cook!
A well-stocked pantry gives you amazing flexibility in the kitchen. It’s such a great feeling to open up the cabinet and know that you already have what you need to make a great recipe.
Have a variety of seasonings, sauces and other ingredients on hand also gives you the opportunity to tweak flavors and really make a recipe your own.
Our Favorite Kitchen Basics
Below is a list of basic, versatile ingredients that we always have on hand in our own kitchen. Many of the items on the list below also have a long shelf-life – so when recipe inspiration strikes, you’ll already have them and can get cooking right away.
Below, we’ve also linked to some “back pocket” recipes that you can make at a moment’s notice with a handful of fresh ingredients and your well-stocked pantry staples.
Dried Goods
We keep a basic supply of dried goods on hand in clear, stackable bins for easy organization – and so we can see at a glance what we have on hand, and what we need to buy. Although these items have a long shelf-life, store them away from heat and light to maintain freshness.
- Flour: all-Purpose, almond, gluten-free
- Sugar: granulated (white), brown sugar, confectioners (powdered)
- Breadcrumbs: plain or seasoned
- Pasta: elbows, spaghetti, other favorite shapes
- Rice: white, short-grain brown, basmati
- Baking Basics: baking soda, baking powder, cornstarch
- Raisins
- Chocolate: semi-sweet chocolate chips, unsweetened cocoa powder
- Ritz Crackers
- Oatmeal: whole oats, quick oats
- Dried Beans/Legumes: black, white, lentils
Spices, Herbs & Seasonings
As food bloggers, we’ve amassed quite the variety of dried spices and herbs over time – but below is a list of the spices, herbs, and other seasonings we use all the time in both savory and sweet recipes:
- Salt: coarse kosher salt, table salt, sea salt
- Pepper: We prefer to buy whole peppercorns and grind it ourselves, ground white pepper
- Garlic Powder/Granulated Garlic
- Mustard Powder (we highly recommend Colman’s)
- Oregano
- Basil
- Thyme
- Bay Leaf
- Whole Nutmeg (freshly ground with a microplane)
- Cinnamon
- Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
- Vanilla Extract
Oils, Vinegar & Sauces
The oils, vinegar, and sauces on our list can be used in so many different ways. You can whip up a fantastic homemade salad dressing, deglaze a pan, or fry up dinner in no time when you have these items on hand:
- Oil: good-quality extra virgin olive oil, lighter and milder oils such as canola, vegetable or grapeseed oil, plus toasted sesame oil.
- Vinegar: red wine, white wine, balsamic, white, apple cider vinegar, rice
- Dijon Mustard
- Soy Sauce
- Worcestershire Sauce
- Fish Sauce (buy a good quality brand such as Red Boat)
- Mayonnaise
- Hot Sauce (Cholula or Sriracha)
- Chili Paste
- Kitchen Bouquet/Gravy Master browning and seasoning sauce
Canned/Jarred Goods
This collection of canned (or carton) goods is always good to have on hand for quick and delicious soups, sauces and more at a minute’s notice:
- Stocks and Broths: chicken, beef, vegetable
- Chicken Base (we like Better Than Bouillon brand – buy the low-sodium variety so you can season the recipe yourself)
- Diced Tomatoes, kichen-ready Ground Tomatoes
- Tomato Paste
- Tuna
- Coconut Milk
- Salsa
- Pickles (dill, sweet)
- Olives (black, Kalamata)
- Canned Chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
- Optional: Jarred artichokes, roasted red peppers, pesto, and sun-dried tomatoes
Fresh Produce
We always keep a supply of basic, fresh produce items on hand which are used to add flavor to so many different recipes. Some of these foods on the list are kept in the refrigerator, while others are kept in a cool, dark spot in our basement
- Onions: Vidalia, Spanish, Red
- Garlic
- Carrots
- Celery
- Lemons
- Broccoli
- Cauliflower
- Peppers: bell, jalapeno
- Tomatoes: grape/cherry, salad
- Potatoes: Russet, red, yellow, sweet
- Flat Leaf Italian Parsley (even better if you can grow this live in a pot on your windowsill)
- White, Cremini/Baby Bella Mushrooms
- Nuts: Walnuts, Almonds
Refrigerated Items
You’ll need to watch the freshness dates on these refrigerated items, but this is what we always have on hand in our fridge:
- Unsalted Butter
- Eggs
- Milk
- Cheese: Parmesan, Romano, cheddar, mozzarella (it’s even OK to leave your mozzarella in the freezer)
- Bacon
- Vegetable Shortening
- Peanut Butter (we buy natural peanut butter so it’s kept in the refrigerator once opened)
Frozen Items
- Meats: chicken (boneless breast and thighs), ground beef, pork tenderloin
- Chopped Spinach
- Peas
- Fruit: strawberries, peaches, blueberries
Ready to Cook?
Here are some of our favorite quick and easy recipes made with pantry staples:
Hi Martha
I enjoy cooking ( took over from my wife 7 years ago) that I sometimes start prepping at 10 am our time ( frustrates my wife ).
Oh – I am a forced early pensioner now and trying to grow my own veggies ( not too successful at the moment)
In South Africa we do not get all the ingredients that are mentioned in recipes so I search the internet for substitutes. ( eg. you mention veg shortening).
I am looking forward to how to improve my skills in the kitchen as the same old dishes become boring after a while. I experiment and have failure rate of about 33%.
I can only get better
Thanks
Hi Peter – Practice definitely makes perfect, and even we have failures in the kitchen (we just don’t share those recipes here on our site!). 🙂 Hope you’ll find some recipes to try that you’ll enjoy.
Exelente, gracias por compartir tus recetas.
You’re welcome Luz – glad they are helpful!
Well Martha, I’m a lot like you. As a little girl my father was a food enthusiast. Her went only to the best restaurant’s. No matter the price. His comment was if I’m going to eat out it better be better than what I can make at home. Hence my back ground. At a young age my brother and I got interested in cooking shows. We watch Juliet Child, and James Beard. Yes we in our 60’s now. I waitress. Until my hands could not. And started cooking. Ended up cooking at a hospital. Now people do associate hospital food as good, but ours was. We even catered to senators and congress that came through our town. Yes I said that right. Now it’s all microwave frozen cooking. Sad.
Very true Lorraine – and much of it isn’t prepared in a healthy way. Hope you are still able to enjoy home cooking – sounds like you have quite an impressive background! Thanks for writing to us today!
Hi Martha,
Would you be able to publish a link with the list of foods included on this page? It would be helpful to have a one page document that is printable. Thank you!
Great suggestion Jennifer – you are the second reader who has asked for this. I will add it to my to-do list!
I would love to have your lists and recipes in printable form. I enjoy your posts.
Thanks Linda! All of our recipes have a print button at the top so you can print them in a formatted recipe card. We hadn’t thought about creating printables for this list…great idea!
I was so happy to see that I have a lot of the food items already stocked.
Rose
Awesome Rose! Great minds think alike! 🙂
Loved you fog jam recipe. I have a few trees that decided to produce this year. I tried a couple recipes and yours was the best. Thank you
Thanks Mimi!
I always have a well stocked kitchen. With CORID-19, it has saved me grocery shopping issues. I actually have everything on your list but have others too like bread flour, corn meal and almond flour. When I buy any flour product (flour, cake mixes, rice, pasta, etc.), I always put it into the freezer at least for a few days to kill off any buys that may be in the packaging.
Great suggestion Lita!
Thank you.. I’m a seasoned cook, but always like to get a different slant on FOOOOOD Prep, etc……
Just wanted you to know not all the links to the recipes above worked.
GrammyG
Thank you so much Ilene – I just checked the recipe links at the bottom of the post and them seemed to be working (although I still need to double check all of the rest of the links). Were you getting an error message? If so, could you let me know what it said? Thanks – it would help us troubleshoot the issue.
I DO HAVE A WELL STOCKED KITCHEN. HOWEVER I PUT MY ALMOND FLOUR, COCONUT FLOUR ETC IN THE TUPPERWARE AIR TIGHT CONTAINER. IS IT OK TO LEAVE IN THE CUPBOARD. I READ SOMEWHERE TO STORE IN THE FRIG OR FREEZER. DUE TO THE FACT IT GOES RANCID
Hi Patricia – I think as long as your air tight container is away from heat (don’t store it in a kitchen cabinet near the stove or oven), you should be OK. We don’t freeze ours – but we do store it in a cabinet on the opposite wall of our kitchen, away from our stove. We also go through our bag of flours fairly quickly (within a couple of months) so it you only use it occasionally, freezing it might be another way to ensure that it stays fresh. Hope that helps!