Some Thoughts About Stocking Your Pantry

A preface: I do not tend to be fond of “must-have” articles. What each person needs to do or keep for food differs: what do they eat? How much can they spend? Where do they live? What do they do? Must-have articles always seem to make far too many assumptions, and then ask folks to keep things that they never actually use, or do things that are totally unreasonable. (Three types of salt? To quote the kids, “whomst.”) That said, I do seem to write a lot of advice articles. People seem to like having ideas or general advice, and I strive to be suggestive rather than prescriptive. So for this article, please correct me if I mess up.

A few people wanted me to write an article about “how to stock a pantry.” Despite what so many food bloggers tell you, this is actually a hard thing to write. What to stock and how to stock depend on where you live, what you eat, what you can afford, your cooking habits, and all the social things that also intersect with food. So instead, here are some thoughts about stocking your pantry, which come from two places. One is my own experience and research. The other is you. I surveyed friends and readers about what they kept in their pantry. Then, I cobbled together data from dozens of responses to get an idea of what other pantries look like, in all sorts of situations.

So, here is some advice. Keep in mind that what you can afford, where you live, what you can and cannot do, and what you eat all play a role in stocking your pantry. You may not be able to have very much in a dorm room or a temporary place. You may not have a good refrigerator. You may have tons of space and money and be able to go all out – but not really have a diet that necessitates all those ingredients. Some things someone can tell you, but this is one thing you will need to partly figure out yourself.

Which is to say: this advice is not prescriptive. I give only suggestions! Mix and match as you need.

An important note on cuisines: your pantry should change based on what you eat. This pantry list is largely for Ashkenazi and Western Sephardic cooking, with some other addendums. If your primary diet is a different cuisine, be it Japanese, Korean, Senegalese, Ethiopian, Lao, Mexican, O’odham, or Cree, you will need to stock accordingly for the base ingredients in your main cuisine. So, you will probably want to first look at advice from other folks that eat those cuisines primarily. Many “pantry” stocking articles assume a generic Western standard that applies for everyone. Let us not do that here.

With that said, let us dive in!

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Pantry Stocking Advice

I have sorted the following out into three sections, and the second section has three parts of three parts each. The first is a general rule on what to make sure you have. The second part sorts some things out by how to store them, then split up into how much preparation they require. I give suggestions across a range of flavors and budget levels. The third selection is on building up a spice and seasoning stockpile.

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Things You Should Try to Have

You should try to have the following two things: some food that they can eat with no or very little preparations, and ingredients for a simple meal.

I am about to say something heretical for a food blogger to say. You need to have a ready-made meal, or something that can be treated as such, on hand. Ideally, a few. There are going to be days when you cannot cook, days when your stove is out of commission, or days when you’re suddenly stuck at home because your road is blocked off, and you have few groceries. This is where industrial food comes in. Platitudes about real food are all nice and good until you have a real need for food that cannot wait. So, keep some things on hand. Some things I recommend are: instant noodles, microwave meals if you have a working freezer, canned soups, protein bars, breakfast cereals, and microwave-pack shelf-stable meals. I personally stock some protein bars, breakfast cereals, frozen mac and cheese, and shelf-stable microwaveable pasta and vegetables for emergencies. I do not recommend making these a mainstay of your diet if you can avoid it, but they are a good idea. We live in a time where industrial food has enabled us to stockpile safe, somewhat tasty food if we can. It would be a shame not to take advantage.

The other thing I recommend is keeping shelf- or freezer-stable ingredients for a simple, easily cooked meal. This could be as simple as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. You should have a carbohydrate and a protein, and sources of salt, fat, and acid. Vegetable matter is always nice, too. I usually keep the ingredients for pasta with tuna or beans at all times:

Ingredients for Tuna/Bean Pasta

• Pasta
• Canned or frozen vegetables
• Canned tomato sauce
• Canned tuna or beans
• Salt and some spices
• Onions or garlic, using powders as a backstop
• Cooking oil
• Vinegar

In this list, the pasta, beans or tuna, salt, oil, and vinegar are the most essential, with the seasoning and vegetables adding flavor and nutrition. You can mix and match as necessary.

Here are ingredient lists for four more shelf-stable based cooked meals that you can plan for:

Rice and beans

• Rice
• Canned black beans
• Salt and some spices
• Onions or garlic, using powders as a backstop
• Cooking oil
• Vinegar

Couscous and beans

• Couscous (the add-hot-water kind)
• Raisins
• Canned lentils
• Salt and some spices
• Onions or garlic, using powders as a backstop
• Cooking oil
• Vinegar

Kasha with Mushrooms and Beans

• Kasha
• Canned mushrooms
• Canned white beans
• Salt and some spices
• Onions or garlic, using powders as a backstop
• Cooking oil
• Vinegar

Pasta with Green Beans and Canned Fish

• Pasta
• Canned green beans
• Canned salmon
• Salt and some spices
• Onions or garlic, using powders as a backstop
• Cooking oil
• Vinegar

Again, if you can, I encourage expanding from these bases. But keep basic ingredients for a basic meal on hand. Again, this does not even necessarily have to involve cooking.

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Beyond the Basics

Once you have the very basics, here are some things that you could consider placing in your pantry, based on your diet, your space, what you can do, what you cannot do, what you can afford, and what you can realistically keep.

I don’t even have all of these things in my pantry. You do not need all of these things at once! This list is suggestive, not prescriptive.

Note: some things are listed twice, because you can store them in either place.

Things That You Store in Cupboards

    No or little preparation required:

• Bread (I tend to freeze bread.)
• Add hot-water or microwaveable rice
• Add hot-water or microwaveable pasta
• Add hot-water or microwaveable mashed potatoes
• Add hot-water oatmeal or Cream of wheat
• Canned baked beans
• Canned sardines
• Canned peas
• Canned corn
• Canned vegetables
• Canned mushrooms
• Canned carrots
• Canned fruit
• Nutritional shakes or protein bars
• Canned soup
• Breakfast cereal
• Add hot water soups
• Corn tortillas
• Instant noodles
• Snacking nuts
• Potato chips
• Apple sauce (can also go in fridge)
• Rice cakes
• Coffee
• Tea
• Long-life milk or plant milk

    Some preparation required:

• Pasta
• Noodles
• Rice
• Potatoes (can also go in fridge)
• Onions (can also go in fridge)
• Garlic (can also go in fridge)
• Rolled oats
• Buckwheat groats
• Canned beans
• Dried beans (Though I strongly prefer canned.)

    Things you add to other food:

• Salt – people will tell you to have multiple types of salt, but having basic salt that you can shake or grind is honestly manageable enough.
• Vinegars – I recommend rice wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar to start for food, and white vinegar for cleaning. Red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, and malt vinegars are nice to have if you can.
• Oils – I recommend canola or vegetable oil to start. Sesame oil, olive oil, and sunflower oil are nice to have.
• Spices – see the section below.
• Sugar – I recommend white sugar to start, brown sugar or confectioners’ sugar as needed. I personally store sugar in the fridge, since I find it keeps bugs away.
• Flour – I usually recommend all-purpose flour to start, unless you cannot have gluten, in which case, an all-purpose gluten-free blend. Keep it sealed!
• Cornstarch – for thickening foods.
• Onion powder and garlic powder (even if you have onions and garlic)
• Stock cubes or soup powder.
• Syrup or honey, if you prefer that to sugar.
• Yeast, if you bake breads.
• Baking soda or baking powder for baking – I find baking soda and vinegar is great for cleaning too!
• Soy sauce.
• Peanut butter.
• Ketchup – this can also go in the fridge, but it is fine if not.
• Worcestershire sauce – do keep in mind that some folks have kashrut issues around this.
• Hot sauce – check which kind, since some types do need to be refrigerated.

Things That You Store in the Fridge

    No preparation required:

• Pickles
• Yoghurt
• Applesauce
• Cheese

(Most ready-made stuff that is kept in the fridge does not keep for very long – so I would not rely on always having that specific type of thing on hand.)

    Things you add to other food:

• Butter
• Vegan butter substitutes
• Milk
• Plant milk
• Lemon juice
• Eggs – admittedly all three, but so versatile!
• Applesauce – admittedly, the same as eggs.
• Onions – can be stored outside, but keep longer in the fridge. If space allows,keep at some distance from potatoes.
• Garlic – can be stored outside, but keep longer in fridge.
• Pasta sauces (as needed)
• Ketchup – this does not need to be in the fridge, but I do find that it is less messy

when it is refrigerated.

• Miso paste – if you cook things that require it. If you seal it well, it actually keeps equally well in the freezer.
• Mustard
• Jams – they can be kept, if not yet opened, on a shelf.
• Chutneys – same rules as jams.

Things That You Store in the Freezer

    Little preparation required:

• Microwave meals/frozen meals, for backup situations
• Frozen snacks
• Frozen breakfast foods (frozen waffles, frozen patties)
• Frozen prepared foods (I am a fan of frozen kugels and frozen dumplings)

    Some preparation required:

• Frozen meat (I’m a fan especially of freezing mincemeats)
• Frozen meat substitutes (Frozen tofu has a tradition of several hundred years)
• Frozen beans
• Frozen fish
• Frozen bread
• Frozen vegetables – including: frozen peas, frozen corn, frozen spinach, frozen okra, frozen broccoli. Note: some frozen vegetables have more nutrients than their average fresh equivalents.
• Frozen fruit, including: frozen berries, frozen mango

    Things you add to other food:

• Frozen stock – which is especially useful for soups and rice.
• Frozen garlic or frozen crushed garlic – a lifesaver.
• Frozen animal fats, if you use them – I particularly like frozen schmaltz.
• Frozen sauces, if you use them.

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Spices

Let me be clear about one thing first: getting a spice or ingredient stockpile together is not easy. Spices are expensive, need to be stored properly, and can easily be “lost” in a pile of bottles. Organization helps, but so does a bit of advanced knowledge.

Some people go off generic lists or kits, but I do not advise that. Instead, I suggest that before going out and buying spices you never use, get a sense of what you like to eat. Do you like spicy foods, bland foods, sweet foods, or savory foods? Look up a few recipes for things you like to eat often and note down the spices that you see. Buy those spices first, and make sure you know which ones you have. Then, only buy other spices as you need them. Over time, you will build a stockpile. Properly stored ground, dried spices can be stored for years.

I put together a joint list for spices based on the frequency I use them in Ashkenazi and Middle Eastern cuisines. I’m Lithuanian and German by heritage, so I tend to skew more seasoned than Polish or Russian Jews. I cook quite a bit of Middle Eastern food at home, and Mexican food.

Spices to start:

• Black pepper
• Cinnamon
• Cumin
• Dill
• Garlic powder (alongside fresh garlic)
• Ginger
• Oregano
• Parsley
• Red pepper (flakes or powder)
• Salt (iodized or sea)
• Thyme

More spices:

• Allspice
• Basil
• Bay leaves
• Cardamom
• Caraway seed
• Cayenne pepper
• Chili powder
• Cilantro
• Cloves
• Coriander seed
• Mustard seed
• Nutmeg
• Paprika
• Poppy seed (for baking)
• Rosemary
• Turmeric
• Vanilla extract (for baking)

Even more spices:

• Asafoedita
• Celery seed
• Fennel seed (Anise)
• Fenugreek (extremely needed for some cuisines)
• Juniper berries (I personally am not a fan)
• Mace
• Marjoram
• Nigella seeds
• Saffron (very expensive, only buy if absolutely needed)
• Savory
• Sesame seeds
• Star Anise
• Sumac (but if you frequently cook Levantine food, get this)
• Tarragon

If you want to experiment with several spices at a time, I highly recommend buying spice mixes. Some of these are quite beloved by their users, and are “standard” for many cuisines. I keep a very large amount of South African spice blends for cooking meat and pickling things on hand at all time. You can get some of these mixes very cheaply at the supermarket – for example, Pumpkin Pie Spice. There is no shame in using these!

Special thanks to the dozens of readers who told me what they keep in their pantries.