How to Stock a Pantry for the First Time

It’s not just new homeowners that need to know how to stock a pantry for the first time. If you are a beginner home cook or unexpectedly hosting guests, do you have the basic supplies on hand to put together a meal at a moments notice? Are you prepared for a natural disaster or how about grocery store shortages in a pandemic?

There are many situations where it pays to be prepared, and learning how to stock a pantry for the first time is important.  Even if you already have a home with a pantry, take a few moments review your inventory.

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Topics covered in this article:

• How to stock a healthy pantry
• How to stock a pantry on a budget
• How to organize a pantry
• Pantry staples list

How to stock a healthy pantry

As you are learning how to stock a pantry for the first time, make sure to pack it healthy from the start! Cooking healthy means starting with fresh, whole ingredients. To me, that means basing your meals off of seasonal and local vegetables, fruits, dairy, and meats. I use my pantry to enhance these foods and transform them into delicious, healthy dishes.

Of course you also want to be able to treat yourself every once in a while with a homemade chocolate chip cookie! My pantry contains ingredients for occasional treats, but most of the items that I recommend to stock your pantry are clean and healthy. Here are some tips for making sure you fill your cupboards with the most nutritious items.

Stick to whole, simple ingredients: The key to keeping your meals healthy is to keep your ingredients simple. Too often, processed pantry items are packed with preservatives, salt, sweeteners, and other lab-created additives. That is not what you want to include in your recipes.

Read labels:  The most important thing you will need to do to stock a healthy pantry is to read labels. Don’t focus on the nutritional facts, but look at the actual ingredient list. A rule of thumb is that if you can’t pronounce an ingredient or don’t know what it is, then you don’t want to be eating it. Another tip is to look for products that have five ingredients or less.

Avoid secret sugar sources: Sugar is a tricky thing as there are lots of hidden names in food that are actually the same thing as sugar. Glucose, sucrose, evaporated cane juice, high fructose corn syrup, brown rice syrup, agave syrup, corn syrup solids, dextrose, maltodextrin. There are lots of sneaky ways that companies pack their products with a sweet taste to keep you wanting more!

Things I don’t keep around in my pantry:

• Chips and other bagged snacks
• Salad dressing: It tends to collect in the refrigerator and go bad before we can use it up. Lots of salad dressings also use poor quality oils, nasty additives, and lots of sugar. Once you have a basic pantry in place, you will have all the ingredients to make your own salad dressing. My favorite simple recipe is to combine olive oil with lemon juice or vinegar and a dash of salt and pepper. Super easy, healthy, and saves loads of money.
• Refined vegetable and seed oils, such as corn, canola, safflower, sunflower, and soybean: Truth be told there is still a lot we don’t understand about the oils that we consume. However, there is growing evidence that vegetable and seed oils, especially those that are refined, are not good for us. These types of oils have a higher ratio of omega-6 fatty acids (the ones that cause inflammation = bad) compared to omega-3 fatty acids (the ones that lower inflammation = good).  Sometimes vegetable oils are touted as “heart healthy” because they are polyunsaturated, but there is no research to back that up. I avoid all of these oils if possible. What we do know for sure is that it is especially important to avoid any oils that are hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated as they contain trans fats, which are known to cause heart disease and are not at all healthy. So far, most evidence points towards fruit oils (olive, coconut, avocado) as the healthiest and saturated oils can be used sparingly (animal fats such as butter). This is what I put in my pantry. 
• Sugar laden condiments and sauces: I don’t keep many condiments around. Just as with salad dressing, if you have the basics you can make your own sauce combinations sans yucky ingredients.
• Boxed broth: If you know me, you know that I love to make soup! Broth or stock is essential for most soups and is added to many other dishes so you would think this would be a staple in my kitchen pantry. However, most of the big brands add monosodium glutamate, “natural flavors”, sugar, and hydrolyzed protein to their recipes. Additionally, the Tetrapak box containers that are now used are an environmental disaster (see my plastic challenge article on why).  Once I discovered how easy it is to make your own broth from veggie scraps or leftover meat bones, I no longer have a need for store bought. Once every 1-2 months I make a big batch and freeze in quart size portions.

How to stock a pantry on a budget

If you are very new to cooking or living on your own for the first time, you may not have any food basics at all. It can be a pricy endeavor to try to get everything you need all at once. Here are ways that you can save money as you stock your shelves.

Buy as you go: start planning out your meals in advance and buying the things that you need as you go. Eventually you will begin to collect commonly used items. At first, try to plan meals that use similar ingredients so that you don’t have to buy so many different sauces and condiments all at once. If you are looking for meal plan ideas, subscribe to my blog for a free meal plan sent to your inbox each week!

Buy in bulk: there are two ways to do this. If you have a membership to a warehouse store, such as Costco, you can buy large quantities of things that you know you will use. I go through a ton of olive oil, which is really expensive if you are buying quality.  Costco has a large bottle of highly ranked olive oil that is a super deal. But if you aren’t going to use that 20 pound bag of flour before it is rancid, then you need to look elsewhere or pair up with some friends and split the cost and the item. Another way to bulk buy is to use the bulk section at your grocery store and measure out just the amount you need. You get the discounted bulk prices without the bulk size. This is perfect for spices and other goods that can spoil before you have a chance to use them. Some stores even have bulk oil and vinegars.

Seek out sales: The good thing about stocking a pantry is that you are using mostly basic items. These are things that tend to go on sale often. Diced tomatoes, beans, pasta; you can usually find them at good prices. Canned goods have a long shelf life. These are the things you want to stock up on when there is a super sale.

Look for store brands:  Again, lots of basic pantry items tend to go on sale often, but you will get them even cheaper if you look for store brands. You can now even find organic store brands, which can be up to 50% cheaper then the brand name counterparts!

How to Organize a Pantry

Once you have gathered the items you want to keep in your pantry, the next step is to figure out how to store it, how to organize, and how to make sure you keep it fresh.  These tips are especially helpful if you are just learning how to stock a pantry for the first time.  Get yourself started off right and figure out how to make your pantry work in real life.

Keep it simple: Once you start adding exotic ingredients and spices, your cabinets are going to fill up quickly. You won’t be able to find what you need and you are going to end up throwing away a lot of food in the end. Stick to the basics in my list below and you will avoid the clutter. Spice mixes can be made from the basics, same with specialty sauces. If you need a specialty item, buy the smallest amount possible and use it all up at once.

Utilize transparent containers: Make dry goods easily identifiable and more accessible by transferring from bags to glass jars or other containers. This will instantly make organizing your pantry a snap.  You are more likely to keep it neat since everything fits better and just looks so much prettier.  You definitely DO NOT have to buy any containers. I reuse pasta/pickle jars and gelato containers for most of my dry goods (check out my dry goods pantry picture above). 

Decorate your kitchen with commonly used pantry staples: The last thing you want in your kitchen is clutter. I like a nice clear counter for cooking, so you won’t find any knickknacks in my kitchen! Instead, I decorate with my pantry items. I did splurge on some large, wide mouth Mason jars for the things that we use everyday (see picture above). They look pretty on the counter and they are easily accessible. 

Separate into categories: Group like items together.  I have a baking shelf, a place to stash oils and vinegars, and I separate grains, pasta, spices, and canned goods. It is soooo much easier to find what I need while cooking. A place for everything and everything in its place!

Install space enhancing shelves: If you have deep pantry cupboards like I do, consider installing slide out drawers. This is a quick weekend DIY project that is so worth it! In my house anything in the back of the cupboard never gets a second look! If you are not handy or on a budget, you can use old books or other flat items to make risers so that what ever you put in the back of the shelf is still easily visible. I like this expandable tiered bamboo riser that works perfectly in my spice cupboard (see picture at the top of this article). 

Rotate stock as you go: To make sure you don’t end up trashing your pantry, make sure that whenever you buy something new that you rotate your stock. Take the oldest things and move them forward. Make a plan to use those foods in an upcoming meal so that they don’t spoil.

Use a food drive to purge your pantry and reorganize: Sometimes you impulse buy, sometimes you buy too much on sale, sometimes you forget about things in the back of your pantry. These are the times when you can share your bounty and donate extras that you won’t use to someone in need. Every year, the Boy Scouts in our area run a “Scouting for Food” drive to collect donations for a local food pantry. This is my cue to clean out my own pantry and find those things that I’m not going to use before they spoil. It is also my opportunity to reorganize my stock to make cooking easier.

How to Stock a Pantry for the First Time – Pantry Staples List

The moment you have been waiting for – da da da dah! My beginner’s pantry list.

For the purposes of this article, I am mostly listing non-perishables, which are the items you will use to transform your fresh foods (meat, dairy, produce) into meals.  Once you have these pantry ingredients you will be able to whip up a meal for guests, do some baking when you are craving a cookie, and even put together a DIY face mask! 

Remember, this is a starting point for what I think everyone should keep on hand for easy cooking.  These are the basics that I use to develop my weekly meal plans.  However, everyone has different cooking styles and preferences. There may be something you cannot live without and that just means you need to adjust the list a little bit. Adaptability is the name of the game!

Oils

• Cold pressed extra virgin olive oil
• Cold pressed virgin coconut oil
• Peanut oil (for high heat cooking)
• Butter or Ghee (refrigerator)
• Toasted sesame oil (this is the only seed oil I keep on hand)

Vinegars

• Red wine vinegar
• White wine vinegar
• Rice vinegar
• Balsamic vinegar
• Apple cider vinegar

Sauces

• Frank’s hot sauce
• Tamari soy sauce, low sodium
• Fish sauce (yes, don’t be afraid of this!)
• Worcestershire sauce

Wine

• Red cooking wine, such as cabernet
• White cooking wine, such as chardonnay

Baking supplies

• All purpose flour (or gluten free baking flour mix)
• White cane sugar
• Brown cane sugar
• Real maple syrup
• Honey
• Baking powder
• Baking soda
• Cornmeal
• Cornstarch
• Unsweetened cocoa powder
• Rolled oats
• Chocolate chips – preferably bittersweet 70% cocoa
• Quick rise yeast
• Vanilla extract

Canned goods

• Diced tomatoes
• Tomato sauce
• Tomato paste
• Pasta sauce (I make my own in the summer and freeze)
• Unsweetened coconut milk
• Tuna, water packed and unsalted
• Chickpeas (also called garbanzo beans)

Dry Goods

• Penne Pasta
• Spaghetti
• White or brown Jasmine rice
• Quinoa
• Lentils
• Red Beans
• Northern White Beans
• Black Beans
• Peanuts
• Pecans
• Walnuts
• Raisons

Condiments/Other

• Mayonnaise (I prefer Primal Kitchen avocado oil based – you can find it on sale in stores)
• Dijon mustard
• Ketchup (sugar free like this one from Primal Kitchen)
• Unsweetened peanut butter (only ingredients should be peanuts and salt; substitute  sunbutter/almond butter if your household has someone with allergies)
• Lemon juice (fresh is better, so if you are cooking a lot, keep lemons in the fridge instead)
• Lime juice (fresh is better, so if you are cooking a lot, keep limes in the fridge instead)
• Olives, green or Kalamata
• Pickles
• Salsa

Produce

• Garlic
• Onions
• Potatoes
• Carrots
• Celeriac root or celery
• Ginger (keep in the freezer and grate when needed)

Spices

• Sea salt
• Ground pepper
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• Cumin
• Curry powder
• Nutmeg
• Cinnamon
• Ground ginger
• Ground cloves
• Chili powder
• Rosemary
• Thyme
• Oregano
• Smoked paprika
• Ground sage

 What else do you think is essential? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

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