Maybe it’s because I love to cook. Maybe it’s because I’m nosy. Maybe it’s because I am always on the hunt for fun and new-to-me good stuff of the culinary variety.
Whatever the reasons, I LOVE a look into someone else’s pantry.
Whether I’m relishing the feeling of kinship (we love the same salsa!) or jotting new items on my shopping list (those pickled veggies sure look good!), I’m interested in hearing all about—or better yet, seeing—the practical staples and fun accoutrements you turn to on the regular.
Today, I thought the best way to hear about other people’s pantry staples was to share my own, so on that note—these are the practical staples and fun accoutrements that I turn to on the regular.
To assemble this list, I took stock of my recurring shopping list, the items currently on our pantry shelves, and the ingredients needed to make our family favorites for weeknight dinners and breakfast/brunches. I only included items that are shelf stable before opening (even if they subsequently need to be refrigerated).
I hope you enjoy this glimpse into my pantry!
Dry goods
- Grits and polenta
- Rice: basmati is our go-to, we also keep sushi rice on hand
- Trader Joe’s 10-minute farro
- Quinoa
- Wheatberries (because I adore this stuff)
- Crunchy taco shells
- Pasta: we always have cavatappi/cellentani, ziti, linguine, and orzo on hand
- Rice noodles in a variety of widths
- Flour and corn tortillas
- Hint of Lime Tostitos: we often stick a few in burrito bowls or crumble onto soup
- Dried beans: black, small red, and white
- Lentils: green, red, and black (my favorite) are
- Granola: Nature’s Path (for Will) and Love Crunch dark chocolate macaroon (my fave)
- Steel cut and old-fashioned oats
- A variety of whole nuts, plus toasted slivered and sliced almonds for salads and oatmeal
- Dried fruit: cranberries, apricots, St. Dalfour prunes (my friend introduced me to these years ago and now I like to have them on hand at all times)
Canned and jarred goods
- Canned tomatoes, crushed and whole
- Rao’s marinara sauce
- Rao’s pizza sauce (we also like Trader Joe’s refrigerated pizza sauce)
- Enchilada sauce (I’m not brand loyal but taking recs!)
- Genova canned tuna
- Trader Joe’s tinned smoked salmon and trout
- Cento anchovies (I also just picked up a jar of the supposedly fancier Rizzoli brand but haven’t tried it yet)
- All kinds of canned beans; I use black and cannellini most.
- Canned lentils
- Coconut milk (I’m partial to Thai Kitchen)
- Canned pumpkin (I’m partial to Trader Joe’s and Libby’s)
- Jarred peaches, pineapple, and mandarin oranges
Condiments and accoutrements
- Roasted red peppers (typically Mezzetta, which is widely available here)
- Pickled vegetables (ditto)
- Preserved lemon (jarred in a pinch, though I prefer to make my own)
- Olives (kalamata and castelvetrano)
- Pesto (not brand loyal, but lately I’ve been liking Rao’s)
- Capers
- Chile crisp (I’ve tried a bunch and am partial to Lao Gan Ma)
- Gochujang (not brand specific but I welcome suggestions!)
- Mae Ploy curry paste: green, red, and yellow
- Trader Joe’s corn and chile tomato-less salsa
- Trader Joe’s hot & sweet pickled jalapeños
- Variety of red and green salsas: Trader Joe’s, Cholula, Frontera, Herdez)
- Miso paste
Spices and seasonings
I wrote here about my favorite spices and seasoning blends.
What are YOUR pantry staples? Please tell us your favorites in comments!
P.S. My kitchen must-haves and Little things I’m loving lately: kitchen edition.
28 comments
Nice list! Curious about how you use that lentils. I include canned and/or boxed broth in my pantry.
I always store nuts in the refrigerator to keep them fresh much longer.
My favorite way is in a little salad with warmed or toasted goat cheese. 🙂
I’m curious as to how you use the preserved lemons. Also, my favorite gochujang is Trader Joe’s.
Last night I sliced a little bit of preserved lemon very, very thinly and put them into a quick salad with arugula, manchego shavings, and trader joe’s spiced pepitas. It gives a dish just a little oomph. 🙂
Our lists are so similar, almost identical. I make a mix of nuts with homemade granola that I store in a large bin. I always have canned tuna and seaweed from costco and peanut butter from there too. The biggest addition to my pantry, and I keep some in my classroom too, has been Date Lady Sweet chili sauce, BBQ sauce and chocolate sauce. Just dates and seasonings!!!😢
Sounds yummy. Thank you.
Enjoyed this so much, and now I want to know everything you make with these ingredients!
I did a pantry inventory to use as a resource to use what I have before buying new things. I’m not the greatest at it yet but it’s a work in progress, still need to do a freezer and refrigerator inventory. I find that I buy too many snacks that I then forget about when at the store 😊
Yummy! Anne, we have a lot of crossover! Currently obsessed with Purely Elizabeth’s cookie granola… highly recommend (Target usually sells it).
Your pantry sounds a lot like mine, but I would add boxed broth (chicken, vegetable, and beef), couscous, microwavable rice in pouches (perfect for two servings) canned petite diced tomatoes with garlic and onions, olive oil, a variety of vinegars, several different mustards, and calabrian chili paste.
You’ll also find a stash of toddler-friendly snacks in bins on my lower shelf–think Annie’s cheddar bunnies, fruit snacks, graham cookies, Pirate’s booty, and all-natural mini fruit bars. The littles love to go into the bins and choose their own little snacks.
I’ve had calabrian chili paste on my shopping list for some time! How do you like to use it?
Love your list and have added some things to my own shopping list that sound great! I also use Genova Tuna, Libby’s Pumpkin–I don’t know if this is a regional thing, but I do love Black Bear Hoagie Dressing. It’s a mix of seasonings and oil and vinegar that you would use on a Hoagie, Sub, Hero, etc sandwich. In a pinch, it’s also good on a salad or pasta or rice.
I’m going to share some of my favorites that I don’t see on your list!
-Pumpkin seeds (I keep in the freezer) – my favorite for on top of chicken salad
-Salsa seasoning – (https://rileyspice.com/product-category/salsa-seasoning/ Blend with a can of diced tomatoes (I use a stick blender) for instant delicious salsa. This stuff is amazing, I lucked out and found it locally, but I would 100% purchase from the site and pay shipping, and buy one for all my friends 🤣) I only have Medium, but now I want to order all the other flavors.
-Oat groats
-Stelline pasta for comforting kid soup
-Dates (for Smitten Kitchen’s cauliflower salad https://smittenkitchen.com/2023/01/cauliflower-salad-with-dates-and-pistachios/)
-Pistachios (for cauliflower salad and for Bon Appetit’s Mostly Chard Tiny Pasta Salad https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/swiss-chard-pasta-salad)
-Sherry vinegar (for the Mostly Chard Pasta Salad, and lots of Samin Nosrat’s salad dressing recipes)
-Pepperoncinis for Mississippi pork!
Thanks for the fun peak in your pantry! Here are a few more things I always keep stocked up:
Oils: olive, coconut, canola
Vinegars: white, apple cider, balsamic, red wine, white wine, rice
Honey (from our hives yum!)
Flour, baking powder, baking soda, corn starch, yeast, salt, cocoa powder, vanilla, and usually chocolate chips
Worcestershire sauce and liquid smoke are both pantry items that I reach for often when my dish isn’t quite singing to me yet. Nutritional yeast as well, but I keep that in the fridge.
I bake most of our bread and maintain two sourdough starters as well, so flour is a pantry must for me. AP unbleached, AP regular, bread, whole wheat and rye flour are always in supply.
The best enchilada sauce I’ve found (and I’m picky!) is O Organics brand in a jar. It’s sold here in San Diego at Vons, which is I think Safeway or Albertsons elsewhere. I think it’s the store brand but it’s so much better than any name brands and because it’s in a jar, no tinny flavor!
Thanks for this rec, Michelle! The tinny flavor of the canned sauces makes them a no go for me, and I end up enchilada deprived – especially when I can’t be bothered to make my own. 🙂
What fun! I love this peek into your pantry. Ours also has tahini for dressing and sauces, all the vinegars, barley, and my two fave spice blends right now are TJ’s Aglio & Oglio, and Local Spicery Pepperoni Spice.
Those of us who live 2 hours from a Trade Joe’s are jealous!
For pesto . . . I did a heavy deep dive last summer after a trip to Italy where I learned to make a barley, tomato & pesto salad. Across the board, Kirkland’s (Costco) pesto received rave reviews. It is now a staple in my refrigerator.
This is great info!
I always have to have black olives in my pantry (Trader Joe’s), along with tomato paste to make pizza sauce, and all the rest of the normal things. Have you tried Ali’s recipe for enchilada sauce? (Gimme Some Oven) Easy and delicious.
I love seeing what everyone keeps on hand. A few things my family always has are protein bars…currently the Aloha chocolate cherry are my faves, Chomps meat sticks, and Busch’s Chili Magic (trust me…it’s magic!). I also like to have random stuff to make a charcuterie last minute…so fancy crackers, cured meat, fig jam and some type of olives.
I’m not sure what it says about me that I have no idea what half of these things are. I am not a cook. I don’t really enjoy it. I’m pretty basic with my food, I guess. If I look at a recipe and it lists anything I’m not familiar with, I move on. I guess I need to be more adventurous, but I’m hesitant to splurge on unknown items when our budget is limited.
Our pantry is similar. We also keep stock or broth, and garbanzo beans and white beans on hand for hummus/bean spreads and soups. Also farro for hearty salads. I have had trouble finding Wheatberries lately— what’s your source?
For the wheatberries, we have a local shop that sells a variety of grains in little plastic tubs, almost but not quite like the bulk bins at some food stores. The first time I saw wheatberries among the various rices and easier-to-find grains like quinoa and bulgur I was shocked but grateful!
Like many others, my pantry is similar, but I am fixated on Love Crunch Dark Chocolate Macaroon Granola on your list. I love their Dark Chocolate and Peanut Butter, but will definitely be looking for this one!
Oh goodness, their dark chocolate and peanut butter is so good, too!
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