Taking the time to set up your pantry and having some key ingredients on hand can make it much easier to prepare healthier meals. I make sure I have the ingredients below in my pantry or fridge, this means I can put together a healthy meal when I’m running short on time. All I have to pick up are the fresh ingredients and some protein.
This healthy pantry list below may seem overwhelming and I certainly don’t intend for you to go out and buy everything all in one go. Instead you can build your healthy pantry basics gradually, try the recipes I have suggested and before you know it you will have grown a great pantry and have a range of easy recipes on hand to prepare quickly with your pantry ingredients.
Spices + Seasonings
There are so many wonderful spices available and my pantry basket is packed with many! To keep things simple though I have listed below the ones I use most frequently.
- Sea salt
- Ground cumin (try my Garlic & Cumin Buckwheat Cracker recipe)
- Smoked paprika
- Baharat spice blend
- Cinnamon
- Dried thyme
- Dried rosemary
- Turmeric
Flours
These are my go to flours for when I am baking muffins, cakes or pastry. Most of these flours are gluten free and are nutrient dense (with the exception of potato starch but I use this in small quantities to lighten mixes). Please note spelt flour isn’t gluten free.
- Blanched almond meal
- Coconut flour
- Tapioca starch
- Potato starch
- Buckwheat flour
- Spelt flour (try my Spelt Feta Cheese Rolls recipe)
Sweeteners
This section requires a much longer blog post about which sweeteners to use instead of refined sweeteners and the whole fructose issue. But for now to keep things simple, this is what I use in my diet and have on hand in my pantry. But to be clear I use these sweeteners in desserts which I don’t consume every day, these are occasional foods.
- Raw honey
- Coconut palm sugar (try my Coffee & Hazelnut Cakes recipe)
- Rapadura sugar
- Medjool dates (try my Thyme, Mustard & Apple Cider Dressing recipe)
Nuts + Seeds
There are so many nuts and seeds, all with wonderful health benefits. The ones below are what I use most frequently and make sure I always have on hand.
- Pine nuts
- Flaked almonds
- Hemp seeds (try my Hemp & Chickpea Hummus recipe)
- Walnuts
- Hazelnuts
- Almonds
- Cashew nuts
- Brazilnuts
Healthy Cooking Fats:
I don’t have all of these oils on hand all of the time. I always have olive oil and butter as I use these in cooking. But I mix it up between the other oils, which I use for salad dressings. So at the moment I have hemp seed oil in the fridge and when I’ve used this up I’ll switch to flaxseed oil. I love making my own mayonnaise so will always have either avocado oil or macadamia oil on hand.
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Butter
- Hemp seed oil (store in the fridge)
- Flaxseed oil (store in the fridge)
- Avocado oil
- Macadamia oil
Other:
These basics didn’t fit into any of the above categories but are still important in any basic pantry.
- Dijon mustard
- Wholegrain mustard
- Concentrated Bone Broth
- Balsamic Vinegar
- Apple Cider Vinegar
- Capers
Such great post Danielle – everything except the Medjool dates. What’s the best way to use Flaxseed Oil it has such a pungent flavour?
Hi Tamara, flaxseed oil shouldn’t have a pungent flavour, this probably means it has gone rancid. Make sure you buy flaxseed oil from the fridge in a store and never from the shelf. And keep it in the fridge at home. I’ll be sharing a yummy salad dressing soon using flaxseed oil : )