If you were like me not so long again, and are transitioning from the prepackaged meal lifestyle. I would love to share with you my pantry staples I use for our family of 6.
These pantry staples are used weekly, if not daily. Stocking your house with pantry staples is a great way to lower your grocery bill. Although, you will learn many more kitchen skills and spend more time in the kitchen and less time scrolling Tiktok or Instagram.
Basic Pantry Staples
All Purpose Flour: don’t over think your flour! All purpose flour is required in most recipes. And AP flour is very forgiving if you are newer to cooking or baking from scratch.
Salt: Table salt is a fine option to get started into baking or cooking. I personally like to have Pink Himalayan salt or Pickling Salt in my pantry.
Oil/Lard: Whether you are frying an egg, greasing muffin tins, popping popcorn in a pot, or baking cookies, you will need some sort of oil. If I had to select on fat/oil to have in my home, it would be lard.
White Sugar: White sugar is so versatile. For baking cookies, sweetening coffee or bread, canning or mixing with molasses to make brown sugar. We don’t use it daily, but we do use it frequently.
Molasses: This may not be a staple for every home, but for someone who raises livestock (during kidding season) and uses brown sugar, molasses is an important pantry staple here! It is also needed to make some delicious Ginger Snap Cookies!
Pickling Vinegar: If you want to dip your toes in the world of canning, buy yourself a jug of pickling vinegar (7%). It’s not only a necessity for canning, it can be uses for cleaning, and descaling (if you have hard water, your understand). It can also be using as a substitute for cream of tartar, making ricotta cheese, buttermilk, and more!
Baking Powder AND Baking Soda: Many recipes call for one or both leavening agents. They can also be used around the home.
Vanilla Extract: you can’t make delicious cookies without it!
Fridge Staples
Homozygous Milk or Whole Milk: As a family with 4 children, we go through A LOT of milk. But we use it for more than just drinking. Whitening coffee, making yoghurt, baking, cooking hamburger gravy or macaroni and cheese. A splash of milk is a great addition throughout our day.
Cheese: a quick snack when we are on the go or when the kids need a little bite before dinner. It also helps make the most simple dishes feel a bit more finished.
Eggs: Eggs are so versatile. They can be eaten any time of day and served up in so many different ways. They are also listed in many recipes.
Yeast: Whether you are familiar with making sourdough or not, I recommend keeping yeast on hand. It does not last long in the fridge ( 4 months max) it can last 6 months to a year in your freezer. I keep ours in a sealed canning jar. Having yeast gives you the flexibility to make bread, buns or pizza dough when you do not have a lot of time.
Pantry Staples- Spices
These are the absolute basic spices I keep in my pantry because I go through them the most. I do have many more spices for sausage making, canning, etc. But these are a great start to your pantry staples!
Black Peppercorns: important in cooking or canning.
Garlic Powder: cooking and canning.
Onion Powder: cooking and canning.
Ground Ginger: cooking, baking, canning
Paprika: cooking and canning
Cinnamon: cooking, baking and canning
All of the ingredients listed in this guide are the basic pantry staples. Do not feel that this is all you can or need to buy. This is just to get you started in growing your homemade, made from scratch kitchen!
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