Pantry Essentials

[Mrsemcgregor]

I want to start cooking more whole foods and meals from scratch. I have fallen into a bit of a easy processed freezer food loop.

I really need to stock up the pantry and need advice!

I have just brought dried lentils and split peas for beefing up stews etc.

Can you please give me a list of what you find essential, herbs/spices and the like?

My plan is to start buying just some meat and veg each week and using my store cupboard to make meals.

Tins of chopped tomatoes, tins of various beans, frozen veg (spinach, peas, sweetcorn), cous cous, pasta, rice, coconut milk, curry paste (Thai and ordinary)

I make a lot of curry so the spices I use most are cumin, coriander, cinnamon, turmeric, chilli powder, chilli flakes, mixed spice and ginger. Also smoked paprika, garlic salt, mustard powder.

Plus dried rosemary, bay leaves, thyme and oregano. I like tarragon and marjoram but they're not always popular.

Jars of olives, sun dried tomatoes and capers are really handy too.

If you start cooking new things, you'll naturally add to your store cupboard and it'll get full of the things you'll use.

Thank you purpledaisies

I am really excited to get properly cooking again, I enjoy it so much.

I am hoping to save money in the long term too!

It's definitely cheaper. I'd also recommend getting some tubs to go in the freezer so you can make big portions and freezer extras so when you can't be bothered to cook there's still something easy to heat up.

We use a lot of quorn (I know it's not everyone's thing) because that can go straight from the freezer into pasta sauces etc.

If you like curries, pataks pastes are the best. Read the ( very small)label in store though, as they can ask for specific ingredients, for eg the tikka marsala one asks for cream , I use soya cream , and it delicious. The korma and byriani ones are great too.

Most things covered but I'll add a good olive oil and balsamic vinegar, Worcester Sauce, soy sauce, black pepper corns, rock salt, whole grain and English mustard.

I would highly recommend growing your own herbs. You can do it in a really small space but lovely to have fresh herbs to hand.

I agree about fresh herbs. Dried basil just doesn't do the job and fresh is amazing.

I grow my own herbs but I also have some dried mixed herbs, dried sage, dried oregano and dried parsley. They do come in handy.

I also have turmeric, smoked paprika, black pepper, marmite, soy sauce, sweet chilli sauce, Chinese five spice, fish sauce, oxos, Harissa seasoning, tomato puree, tins of tomatoes, olive oil, variety of mustards, balsamic vinegar and I always have cornflour, self-raising flour and plain flour in. Oh and suet for dumplings, which they love and which fill them up.

Buying spices is far cheaper in the ethnic stores ,than those silly little pots from the supermarket

Thank you all for the tips!

Re growing herbs, do you do this from seed?

I have some I have bought and some from seed. I love herbs and I use ones like Thyme for ground cover. Some herbs like Basil are annuals, whereas Thyme and Rosemary are annuals.

Yes I grew mine from seed but a lot of the supermarkets sell pots of living herbs in soil, if you look after them and keep cutting them back they will regrow nicely.

Waitrose do packs of chopped herbs like parsley, coriander and basil, as well as chopped garlic and ginger. I'm terrible at keeping pots of fresh herbs so having them in the freezer is really handy. The ginger is particularly brilliant as I don't use it often enough to keep fresh and can just "shake" out whatever I need for a recipe.

I always buy my tinned tomatoes and coconut milk and spices from the "ethnic" aisle of Sainsbury's, not from the aisle with their own brands, if you see what I mean. They are much cheaper from the ethnic aisle and I have never noticed a difference in quality.

Spices:
Garlic powder
Italian dried herbs (basil, oregano, etc. Sometimes in a blend or separate)
Paprika
Chili powder
Cumin
Coriander
sea salt & black pepper grinders

Sauces:
Apple cider vinegar
Sriracha
Soy sauce
Honey
Olive oil
Tomato purée
Pesto

Tins:
Chopped tomatoes/passata
Coconut milk (for curries)

Other:
Vegetable or chicken stock cubes (organic ones quite nice)
Fresh garlic & onions - always have on hand as they go in everything
Fresh herbs - buy the pots in supermarkets and keep on kitchen windowsill (or outside)

If you go to an Indian shop, spices are much cheaper, plus you can buy enormous bunches of herbs for pennies.
Coriander, curry leaves, Kaffir lime leaves, chillies etc I just bung in the freezer. Frozen corriander can be crumbled over dishes straight from the freezer.
Oh and ginger too - grate straight from frozen.

I always make sure I have enough:

Red split lentils
Risotto rice
Basmati rice
Pasta of some sort
Olive oil
Bottled passata or tinned tomatoes
Tins of chickpeas
Onions
Garlic
Dried oregano
Cumin, dried coriander, turmeric
Stock pots (much nicer than cubes)

Always have a red bell pepper on hand and try to have carrots and celery in the fridge.

I am actually trying to run down pantry stocks as I’m the opposite of the OP – I love cooking and haunt specialist food shops buying odd ingredients. I ended up with about a dozen kinds of dried lentils that I never used. The above is therefore the things I would never be without. Loads of other things you could have.

If you're planning on doing much Asian cooking, I recommend some rice wine or Chinese cooking wine, fish sauce, dark and light soy sauces, sesame oil and fresh ginger root (you can freeze it and grate from frozen). They all add that touch of authenticity

Tinned tomatoes
Curry powder
Garam Masala
Soy sauce light and dark
Rice wine vinegar
Worcester sauce
Turmeric
Cumin
Coconut milk
Chilli powder
Tomato puree
Paprika
Mixed herbs
Fish sauce for Thai curries
Garlic and onion powder