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What foods do you stock up on?

57 replies

Peonyperfection · 15/02/2026 07:41

I’m trying to get my cupboards a bit more organised. I want to see quickly what I have. I tend to buy things on offer, but I don’t always have room for everything. Thinking of keeping it simple, keeping ‘essentials’ and only stocking up when it’s a really good deal.

So far on my list:

Tinned tomatoes
Black beans
Baked beans
Noodles
M&S Olive Oil Mayo (as I don’t get to M&S often, so grab it when I can)

I meal plan and cook from scratch most nights. Do you do it this way or buy the more unusual, expensive products when on offer? What do you buy on repeat?

OP posts:
Cyclistmumgrandma · 15/02/2026 11:18

It just depends on what I can’t get on my normal shop. I used to stock up on salted Brittany butter as I could only get it in M&S or Waitrose, neither of which we have locally. Now it’s steak and kidney puddings from a butcher I need to travel to.

LadyOfLymeHouse · 15/02/2026 11:19

Tinned tomatoes
Tomato puree
Tinned chickpeas
Tinned kidney beans
Tinned tuna
Coconut milk
Red lentils
Bread flour
Wholemeal flour
Yeast
Pasta
Rice
Olive oil
Rapeseed oil
Baked beans
Various big tubs of spices
Peanut butter
Chocolate 😆

Lots of meals can be made either with or without fresh veg and/or meat.

At the beginning of lockdown we were able to avoid the mad supermarket behaviour by living off our larder.

Allisnotlost1 · 15/02/2026 11:23

Tinned mackerel, Merchant Gourmet or own brand dal, prepared chickpea, bean or lentil packs, frozen fruit and teabags.

SardinesOnButteredToast · 15/02/2026 11:35

Orzo
Linguine
Risotto rice
Pesto
Sun-dried tomatoes
Tomato paste
Garlic paste
Parmesan -like dried cheese
Stocks and bouillon powder
All types of sugar
All types flour (I make a lot of bread)

SharpLemonShark · 15/02/2026 11:49

Various tinned beans, chickpeas & lentils
Stock cubes/pots. Only discovered red and white wine stockpots a few months back, they’re great!
Microwave rice/grain/lentil pouches for a quick and easy meal
Pasta
Passata, tomato paste, coconut milk
Squeezy garlic, chilli, lemongrass etc
Tinned fish
Part baked bread

Westfacing · 15/02/2026 11:55

Peonyperfection · 15/02/2026 10:35

Have you tried Lidl Polpa ? Really high tomato content and 75p a tin.

No I haven't - if it ever stops raining in the next month I'll go and check them out!

My friend buys Lidl's cherry tomatoes which she says are as good as Mutti

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 15/02/2026 14:56

Gonnagetgoingreturnsagain · 15/02/2026 10:51

I forgot I had a slab of chocolate for a cake but you can eat it too, just found it yesterday!

I found two half bars of chocolate (milk and plain) in the cupboard so I've done some chocolate rice crispy cakes with mini M&Ms .
Culinary cuisine at its finest !

Purely in the interest of using up the chocolate bars you understand Wink

PistachioTiramisu · 16/02/2026 08:37

Could I please ask what you all do with tinned tomatoes??

LadyOfLymeHouse · 16/02/2026 08:44

PistachioTiramisu · 16/02/2026 08:37

Could I please ask what you all do with tinned tomatoes??

Tomatoes on toast
Cook in:
Bolognaise sauce
Beef or mixed bean chilli
In sauce for curries, sometimes with coconut milk as well
Soup, with other veg, such as roasted peppers
In pasta sauces with leeks/peppers/bacon

Edited for typo

Anjo2011 · 16/02/2026 08:44

Kidney beans
baked beans
colmans chilli con carne mix
tomato purée
rice
porridge oats
ketchup
Long life oat milk

QuaintCat · 16/02/2026 12:09

Except for food, I stock drive to a cheaper big box store to buy toilet paper in bulk, toothpaste, shower gel, Vanish, laundry detergent and cleaning products. We don't have a lot of storage space, so I usually have 1-2 extra of each product in the cupboard.

I also go to a Thai food store to get noodles, rice, coconut milk, spices and things like soy and fish sauce. It's cheaper than from the grocery store and the quality is better. Check your local ethnic food stores and compare prices and quality.

Boudy · 16/02/2026 12:12

Passata
Tinned Toms
Basmati Rice
Gluten free flour
Gluten free pasta
Spices
Caster sugar
Golden syrup
Treacle
Noodles
Risotto rice
Stock cubes

thisisajoke22 · 16/02/2026 20:12

I've got a pantry so I always have lots of baking stuff in and various types of pasta and rice. Next its tinned stuff, so tomatoes, sweetcorn, coconut milk, tuna, mushy peas, mandarin, lentils, black beans, chickpeas. Also passata and tomato puree. I always have enough stock, gravy and stuffing for the month and most condiments. Loads of spices in a huge spice rack on the inside of the door too. Bottom of my pantry is all the breakfast cereals and extras for the month plus loads of oat milk. We have a hell of a lot in our pantry. If we didn't have it we'd easily need double the amount of kitchen cupboards

Mueslikid · 16/02/2026 20:23

I always stock up when certain things are on offer, I have a good idea now of how often the offers cycle round vs how long it takes us to eat them, so there isn’t much oversupply. I know the following will always be needed and will get eaten.

Tinned tomatoes
Passata
Tuna
Basmati rice
Pasta and noodles
Tinned beans/pulses
Jam/marmalade
Peanut butter
Mayonnaise
Chutney/pickles/mustard
oil
Pet food
Detergent and dishwasher tabs
tea and coffee
Muesli
Porridge
Stock cubes

BeMellowAquaSquid · 16/02/2026 20:25

We seem to have tubs and tubs of gravy granules in every flavour imaginable.

Perfect28 · 16/02/2026 20:26

Coconut milk

stample · 16/02/2026 20:27

rice
pasta
noodles
couscous
baked beans
tinned Tomatoes
frozen veg
condiments
teabags

RosesAndHellebores · 16/02/2026 20:30

Reduced meat and fish from Waitrose. Today three Barnsley Chops, a loin of pork, 4 pairs of craster kipper fillets, 6 cod fishcakes and 1kg of fish pie mix went in the freezer. Two legs of lamb are in there from when Sainsbury had their half price gig. Azeera instant coffee when it's on offer.

Generally I don't keep lots of stocks but usually have three types of pasta, three types of rice, and a couple of tins of kidney beans, butter beans, tinned tomatoes, tuna, baked beans, etc. I keep frozen peas, frozen chips, frozen berries, frozen puff, a couple of litres of milk and a couple of loaves in the freezer.

TheeNotoriousPIG · 16/02/2026 21:07

Fresh
Garlic and onions, because I put these in almost everything!

Freezer
Meat and fish from the reduced section of the supermarkets. I buy quite a lot at once, and freeze it all.
Fresh fish, e.g. a whole salmon, which I cut up into reasonably-sized fillets (not the salmon slivers that supermarkets sell), and freeze
Frozen vegetables, like peas and sweetcorn (I don’t use them in huge amounts at once) and carrots (which I eat a lot, so I run out of the fresh ones quite often!)

Cupboards/Pantry
Flour, salt, sugar, gravy granules (until I master making the finest gravy for all kinds of meat), jams, black treacle, golden syrup, dried fruit, stock cubes, coconut milk, tinned tomatoes, tinned salmon and tuna, olive oil, chickpeas, oats, rice, spices, pickled beetroot (I love it!), pickled red cabbage (a rarity around here, so I stock up when I go to visit family in Lancashire), and any other foods from where I grew up. If you go into the supermarkets in areas where there is more multiculturalism, you can pick up huge sacks of rice, flour and lentils, plus enormous bottles of cooking oil, from the World Foods sections. There's also a lot of other interesting things to look at and try from there!

I also stock up on dog food when I go to visit friends in a certain part of the country. It isn't widely available, to the point that I wrote to them and asked if anywhere closer to where I live sold it. My dogs prefer this kind of food, which doesn't give any of them any skin issues, and the variation in the size of pieces is apparently very exciting... so I have to stock up on as many 15kg bags as will fit in a Toyota Aygo without damaging the suspension!

Ilovelurchers · 16/02/2026 21:32

I try to keep as many different types of frozen veg as I can - I almost exclusively use frozen veg as it's a small household, so fresh veg often end up being wasted. Frozen veg are often on offer (3 for 2, that type of thing). I have:
Spinach
Onions
Ginger
Garlic
Mixed peppers
Mushrooms
Broccoli
Sweet potato
Butternut squash

Plus various mixes - cooking base, mixed root veg, mixed Mediterranean veg - whatever is on offer at the time.

I also stock up on tinned tomatoes, rice, pasta and tea bags! Plus various sauces, mustard, things like that. Oh, and pot noodle type things - my daughter and I get through a lot of these.

And oat milk! Love the stuff.

Ilovelurchers · 16/02/2026 21:35

PistachioTiramisu · 16/02/2026 08:37

Could I please ask what you all do with tinned tomatoes??

What don't I do with them?

They are a staple in almost everything I cook. Curries, pasta dishes, mexican food (fajitas etc), greek food like moussaka, chicken casserole - pretty much all of it has a tub of tomatoes in it.

Sometimes I think I use them too much, to be honest!

Peonyperfection · 17/02/2026 09:59

@JingsMahBucketI’m stuck on the thought the EVOO is for dressings not cooking, so currently using this one as I love the packaging. It’s currently on offer.

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/karyatis-olive-oil-1l

OP posts:
mimiasovitch · 17/02/2026 10:31

Westfacing · 15/02/2026 08:36

Mutti tinned tomatoes - they're about three or four times the price of supermarket own brand but so worth it! I look out for when they're on offer

Jars of Bold Beans - black beans, queen chick peas, queen butter beans. Again more expensive than the cheaper tinned varieties but worth it. A previous foodie thread on MN got me hooked on these!

Yes to all these. I now get the beans on subscription as otherwise it was a trip to Sainsbury’s which is out of my way.

Badbadbunny · 17/02/2026 10:36

I stock up on whatever is on offer when it comes to tins, packets, and other non perishables. I'll have 2 or 3 of every "cupboard" item in the kitchen cupboards and as we have an integrated garage and door through from the kitchen, I also have lots of shelving in the garage for toiletries, loo rolls, washing powder, breakfast cereals, etc., and also "overflow" for tins/cans, so I'll usually buy canned drinks (coke etc) as 24 packs when on offer.

That way I never run out and never have to buy stuff at full price.

I've also got a large chest freezer in the garage so freeze some perishables such as bread, milk, meat, etc. I also batch cook a lot using whatever is "yellow labelled" in the shop which I often buy several of, do a huge batch cook and freeze for use the following few weeks.

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