Essential Pantry Items for Healthy Eating

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If you’ve signed up for my 28-Day Meal Plan or have tried any of my recipes, you will notice I use a few staple grocery items quite regularly. Keeping a well-stocked pantry ensures that I am prepared to create healthy meals and snacks and avoid processed food.

Whenever possible I like to support our local grocery and health food stores and there are certain products, like honey, that we purchase from local farmers. But, there are also many staple items we pick up at Costco or I’ve even ordered on Amazon. In the dead of winter (or during a pandemic), it’s super convenient to have my non-perishable food items delivered to my post office box.

Now I just need to channel my inner Marie Kondo and get this pantry organized! I plan to invest in a number of jars and canisters that I can take with me to Bulk Barn to refill (once we’re allowed to do that again). Not only will glass containers look pretty in the pantry it’s also much kinder to the environment.

What’s In My Pantry?

Oils and Vinegar

I find that these two oils and types of vinegar are all I need to make most recipes. Extra virgin olive oil is probably the most used ingredient from my pantry. Whether it’s for cooking or mixing a salad dressing there is always EVOO within reach when we are in the kitchen. I generally substitute red wine and white wine vinegar with actual wine.

• Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Avocado Oil
• Organic Balsamic Vinegar
• Organic Apple Cider Vinegar

Natural Sweeteners

I try to avoid refined sugars in my day to day recipes as much as possible; however, there are times when I will use granulated or brown sugar in my baking. Here are a few natural sweeteners I use as substitutions.

• Maple Syrup
• Liquid Honey
• Organic Coconut Sugar
• Organic Medjool Dates

Condiments & Broth

I don’t eat soy so I swap out soy sauce with soy-free seasoning. Fish sauce isn’t something I use that often but I do substitute Worcestershire sauce in recipes with one part coconut aminos and one part fish sauce. If I don’t have any homemade chicken or beef broth in the freezer, I turn to the Better than Boullion bases.

• Coconut Amino Soy-Free Seasoning
• Fish Sauce
• Better Than Boullion Chicken Base

Seasonings

My pantry is full of almost every seasoning and spice you can buy (and some are probably ready for the garbage) but these are my must-haves.

• Sea Salt
• Himalayan Pink Salt
• Black Pepper
• Italian Seasoning
• Garlic Powder

Canned Goods

We don’t eat a lot of food from a can but there are a couple of staples I can’t live without. I do try my best to find canned goods in BPA free containers.

• Organic Coconut Milk
• Organic Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes
• Tomato Paste

Pasta

I am a sucker for Italian dishes and can sometimes tolerate pasta from Italy or homemade pasta. But I always have some gluten-free pasta on hand to use in a pinch.

• Rizopia Brown Rice Pasta
• Arborio Rice

Baking & Flours

Most of my baking is done using wheat-free products. I try to use gluten-free 1-to-1 all-purpose flour whenever I can in my baked goods but that isn’t always possible so I have some other wheat-free flours on hand as well.

• Organic Vanilla Extract
• Baking Soda
• Baking Powder
• Dry Yeast
• Xanthan Gum
• Gluten-Free 1-to-1 All Purpose Baking Flour
• Natural Almond Flour
• Organic Coconut Flour
• Tapioca Flour
• Arrowroot Starch

Once your pantry is stocked you are halfway there to creating healthy dishes from scratch. Now your grocery visits are to simply grab some fresh produce and meat products.