Here are what I consider to be the essentials that everyone should have in their kitchen.
The three areas are the pantry, the refrigerator, and the freezer.
It looks like I’ll need to re-arrange the pantry, because there’s a quite the list of essentials!
Pantry
- salt – regular and kosher or coarse salt
- pepper (preferably corns in a grinder, but a shaker is fine)
- white vinegar
- assorted vinegars (optional) – white wine, red wine, balsamic, rice wine
- worcestershire sauce
- cheap vegetable oil
- good olive oil
- really good olive oil
- a few cloves of garlic, or at least some garlic powder
- oregano
- thyme
- rosemary
- chili and/or curry powder
- onion powder
- ground cinnamon (sticks are nice to have)
- ground cloves, and whole cloves
- sugar
- molasses
- honey
- baking powder
- baking soda
- cornstarch
- nutmeg (whole with a microplaner is nice, ground is fine)
- bay leaves
- allspice
- cumin
- ground ginger
- flour
- rice
- spaghetti, or your favourite pasta
- canned tomatoes
- canned chickpeas
- canned veggies – corn, carrots, green peas, etc.
- canned or dried beans
- canned fish
- cocoa powder
- vanilla extract
- chicken stock/broth
- beef stock/broth (or oxo cubes)
- coffee
- tea
- crackers
- breadcrumbs or panko flakes
- popcorn
- rolled oats
- peanut or tree nut butter
- syrup
KETO THINGS
- apple cider vinegar
- almond flour
- coconut flour
- shredded coconut
- tree nuts
- coconut oil
- non-sugar sweetener
- psyllium husk powder
- chia seeds
- xanthan gum
- wheat gluten
- flax meal
Refrigerator
- bacon
- butter
- milk, cream (or dairy-free milks), cheeses (hard, cream, and parmesan)
- sour cream and/or yogurt
- eggs
- lemons
- olives
- veggies – celery, carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, etc.
- whatever meat you want to use within a few days, have some on hand
- mustard (prepared and dijon)
- mayo
- whatever other vinegar-based condiments you use (ketchup, relish, etc)
- soy sauce
- yeast
- jam or jelly
Freezer
- backup butter
- backup bacon
- frozen veggies
- frozen ground meat
- frozen other meat
Notables
- potatoes
- onions
- bananas
- avocados
- more than a few cloves of garlic