What Are My Pantry Staples?
You'll see "(PS)" next to some ingredients in the Club recipes. That means a pantry staple, something I'm assuming is already sitting in your cupboard rather than something you need to buy fresh that week.
A pantry staple for me needs to do three things: keep for months, turn up in loads of different dinners, and actually change how the food tastes. If it only gets used once a year for one recipe, it isn't a staple; it's a one-off.
Here's roughly what lives in my cupboard.
Oils, vinegars and the salty things
- A neutral oil for cooking, and olive oil for finishing
- Vinegar
- Soy sauce
- Fish sauce
- Mustard
- Stock, cubes, powder or liquid, whichever you like
Dry goods
- Rolled oats
- Cornflour
- Baking powder/soda
- Plain flour
- Sugar
Spices and dried herbs
- Cumin,
- Ground coriander
- Smoked paprika
- Chilli flakes
- Curry powder
- Dried oregano and mixed herbs
- Cinnamon
The other bits!
Not strictly pantry, but often on hand.
- Butter
- Eggs
- Garlic, onions and ginger, the base of most dinners in this house. Sometimes I buy them as part of the shop, and other times you will have leftovers. But if you look at the shopping list and you know you have enough onions, you don't need to buy more.
How to build it without one big spend
Always look at the recipes and see what you need and what you have. I try to make sure they are always things most people will have, but remember if you do need to buy something, these are the items that last, and you won't have to buy every week.
Del x
