Wondering what you should stock in your pantry in order to have plenty of prep materials for low-priced meals? Use this guide to create your own well-stocked frugal pantry.
Having a full pantry doesn’t mean that you have a well-stocked pantry. Often we buy ingredients and never use them, or we buy items for meals that we can’t make because we are missing other things. So, many times, we will have a pantry full of food and nothing at all to eat. Having a well-stocked pantry means that you can make many meals from scratch without giving it a thought. You can add just a few fresh ingredients as needed. Obviously, you should try to stock up when items are on sale, but the beauty of these basic items is that, with the exception of olive oil and perhaps vanilla, they are all items that don’t cost much to begin with.
Olive oil and canola oil (Consider adding sesame or peanut oil, too)
Pasta
Canned beans (I love red beans and pinto beans for a quick vegetarian chili)
Diced tomatoes
Tomato sauce
Dry beans (lentils and great northern beans are two good choices)
Rice (brown, white or Basmati rice are all great choices for the pantry)
Vinegar (distilled white vinegar and cider vinegar)
Chicken, vegetable and or beef broth (canned or make your own to save even more)
Flour and bread flour
Sugar, white and brown
Other baking ingredients, such as baking powder, baking soda and vanilla
Cornmeal
Breadcrumbs
Herbs and seasonings from salt to cinnamon
Potatoes
Onions
Garlic (I like minced garlic in jars. It lasts forever in the refrigerator)
Condiments (such as ketchup, soy sauce, worcestershire sauce and mustards)
You can also add stock items for dishes that you prepare often. For example, we make homemade pizza often, so I stock canned pizza sauce.
Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, technology in the Computing Blog, and creating a home in the Home Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.
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