Welcome to Part II: Pantry Staples to Stock Your Kitchen for Cooking at Home! This is the second installment in our Pantry Essentials Series. Check out Part I for the initial list if you missed the first post.
This week, we are talking about sauces, spices, and umami accents that amp up the flavor of our dishes. These pantry staples help us stock your kitchen for cooking at home. Some are ready-to-go like a good jarred tomato sauce for pasta—and others are flavors that add layers and dimension to a dish, giving us creative license to make a dish our own. That’s the beauty and ultimate goal of a well-stocked pantry: to afford us with tasty efficiency and effectiveness in our home cooking.
Let's begin!
Pantry Staple Number 5: Jarred Sauces and Canned Tomatoes
There are moments where I appreciate the process of making a sauce from scratch. Then the reality of feeding the hungry people in my household sets in and dinner needs to be done fast. Jarred or canned sauces really help in this arena. Keep the ones you love on hand and for the cuisine types you also enjoy. For us, that includes prepared enchilada sauces, pasta sauces and even a few simmer sauces from Simply Organic. Canned tomatoes are also super helpful—crushed, diced, and whole peeled—for chilis, soups and stews, and homemade sauces.
Pantry Staple Number 6: Dried Fruits and/or Nuts
Super versatile, dried fruits and nuts are a go-to here. Use dried fruits on salads or in a batch of granola. They can even top a bowl of oats. You can also use them in baking and in smoothies—dried dates are particularly great in smoothies for added sweetness as a substitute for bananas or honey. If you don’t have a nut allergy, nuts are great for baking and to use on salads in lieu of bread croutons. Combine dried fruits and nuts together and you’ve got a great snack or soak a handful—like cashew—to add to your smooth or soak more to make your own cashew or almond milk. We tend to keep pistachios, almonds, cashews, walnuts, and pine nuts on hand (hello, pesto!).
Pantry Staple Number 7: Umami Flavors and Accents
Umami is known as one of the five taste profiles. It is included alongside sweet, salty, bitter, and sour. Technically, when we taste umami we are tasting glutamate—an amino acid that is one of the essential building blocks of protein. This amino acid occurs naturally in our body and in many delicious foods we enjoy every day. Ingredients include but are not limited to: cured meats, aged cheeses, veggies like tomatoes & mushrooms, meat and fish, and even ketchup. Umami flavors to keep on hand include fish sauce—which is used in Chef Rick Martinez’s fantastic recipe for Arrachera (beer marinated steak). Kalamata olives, capers, anchovy paste, soy sauce, and even salsa macha are more delicious options. Choose flavors and condiments that you enjoy and that you believe are versatile enough in your cooking that you can find multiple uses.
Pantry Staple Number 8: Dried Herbs and Spices
Last, but not least, in our guide to pantry staples: dried herbs and spices. These are definite power tools to use in amping up flavors—especially when fresh herbs aren’t in season. Dried basil, parsley, and thyme can work well in soups or rice dishes. Use Herbs de Provence for a great slow roasted chicken. You can even use dried herbs and spices in vinaigrettes or in marinating chickpeas like I did here. As with umami accents, start small with the dried herbs and spices that you like. Then, build from there.
A note of encouragement on stocking pantry staples for cooking at home: start small and intentionally. You won’t—and don’t—need all the fancy oils, vinegars, or sauces. Don't buy a jar of something you end up using once and that’s it. Observe the flavor profiles you enjoy most frequently. This could be as simple as taking note of the dinners made each week and noting the ingredients from the pantry that you’re using the most. From there, you can identify what to keep in stock regularly and name ingredients you may want to try or add to your pantry inventory.
As mentioned in Part I, take stock your favorite flavors, dietary needs, and how many people you feed in your household. Next, build your list from there. Stocking a pantry can be as economical as you need it to be. It can be as small or as large as you want it to be. Lastly, your pantry can be filled with all the ingredients you love to make deliciously nourishing meals at home—everyday. Cheers to the next nourishing meal ahead!
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