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You are here: Home / At Home / Meal Planning / 3 Steps to Know Your Essential Pantry Staples

March 21, 2016 by Angela

3 Steps to Know Your Essential Pantry Staples

Do you know your essential pantry staples in the kitchen? Six months ago I would have had a vague sense of what those were, but wouldn’t be able to confidently list them out for you. For the past six months though, I’ve been meal planning and paying close attention to my family’s preferences, habits, and our budget and can now say that I know what our pantry staples are.

essential pantry staples

Meal Planning Series

This is the fourth of a series on meal planning, be sure to check out the other posts too!

Meal Planning for Beginners: Step One

Meal Planning for Beginners: Step Two, Simple Weekly Menu Plan

Meal Planning for Beginners: Step Three, Groceries and Shopping

Meal Planning for Beginners: Step Four, Essential Pantry Staples (you are here!)

How to Know Your Essential Pantry Staples

When we think of pantry staples, the immediate things that come to mind are: eggs, milk, and bread. Those are definitely on my list, but there are many more items I’ve come to recognize as essential for our well stocked kitchen.

Step One: Writing down your meals

I’ve been able to figure out our families’ pantry essentials through weekly meal planning. Our meal planning is very simple because it’s heavily influenced by what the kids prefer and will eat. It’s also very predictable. There are meals that we eat every week and we’re perfectly happy with that at this stage of our lives. The simple act of writing those meals down, instead of fighting the predictability of it, has saved us time and money.

Simple Meal Planning - Plan to Eat

The simple act of writing our #meals down has saved us time and money. #mealplanning #pantrystaples Click To Tweet

Step Two: Start a Price List

When we started to seriously budget this year, I started a “price list” of sorts in my Google Drive from the three different stores that I usually shop at. It doesn’t have to be fancy or terribly organized. It just has to be written down outside of your brain.

As I occasionally update the list with receipts in hand, it shows me the items that I buy over and over again on a weekly or monthly basis. I also keep a static grocery list on my phone in the Reminders app which was also a way for me to start my pantry staples list.

Step Three: Know Your Staple Recipes

I have several staple recipes that I use throughout the month that I know will “add” to the popularity of “what’s for dinner.” For example, I might plan a bean soup for dinner one night, which is not the absolute favorite of the children, but is instantly more agreeable to them with homemade drop biscuits.  In order to make those, I know I need to have flour, butter, and milk on hand.

When my kids are home, like during Spring Break, I like to do a lot of baking for breakfast when the schedule allows and make sure they have homemade snacks. Flour and oatmeal are top pantry staples in our house for breakfasts and snacks. When we have homemade treats in the house the kids feel well fed, even when we’re at the end of the month and meal planning from the pantry.

If you’re like me and have never really written down your pantry staples before, I encourage you to take some time in the next month and work through these three steps.

  1. Observe and write down the things you notice, or have known all along, but never written down. Write down those meals that you have every week (for us, they are spaghetti/pasta, tacos, and some kind of soup).
  2. Next, take the last few grocery receipts or shopping lists and start a list of items you buy all the time.
  3. While you’re writing these lists, jot down the recipes that the ingredients are for – recipes that you know your family enjoys or things that you enjoy making and having around the house.

essential pantry staples

I’ll be sharing my pantry staples list in a future blog post. Everyone’s pantry staples will be different because our diets and lifestyles are so varied, but I think you’ll see a lot of common items that many of us will have in our pantries.

Simple Meal Planning - Plan to Eat

You might also like:

10 essential pantry staples

Do you have a written out pantry staples list? Any other tips and tricks to figuring them out? I’d love to know in the comments!

I’ll be sharing this post at these fun link-ups.

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About Angela

Wife. Mom to three boys. Writer. Reader. Aspiring Minimalist. Lover of chocolate and fitness. She loves blogging about the ways she is finding success in simplifying life one step at a time. Her mantra is "Progress, not Perfection."

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Comments

  1. Daisy @ Simplicity Relished says

    March 22, 2016 at 1:42 pm

    This is wonderful, Angela! I think it’s especially important to have a running list of staples when you’re being intentional not to eat out all the time. Our staples consist of rice, beans, eggs, milk and our weekly produce from our community-supported agriculture. Oh, and wild canned sardines!

    • Angela says

      March 22, 2016 at 2:36 pm

      Hi Daisy! Yes absolutely. Thanks for sharing your staples! What do you eat with wild canned sardines?

  2. Christy King says

    March 22, 2016 at 6:33 pm

    We also make sure to have a bag of pasta and large can of tomatoes (scratch spaghetti sauce is easy!) so we always have something quick to make for dinner if our plans change.

    • Angela says

      March 26, 2016 at 12:02 pm

      Yes! That’s top on our list of pantry staples Christy. Pasta with red sauce is a go to around here as well.

  3. Raquel says

    March 23, 2016 at 5:51 pm

    Thanks for these helpful tips! I know that we used to waste a lot more food before we made a list of what we had. Every once in a while we do a freezer and pantry week to only eat items from our “inventory”. I love your idea of a price list in Google drive!

    • Angela says

      March 26, 2016 at 12:04 pm

      Hi Raquel! We’re trying that too ever since we started budgeting. We usually do it towards the end of the month to try and stay “on budget”. It’s fun to try and be creative…although my kids would probably say otherwise! 🙂

  4. Lisa @ This Pilgrim Life says

    March 24, 2016 at 8:37 am

    I love the flexibility that having all my pantry staples in the kitchen gives me. I know that if I have at least most of the essentials on hand, there are a lot of recipes I can make.

    I also love how knowing your pantry staples makes grocery shopping easier! And with multiple kids in tow, easier is definitely better 😉

    • Angela says

      March 26, 2016 at 12:07 pm

      It’s true Lisa! Having a list of pantry staples and shopping at the same stores makes grocery shopping much easier! I’m always so flustered in new stores with the unfamiliar layout – it takes me twice as long – but I’m beyond the multiple kids in tow stage so it’s not quite as flustering! Thanks for reading and commenting – I appreciate it!

  5. Sue says

    March 24, 2016 at 11:56 am

    Our staples include refried beans, spanish rice (I admit I use Uncle Ben’s in the microwave bag – my DD loves it), canned or frozen corn (for soups, mexican dishes, etc.) and chicken breasts. I have not sat down to make an actual list, but that is a great idea!

    • Angela says

      March 26, 2016 at 12:09 pm

      Hi Sue! No shame in using Uncle Bens – some days you need something quick and easy that’s a hit with the kids. We usually buy a few boxes of Annie’s mac and cheese when it’s on sale to have on hand for an easy lunch or dinner! Making a list really does help – let me know if you try it and if it makes a difference for you.

  6. Abby says

    March 28, 2016 at 11:11 am

    Great tips! I love knowing our pantry is stocked with our essentials because it means we don’t have an excuse to eat out- there’s never no food in the house.

  7. Minh says

    March 28, 2016 at 8:09 pm

    Our staple is pasta, tomatoes (chopped and puree) and a few basic spices to make an instant sauce. Along with some frozen meatballs, there is always a go-to meal option. Trying not to eat out is a challenge we’ve taken on so we need to add to this staple list for sure. Thanks for the suggestions. #MMBH

  8. Marie says

    March 29, 2016 at 10:09 am

    These are great tips! I love making sure we have a well-stocked pantry to make our meals. We have so many go-to options for quick meals our staple list is probably about 10-20 items. It is so important to know what we have in our pantry in order to save on our groceries! Thanks for sharing with us again this week at Merry Monday!

  9. sahana says

    April 2, 2016 at 7:11 pm

    Great tips. It is very difficult for me to list 3 items as essentials as Indian cooking involves lot of ingredients. But we always make sure we have yogurt and milk. Thank you for sharing it with us at #HomeMattersParty. We would love to have you again next week.

  10. Erlene A says

    April 3, 2016 at 8:15 pm

    Great tips. I have a few things that I always keep in the pantry for those “just in case” moments. For the most part, I make a weekly meal plan and list the ingredients that I need for the week and do a shopping list.

  11. Marsha Blog says

    April 5, 2016 at 10:12 am

    These are great tips! Many thanks for sharing. It’s so useful.

Hi Friend! I’m Angela

Welcome to my blog where I write about simplifying life in small, manageable steps and creating healthy habits. You'll find inspiration, practical tips and community here for the decluttering you're doing in your own life. (whether that's physical, mental, or emotional clutter) Thanks so much for stopping by! Read More…

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