How to Stock a Healthy Pantry

If you’re looking to eat healthier, one of the best places to start is your pantry.

Whether you like to meal prep for the week or cook as you go, having a kitchen stocked with healthy staple ingredients makes cooking healthy recipes so much easier.

This how-to guide will give you tips for stocking your pantry, plus our ultimate list of foods to have on hand.

Why Keep Your Pantry Stocked?

The idea of revamping your kitchen may seem like a lot of work initially, but trust me – not only is it easier than you might think, it’s also well worth the effort

Here are five of the main benefits of keeping your pantry stocked with healthy ingredients:

1. Shortens Your Grocery List

Do you ever look at a recipe and feel overwhelmed by the number of ingredients you’d need to buy to make it? By keeping a few essential ingredients on hand at home, especially spices and herbs, those new and lengthy recipes will often start to seem much more doable.

2. Helps with Meal Planning

When you’re trying to decide what to make for dinner on a given night or for the week, a great place to start is your pantry. By looking through your cabinets, fridge, and freezer, you can start to get an idea of what you already have on hand, and potential recipes to use these items in.

For example, if you already have light coconut milk, curry powder, brown rice, and frozen mixed vegetables, then you can easily make a simple curry by picking up just a few ingredients like chicken or tofu from the store.

3. Perfect for Last-Minute Meals

We all have those nights when we get home late and don’t have time to run to the grocery store for dinner. Instead of ordering takeout, rummage through your kitchen for ingredients that you can easily combine for a simple meal.

One of my go-to’s is a simple burrito bowl, as I always have beans, rice, frozen vegetables, cheese, and salsa on hand. Brown fried rice and shakshuka (eggs poached in tomato sauce) are also common dinners at my house.

4. Encourages Healthier Snacking

When it comes to snacking, most of us don’t go to the grocery store when we’re feeling hungry. Instead, we reach for whatever is already in our kitchen. Keeping staples like fruit, cheese, and nuts on hand makes it easier to make healthy choices.

Of course, you can also expand this list to include your favorite go-to healthy snacks that aren’t already included, such as hummus or popcorn.

5. Saves You Money

While there is the initial investment of getting your kitchen stocked, over time it can actually save you money.

One way it can help is by buying staple items when they go on sale and buying in bulk. After all, now that you have a list of which foods you want to keep on hand, you’ll be more aware of when they go on sale.

Just be sure that you’re storing these items correctly to avoid spoilage before you get a chance to actually use them!

Another way it can help out your bank account is by reducing how often you end up going out to eat. By making meal planning easier and having foods that can be easily combined into a simple meal, you’ll have fewer excuses to order take-out at night.

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How Maintain a Healthy Pantry

Now that I’ve presented the reasons why it’s beneficial to have healthy foods on hand, let’s focus on how to keep and store these products!

Here are a few of my top tips for creating and maintaining a healthy pantry:

1. Get Organized!

I like to keep similar foods stored together, such as grains, canned beans, oil, and spices. This makes it easier to quickly scan and keep a tally of what you do and do not have.

2. Invest in Clear Plastic or Glass Containers

Clear, airtight containers are great to have on hand for storing dry goods, like flour, grains, pasta, and dried beans. Not only do they make it easier to actually see what’s in your pantry, they also help to keep your food fresh for longer periods.

If you like to buy in bulk, oxygen-absorbing packets and a vacuum sealer can also come in handy.

3. Store Food Properly

For health and quality reasons, make sure you’re storing your foods properly.

For example, oil should be kept in a cool, dark place to extend shelf life and keep it from going rancid. Don’t store your olive oil in a cabinet that gets warm from being next to or above your stove.

Flour (especially alternative flours like coconut or almond, as well as those made with whole grains), nuts, and seeds are foods that are okay stored in the pantry for several weeks, or even months. But for longer term storage, you may want to move them to the freezer.

You’ll also want to make sure anything in your freezer is stored in a freezer bag or airtight container, to avoid freezer burn.

Finally, follow the rule of “first in, first out,” aka FIFO in professional kitchens. This means newer items should be placed behind older ones, making it easier to use up older products before they expire. This is especially helpful if you plan to buy items in bulk.

4. Keep an Eye on Your Pantry Inventory

When you notice you’re getting low on certain items, try to make a note on your grocery list or phone right away, so you don’t forget.

To save money, I also recommend either making or canning your own favorite ingredients and basics like condiments, or buying these staples in bulk whenever they go on sale, as long as you have the storage space for them.

5. Do Some Spring Cleaning

Once a year (and it doesn’t have to be in the spring), go through and clean out your cabinets, drawers, fridge, and freezer. While meal planning can help to reduce food waste, you may still find some ingredients that have expired.

This is also a good way to take note of which items need to be used up soon, before they go bad.

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