My Full List of Pantry Staples + Free Download

Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Banana Cake

I recently wrote this post for my friends at Art of Simple: An Organic Farmer’s Pantry, Fridge, and Freezer Staples. The post shares about my overall cooking philosophy of “rustic farm-to-table” along with a simple formula I use to put together healthy meals using my staples. I also share some food guidelines I follow to keep a good balance physically and mentally on our family - most of the time! :)

Since I couldn’t fit the full list in that post, I thought I’d share them for you here in a series.

Here’s the first in the series: my full list of pantry staples.

Coming soon: fridge, freezer, seasonings, and coffee/tea bar staples!

I’m all about sharing what I’ve learned with you and making it easier to eat good, healthy, rustic food that’s easy to share with others around the table. 💛

The big key here is this: do not take up valuable space in the pantry with things you simply don’t eat! Sounds obvious, but how many of us have random cans of black olives stuffed in the back of our pantries for years? (Just an example…nothing against black olives, I love ‘em!) We actually eat through our pantry, fridge, and freezer often and continue to restock with just the things we love and know we can make actual meals with.

Pantry Staples

Local raw honey - Make honey mustard sauce, drizzle it on pancakes instead of maple syrup, naturally sweeten muffins or baked goods, and even eat a spoonful everyday to stave away allergies and soothe sore throats. Or try Steven’s secret weapon and lightly drizzle it on pizza. Suh good.

Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips - These are a treat during the week, and we sprinkle them on smoothies, or use them as a topping in a peanut butter or almond butter dip for apples or bananas. Also perfect for adding to muffin recipes.

Organic almond butter - One of my favorite healthy snacks is fresh blueberries with almond butter and flax seed. You can make your own - here’s my recipe for Favorite Homemade Nut Butter!

Nuts - Almonds, Pecans, Walnuts, Macadamias. If I have time, I soak them first and then slowly dry them in the oven before eating. Check this post for how to properly soak nuts to make them easier to digest. I also keep a bag of macadamia nuts in my purse pretty much at all times because it’s such a good, satiating snack.

Organic peanut butter - Our favorite brands are Kirkland Organic and Whole Foods 365 Organic. After turning them upside down or stirring to incorporate the oils, I store them in the fridge. It makes it super easy to scoop out a really nice consistency. Peanut butter + apples or bananas + flax seed are a favorite snack for my girls, and I feel good about that!

Vanilla protein powder - This is our current favorite protein powder. It has a great taste, clean ingredients, and is affordable. I’d eventually love to get an even higher quality protein, but for how much we go through it, this is the best we can do right now. My girls love smoothies in the morning or for an afternoon snack, so it’s great having a plant-based protein powder that’s naturally sweetened and has probiotics, veggies, and greens in the mix as well. I’ve even added a few scoops of this to pancake recipes for some protein.

Organic or non-GMO popping corn - This is just the plain popping corn in a container - not microwave popcorn. I always have a quick snack on hand if you have unexpected guests or just really hungry people in your house. Plus, it’s fun and quick making it in an actual pot on the stove! I heat my pot on medium, add a generous amount of coconut oil, and then cover the bottom of the pot with corn kernels. Put on the lid and shake the pot back and forth over the heat until it starts popping. Then just let it rip. A kernel will pop every second or more. You want to take it off the heat when you count to 2 and no kernels have popped. I have no idea where I learned that trick, but it works every time and insures you don’t burn any! Then sprinkle a generous amount of sea salt and nutritional yeast at the end, and toss it all together.

Dates - I love adding chopped dates onto salads. The perfect sweetness with lots of vitamins too, and it’s a great contrast with roasted nuts and a creamy cheese. Another great snack my kids love is peanut butter or almond butter stuffed inside a date. Or just a whole raw almond inside.

King Arthur organic all-purpose flour - This is my chef husband’s all-purpose flour of choice, for any baked good, breading, etc. This is also what I use for my super easy no-knead bread recipe.

Cup-for-Cup gluten-free flour - Perfect for making gluten-free baked goods or even breading chicken fingers or chicken breasts when they need to be gluten-free and you don’t want to tell the difference.

Coconut Flour - Some of my favorite recipes using coconut flour are this Peanut Butter Banana Cake from Gluten-Free Goddess (this recipe can be easily be made into muffins instead of cake, and you can sub almond butter instead of peanut.), and Comfy Belly’s Cinnamon Bun Muffins.

Coconut Palm Sugar - Great alternative to cane sugar as a sweetener in recipes, and it gives everything a caramelly flavor. Low glycemic as well.

Almond Meal - Mainly so I can make Rosemary Almond Meal Biscuits, a gluten-free, grain-free staple in our kitchen for many years. If you’re craving biscuits, these are a great nutrient-dense option, and they take minutes to whip up.

Pamela’s Pancake & Baking Mix - A favorite for years! We always have the large bag of this in our pantry. Our girls (now 6 and 10) love the freedom of using this mix to bake and make pancakes on their own. Every Sunday morning, they make the fluffiest GF pancakes with this mix, and my husband and I don’t have to do a single thing. Glorious. 

Red Star Yeast - This is for my easiest homemade bread recipe! I like the packets, not the jar, because the packets don’t have any additives.

Brown Rice/Quinoa Pasta - Tinkyada Pasta Joy is one of the best brands I’ve found for gluten-free pasta that actually tastes great without pastiness. Trader Joe’s also makes a rice/quinoa spiral GF pasta that is great!

Brown Rice & Short-Grain White Rice - We eat white rice sparingly, but we usually get our rice in huge bags from the Asian grocery store. This is for any Asian recipe or making a pot of sticky white rice for rice bowls or as a side with Korean food. I usually soak my rice in water for several hours, drain, and then cook in a rice cooker. Pre-soaking helps make it more easily digestible.

Flax Seeds - Sprinkle on everrrrrything. Especially on smoothies/smoothie bowls or nut butter for a dip for apples or bananas.

Hemp Seeds - Use the same as flax seeds :). I also use this for protein in a smoothie if I’m out of protein powder.

Dried beans - These are so economical and easy to make if you have an Instant Pot. I’ll usually make a huge pot of them and just use them throughout the week to add sides to various meals.

Canned beans - When you just need some quick beans! We usually have cans of organic white northern beans, garbanzo beans, pinto beans, and black beans on hand.

Dried seaweed - We always have “keem” (the Korean word for seaweed) on hand and use it to scoop up rice or eggs or beans or meat or really anything.

Hmm, that should do it for now! 😏

Download Pantry Staples as a PDF checklist below (recipe ideas included!)…