An Illustrated Guide to What You Need in the Pantry

A simple list of the food, spices, preserves, and goods you need for a properly stocked kitchen, pantry, and freezer

It never ceases to amaze me how complicated we make food, health, and nutrition. It even trickles over into what we have in our kitchens to cook with. Believe it or not, you may think that your kitchen has to be stocked with tons of different things to make fantastic food at home.

It really doesn’t. Especially if you are someone who’s just learning to cook more at home, starting to learn to like doing it, but still want efficiency. So what’s really essential to have in your pantry? Here’s an illustrated list of what you need in your kitchen, pantry, and fridge in order to master being a part-time, at-home chef.

As you can see I kept it simple and manageable because far too many of you end up with things you never need or use. And while things can be shelf-stable, they also have expiration dates.

Oils and Vinegar: Extra-virgin olive oil, balsamic, red wine vinegar, and white vinegar.

Cans and Jars: White Beans, Chickpeas, Black Beans, Red Beans, Tuna, Tomato Paste, Diced…