A Nutritionist’s Pantry Staples

What can you find in a healthy well-stocked pantry? It depends on your cooking style and pantry space, but having a few properly selected goods on hand means you'll have everything you need for a wonderful healthy meal at a moment’s notice. If you do have the space, it pays to maintain your pantry well-stocked to stock up on sale items and save trips to the shops. Keep an eye on 'best-before' dates and rotate items as required. Buy canned tomatoes, fish, and pulses in bulk while they're on sale so you'll always have a meal foundation on hand.

One way that you can set yourself up for a healthy lifestyle is by starting with a healthy pantry; knowing you have an array of healthy foods on hand to cook a healthy meal or snack will save that last minute dash to the shops.

My own pantry is often looking more over stocked than under stocked and in it you will find all of these items.

Canned

• Canned tomatoes

• Canned fish; tuna, sardines and salmon

• Canned legumes; kidney beans, chickpeas, cannellinni beans, lentils,

• Basic stock or stock powder like vegeta

Dry items

• Rolled oats

• Wholemeal pasta

• High protein/pulse pasta

• Wholemeal/rice noodles

• Wholemeal wraps

• Rice - basmati/brown/aborio

• Wholemeal flour

• Wholemeal bread flour

• Red lentils

• Corn flour

• Couscous

• Quinoa

• Barley

• Protein powder

• Wholegrain crackers/rice cakes

• Nuts & seeds; almonds, macadamias, cashews. chia, sunflower, poppy

• Coconut

• Cacao powder

• Sugar

• A good selection of herbs and spices

Jars & bottles

• Extra virgin olive oil

• Olives

• Roasted capsicum

• Sun-dried/semi-dried tomatoes

• Passata

• Tomato paste

• Peanut & nut butters

• Apple cider vinegar

• Balsamic vinegar

• A quality curry paste (Patak’s mild spice paste)

• Pesto

• Tamari

• Pesto

• Mustard

• Salsa

• Honey

With these items on hand (and a few fresh items) you can make so many amazing dishes… lentil dahl, tuna pasta bake, spag bol, fish cakes, pesto pasta, fried rice, falafel, puttanseca, bean nachos, tray bakes, stir fry, muffins, pancakes, risotto, pilaf, muesli bars, overnight oats, porridge….. So many wonderful things.

What do you think I have missed? What is a staple in your pantry? Let me know below!