Kitchen Staples for From Scratch Cooking

Don’t know what kitchen staples you need to start cooking from scratch? I’ve got you covered with a comprehensive list of staples you should have on hand.

Having staples in your home means you can whip up a meal no matter what because you have the essential components. There are just certain things you want to keep handy so you can make flavourful meals with less effort.

Cooking from scratch takes time and practice as you get used to flavour combinations and different methods of cooking. My hope is that this list of staples will guide you in the right directions for your cooking from scratch journey.

Why Start Cooking From Scratch?

There are many different reasons why you should start cooking from scratch. Here are just a few!

1. Cooking from scratch is almost always healthier than the store-bought options! No numbers, artificial food dyes or synthetic ingredients just whole food!
2. You can save a lot of money cooking food from scratch. Takeaway can cost a lot of money while home cooked meals can be made for a lot less.
   • It’s also cheaper to make your own goods than buy them. Bread and homemade snacks are a lot cheaper than store bought ones.
3. It’s really rewarding cooking your own food at home. There is a great sense of pride when you’ve just made a homecooked meal everyone loves. Or your homemade bread has come out a success!

Where to Buy Staples?

This might seem obvious but there are actually a lot of places where you can buy staple foods from here are some options.

1. The markets: Markets can be a great place to buy fresh produce, even organic produce that are in season for a good price. Some markets you can even buy meat and fish!
2. Online like Azure standards or if you are in Australia Honest 2 goodness are companies that sell high quality food for affordable prices! Both online stores you can do group buys to get things cheaper and they drop of at a drop of point where you pick up your order.
3. Grocery Store: This is an obvious one, but you can buy staples at a grocery store. Very convenient for many people.

How to Save On Staples

There are some great ways you can save money on your staples.

1. You can buy bulk food online for generally a cheaper price.
2. Make a wholesale account honest 2 goodness or another wholesale company to get cheaper prices on bulk food.
3. Buy food in season. Fruits and vegetables that are in season are generally always cheaper because there is a surplus of that item. Markets are a great place to buy and save on produce.
4. Buy bulk meat if you can. For example, the larger quantity of a cow you buy the cheaper per kg/lb in price it goes. 1/8, 1/4, 1/2 to a whole cow becomes significantly cheaper per kg/lb, than buying just a few pieces of steak and sausages at the butcher.

Food Staples You Need For Your Kitchen

Here are kitchen staples I personally always have on hand so I can cook from scratch at any time. Depending on what you like to cook and make will change what staples you have in your kitchen.

Pantry Staples

1. Salt: I bulk buy celtic sea salt, it doesn’t go of and is a great price when you buy it in bulk!
2. Spices: Garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, paprika, basil, pepper, curry powder, itialian seasoning, cinnamon and all spice are some of the spices I always have on hand.
   • Make sure to always have an assortment of spices to season your food with. Herbs and spices make meals so much more flavourful!
3. Vinegar: Vinegar is commonly used here to make homemade mayonnaise, bone broth and hollandaise sauce. It’s great to have on hand when you want to make a salad dressing or add a sour tangy taste to food.
   • I prefer apple cider vinegar it isn’t as strong as white vinegar and taste great.
4. Root vegetables: Things that store well in the pantry and are handy to have include onions, garlic, potatoes. These are great for flavouring dishes and bulking up meals.
   • Sometimes I’ll have sweet potatoes and pumpkin as well.
5. Pasta: Of course you can make your own! But I love to have organic sourdough pasta in bulk on hand. Makes for a quick filling meal.
6. Pasta Sauce: Have some sauce on hand and or tomatoe paste for a quick homemade pizza or tuna pasta!
7. Flour: If you want to thicken meals, bake your own bread products or treats flour is an essential!
8. Sweeteners: Raw sugar, rapadura sugar, maple syrup and honey are all great to have hand! Different desserts and recipes taste better and come out better with different sweeteners.
   • You do not need all of these but I generally always have raw sugar, rapadura which is similar to brown sugar but healthier and either honey or maple syrup.
9. Vanilla: Vanilla just adds an extra delicious taste in smoothies, breakfasts or baked goods!
10. Chocolate chips or baking chocolate: Yes, I personally love to bake and so for me this is a staple I have in my home.

Fridge Staples

1. Fruits: Go more for seasonal fruits! But this is a quick go to snack when you have some fruit on hand.
2. Vegetables: Carrots, Mushrooms, Cucumber are personally our fridge staples for vegetables.
   • This changes with the seasons and what your kids love to eat, mine love cucumber so I always have some on hand.
3. Dairy: Milk, cream, block cheese, butter and yoghurt. We are not afraid of fats over here! Whole dairy products are amazing for smoothies, making cheese sauces, homemade desserts and more.
   • We only use block cheese and shred it because preshredded cheese has extra ingredients which doesn’t allow it to melt nicely in food.
4. Meat: We enjoy having eggs from our chickens and like to keep some deli meats on hand. Wether it’s sliced turkey, ham or silverside
   • This makes for quick lunches or snacks. It’s also great to an on homemade pizza or pizza rolls!

Freezer Staples

1. Meat: We keeps a variety of meat in the freezer from quick dethawing meat like mince (ground beef), sausages and chicken wings to things like steak, leg of lamb and brisket.
   • So if you need something quick to detail or want to slow cook something the option is there.
2. Frozen vegetables: Once again this is preference but we have frozen peas and like frozen peas, carrot and corn mixture. Easy to add into dishes or as a side dish.
3. Frozen Fruit: This goes with preference but we enjoy having mixed berries and mango.
   • Frozen fruit is picked at is prime and is normally cheaper than buying it fresh.

Conclusion

I hope you found this post helpful! While pantry staples can vary some from family to family there are a few key things we all need in our kitchens. From spices to vegetables it’s good to have certain things always on hand to make cooking from scratch easier and tastier!

1. It’s an easy snack on hot days, you can add into smoothies or make desserts with them!