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Culinary

What are Some Food Staples to Keep in my Kitchen Cupboards?

By Sheri Cyprus
Updated Jan 25, 2024
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It is a good idea to always have some food staples in your kitchen cupboards. That way, you can be sure to have the basic ingredients you need to prepare meals without having to constantly go to the store. Shopping less saves time and money. Canned goods, rice, pasta, condiments and flavorings, baking ingredients and seasonings and spices are all great food staples to keep on hand.

Besides salt and pepper, you should also keep your favorite seasonings with your favorite food staples. For example, chili powder can be used to flavor either chili with meat or vegetarian chili. A dash of curry powder can liven up leftover rice. Garlic powder, basil and oregano are perfect for adding Italian and Greek flavors to foods. Ginger as well as soy sauce can bring an Asian flavor to almost any dish.

You may want to have condiments such as ketchup, mustard and barbecue sauce on hand as well. Of course, food staples such as flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and oats are good to have on hand for baking. Cinnamon, vanilla, nuts, chocolate chips and other ingredients you use for your favorite baked goods should also be kept in your cupboards with other food staples to have when the desire or occasion to bake arises.

Different types of pasta make excellent food staples to keep in your kitchen cupboard. The whole wheat varieties of spaghetti, macaroni and other pasta shapes are especially healthy food staples to have handy and they can be prepared into cold pasta salads or served hot with a sauce. The prepared packages of pasta and sauce mixes make good emergency food staples for quick to prepare meals or side dishes.

Rice, either white or brown, or both, is one of the most versatile food staples. Rice makes an inexpensive and healthy side dish or part of a main dish. Leftover cooked rice can also make a quick dessert of rice pudding with milk and cinnamon added.

Canned foods such as fish, vegetables and fruit make invaluable food staples since their fresh counterparts do not usually last very long before spoiling. Canned foods are great alternatives when fresh foods are not available in the household such as the day before grocery shopping. Salmon, green beans and peaches are often considered especially healthy food staples by many nutrition experts.

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Discussion Comments

By Alchemy — On Sep 02, 2010

What are some good staple foods? Hmm...I am a flavor guy, so I believe that you can never have a large enough assortment of spices. I like to keep both fresh and dried spices in my cupboard and refrigerator, and they can make the meal.

For example, one of my favorite dishes to impress my girl with is lavender grilled white fish served with wilted greens and saffron rice. The entire meal only takes 20 minutes to put together, and requires very few ingredients. I season a little jasmine rice with a pinch of saffron, a little roasted garlic, and some fish stock. I wilt some greens (arugula, spinach, chard, etc.) with a little butter, sea salt, and cracked pepper. Finally I grill a couple nice fish fillets with a pinch of sea salt, a drizzle of Olive oil, and a few sprigs of fresh lavender crossed over the top of the fish in my George foreman grill. Simple, elegant, and fast!

By GlassAxe — On Sep 02, 2010

I would almost consider frozen vegetables to be a better staple food than canned vegetables. Canned vegetables lose flavor, and are often loaded with salt. They are also often overcooked, making it hard to make stirfrys, salads, etc.

I like to freeze my own vegetables because it allows me to make custom mixes for the types of dishes I like to make. About once a month, I go and buy a bunch of fresh vegetables that are in season. I spend about an hour a month blanching and shocking vegetables. I store them in my freezer in freezer bags until I am ready to use them. The dishes come out just as good as if the vegetables were fresh, but I can throw together dishes in half the time.

By obsessedwithloopy — On Feb 12, 2009

Make sure you keep healthy items in your cupboards and refrigerator. Items that contain trans fats, saturated fats, processed white flour and sugar are best kept away from your kitchen.

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