These easy and simple guide will teach you How to Stock a Vegan Pantry to make vegan pantry recipes and staples for delicious vegan and gluten-free recipes that are all oil-free. This beginner guide will include everything you need from grains to nuts to baking essential ingredients. Most of these ingredients I keep in my pantry year round or are easy to find.
HOW TO STOCK A VEGAN PANTRY
It’s always good to keep a pantry stocked full of basic vegan pantry items. Especially if you are new on your plant-based journey. I have had readers ask me for years for an in depth post like this of what I keep in my pantry to help guide them and I’m finally gotten around to doing it! I do share something very similar in my cookbook as well. This keeps you prepared for uncertain times and also quick meals that are not complicated. Not only are these recipes very easy, relying on simple ingredients, they are just 8 ingredients or less (not counting salt/pepper/water or optional ingredients)! How is that for simple? Many recipes out there call for 15-20 or more ingredients which can make it more intimidating for quick dinners or call for ingredients that are anything but “pantry ingredients”.
INGREDIENTS I ALWAYS KEEP IN MY PANTRY
- Oats:: Both old-fashioned rolled oats and quick cooking oats.
- Rice: I always have brown rice, white rice and wild rice.
- Pasta: I have several different types of pasta depending on recipes that I make. I love rigatoni, fusilli, spaghetti, linguine, fettuccine, elbow macaroni, bowtie and penne.
- Beans: I keep both canned and dry beans. Black beans, pinto beans, white navy beans, chickpeas and red beans on a regular basis.
- Lentils: I keep both canned and always have bags of dried lentils. I love both red and green lentils for different recipes.
- Broth: I always have low-sodium vegetable broth.
- Tomato sauce: I keep several jars at all times.
- Tomato paste: I keep several tubes of it as I love using this ingredient for soups and sauces.
- Low-Sodium soy sauce
- Coconut aminos, also called “Coco Aminos”: Soy-free “soy sauce” which is sweeter and less salty. I like the Coconut Secret and the Big Tree Farms brands. These can be found at Sprouts, Whole Foods and Amazon.
- Hot sauce: I love the Frank’s brand the best.
- Almond butter: Homemade or the store-bought brands I like are the Good & Gather by Target, Trader Joe’s or the 365 Whole Foods.
- Tahini
- Cashew butter: I only make my own since stores tend to only carry roasted cashew butter with added oils or sugars.
- Sunbutter
- Medium salsa: I love several different brands, but really like Trader Joe’s, Newman’s Own, Even Pace picante medium salsa is good and is sold at virtually every store. I even like to make my own.
- Nuts and seeds of all kinds: whole almonds, slivered almonds, raw cashews, pine nuts, sunflower seeds, pecans, walnuts, hemp seeds, flaxseeds, toasted sesame seeds
- Red curry paste, green curry paste: I love the Thai kitchen brand
- Vinegars: white distilled vinegar, apple cider vinegar, dark balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar
- Vegan worcestershire sauce: I find a vegan brand at Sprouts or Whole Foods
- Canned lite (low-fat) coconut milk and full-fat coconut milk: I only buy the Thai kitchen brand.
- Sweet potatoes, russet potatoes and gold potatoes: Although, I actually keep these stored in my fridge, as they last much longer.
- Onions: I actually like to chop up several onions and label them by gram weight, usually 1 cup (160g) and keep them in my freezer. This makes for easy quick dinner time.
- Garlic: I also mince garlic and keep it in my freezer.
- Lemons and limes: I keep these in the fridge to make them last longer.
- Capers
- Black olives
NUTS AND SEEDS
I have several nuts on a consistent basis. Whole almonds, slivered almonds, raw cashews, pine nuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, pecans, walnuts, hemp seeds, flaxseeds, toasted sesame seeds. Since I use them often, I keep most in the pantry, but the ones that I don’t go through too quickly, I will store in the fridge to keep them fresh longer.
The ones I keep in the fridge are pumpkin seeds, flaxseed, hemp seeds and sesame seeds.
SPICES
I keep a ton of spices on hand, so you do not need to keep all of these but just a good basic collection is great. Pick your favorites!
- Fine sea salt and black pepper
- Chili powder
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Coriander
- Cinnamon
- Ginger
- Nutmeg
- Cardamom
- Ground allspice
- Regular paprika
- Smoked paprika
- Cumin
- Oregano
- Basil
- Rosemary
- Thyme
- Sage
- Marjoram
- Ground cloves
- Turmeric
- Yellow curry powder
- Red pepper flakes
- Ancho chile powder
- Chipotle chile powder
BAKING INGREDIENTS
While some of these ingredients I also use in savory dishes, they are mainly for my vegan baking recipes. Keeping these stocked year round will make for easy and quick desserts.
The flours in the large jars and red lid containers are the ones I use weekly and go through rather quickly. I like to buy several bags and fill up my jars to save space and not have to buy them as often. I’ve stored them in jars for years. All the bags and containers in the wooden containers on the bottom shelf are the extra flours I have that last a bit longer and ones I don’t typically use as often.
- Pure maple syrup
- Regular unsulphured molasses
- Vanilla extract
- Natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- Coconut sugar
- Brown rice flour
- White rice flour
- Oat flour
- Blanched almond flour: I like King Arthur, Honey, Wellbee’s, Nature’s Eats and the HEB brand is decent in Texas.
- Spelt whole grain flour
- Whole wheat pastry flour
- Regular all-purpose white flour
- Tapioca starch
- Cornstarch
- Potato starch
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Dairy-free semi-sweet chocolate chips and dark chocolate chips or dark chocolate bars 69-70%: I like the Enjoy life brand, but also Sprouts and Trader Joes’s carry vegan brands, just always make sure to read the ingredients to make sure milk is not an added ingredient. Most dark chocolates do not have added milk.
- Unsweetened applesauce
FREEZABLE SAUCES
These are my homemade sauces that I use for recipes. They all freeze well. Just thaw them overnight in the fridge and stir/whisk well to a desirable consistency. The blending is only really necessary for sauces that use cashews.
- Pizza Sauce
- Teriyaki Sauce
- Mexican Tahini Sauce (reader fave!)
- BBQ Sauces: Texas Bbq sauce, 5 Minute Bbq sauce, Smoky Apple Bbq sauce, Bold Bbq sauce
- Red salsa
- Green salsa
- Lemon Ginger sauce
Now that you have everything you will need for you vegan pantry, check out my post on Easy Vegan Pantry Recipes to get started cooking right away!
I hope this guide on How to Stock a Vegan Pantry is helpful and makes meal prep easier. If you would like to see what some of my favorite kitchen tools and appliances I use, see my shop!
Your storage looks phenomenal! Loved all your pictures. I’ll be making/remaking some of your tasty recipes soon. Thanks Brandi.
Aww thank you Sue! I’m so glad you enjoyed the post!
I have made many of these recipes and all of them are superb! I feel like a really good cook. I am 67 and not no one would say I was a good cook when I was trying to cook meat!! Now I feel very confident in trying your new recipes because I know they will be wonderful. You are blessing from God!
thank you so kindly Linda!!
Great article!
Every time I make one of your recipes it always seems to work out perfectly! I don’t usually have that experience with other blogs recipes.
Thanks!
Hi Chase! That’s really wonderful to hear, you are always so kind, thank you!
Hi! I’m a new visitor, and love this post about pantry staples. When using frozen onions, do you simply thaw before use, and if so, approximately how long do they normally take to thaw? Thanks so much
Hi Rose, welcome! No, I actually never thaw them, but throw them straight into the pan to cook for whatever recipe I’m using, works perfectly!
Brandi you are terrific! I enjoy every recipe I have made…delicious. This is a great post, happy to say you have trained me to have most of these.
I grow my own herbs in an areogarden. Bake my own sourdough bread, which is wonderful with your apple butter. Thanks for always be there!❤️🙏😘🐶🍀
Brandi you are terrific! I enjoy every recipe I have made…delicious. This is a great post, happy to say you have trained me to have most of these.
I grow my own herbs in an areogarden. Bake my own sourdough bread, which is wonderful with your apple butter. Thanks for always be there!❤️🙏😘🐶🍀
Aww thank you Patty for such a lovely and kind comment!!
Hi Brandi, I’m so glad I found your blog &I’m signed up for everything. In all your research did you read about the “night shade plants” & I’m wondering if they don’t bother gout….since you use tomatoes so much. I have lot of arthritis & seem to be very sensitive to night shades. I’ve not tried potatoe flour/starch because of that. I also have lympodema & husband has high blood pressure so I try to buy low or no sodium everthing. I made your lentil spinach soup & used kale. It was awesome. Your pictures are also awesome. You are very talented & I also think you are a blessing as the one reader commented. I hope you & your husband &beautiful little girl stay healthy & this virus crisis will soon be over. Stay safe.
Hi Jayne, thank you so much for taking the time to write such a beautiful comment, it really means a lot to hear this! Thank you so very much!!
Great post! Where do you get your jars, containers and spice stand? Thank you.
Thank you Virginia! I got the large flour jars from hobby lobby, as well as the small spice jars. I got the spice rack from The Container Store!
Your pantry is great I”m just getting started with plant base cooking can’t wait to try out your recipes just ordered your book.
Thank you so much Rivka! I appreciate that!
I love your pantry. I love the tips on keeping things fresh/or for a long time. One thing I do with the lemons if they start to get old is squeeze them, pour them into ice cube trays and freeze them. Then I put them in a bag, and have fresh juice when needed.
Fantastic tip Randi!
RE- your pantry. I just found your website. Question- I always heard that potatoes don’t go in the refrigerator because they turn to starch. ???
I think I will be trying out many of your recipes!! thank you, Lorraine
Hi Lorraine! I have heard this as well, but I really do not worry about it, because if I don’t stick them in the fridge, they go bad VERY quickly, so it’s up to you how you want to store them! I’ve stored them in the fridge this way for years though, haha.
I love the pantry. I will definitely copy it. I have your book and have recommended it to co-workers and family.
This is great information for a beginner. Thank you for laying it all out so neatly. Now, if there was a printable shopping list I would be in heaven. 🙂 Off to make my list now.
I’m so glad it was helpful!!
Great list. I would like to add 2 more- finely chopped (mini food processor) garlic set in a small round glass container with a metal and rubber clasp storing in fridge, and we buy fresh ginger root-peel it and use a mini food processor, then freeze in ice cube trays. After frozen store in a bag or container in the freezer. Makes these really easy to use.
If you ever come across the brand Thai and True, try it. They make several different varieties of curry paste and a few sauces. The flavor is much less processed than Thai Kitchen.
So helpful! Thank you. Did not know to store potatoes in frig
very good list