Pantry Staples

Introduction

Among the survival essentials, survival food is the topmost. Only water supplies are more necessary for survival than that. All professional homesteaders, survivalists, and preppers should take care of placing the knowledge first among the rest of the factors needed for survival. If one is well-prepared, the survival chances are increased. When you know how to act in a dangerous situation, and your survival bag is full of quality gear, the next thing you should take care of is to receiving the right knowledge that might save your life one day!

To the point

We all know that feeling when you take a bite of homemade food and understand that nothing better you have ever tasted before. Of course, other things might also be delicious, but not as a homemade one.

But still, many of us do not use our ability to make homemade instead of storebought food. Of course, this process is more time-consuming, and it is always easier just to go to the grocery store and buy something, such as pasta sauce.

Did you ever think that homemade food costs less and can have a better composition? If not, we will show you some recipes to make pantry staples at home!

Save this article in case you change your mind and decide to spend some free time in this way! Then, we will tell you about twenty different homemade pantry staples.

And in addition, we will start with the list of necessary well-stocked pantry staples that should be kept at home, such as canned veggies, frozen veggies, dried beans, fresh veggies and fresh fruit (such as bell peppers), canned beans, most of which have a long shelf life.

A wide variety of pantry stuff stocked at home is always an excellent idea!

The List of Pantry Stocked Staples

Let us now present you a list of pantries that you would need when some recipe calls upon you or when you need to make a quick dinner. Some of them might even have an indefinite shelf life! So put some of them into your next grocery list: we assure you that you will not regret it, as you will need them for many recipes!

1 – Dry ones

• Baking soda
• Cornstarch
• Dry black beans
• Dried pasta
• Large grain flour
• Sugar, brown sugars also
• Brown rice
• Baking powder

2 – Different fluids

• Honey
• Mustard
• Vegetable oil
• Vinegar: apple cider, red wine, rice, balsamic vinegar (in small quantities can be even used as a cleaning product)
• Mayonnaise
• Nut butters, such as peanut butter
• Soy sauce
• Worcestershire sauce
• Chicken broth

3 – Dried herbs & spices

• Salt
• Whole peppercorns
• Cayenne pepper
• Smoked paprika
• Basil
• Oregano
• Garlic powder
• Vanilla extract
• Cinnamon
• Chili powder

4 – Canned goods

Canned goods sometimes would be a real-life saver. For instance, when you do not have any time to cook and need q quick meal, or when a survival situation strikes upon you, canned vegetables or any other goods can come in very handy!

• Canned chicken
• Canned tuna
• Canned beans: black, kidney, white, garbanzo
• Canned vegetables, such as cucumbers
• Pasta Sauce

New Recipes of Pantry Staples for You

Now that we have discussed stocking pantry staples with you, let us show you some recipes that can be made. All of our recipes can replace some of your storebought products, so now you can cross them off of your shopping list and make them by yourself!

Pantry Sauces

1 – BBQ sauce

This one is a well-known perfect pantry staple that every one of us has tried just once, but we bet that even more. Here we have a prepared recipe for you:

1. Take a big saucepan and add brown sugar, ketchup, and molasses to it
2. After that, pour in some Brag apple cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce together with Colgin liquid smoke

1. Take another bowl and mix some dry seasonings with onion flakes
2. Mix all of the ingredients until they are equally placed
3. Put your saucepan on a stove and cook it until boiling starts
4. Next, turn the heat to the lowest temperature and simmer for about fifteen minutes
5. That is it, simply put your cause into some jar and keep it in the freezer.

2 – Ketchup

Homemade ketchup is better than the storebought one, and once you try to do it, you will say the same to us!

What to use

• 10 to 12 oz. of tomato paste
• 1/8 to 1/3 cup of apple cider vinegar/white vinegar
• one-fourth tsp of black pepper
• one-half tsp of mustard powder
• one-half tsp of onion powder
• one-half tsp of garlic powder
• one-half tsp of oregano
• one-half tsp of cayenne
• one-fourth tsp of celery salt
• one tbsp of sugar
• one-half tsp of salt

What to do

1. Take a large bowl and put tomato paste and vinegar into it
2. Mix and add all of the rest of the stuff
3. Taste and add something more if you want to
4. Put your result into an airtight container and store it in the freezer for a month.

3 – Mayonnaise

When talking about homemade ketchup, how can we forget about mayonnaise?

Here is what you need to do: take your food processor, add an egg, and process it for 20 seconds or so. Then, add Bornier dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, and salt and do the same procedure. Next, slowly add your neutral-flavored oil to the mix. Doing it otherwise will make a mayonnaise soup, not a sauce.

When done, taste your result and add more salt or white wine vinegar, if needed, and put your mayonnaise into the freezer.

4 – Mustard

To give you a whole trio of homemade sauces, here is the recipe for mustard. The stuff you will need for this recipe is:

• six tbsp of mustard seeds
• one-half cup of water/beer
• 3 tbsp of white wine or sherry vinegar
• one-half cup of mustard powder
• two tsp of salt
• one-fourth cup of minced herbs
• one tsp of turmeric
• 2 tbsp of honey

The procedure

First of all, take your mustard seeds and use a coffee grinder for them. Make them mostly whole, as the mustard powder is also present in our recipe.

Second, put your seeds in a bowl and add all of the dry ingredients.

Third, add your water or beer and decently mix all of the stuff. Let your mixture rest for about ten minutes, then add the vinegar.

Fourth, place your result into a glass jar and in the freezer for at least 12 hours so that the mixture would thicken.

5 – Pasta sauce

And again, as with many storebought sauces, this one also contains too many chemicals. Make your one that would not have them, and that will be just as delicious in your pasta!

What you will need

For a delicious pasta sauce, take some extra virgin olive oil, three garlic cloves, two carrots, one or two medium-sized onions, canned tomatoes, dry seasoning (such as oregano and sweet paprika), and fresh seasoning herbs (basil and parsley).

What to do

1. Take a pot and cook your chopped onions, garlic, and ground carrots on your extra virgin oil.
2. When done, put your chopped tomatoes and one-half cup of water with salt, black pepper, dry seasoning, and fresh herbs. Boil the mixture on low heat.
3. Simmer for 15-20 minutes or so and put out your pasta sauce into some jar.

6 – Salad dressing

What do you prefer? Creamy dressings or a vinaigrette? It does not matter, as you can make both at home with the help of your pantry staples. For the first choice, yogurt, sour cream, mayonnaise, milk, or buttermilk are needed for the base. And as for the second, vinegar, herbs, oil, and spices are needed.

7 – Salsa

Based on our own experience, those salsa sauces that you can find in the store will never compare to those made at home! Want to check? Here is a recipe.

What to use

• two cups of tomato sauce
• three or five chopped jalapeno peppers
• two cups of tomato paste
• two cups of chopped onions
• one cup of chopped green pepper
• one-half cup of chopped cilantro
• one-third cup of sugar
• two tbsp of pickling and canning salt
• six minced garlic cloves
• two-third cup of white vinegar
• two tsp of pepper
• eight cups of chopped and peeled tomatoes

What to do

1. Take a large pot and put all of the first eleven ingredients there, and then tomatoes.
2. Start boiling on medium heat for about 20 minutes.
3. Place your mixture into sterilized jars and close them with canning lids
4. Put your jars into boiling water for about 15 minutes

8 – Sour cream

Take one cup of heavy whipping cream, two tsp of lemon juice, and one-fourth cup of milk.

In a jar, mix all ingredients, close the jar with the lid and shake the mixture decently. Then, take off the lid, and instead of it, put a piece of paper on top with the rubber band securing it.

Leave your cream for over a night at the table to become firm, then stir it, close the jar, and put it in the freezer.

9 – Teriyaki sauce

The same story goes for the teriyaki sauce: they are pretty overpriced and full of chemicals in the stores. Better to make your own, which will only taste better and cost less!

What to use

• one cup of water
• one-fourth cup of soy sauce
• one-half tsp of McCormick ground ginger, five tbsp of brown sugar
• one or two tbsp of honey
• one-fourth tsp of garlic powder
• two tbsp of cornstarch
• one-fourth cup of water

What to do

Mix all ingredients (except for the last two) in a pan and start heating them.

Combine the two last ingredients until the cornstarch dissolves.

When the sauce on a pan starts to boil, add our second mixture and stir for the needed consistency.

Pantry Paste

1 – Hummus

You would need some cooked chickpeas, Kevala tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, Organic extra Virgin, and salt for this homemade recipe.

What you need to do is simply mix all of the ingredients and use a Hamilton food processor or any other until the texture has become homogeneous. Then, store your ready hummus in the freezer.

2 – Any nut butter

We are so used to buying peanut butter in stores, but there are many unnecessary chemicals in them. Also, other kinds of butter are pretty pricy, so it may be in your best interests to make nut butter at home, be it almonds, cashews, or Macadamia nuts – anything you want.

What you need to do is two steps:

1. Roast your nuts at 325 Fahrenheit degrees for about 20 minutes to help your nuts enhance the flavor and become softer for the following step, which is
2. Blending. Take your food processor and blend your roasted nuts from five to ten minutes, depending on the power of your processor and the kind of nuts in use.

3 – Greek yogurt

You will need two quarts of whole milk, one-fourth cup of heavy cream, three or four tbsp of yogurt with active cultures in it.

What you will need to do is:

• Rinse the inside of the pot with cold water
• Put milk and cream inside of it and bring the mixture to a slight boiling at the edges of a pot
• Remove the pot and let it cool until warm temperatures
• Take one-half of the pot’s mixture and add your yogurt to it
• Put this half back in the pot, close the pot, and move the result in some warm place
• Let the yogurt rest for about 6-12 hours
• The result should be put in the freezer for another four hours

Pantry Bread

We all know how tasty homemade bread is, but we still prefer buying it in a grocery store, even though we can easily make it at home! So let us share one of our favorite recipes with you.

1 – French bread

What you will need to use is:

• two and a half cups of warm water
• six cups of flour
• three teaspoons of active dry yeast
• four teaspoons of sugar, and the same amount of salt

And what you will need to do is described in the following list:

1. Add your water into the mixing bowl together with the sugar, and stir until the sugar completely dissolves
2. Add the yeast and let the mixture rest for about 30 seconds
3. Add four cups of flour together with the salt and stir the ingredients
4. After making sure that the mixture is equally distributed, put another cup of flour in
5. Spread some a cup of flour onto your working surface and put the mixture onto it, additionally tossing some amount flour on top
6. Start kneading the pastry until it is spongy.
7. Pull the dough back into the bowl, cover with some blanket and let it rest for about 30 minutes or so
8. After that, put the raised pastry back on the floured surface, take a floured rolling pin and start rolling until the dough is one and a half inches thick.
9. Cut your result in half, and make each of them in the form of a rolled loaf.
10. Put them onto the parchment paper, and let them rise for about 30 minutes
11. Heat your oven for 375 Fahrenheit degrees, make four diagonal cuts on the top of each pastry, and put the dough inside of the oven for about 20 minutes
12. Let your result rest for about five minutes, after which your bread is ready to be eaten

2 – Bread crumbs and croutons

These are other delicious pantry staples that you can make at home. We will share the simplest recipe for bread crumbs and croutons, but you can add any dry seasonings to them, such as garlic powder, basil, oregano, etc.

Recipe:

• Take any bread you have near you, tear it into small chunks, and place the result onto your baking sheet and into the preheated (350 F) oven.
• After that, do not forget to consistently stir your chinks every five minutes or so and bake them for 15 minutes.
• Once you see that your bread has dried out, turn off the oven and remove the baking sheet together with chunks from it. Let your bread cool for a few minutes and put them into a food processor afterward to make the needed form of crumbs. If only croutons are needed, then skip the last step.

Pantry Sugars

1 – Brown sugar

Surprised to see this pantry staple here? Well, do not be, as we guarantee you that this is the easiest recipe you have ever done! Do not believe us? Then look further.

The ingredients are very simple: one cup of white sugar and one tablespoon of unsulfured molasses.

And what you need to do is also easy: combine the ingredients into a mixing bowl and use an electronic mixer with a medium power to mix the sugar with molasses. After that, simply put your result into an airtight container.

2 – Powdered sugar

Unbelievably, but you can make powdered sugar at home, too. If you have one cup of sugar, one tablespoon of cornstarch, and a blender, then you can easily make one!

Pantry Chips

1 – Potato chips

We think that any of you have wondered at least once in your life whether it is possible to make home-cooked potato chips. And here we are with the recipe telling you that it is!

Ingredients

• 2 quarts of ice water
• five tsp of salt
• seven unpeeled medium potatoes
• one and a half tsp of celery salt
• one and a half tsp of pepper
• two tsp of garlic powder
• a lot of oil

The steps

1. Take your vegetable peeler/cheese slicer and make skinny potato slices
2. Place your potato slice into the bowl with salt and ice water. Let them soak for about 3o minutes
3. Take out your potatoes and dry them on the paper
4. Take another bowl and mix garlic powder, celery salt, and pepper
5. Heat one and a half in. of oil in some heavy pan at 375 Fahrenheit degrees.
6. By parts, fry your potatoes for about four minutes until they become golden brown. Stirring is also necessary.
7. Remove them and paper dry.
8. At the same time, sprinkle your dry seasonings mixture onto potatoes
9. Put your potato chips into an airtight container

2 – Tortilla Chips

Take your corn tortillas, oil, and salt for making the chips. Choose one of the following ways for making the chips:

• By frying in oil
• Baking in the oven
• Baking in the microwave

Other Pantry Recipes

1 – Granola

Everyone loves granola for breakfast, and everyone knows how nutritious and tasty it is! But it is so pricy in a grocery store. Here is a simple granola recipe for you:

Ingredients

• one half of cup of honey/maple syrup/any other sweetener of your preference
• one-half teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• one half of cup of canola/coconut/olive oil
• three cups of rolled oats
• one cup of sliced almonds or any other nuts
• one-half teaspoon of salt
• one cup of raisins or any other dried fruits

Steps

• First, you must preheat your oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit and place parchment paper onto your baking sheet.
• Second, mix oil, honey, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl, then add the oats and nuts.
• Third, put the result onto the parchment paper of your baking sheet, and spread the future granola evenly. Help with the spatula if needed.
• Fourth, bake your granola for about 20 minutes, and stir your mixture in between if this time. Your granola will be ready when the oats become golden brown. Note that the ready granola is still wet but will dry out in a few minutes after baking.
• Fifth, remove the baking sheet from the oven. Add your raisins or fruits to the granola and cool the result before putting it away.

A hint: the best decision would be to use airtight food containers for storage.

2 – Canned pickles

Well, this is out of the question that making canned pickles is the easiest process and the cheapest and tastiest choice! Take six lbs. of picked, three cups of vinegar, three cups of water, four tbsp of salt, seven garlic cloves, seven tsp of dill seeds, three and a half tsp of black peppercorns.

• Then, sterilize your canning jars and clean your pickles.
• Mix the water, salt, and vinegar into a saucepan. Boil it.
• Put the spice on the bottom of each jar
• Place the pickles
• Pour the water mixture into each of the jars, ensuring that all of the cucumbers are covered.
• Close the jars with canning lids
• Leave your pickles to rest for two weeks before eating.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

How do you fully stock a pantry?

We have a few pieces of advice for you on that matter. The first one would be to use clear containers, as this will ease identifying the products and not spending a lot of time finding what you need.

The second one is to create zones of your pantry, categorizing your products and keeping them inside these categories. This will also make your searches easier.

The third piece of advice is to stock your pantry mostly during sales or when you run out of some products. In any other case, you will most definitely end up with a lot of expired products.

And the fourth and final advice from us is to do weekly cleanouts: this way, you will always know that you are not keeping expired products.

How long do pantry + fridge staples last?

The answer depends on the types of products that you have – whether they are homemade or store-bought. The latter usually have a longer shelflife due to the chemicals inside of them.

But some say that the average lasting time is equal to 3-6 months in a pantry (for some canned beans, dried fruit, rice, etc.) and 6-12 months in the fridge.

How to organize your refrigerator?

To keep the answer to this question short, here are the main steps that you would want to make:

1. Make categories of products and keep them inside and separately from others
2. Put your fresh fruit and fresh veggies in a dark place, which would be on the bottom drawers
3. Create a separate box with soon to be expired products
4. Keep all the fluids in the door drawers