The Mail-Order Catalog for Healthy Eating

Creating a Vegetarian Pantry

So many people have asked me how to set up a vegetarian pantry that I decided this subject merits a permanent place on my site. Whether you are a newcomer to a vegetarian diet, or someone who wants to have a greater variety of healthy ingredients at hand, this list can serve as your handy guideline. Now, no matter how time-crunched life gets, you can be sure that a healthy, nearly effortless meal awaits at the end of the day!

NON-PERISHABLE DRY GOODS

Beans, canned: Look for good-quality beans, without additives, or better yet, organic canned or jarred beans from natural food stores or co-ops, including your favorites from the following:
Black beans
Black-eyed peas
Chickpeas (garbanzos)
Great northern beans (cannellini)
Pink beans
Pinto beans
Red or kidney beans

Beans, dried: If you're inclined to cook beans from scratch, I don't object! Black beans, adzuki beans, and navy beans are particularly good cooked from scratch; there's also pink, kidney, red, and large white beans; brown and red lentils, and split peas.

Chilies, green, in 4 or 7-ounce cans, chopped, mild or hot, as preferred

Grains: If you are going to store whole grains at room temperature, don't buy more than what you will use up in about 3 months. During hot summer months, refrigerate them.

Barley
Bulgur
Couscous
Rice (long-grain brown, basmati, arborio,
quick-cooking, etc.)
Quinoa
Wild rice

Herbs and spices, dried: Keep a good range of commonly used varieties on hand; seasoning blends, especially an all-purpose salt-free herb-and-spice blend, a good-quality curry powder, as well as an Italian herb seasoning blend, are especially useful.

Oils:

Dark sesame oil
Extra-virgin olive oil
Light olive oil

Pastas and noodles: Keep a good supply of different sizes and shapes of pasta in your pantry. Some useful shapes to have on hand include angel hair, thin spaghetti, spirals (rotini), ziti or penne, fettuccine, and linguine. A few Asian noodles, such as udon, soba, and rice vermicelli, are available in natural food stores and are nice to have on hand too.

Soy sauce: Sometimes marketed under the name tamari or shoyu; buy a good natural brand for best flavor.

Tomato products, canned:

Diced, in 14- to 16-ounce cans
Crushed or pureed, in 14, 16, and 28-ounce cans
Tomato sauce

Vinegars:

Balsamic (dark and/or white)
Red wine or white wine vinegar
Rice vinegar (for Asian-style cooking)

PREPARED CONDIMENTS, SAUCES, AND SUCH

Barbecue sauce (great for broiling or stir-frying tofu, tempeh, or seitan)
Pasta (marinara) sauce (this comes in so many natural and flavorful varieties)
Pizza sauce
Salad dressings (choose natural, low-fat varieties of your favorites; I find red wine vinaigrette, balsamic vinaigrette, and ranch most useful)
Salsa, tomato-based, mild to hot as you prefer
Salsa, tomatillo (Salsa verde)
Thai peanut sauce
Stir-fry sauce

PANTRY VEGETABLES

Garlic
Onions (yellow, red, or both)
Potatoes, white (red-skinned are an excellent all-purpose potato)
Potatoes, sweet (for fall and winter)

REFRIGERATOR STAPLES
Refrigerator staples are more subjective to define than pantry staples. That being the case, this is a fairly short list, concentrating on the ingredients that I feel are essential to have on hand to ensure flexibility in meal preparation. This doesn't include fruits and vegetables, which you should buy as often as you need them.

Butter or margarine (both to be used quite sparingly; I like natural soy based margarines;look for a brand that is free of hydrogenated oils and trans-fatty acids)
Cheeses, shredded (low-fat if preferred, or soy cheese)
Parmesan cheese, grated fresh (or if you prefer, try Parmesan-style soy cheese)
Ketchup
Lemons
Mayonnaise (preferably commercially prepared tofu mayonnaise)
Milk, low-fat, or soy milk
Mustard, prepared (Dijon-style is excellent)
Tofu (in various forms including silken, soft, firm or extra-firm, and baked. See more detailed description of the various forms of tofu on page 000)
Yogurts, plain and flavored

FREEZER STAPLES

Burger and hot dog rolls (for veggie burgers and soy hot dogs, of course)
Hero or sub rolls
Pastas, frozen (any of ravioli, tortellini, cavatelli, gnocchi)
Pita bread
Pizza crusts
Soy bacon
Soy hot dogs
Tortillas, corn and flour
Vegetables of your choice (corn kernels, green beans, green peas, and chopped spinach are useful)
Veggie burgers

FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
Though fresh produce is undoubtedly a staple in this book's recipes and menus, it would be cumbersome to list all those used. Produce is the food I shop for most frequently, since I like to have it as fresh as possible. Though the seasonality of produce has been stretched by imports, I like to stick with what is truly seasonal as much as possible. Please support family farms by shopping at local farm stands and farmers markets if you have access to them. Cast a vote for organic produce (as well as organic eggs and dairy products) by buying them as often as you can; they are more expensive, to be sure, but if there is more of a demand, prices will come down.

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