10 Ingredients I Keep On Hand For Healthy Meals

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Leading up to Thanksgiving, I shared a list of shelf-stable ingredients I keep on hand for all of my winter holiday cooking and baking. This week, I’m dishing on the 10 ingredients I always (always) have in my kitchen that make throwing together a healthy meal easy, cost effective, and delicious! 

Whether you’re a cooking beginner or you cook all the time, these ingredients (and categories of ingredients) are worth adding to your shopping cart on your next trip. I’ve even included recipes for each one that I hope you’ll try!

Okay now grab a notebook and jot these down… 

1. Canned Tomatoes

Canned tomatoes are a pantry staple for me, and I keep them in multiple forms – diced, crushed, whole, and even paste. I use these in everything from soups and stews to homemade pasta sauce and tomato-based broths that pair with fish. I also keep jars of Rao’s tomato sauce on hand for the times when I need more convenience. 

My favorite recipes for canned tomatoes are: 

2. Coconut Milk 

Coconut milk is far and away the easier non-dairy milk to cook with. As a huge fan of South Asian cuisine – especially curry dishes – I use coconut milk in a lot of my dinners. Here are some of my favorite ways to use it: 

3. Pickled Foods, like Capers, Artichokes, & Olives

When you need to add a touch of acid, briny flavor, or salt to a dish, there’s nothing quite like pickled foods. I always keep jars of olives and capers in my fridge, as well as cans of artichoke hearts that I pick up at the grocery store (I usually opt for the Cento or Trader Joe’s brand). I love adding capers to fish dishes, olives to salads, and artichokes to chicken dishes – and hey, there are plenty of times when I eat them by themselves, too. Recipe-qise, these are my favorites: 

4. Tinned Fish

When I think of underrated ingredients, tinned fish comes to mind first. Tinned fish, like sardines, and anchovies are high in protein and sustainable! The same goes for canned salmon and tuna, assuming you’re buying them from sustainable fishing brands, like Safe Catch. Tinned fish can turn a side salad into a meal, and a side dish into a protein-packed entree. Don’t sleep on tinned fish!

5. Beans & Legumes

You knew this one was coming, right? The uncontested MVP of the pantry aisle, dried and canned beans and lentils last for a very long time, and they couldn’t be more versatile. Perfect for dips, soups, chilis, salads, and so much more, I recommend keeping a variety of whatever beans and legumes you like in your pantry – chickpeas, lentils, peas, white beans, black beans, the sky’s the limit. Here’s a list of the different types of beans available, and here are three recipes you can use them for: 

6. Grains

Rice (white and brown), farro, quinoa, and freekeh are a few of my favorite grains to keep on hand. All of them are very versatile, but especially rice – you can basically use it for anything! I like to make a batch of one for the week to eat alongside a piece of fish or chicken, or use it as a base for a salad or grain bowl. I’ve also been known to make a batch of healthier fried rice, packed with a lot of veggies and protein to make it a satisfying meal. 

7. Noodles

Whole wheat pasta, soba noodles, and rice noodles – I love them all. They certainly help make a meal more satisfying and tasty. 

8. Nuts and Seeds

Nuts and seeds are easy to overdo it on, because they’re calorie dense and individual portions are small. But eaten in moderation, they have a lot to offer us nutritionally! I store mine in the freezer to extend their shelf life, and I lean heavily on hemp hearts, pistachios, and pumpkin seeds which have a decent amount of fiber and protein. 

9. Oats 

Oats are technically a grain, yes, but I put them in a separate category because they have subtypes, too. Steel-cut oats, old-fashioned oats, quick oats, and oat bran are all delicious and healthy ingredients – which you choose depends on your personal preference. I tend to use steel-cut oats in my recipes, both sweet and savory.

10. Alternative Flours

Finally, we have flour alternatives – aka other flours besides all-purpose white flour. I like to use almond flour, chickpea flour, and buckwheat flour when I’m baking, as they’re easy to use as a substitute for flour in banana bread, pancakes, muffins, etc. I also don’t mind using whole wheat flour, as it has a bit more fiber and protein than regular flour. 

There you have it, my full list! With these ingredients on hand (and all of these top-notch recipes), you have a lot of what you need to whip up a healthy meal at home in no time. Happy cooking!

Xo,

Renata