Kitchen Ingredient & Staples — For Times Beyond COVID-19
2 min readMar 26, 2020
These are all of the things I keep in my kitchen, not saying you need to have every single item but I guarantee if you were stuck in an apocalypse or just overworked and hungry on a Friday night; you can make something delicious.
Let’s break it down by area of the kitchen to make things a little easier. Note: this isn’t just a list of shelf stable ingredients!
Dry Pantry
- Pasta — Bucatini, farfalle, rigatoni
- Canned anchovies — Ortiz, Cento, Bellino
- Canned tomatoes — Whole in sauce
- Tomato paste — In tubes not the stupid cans
- Olive oil — Californian, Italian or French
- Bread crumbs, panko
- Bread loaf — Country, seasame, pain de mile
- Jams or preserves
- Boullion cubes
- Stock — Beef or chicken, always low sodium
- Bread flour
- Whole wheat flour
Cheese and Cold Cuts Drawer
- Parmesan, wedge
- Pecorino Romano, wedge
- An aged cheese of your choice — L’amuse, Manchego
- A soft cheese of your choice — Jasper Hill, Humbolt Fog
Refrigerator Side Door
- Hot sauces — Crystal, Sriracha and/or piri piri
- Butter, unsalted
- Soy sauce
- Fish sauce
- Chili crisp — Lao Gan Ma, S&B Chili Crisp, Chili Crunch
- Pickles — Cornichons, bread & butter
- Miso, red or ‘country-style’
Main Refrigerator Shelves
- Eggs
- Whole milk
- Soft, spreadable cheese — Creamed or ricotta
- Dry white wine
- Light-bodied red wine
Fruit & Vegetable Basket
- Lemons
- Avocados
- Alliums — Garlic, shallot, onions (red and white)
- Herbs — Parsley, scallions or dill
Spice Rack
- Aleppo pepper
- Whole black peppercorns
- Berbere
- Za’atar
- Salt, kosher
- Salt, flakey
- Sweet paprika
- Bay leaves
- Demerara sugar
Freezer
- Chicken thighs
- Sausage — Italian, Chorizo, Bratwurst
- Bone broth
- Bone-in pork chops
- Ground beef or pork
Once you have your baseline — get to cooking. Below are some simple recipes for inspiration using your newly outfitted kitchen:
