We often get asked for a list of ingredients to have at home when wanting to eat vegan and cook lots of tasty dishes. At first, we thought it was unnecessary, as we used to do our daily shopping and barely have anything to cook at home.
But for the last few months, we've changed our consumption habits a bit and questioned our waste and food budget. Here, in Montreal, food is a bit more expensive than in France, even being vegan (of course, it's much worse for those who want to buy meat, cheese, etc.). So we realized that by always having the basic ingredients to cook a meal, we did less shopping (logical, right?) and we were less likely to splurge on packaged and "expensive" products such as mock meats or any ready-made stuff, which is usually more expensive than raw products.
As you'll see, we still use some things in jars, bottles, or cans, like coconut milk or tomato paste, especially for lazy evenings.
Actually, having a full fridge and pantry forces us to cook with what we have and prevents us from indulging in our little cravings.
Of course, this doesn't mean that we eat things we don't want to eat, and it doesn't prevent us from stopping by the grocery store in the evening to complete the day's recipe... But we've noticed that by always having the basic ingredients at home, it's really motivating to start cooking :)
This list is ours, so our essentials may not necessarily be yours (like Guérande fleur de sel or maple syrup which are my Nantes-Quebecois thing haha ;) ) but it can give you an idea.
In our pantry, we often have:
- Pasta, especially spaghetti,
- Grains (dry): brown or basmati rice and quinoa,
- Legumes (red and black beans, coral lentils, and chickpeas mainly, as they are our favorites) in dry form, but we also often buy them canned as we still struggle to remember to soak them the day before... and it's faster, especially ;)
- Nuts for salads, vegan cheese, appetizers, homemade granola, or pastries: hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews, pecans... (we stopped buying almonds as their production has a very high environmental impact right now),
- Spices: paprika, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, curry, cumin, cinnamon, Cajun seasoning, and jerk seasoning for our favorites,
- Coconut oil,
- Neutral oil (sunflower, canola...),
- Olive oil and toasted sesame oil,
- Apple cider vinegar (and sometimes balsamic vinegar),
- Canned coconut milk,
- Soy cream,
- Plant-based milk (mainly soy),
- Jars or cans of diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, tomato puree...,
- Tomato paste in small cans,
- Flour (all-purpose and buckwheat are our favorites),
- Oat flakes (for homemade granola),
- Sugar (white, blond, brown... depending on the usage),
- Icing sugar (only for certain pastries),
- Baking powder and baking soda,
- Shredded coconut,
- Baking chocolate,
- Vanilla,
- Yeast flakes (nutritional yeast for Quebecois),
- Breadcrumbs,
- Salt, coarse salt, Guérande fleur de sel, and pepper.
And of course, vegetables that are best stored at room temperature:
- Onions (the basics),
- Garlic (yes, we're getting used to it),
- Potatoes.
On our countertop, we also have:
- Bananas,
- Fruits depending on the season (at least apples and a few lemons),
- Squashes depending on the season,
- Sweet potatoes.
In our fridge, we often have:
- Veggies that need to be stored cool,
- Fruits that need to be stored cool,
- Fresh herbs,
- Tofu,
- Homemade apple butter and/or homemade applesauce,
- Homemade vegetable broth,
- Soy sauce or tamari,
- Maple syrup, of course,
- Vegetable margarine (we use it less and less but it's helpful for some pastry creams),
- Mustard,
- Cashew yogurt,
- Nut butter (mainly sesame and hazelnut),
- Vegan mayo and very industrial ketchup ;)
In our freezer, we sometimes have:
- Homemade tomato sauce jars from last summer,
- Homemade pesto cubes from last summer,
- Frozen fruits (pineapple and blueberries, mainly for smoothies but also for muffins, for example),
- Veggie scraps to make our next broth.