Essentials for Stocking a Healthy Kitchen
Use this guide to make sure your kitchen has all the items you’ll need for healthy snacking and quick, easy-to-cook
Use this guide to make sure your kitchen has all the items you’ll need for healthy snacking and quick, easy-to-cook meals. Here we list some of the everyday staples, the basic provisions you should have on hand to be sure you can always put together a meal from a well-stocked pantry and refrigerator.
In the pantry
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Cocoa powder, unsweetened
- Cornstarch
- Flours whole-wheat and all-purpose
- Sugars white and brown
- Vanilla extract
- Vinegars balsamic, red wine
- Oils olive, canola, sesame
- Cooking spray
- Peanut butter*
- Broth chicken or vegetable, canned*
- Soups mushroom, minestrone, or vegetable;canned*
- Tomatoes, canned*
- Tomato sauce*
- Tuna, canned
- Herbs, dried
- Italian spices, dried
- Mushrooms, dried
Condiments
- Salt and pepper
- Ketchup*
- Mayonnaise, reduced-fat*
- Mustards* Dijon, yellow
- Soy sauce
- Hot sauce
- Pickles and pickle relish*
- Capers*
- Olives*
Cereals, grains, and beans
- Cereal ready-to-eat, whole-grain
- Oatmeal
- Couscous
- Legumes (kidney beans, chickpeas, black beans, etc.), canned or dried
- Pasta
- Rice brown and white
Snacks
- Graham crackers
- Nuts, mixed
- Popcorn kernels
- Whole-grain snacks like crackers and pretzels
Fruits and vegetables
- Fruit, canned in juice
- Fruit, assorted fresh
- Raisins
- Garlic, fresh
- Onions
- Potatoes baking or roasting, and sweet potatoes or yams
- Celery
- Bell peppers, green or red
In the refrigerator
- Butter
- Cheeses for grating, such as Parmesan
- Eggs
- Milk low-fat or nonfat
- Yogurt, plain low-fat or nonfat
In the freezer
- Bagels mini or small (2 ounces)
- Breads whole wheat and pita
- Berries and other fruit, frozen
- Fruit sorbet or fruit/juice pops
- Beef or chicken bones for homemade stock
- Chicken breasts, individually portioned
- Ground turkey or lean ground beef
- Meatless burgers
- Pizza crust, frozen
- Prepared dinners reduced-calorie, frozen
- Vegetables, frozen
Miscellaneous
- Carbonated water
- Vegetable juices
- Sugar-free soda
- Iced tea, unsweetened
- Evaporated skim milk, canned
- Herbs, fresh
- Tomato salsa
- Green chilies, canned
- Tortillas corn and flour, small
*These items may need to be refrigerated after you’ve opened them.