What's In My Personal Capsule Pantry

Steal the list

Photo by Thomas Cateau on Unsplash

Everyone’s Capsule Pantry will look different.

The basic rules to make one for yourself are:

• Don’t have many different ingredients when one or two will do (most of us don’t for instance need 5 different types of dried pasta).

• As much as possible, each ingredient will work with the other ingredients. They are designed to complement each other. Therefore, much like a capsule wardrobe, nothing will languish in the back of the cupboards never to be used.

• Nothing pre-packaged here. We’re talking ingredients, not ready meals.

• A Capsule Pantry should be flexible and adaptable to what you love to eat. Love Asian food? Include Asian ingredients. Ditto Mexico, African, Italian, Finnish, French…the list goes on.

The following list is my personal Capsule Pantry. These ingredients form the basis of every recipe I send out so I always suggest it as a good starting point for your own.

Follow something similar to the below and you have the basis for recipes from myriad cultures including Italian, British, American, Greek, Chinese, Turkish, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Lebanese, and Georgian (and more).

I’ll show you how.

Check out the Capsule Pantry Index to see how far you can stretch these ingredients.

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Dried goods

• Flour - strong white (GF alt. - gluten-free white flour like this one)

• Long grain rice

• Risotto rice

• Red lentils

• Polenta

• Almonds (NF alt. - seeds like pumpkin or sunflower)

• Walnuts (NF alt - see above)

• Egg Noodles (GF alt. - rice noodles)

• Dried pasta (GF alt. - gluten-free pasta)

• Good quality olive oil

• Cooking olive oil

• Stock cubes

• White sugar

• Dried yeast

Fridge

• Plain yogurt (DF alt. - your favorite dairy-free yogurt)

• Parmesan cheese (DF alt - your favorite vegan cheese)

• Eggs

• Chorizo

• Tomatoes

• Bell peppers

• Lemons

• Cucumbers

• Ginger

• White onions

• Garlic

• Cheddar cheese

• Milk

• Potatoes

• Butter

• Parsley

• Coriander

Canned goods

• Passata / chopped tomatoes

• Peanut butter

• Tahini

• Chickpeas

• White beans

Dried herbs & spices

• Oregano

• Mint

• Dill

• Ground cumin

• Fennel seeds

• Smoked paprika

• Chili flakes (my go-to is both spicy and sweet Turkish pul biber. I also always have a big bag of Korean Gochugaru for Kimchi purposes)

• Sea salt

• Black peppercorns

• Dried Mexican chillies like Ancho and Chipotle

Condiments

• Light soy sauce

• Dark soy sauce

• Hot sauce

• Toasted sesame oil

• Mustard

• Good quality vinegar (sherry, white wine or balsamic are great)

Freezer

• Peas

• Broad beans

• Sweetcorn

And a few fresh extras that often hang out in the fridge

• Chicken thighs

• Ground beef

• Ground pork

• Pork shoulder

• Scallions / spring onions

• Gherkins and other pickles

• Creme fraiche or soured cream

• White Cabbage

• Rocket / arugula

• Carrots