There will be times when we are hungry, but we are either too lazy or too busy to go grocery shopping for fresh ingredients.
At the same time, we also don’t want to spend unnecessarily on takeaway food.
Therefore, we need to always have easy-to-store and easy-to-cook ingredients in our kitchen. But they shouldn’t be a two-minute instant noodles or canned of food loaded with high fat, high salt or high sugar.
Below are the top 14 must-have ingredients for any kitchen:
1. Eggs
Not only full of nutrition and delicious but also quick and simple to cook. Here are some easy egg recipes.
2. Cheese
Cheese can be eaten by itself, or mix with eggs, pasta, and other ingredients. Not only delicious, but it’s also packed with essential nutrients such as calcium and protein. However, cheese is also packed with high saturated fat and salt. Eating too much could lead to high cholesterol and high blood pressure, increasing your risk of cardiovascular disease. Here are some easy cheese recipes.
3. Dried beans
Examples of dried beans are chickpeas, black adzuki beans, soybeans, mung beans, red beans, and cannellini beans. They’re easy to store and to cook, you just need to soak them in water for at least 4 hours before cooking them. I normally soak them overnight, which is approximately 8-10 hours. They’re a good source of protein and cooking them are simple. Here are some ideas.
4. Onions
You can live without onions, of course. But almost all meals taste more delicious when there are onions in them.
5. Garlic
Similar to onions, you can always exclude garlic from your meals but their aroma is undeniably delicious when included in most meals.
6. Tomatoes
Either canned or fresh, tomatoes are a great addition to your food, especially when combined with oil, onions, garlic, cheese and pasta or bread. Here are some easy recipes using tomatoes.
7. Butter
This is essential for cooking, baking, or just as a simple spread when eating pancakes, bread, etc.
8. Cooking oil
Cooking oil is essential to stir-fry, deep-fry, baking, grilling, and broiling. Always choose healthy cooking oil (e.g. olive oil, sunflower oil, peanut oil, corn oil) so you don’t end up spending money to restore your health. Also, read tips for cooking with healthy oils.
9. Rice
Rice is suitable for those who want gluten-free meals. Cooking it is easy, just add water, bring to boil and simmer for around 18 minutes. For 1 cup of long-grain rice, cook it with 2 cups of water. Here is how to cook perfect rice.
10. Pasta
Pasta includes, but not limited to Penne, Fettuccine, Spaghetti, Linguine, and Farfalle. Cooking them is as simple as boiling them in the water with a pinch of salt for 11-12 minutes. Here are some quick, simple recipes.
11. All-purpose Flour
You can make many things with all-purpose flour: bread, pancakes, cookies, muffins, scones, pizza, etc.
12. Milk
Unless you’re lactose intolerant, milk is an essential ingredient for cooking and baking, especially desserts, like milk pudding, simple Polish cake, cornstarch caramel delight, or flourless banana cake.
13. Sweetener
If you like sweets, then you must keep sugar in your pantry as it’s one of the important ingredients for any desserts. If you avoid sugar, keep an alternative like honey, maple syrup, agave syrup, or stevia.
14. The Essentials – Spice Rack
These are the essentials you should always have in your spice rack:
Salt
Pepper
Curry powder
Chilli powder
Bay leaves
Dried parsley
Dried basil
Paprika
Oregano
Cumin
Cinnamon
Garlic powder
Onion powder
