Top Freezer and Pantry Staples + What to Make with Them

A lot of us right now are hearing that we need to stock our pantries and freezers to prepare for a potential quarantine, but what do you stock them with? How do you know what to have in your pantry to make easy meals without having a bunch of random ingredients? The good news is that this post is here to help. If you’re someone who generally grocery shops multiple times a week, I recommend that you start with my blog post How to Meal Plan before diving in below! In this post I list my top freezer and pantry staples that I can whip up into a meal anytime.

Top Pantry Staples

• Canned or dried beans: chickpeas, black beans, kidney beans are all great options. If you don’t eat meat, beans are going to be your best friend.
• Bread: bread also freezes very well, so you can grab a few loaves
• Canned tomatoes: easy to make into pasta sauce, crush on pizza, stir into soups, or add to slow cooker shredded chicken. I also like whole peeled tomatoes to make into salsa and fire-roasted diced tomatoes to add to chili.
• Pasta sauce: I think it goes without saying that pasta is one of the easiest meals you can whip up with pantry staples!
• Pasta: such a great and versatile option to make into a lot of different dinner options!
• Yeast: making your own bread and pizza dough can be done in a pinch with yeast!
• Baking staples: flour, oil, sugar, salt, baking powder, baking powder, salt, chocolate chips, spices and seasonings etc. A lot of you may already keep these on hand, but just in case I want to list them now. Baking is a great activity to do with your kids if you’re stuck at home, but it’s also a great option to whip up muffins, pancakes, bread, or pizza dough for meals.
• Grains: lentils, rice, and quinoa are all excellent grains that will keep for a long time and can be used in a variety of meals.
• Canned vegetables: I generally keep my freezer stocked with vegetables, but I also like pickled beets, green beans, and corn.
• Tortillas: maybe an odd thing to list as a staple, but I like to make enchiladas, tacos, and quesadillas. Like bread, these also keep well in the freezer.
• Tuna: I love tuna salad, tuna melts, and tuna on salads. Tuna for the win!
• Oatmeal: I keep both instant oatmeal and rolled oats on hand for breakfasts.
• Potatoes: They’re great in a lot of recipes and keep for a while. If they’re about to go bad, you can roast and freeze them.
• Onions and garlic: staples in a lot of recipes and they have a relatively long shelf life!
• “Kid food”: This may not apply to you, but if you have kids you know how many snacks they go through! Make sure you have your kids’ favorites on hand. Being stuck at home is hard for them too, and if I can have some of their favorite snacks on hand to make it easier I’m going to do that!
• Chicken bouillon: I keep homemade chicken broth in my freezer, but just in case I run out I also keep chicken and beef bouillon on hand. Better than Bouillon n is my favorite brand, but if you’re going to use it in recipes you may need to decrease the salt content of the recipes as bouillon will add salt.
• Peanut butter and jelly: Everyone love a good PB&J!

Top Freezer Staples

• Frozen vegetables: green beans, spinach, lima beans, peas, mixed vegetables, cauliflower, and broccoli are all good options to keep in your freezer. I prefer fresh green beans, broccoli, and cauliflower to roast, but these will work in a pinch. If you have the time, you can blanch and freeze fresh vegetables and then thaw and roast when you are ready to use them. To blanch, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add washed, chopped vegetables and boil for 1-2 minutes, then use a slotted spoon to transfer to a boil of ice water to cool completely. Transfer to a wire cooling rack or a baking dish lined with paper towels to drain, then put them in a freezer bag to keep in your freezer.
• Proteins: chicken breast and thighs, chicken sausage, ground beef, ground turkey, meatballs (homemade or pre-made). I also like to have frozen shredded chicken as well to add to quesadillas or enchiladas. Chicken sausage is a great addition to pasta, and I love serving meatballs either with pasta or with a bunch of veggies over rice.
• Butter: if you plan to do any baking, it’s likely you will need butter! Butter is also an essential ingredient in lot of recipes, so it’s good to keep it in the freezer.
• Pre-made meals: These do take up a lot of space so you don’t need a lot of options, but if you have some favorites to keep in your freezer it’s not a bad idea! Looking at you Trader Joe’s orange chicken and frozen burritos.
• Frozen fruit: If you aren’t able to get fresh produce, frozen fruit is great to make into smoothies. I also make sure I include frozen ripe bananas in this list becasue they can either be made into smoothies or thawed and made into muffins or banana bread.

Refrigerator Items

• While your perishable produce items won’t last as long as your pantry and freezer staples, as long as you can get to the grocery store it’s important to keep these items on hand as well. Fresh produce, milk, eggs, cheese, lemons (great way to add flavor to a dish) and yogurt are all items that I’m going to keep on hand as long as I’m able to get to the grocery store.

What Do I Cook?

Now that you have your refrigerator and pantry full of food, you’re probably wondering what to make with them! I’m listing some of my favorite recipes to make using a lot of the ingredients you’ll find listed above.

•  Slow Cooker Chicken Burrito Bowls
• Lentil Sloppy Joes
• Instant Pot Honey Garlic Chicken
• Roasted Red Pepper Goat Cheese Pasta
• Pasta with Peas, Pancetta, and Goat Cheese
• Banana Almond Butter Muffins
• Healthy Banana Bread
• Spinach Artichoke Chicken Pasta
• Chicken Parmesan Pasta
• Lasagna Soup
• Crock Pot Three Bean Chili
• Sweet Potato and Black Bean Enchiladas
• Instant Pot Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili
• Instant Pot Black Eyed Peas and Ham
• Pumpkin, Kale, and Chickpea Curry
• Cilantro, Chicken, and Rice Soup
• Slow Cooker White Bean Tortilla Soup
• Lemon Thyme Turkey Patties
• Lentil Sausage Soup
• Butternut Squash, Carrot, and Coconut Soup
• Tomato and White Bean Soup
• Crock Pot French Onion Soup
• Biscuit-Topped Chicken Pot Pie
• Vegetarian Shepherds Pie 
• Creamy Chicken Piccata
• Turkey Teriyaki Meatballs
• Slow Cooker Italian Beef
• Instant Pot Buffalo Shredded Chicken
• Swedish Meatballs
• Chicken Parmesan Meatball Skillet

There are also a lot of “non-recipes” that you can make as I like to call them. I like to serve the teriyaki meatballs that I buy from Costco with roasted vegetables and rice. Chicken sausage can be sliced and browned, then mixed with pasta and marinara sauce with frozen/thawed spinach mixed in. You can roast sweet potatoes, add in a package of frozen peppers and onions, and top the whole skillet with a few fried eggs for a meal that’s great anytime. A cup or two of cooked quinoa can be mixed with canned tomatoes, canned corn, and black beans and seasoned with a taco blend. A pasta dish is a great way to use up any remaining produce on hand that’s about to go bad.

While the list of my top freezer and pantry staples isn’t going to include every single ingredient in these recipes, it is a great list to get you started. These soups, pastas, and meals are all great recipes that use pantry and freezer staples as a base and can help you to be creative with the ingredients that you do have on hand! I hope that this post helps you stock your pantry and freezer to keep your meals easy even when you can’t get to the grocery store!

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