My Plant Based Pantry Staples

Herbs and Seasonings:

  I have always liked using various herbs and seasonings while I cook, and here are some of my everyday favorites that are commonly used in vegan recipes. Let me know in the comments below what your pantry staples are and remember to subscribe to the weekly newsletter.

1.      Turmeric

2.      Curry Masala

3.      Chili powder

4.      Paprika

5.      Himalayan Sea Salt- Fine and Course

6.      Peppercorn grinder

7.      Trader Joe’s Everything but the Bagel Seasoning

8.      TJ’s Everything but the Leftovers Seasoning- Fall Item

9.      TJ’s Onion Salt

10.  TJ’s Furikake

11.  TJ’s Italian Style Soffritto Seasoning Blend

12.   TJ’s BBQ Rub and Seasoning with Coffee and Garlic- This is a limited buy around the Summer

13.   TJ’s South African Smoke Seasoning Blend- Limited Buy and I stock up every year. Its great on Ramen

14.   TJ’s Smoked Ghost Chilies- Limited buy around Summer

15.   TJ’s 21 Seasoning Salute

16.   TJ’s Chile Lime Seasoning Blend- This is great on Jicama sticks, mango, coconut, and pineapple to name a few things.

17.   TJ’s Mushroom and Company Multipurpose Umami Seasoning Blend

18.   TJ’s Pumpkin Pie Spice- It’s seasonal, so buy a couple when you find it to last you awhile

19.  Garlic powder

20.   TJ’s Black Truffle Powder Seasoning- Also seasonal but I love black truffle anything, so I always have it. They used to have a sea salt too, but it was discontinued. I may still have some in my pantry. 😊.

21.   TJ’s Herb de Province- Great price and comes in a glass jar, but it’s seasonal. Otherwise, you can mix Oregano, Basil, Thyme, or Rosemary together.

22.  Allspice

23.  Bay Leaves

24.  Celery salt

25.  Dill

26.  Dry Mustard

27.  Ginger

28.   Cloves (Ground and Whole)

29.  Ground Nutmeg

30.  Onion powder

31.  Red Pepper flakes

32.   Nutritional Yeast- It took me some time to get used to the taste but now I love it. It is a great source of B-12 and is used as a cheese replacement in recipes.

33.   Savory Spice Blend- This is a recipe from the How Not to Die Cookbook by Dr. Greger. You’ll see me use this a lot in my recipes. This is a great seasoning mix that is salt-free and has some great health benefits.  

Flours:

1.      Whole Wheat Pastry

2.      Oat

3.      Almond

4.      All-Purpose

5.      Arrowroot Powder

6.      Tapioca

Sweeteners:

Bees go through a great deal of stress and abuse to make the amount of honey needed to keep up with our demand. They also fill commercial honey with syrup and other things to stretch batches farther. They seem to slip in honey into a lot of things that original recipes never needed (bread for example). Another thing to look for on labels and in recipes is sugar. Refined sugar from sugar cane, is filtered through a bone char process, (gross right?) so you must be careful when reading labels. Companies have grown more aware of their wording and will call sugar something different (I see you Cane Crystals) so you might not catch it. Sugar of any kind should be in moderation like everything else, but I’d rather use a naturally sourced sweetener if needed. I buy all my sweeteners from Trader Joe’s because they have great prices and almost everything is organic.

1.      Organic Maple Syrup- I love TJ’s Bourbon Maple Syrup that comes out around the holidays.

2.      Organic Molasses

3.      Raw Agave

4.      Organic Cane Sugar

5.      Organic Coconut Sugar

6.      Medjool Dates-I keep these in the fridge after I open them to keep them fresh longer.

Oils and Vinegars:

While oils are not Whole Foods Plant Based (WFPB) compliant, I do like to use them from time to time to cook.

1.      Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2.      Organic Safflower Oil

3.      Toasted Sesame Oil

4.      Organic Cold-Pressed Coconut Oil

5.      Red Wine Vinegar

6.      Balsamic Vinegar

7.      Raw Apple Cider Vinegar

8.      White Wine Vinegar

9.      Soy Sauce

10.  Tamari Gluten-Free Soy Sauce

Granola Etc.:     

1.      Shredded Coconut

2.      Roasted Cocoa Nibs

3.      Goji Berries

4.      Homemade granola- I’ll share the recipe later.

5.      Joi Organic Almond, Oat, and Cashew Nut Base- I talk about them in various spots on my blog because they are the best. Milk in seconds whenever you need it and the base is shelf stable for months. Use PLANTBASEDLIVIN at checkout for 10% off.

Legumes/Beans Etc.:

1.      Black Beans

2.      Kidney Beans

3.      Pinto Beans

4.      Edamame

5.      Chickpeas

6.      Red Lentils- These are what I normally have, but any are good.

7.      TJ’s Stuffed Dolmas- They taste like the ones you would get at an olive bar at a fraction of the cost.

8.      Hatch Green Chile- It’s the New Mexican in me that needs to have this on hand at all times. I love the 505 Southwestern brand. They make a killer green chile enchilada sauce too.

Grains:

1.      Couscous

2.      Quinoa

3.      Farro

4.      Brown Rice Pastas

5.      Veggie Pastas-TJ’s has a great black bean pasta and red kidney bean pasta that tastes like regular pasta. Banza brand pasta makes all of theirs out of chickpeas.

6.      Rolled, Old-Fashioned Oats

7.      Short grain brown rice

8.      Wild brown rice

9.      Ramen noodles and Lo Mein noodles- I like keeping both on hand because they make easy and delicious meals with all the other staples I usually have on hand.

Snacks:

Although a lot of vegan snacks are not the healthiest, (aka Oreos) you only live once but moderation is key. I try and only have one or two occasional snacks on hand, to avoid eating those over the fruits and veggies I normally snack on.

1.      Earth Balance Cheddar Flavored Squares- They are the vegan twin sister of Cheese Nips and I am obsessed. I hardly ever buy them because I have such a hard time not eating the box in one sitting. Great for road trip snacking.

2.      Trader Joe’s Dill Pickle Popcorn- Sounds weird, but it is oddly addicting. Don’t knock it till you try it.

3.      TJ’s Truffle Potato Chips-Yes, they are as delicious as they sound, and I was happy to see them go from a seasonal item, to full time.

4.      TJ’s Truffle Marcona Almonds- They are the priciest nuts at TJ’s for the packaging, but they are a great splurge and totally worth it.

5.      TJ’s Freeze-Dried fruit-The mangos and blueberries are my favorite, but they have other flavors as well.

6.      Kale Chips-They sound scarier than they really are, and TJ’s has some tasty cheap ones.

7.      Coconut Chips- Another great road trip snack and comes in lots of good flavors.

8.      Trail Mix- TJ’s makes a handful of varieties, but I like making my own and it’s easy.

9.      Lenny and Larry’s Complete Cookies- Everyone I have tried have been delicious and for being a cookie, they are somewhat healthy for you.

10.   TJ’s Dark Chocolate SunButter Cups- The vegan twin sister of Reese’s cups and I am obsessed.

11.   Kelly’s Croutons- I have their Gourmet Cheezy Garlic croutons and they go great on any salad or soup.

12.   Annie’s Brand- They have a variety of vegan products including tasty mac and cheese like you ate as a kid, fruit snacks without animal gelatin, cookies, and saltines.

13.   Amy’s Kitchen- They like Annie’s have a great variety of vegan goodies from a large variety of soups to chocolate treats.

14.   Scandinavian Swimmers- Trader Joe’s version of Swedish Fish but so much better. Another great road trip snack.

15.   Trader Joe’s Joe-Joes- TJ’s version of Oreos and they have fun funky flavors too.