How to stock a healthy pantry like a nutritionist

Having a well- stocked pantry full of healthy ingredients is the key to creating healthy meals at home quickly and easily. The ingredients listed below are staples that I use almost daily and are readily available at your local supermarket. No fancy superfood powders here and there’s also no need to go out of your way to visit a health food store to find some obscure ingredients that you need to sell a kidney for!

A good quality olive oil is an essential pantry staple that I use every day. I use it in cooking and also to make healthy salad dressing by adding it to lemon juice and tahini. It’s so versatile and loaded with essential fatty acids and antioxidants that are beneficial to our overall health.

Dried herbs and spices

While I love using fresh herbs when cooking, dried herbs and spices are a convenient way to add flavour to any meal as well. Some of my favourite herbs and spices to use in savoury dishes are cumin, paprika, harissa, oregano and zaatar. I also love adding cinnamon, vanilla, turmeric and ginger to sweet dishes too.

Healthy grains

There are so many nutritious grain options to choose from these days and I love using them in my meals. Whether it’s using oats or quinoa to make porridge for breakfast or adding brown rice, pasta or couscous at dinner time, using them is a great way to bulk up meals and provides a healthy source of carbohydrates.

Assorted flours

Whether it’s regular plain flour or gluten free alternatives like almond meal or buckwheat flour, I always keep a few different types in the pantry for when I do some baking.

Tinned vegetables and legumes

There are so many tinned products you can use to make affordable dishes for lunch or dinner. I love using lentils, chickpeas, corn and kidney beans in Mexican dishes for a meat free option or adding them to a pasta dish to make it more nutritious.

Tinned coconut milk

I love adding tinned coconut milk into meals like curries and soups or using it to make coconut rice. It’s a great, cost effective way to include more fats and flavour to your meals.

Nuts and seeds

My pantry and fridge is always full of nuts and seeds. They are a great source of healthy fats as well as high in many vitamins and minerals. You can use them in baking, to add crunch to a main meal, to create your own nut butters or just as a snack.

Nut butters

These are absolute essentials in my pantry. I always have peanut butter on hand and then occasionally have other varieties like almond, cashew, hazelnut, macadamia or pistachio. They are really simple to make as well.

Honey and maple syrup

I use these a lot in baking to add sweetness as well as adding to them on top of my breakfast meals like porridge or pancakes.

Herbal tea

I love tea so much I literally have a cupboard dedicated to just tea. Any flavour you can think of I’ll most likely have it! Some of my favourites are chamomile, peppermint and chai.