“I have decided to incorporate more plant-based meals into my daily menu and cook more at home, but how do I start?!” …

Right, so you have decided that today is the day! No more putting it off! You will start implementing more plant-based meals into your daily menu! You search the internet for a while, find what seems an easy-enough recipe, you roll-up your sleeves and start reading the ingredients list … three minutes later you are in distress because you do not own 75% of the ingredients (not to mention that you probably have not even heard of a couple of them), which sends you over the edge and decide that this is way too complicated and not worth the stress. Sounds familiar? Well, at least that was me in the beginning and I think that there may be other people out there that feel similarly. Searching for unknown-to-me-until-then products was getting a little annoying and I wished that there was a list of ingredients that would tell me all the ingredients I will need, so I could buy everything at once (even if I had no use for it exactly at that moment - arrowroot? do not worry, you will use it sooner rather than later :)). Which is the reason why I decided to compile a list of all needed ingredients to help other souls like me that are starting out on this wonderful journey.

I am not going to lie to you, when you decide to start cooking more plant-based meals there will be an adjustment period for both you and your pantry. It is important to remember that once you have all the essential ingredients handy, you will be able to prepare any meal you want without needing to shop at three different stores in one day. I just want to point out that this list does not include any produce, there will be a whole other post dedicated to {seasonal} fruits and vegetables.

A few pointers on buying and storing pantry ingredients:

It was easiest for me to buy everything online at once (I had just moved across the ocean and needed to fully stock my pantry) and was able to take advantage of some promotions. Depending on where you live, you can either shop online, visit your local nature shops, markets, etc. Choose what works best for you to acquire all the ingredients.
I find using glass jars easiest for storing all the dry ingredients - I use a combination of jars I already have (from pasta sauces, pickles, etc. with the label removed) and IKEA jars (or if you are in the U.S. and want to go one step fancier go wild in the Container store, just be sure to give yourself a limit on spending :)) I typically display the fancier jars on my shelves and the rest are in my pantry - it’s the little things in life, am I right?!
- slight detour to share with you the easiest way to remove a label from a jar, cap, container, etc. - mix equal parts oil and baking soda (it will be a paste-like consistency), apply to the label, let sit for about five minutes and scrape off with something flat and a paper towel. If it is a particularly stubborn label, repeat the process again and after that you should have a nice clean jar!
I bought most of the spices online as well, but later on discovered specialty shops selling all kinds of spices at even better prices. Again, depending on where you live, see what works best for you. Some of the larger cities have different neighborhoods with such gem shops - I remember the Indian stores in NYC, filled with all sort of spices, just amazing.
Same thing applies to the nuts and seeds - look for local stores, or manufacturers, but if you cannot find any around you then online is always an option.
I never find everything in one store, no matter where I am, so I would always have to visit at least two different stores to get all needed weekly ingredients. My advice to you is to really get to know your local stores, pay attention to the variety of products and their prices (you would be surprised how the same product can have totally different prices in different stores).

To some of you the written above can be super basic information, but I am just sharing what I went through and hoping that someone just starting off on their cooking journey may find it helpful.

And so without further ado, I offer you the list of essential ingredients for your pantry, so you can prepare any recipe with ease.

I hope you find it useful!