75 Healthy Pantry Recipes

Having a well stocked pantry is always a good idea in order to whip up a meal at a moment’s notice, but it’s an absolute necessity right now with many of us living with a shelter in place.

I’m hopeful that this round up of healthy pantry recipes will be beneficial to you.  Recipes include healthy options for breakfast, snacks, soups and chili, dinner, and DIY recipes for the fridge and freezer.   

Almost all recipes can be easily customized for vegetarian, dairy free and gluten free diets.

Pantry Essentials

A well stocked pantry should include refrigerator ingredients, freezer ingredients, dry goods, condiments, spices and flavorings, baking essentials, and long  lasting produce. 

Choose your favorite items and purchase in bulk depending on the number of people in your family, or just enough to have on hand to last for 1-2 weeks.

Check out the Shelf Life Chart of Pantry Foods to see how long most items generally last.  Some specialty items like whole wheat and almond flours keep for only 1-3 months, so store in the refrigerator after opening to extend the shelf life.

Always check the expiration dates on your pantry items to be sure that they’re ok to use.

Refrigerator ingredients

Stock the refrigerator with enough ingredients to last for about 2 weeks if possible.

• Milk (dairy or non dairy) 
• Butter
• Eggs
• Cheese (sliced, grated, parmesan, feta, goat, ricotta, fresh mozzarella)
• Cream cheese
• Yogurt (plain Greek, non dairy, etc.)

Freezer ingredients

Stock the freezer with your family’s favorite sources of protein, breads, vegetables and fruits. 

• Meats, including a variety of beef, chicken, pork, bacon and ground meats
• Fish or shrimp
• Frozen fruits and vegetables
• Bread (sandwich, burger and hot dog buns)
• Tortillas (flour and/or corn)
• Nuts (I like to buy in bulk and freeze)
• Ginger root (freeze in plastic and grate peel and all!)

Long lasting produce

The produce below will keep refrigerated, wrapped in plastic for up to 2 weeks.  Keep in mind that they will lose nutritional value the longer they are stored.  Remember, most produce may be prepped and frozen!

• Apples
• Beets
• Cabbage 
• Carrots
• Celery
• Citrus (oranges, lemon, limes)
• Leeks
• Parsnips
• Turnips

The following items can keep for a few weeks to a month stored in the pantry.

• Potatoes (russets, gold and sweet potatoes)
• Onions
• Garlic
• Winter squash such as spaghetti, pumpkin, acorn, butternut, delicata and kabocha will keep in a cool, dark place for up to 2 months.

See How to Store Fruits and Vegetables for more information on how to store various types of produce and how long they’ll keep.

Dry goods

• Oats (old fashioned, steel cut, etc.)
• Rice (white, brown or wild)
• Pasta
• Quinoa
• Grains such as farro and barley
• Beans and lentils (dry and/or canned)
• Tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes and diced tomatoes
• Stock (chicken, vegetable or beef)
• Canned wild salmon and tuna
• Canned fruits such as applesauce and pineapple
• Purées such as pumpkin, sweet potato and butternut squash
• Canned vegetables (artichoke hearts, roasted bell peppers, chilies, etc.)
• Coconut milk
• Seeds (pumpkin, chia, sunflower, etc.)

Condiments

• Oil (olive, coconut, avocado, sesame, etc.)
• Vinegar (apple cider, balsamic, rice wine, red wine, etc.)
• Nut butter or sun butter
• Jam
• Maple syrup and/or Honey
• Tahini
• Ketchup
• Mustard (regular, dijon)
• Mayonnaise
• Pickles/relish
• Dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, dates, apricots, figs, etc.)
• Sun dried tomatoes
• Olives
• Capers 
• Breadcrumbs (gluten free or regular)

Spices and flavorings

• Salt and pepper
• Dried herbs, such as thyme, basil, oregano, rosemary, bay leaf, parsley, Italian seasoning, etc.)
• Spices (chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, cinnamon, turmeric, curry, red pepper flakes, etc.)
• Tomato paste
• Worcestershire sauce
• Hot sauce
• Soy sauce (substitute with reduced sodium soy, coconut aminos for keto and Whole30, and tamari for gluten free)
• Red and/or green curry paste
• Fish sauce
• Chili sauce
• Extracts such as vanilla, lemon and peppermint

Baking essentials

Whole wheat and almond flours should be refrigerated once they’re opened as they can go rancid after a while.  They typically keep for up to 3 months in the fridge.

• Flour (all purpose, whole wheat)
• Gluten free flour (1 to 1, almond, oat, buckwheat, teff, brown rice, sweet rice, arrowroot starch, tapioca starch)
• Cornmeal
• Sugar (granulated, brown, confectioner’s, coconut sugar, sugar substitute)
• Molasses
• Baking powder
• Baking soda
• Active dry yeast
• Cocoa powder
• Chocolate chips (dark, semi-sweet and white)
• Coconut
• Sweetened condensed milk
• Evaporated milk
• Cornstarch

I’m in no way suggesting that you stock all of these items — just your favorite or what you think you’ll use. 

Replenish your stock as needed and you will always have the ability to prepare healthy pantry recipes that are supplemented with whatever fresh produce that you have on hand.  

Healthy Pantry Recipes

There is a great variety of pantry recipes below that will be easy to prepare with the pantry essentials outlined above.  These recipes cover breakfast, snacks, dinners, soups and chili, and DIY recipes.

Each recipe includes suggested substitutions and tips.

Breakfast

These pantry breakfast recipes are all extremely customizable with make ahead options and most are freezer friendly!

• Apple cinnamon steel cut oats.  If no fresh apples are on hand, add about 1 cup of applesauce or use any fresh or frozen fruit.
• Baked oatmeal.  Customize with any fresh or frozen fruit that you have on hand, and omit crisp topping if desired.
• Banana bread.  Make this Pumpkin bread recipe if you don’t have bananas!
• Blueberry overnight oats.  Use frozen blueberries or whatever type of fruit you have.
• Carrot cake oatmeal muffins.  
• Crustless quiche.  Add meat if desired, and use any fresh or frozen veggies that you have.
• Bacon and egg cups.  If no bacon, omit it and add any cooked meat or veggies to the bottom of the muffin tin before adding egg.
• Greek yogurt pancakes.  No Greek yogurt?  Replace with milk or whatever yogurt you have on hand.
• Oat flour waffles.  Freezer friendly and great with any fruit.
• Peanut butter granola.  Substitute the peanut butter with your favorite nut butter!
• Pumpkin waffles.  Freezer friendly!
• Spinach feta frittata.  Use frozen spinach in place of fresh, and customize with whatever you have in the fridge.

Snacks

These pantry snack recipes are easy to make and nutrient dense to satisfy you in between meals. 

• Blueberry banana smoothie.  Peel, chop and freeze ripe banana for smoothies!
• Fruit on the Bottom Yogurt Cups.  Use any type of fresh or frozen fruit on hand for the fruit sauce.
• White bean hummus.  Customizable with your favorite beans, herbs, citrus and spices. 
• Roasted nuts.  Use any mix of nuts and customize with your favorite herbs and spices.
• No bake peanut butter oatmeal bars.  Use your favorite nut butter!
• Snack cake.  Substitute blackberries with fresh or frozen fruit on hand.  

DIY’s for the fridge and freezer

Prepare these easy homemade recipes in advance and store in the fridge and freezer for emergencies!

• Homemade BBQ sauce
• Chia jam
• Homemade Chicken stock
• Red enchilada sauce
• Green enchilada sauce
• Instant pot black beans
• Oven roasted cherry tomatoes
• Homemade marinara sauce
• How to make pesto sauce
• Homemade meat sauce
• Homemade vegetable stock

Main dishes

This list of pantry dinner recipes is comprised of easy recipes that are easily customizable.  Most are freezer friendly!

• Baked turkey meatballs.  Serve with pasta or veggie noodles.
• Broccoli rice casserole 
• Butternut squash quinoa salad.  Customizable with whatever vegetables you have on hand!
• Crockpot chicken rice.  Use brown or wild rice in place of the wild rice blend.
• Crispy salmon cakes.  Also great with canned tuna!
• Farfalle pasta.  Serve with any protein and fresh or frozen vegetables that you have on hand.
• Instant pot chicken and rice
• Mexican quinoa (one pot)
• Mexican rice casserole.  Sub chicken with ground meat or omit altogether.
• Mexican tortilla casserole.  Sub ground turkey with any ground meat.
• One pot ground beef stroganoff.
• One pot pasta primavera
• Pumpkin curry.  Use canned pumpkin if desired and whatever vegetables you have.
• Pumpkin risotto.  Use canned or fresh pumpkin.
• Red pepper pasta.  Substitute the sausage with any protein that have on hand.
• Stove top mac and cheese
• Sweet potato black bean enchiladas
• Thai peanut pasta.  Add chicken if desired and use any vegetables on hand.
• Instant Pot white chicken chili.

Soups and Chili

Pantry soup and chili recipes are a must.  They’re hearty, easy to make and all are freezer friendly.

• Avgolemono Soup
• Butternut squash soup
• Carrot ginger soup
• Chicken tortilla soup
• Minestrone soup
• Pumpkin chili
• Slow cooker turkey chili.  Use any ground meat or vegetables.
• Slow cooker turkey wild rice soup.  Substitute with chicken.
• Sweet potato black bean tortilla soup.  Customize with your favorite vegetables!
• White bean kale soup
• White bean turkey chili