How to Create your Plant-Based Pantry

By Sara

Have you just watched a documentary and now want to eat a whole-food, plant-based diet, but are unsure how to start? One of the things that you can do is a pantry makeover. Yup, taking that Standard American Diet pantry to an upgraded plant-based pantry can help you to stay the course, with ease.

“Invest in yourself by eating whole, unprocessed foods.”

Out with the Old:

The first step- sort your current kitchen pantry items into a couple of piles: Opened food that is plant-based, sealed food that is plant-based, open food that is not plant based, and sealed food that is not plant-based, and rubbish bin.

While you are doing this, read all of the food labels to see if there are any sneaky ingredients that are not plant-based. Even on items that you believe are completely comprised of plants. You’d be surprised what they sneak into different foods!

Additionally, be sure to take a look at the expiration dates and toss anything that is old. All of the sealed but not plant-based food should be donated to your local food bank or a family in need (you can check with your church if you don’t know one), or friends and family. This way, these food items don’t go to waste.

The opened and not plant-based food can either be eaten prior to going completely plant-based, or donated to family. Try not to throw out food, as an animal suffered to make that food for you, and this is out of respect for their sacrifice.

Organize:

The food that you have left that is all plant based and is not expired should be sorted into like groups. Flours, nuts, seeds, beans/legumes, grains, dried fruit, vinegars, oils, sweeteners, seed or nut butters, canned goods, pasta sauces, pasta, vegetable broth, and spices, and loose leaf teas.

Organize all of these healthy foods, and put back into your plant-based pantry.

In with the New:

Now that you have a cleaned out pantry, make a shopping list of some pantry staples that you will need to pick up at one of your local grocery stores to make some of your favorite meals in a plant-forward way. You want to eat as many whole foods as possible, and try to use the least-processed varieties of foods that you can find, without added oils, sugars, artificial ingredients, or artificial flavors.

Food Categories:

Flours:

Whole wheat, brown rice, green banana flour, buckwheat flour, etc. (If I don’t use these frequently, many times I store these in my fridge in the garage to help them to stay fresh longer).

Miscellaneous dry goods:

Flax seed (these should actually be stored in the fridge or freezer to prevent them from going bad), nutritional yeast, arrowroot powder,

Nuts:

Buy nuts raw, and be sure to check the ingredients, as sometimes OIL is added to nuts, which are already higher in fat. Crazy huh?!

Seeds:

Pumpkin, Sunflower, Sesame, chia seeds, Hemp seeds.

Grains:

Have a variety of whole grains, including: Quinoa, Wild rice and Brown rice, Bulgur wheat, farro, barley, millet, oatmeal and don’t forget whole grain pasta

Dried fruit:

Raisins, cranberries, cherries, strawberries, mangos, banana chips (again, read the ingredients; I’ve seen many with added oils).

Vinegars:

Apple cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar, flavored vinegars for topping salads (my favorite include fig, mango, lime)

Oils:

I recommend you get rid of these, as you don’t need to be building up the plaque in your arteries. Not to mention, oils contain a lot of Omega 6 fatty acids, which are plentiful in most diets, so there is no need to supplement them. Also, they are known to increase inflammation, which we want to minimize by choosing a whole food, plant-based diet.

Instead, eat healthy fats, such as those from avocados, nuts and seeds.

Sweeteners:

Maple syrup, Molasses, coconut sugar (get rid of any artificial sweeteners)

Nut or Seed Butters:

Peanut butter, almond butter, tahini

Canned goods:

beans, tomatoes, chilies, tomato paste, tomato sauce, garbanzo beans

Pasta Sauces:

Watch the ingredients for oils and sugar.

Pasta:

Try whole grain varieties or those which are made of veggies or beans…

Vegetable broth:

Make sure you can find a low sodium variety that you enjoy.

Spices (these are a great source of plant nutrients!), loose leaf teas, green tea, matcha powder, etc.

Vegetables:

If you keep your sweet potatoes, potatoes, onions, squashes and other foods in here

By stocking up on items you will use, you will have a great deal of food choice and ability to make meals without a run to the store. It you meal plan, this should be even easier. Your eating habits will change over time, and you will more thoroughly enjoy your healthy meals. Having plenty of simple ingredients ready to transform into healthy plant based meals will transform your life in the kitchen.

By making some small changes including what you have in your fridge, freezer and pantry, you can make healthy eating so much easier!

You will come to have favorites within your own pantry and will quickly find staple foods that you return to over and over again. Your healthy pantry makeover can keep you on a better track with your healthy diet and easy access to simple, delicious ingredients will make your recipes pop.

Please let me know in the comments below if you’ve completed a plant-based pantry makeover. Post photos of your new, improved pantry on Instagram. Tag us @marchingseasons. Can’t wait to see your pantry for inspiration!

Here are some posts to further help with the transition to a healthier lifestyle: