# What food item can't you do without in your pantry? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 31, 2003, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-item-cant-you-do-without-in-your-pantry/178832 "2003-05-31T20:55:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ally424](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/82dd89/32.png) [@Ally424](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ally424)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-item-cant-you-do-without-in-your-pantry/178832/21 "2003-06-01T15:32:34Z")
Bread, milk, cereal, fruit (oranges! bananas…), juice & stuff for sandwhiches. ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-item-cant-you-do-without-in-your-pantry/178832/22 "2003-06-01T15:36:50Z")
Whew, Eva, I’m torn between asking whether you own a grocery store or whether I can move in with you. 😃 My list is as follows - tea (leaves and bags) - coffee - sugar, flour, - canned soup (split pea, bean, tomato, chicken) - anchovis, tuna, sardines - pasta (tagliatelli) - Parmesan cheese - rice - canned and bottled vegetables (tomatoes, peas, corn) - onions and garlic - olive oil - balsamico vinegar - grapefruit juice - wine - pickled stuff, olives - snacks (pretzel sticks, cheese puffs, Pringles) - dried sausage (cacchiatora) ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-item-cant-you-do-without-in-your-pantry/178832/23 "2003-06-01T15:48:11Z")
Oh, yeah, how could I forget the rice? Right now I have brown, basmati, and jasmine. And vinegar: white (tarragon), red wine, balsamic, and cider. This list is just stuff I buy semi-regularly: there is lots of other stuff I use all the time and would never be without (spices, condiments), but don’t need to buy often because it only gets used in small quantities. ---
**Author:** ![insomnia4AM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/4bbf92/32.png) [@insomnia4AM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/insomnia4AM)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-item-cant-you-do-without-in-your-pantry/178832/24 "2003-06-01T16:37:54Z")
Coffee, iced tea, and cheerios. I think I am addicted to all three. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-item-cant-you-do-without-in-your-pantry/178832/25 "2003-06-01T16:40:03Z")
I have recently taken the step of making myself a pantry list for grocery-shopping purposes. You put the list in a clear plastic page-protector and mark every item with a wipe-off pen when you need more. Mine is pretty long, but I’m pleased with myself. ---
**Author:** ![papergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/aca169/32.png) [@papergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/papergirl)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-item-cant-you-do-without-in-your-pantry/178832/26 "2003-06-01T16:42:57Z")
I have a huge pantry. Mostly I buy loss leaders in bulk, but I MUST have: Peanut butter Crackers (the kids eat about 1/2 box a day) Sugar and flour Coffee and creamer Chocolate chips Black beans (at least 3 cans, can’t do without those!) Salsa Onions Garlic Cheese, sliced, shredded, and brick Sour Cream Low Fat Ruffles Ranch dressing mix Side-dish noodle things (Lipton, Ramen, not picky) With all of that, I can satisfy pretty much any craving I have, and feed the kids at a moment’s notice. ---
**Author:** ![FisherQueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@FisherQueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FisherQueen)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-item-cant-you-do-without-in-your-pantry/178832/27 "2003-06-01T16:56:09Z")
bread pasta frozen chicken breasts canned tuna saltines milk tomato sauce ---
**Author:** ![fizgig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f04885/32.png) [@fizgig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fizgig)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-item-cant-you-do-without-in-your-pantry/178832/28 "2003-06-01T18:15:28Z")
Sriracha hot sauce Coffee Half and Half Carrot Juice Olive oil Minced garlic Pesto Different types of vinegars Zuchini Tomatos Corn tortillas Black beans Fat-free sour cream Pedro’s green salsa (hot) Canadian bacon Frozen waffles Veggie sausages ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-item-cant-you-do-without-in-your-pantry/178832/29 "2003-06-01T20:54:37Z")
I have all the usual staples mentioned above, but the absolutely indispensible items are # French Onion Soup (dried) and # Tinned Crushed Tomatoes and # Chicken Stock With those three always there, my late afternoon lack of inspiration about what to cook for dinner can be remedied in a flash. Oh, and Vegemite of course. Not that I cook with it (although you can) but I start suffering withdrawal symptoms if I don’t get my Vegemite on toast every morning. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![kitarak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kitarak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitarak)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-item-cant-you-do-without-in-your-pantry/178832/30 "2003-06-01T22:02:30Z")
Things I absolutely cannot do without: Split red Lentils (however I stock up these a lot - they keep forever, so I buy in bulk). Onions Pitta Bread Normal Bread Vegemite Olivio (Vegemite and olivio are just about the only thing I have with normal bread - for everything else I’m a pitta bread person.) ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-item-cant-you-do-without-in-your-pantry/178832/31 "2003-06-01T22:47:03Z")
Black beans, canned or homecooked (I freeze them) Canned tomatoes Garlic Enormous quantities of flour Old cheddar Olive oil Hummus Tea Parmesan Sugar Butter Frozen peas Milk Pasta Dried yeast With all those available, I can feed our eternal crowd of droppers-in-around-dinnertime. In spite of living in a very small apartment, we always have at least 25-50 lbs of different kinds of flour on hand, because I love to bake bread, (naan, pita, muffins, whatever) and usually make at least four loaves at one go. When I moved out, I expected to be more potato-dependent than I am. It’s kind of sad- I love potatoes, but I resist buying them in cheap 10 lb bags because we can rarely finish them quickly enough. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![DarkPrince](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@DarkPrince](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarkPrince)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2003, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-item-cant-you-do-without-in-your-pantry/178832/32 "2003-06-01T23:09:13Z")
Soda Ramen 🙂 Bread Cereal Butter Hot cocoa Milk ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-item-cant-you-do-without-in-your-pantry/178832/33 "2003-06-02T00:06:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bodypoet \* > \*\* > Ranch dressing mix > \*\* God, me too. It’s so versitile! ---
**Author:** ![leechbabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7cd45c/32.png) [@leechbabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leechbabe)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-item-cant-you-do-without-in-your-pantry/178832/34 "2003-06-02T00:30:34Z")
I should add cup-a-soup mixes to my list. Instant meal/snack in a hurry. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-food-item-cant-you-do-without-in-your-pantry/178832.md?page=1)