I have at least 2 of the 3, or all 3 if you consider “corn starch” to be a kind of flour. I don’t have regular flour because I almost never make from scratch the kinds of things that flour is used for. The corn starch is for one specific fried-fish recipe.
Except for regular salt, the other staples are mostly single-purpose. The sugar is almost exclusively just for coffee. There is also coarse kosher salt, but that’s just for cooking pasta, because it’s not iodized.
Yep. A handful of salts, several kinds of sugars, and a wild amount of flour, since my wife likes to bake, and likes to bake a lot of different sorts of things. We always have a bunch of yeast, and usually a couple different kinds.
We generally also have a couple kinds of pasta on hand, along with rice and dried beans, as well as some certain canned products- canned tomatoes are always on hand, often in multiple formats (chopped, crushed, whole, paste), as are canned beans (often just cannelloni beans or black beans).
We’ve usually got a fair amount of stuff in the fridge- carrots, celery, pickles, condiments, etc… and some staple vegetable items in the pantry- onions, garlic and potatoes for sure, and usually shallots too.
To go with all that, we’ve got vinegars, various condiment sauces (soy, worcestershire, fish, etc…) and oils. And a ridiculous amount of spices/herbs/etc… Truly ridiculous. 3 drawers and part of a cabinet.
As you might imagine, we cook a great deal. I have to wonder about the salt; many dishes are ghastly if unsalted, and become divine with the right amount of salt (which isn’t necessarily all that much).
When I was in university I had salt and pepper, and that was it. I didn’t bake and my cooking was very basic.
Now I have four different flour bins with up to 25 pounds of flour, as well as gram flour, corn starch, several kinds of corn meal. At least two kinds of sugar in quantities for baking. At least two kinds of salt. And of course a large number of other staples.
I was going to object until I got to the note. Italian-style pastas are basically inedible to me, but I always have a bunch of ramen and similar Asian noodle packets on hand.
Ramen has to be pretty high up on the “most likely to be found in a pantry” list. Even if it’s just some ancient, stale packets that never got thrown out. I’d think it’s more common than cold cereal, at least.
All five. And other stuff. We have staple spices where we buy in bulk and refill the spice cabinet bottles. Yeah, multiple types of sugar and salt as others have said. Multiple types of flour, too including rice flour, chickpea flour, cake flour, whole wheat flour, standard all-purpose flour. And corn meal. Several varieties of rice. Yes to a pasta supply. Dried peas and beans. Coffee in massive supply, about five of those big drum-sized cans. Cabinet-full of crackers. A row of salsa bottles, box of coconut water bottles, vat of olive oil, various canned beans and peas and other vegetables. Dried chile peppers (new mexicos, anchos, thai peppers, habaneros, jolocias, serranos).
Various other stuff.
All 5 of them including several types of flour. I also have yeast.
We never have soda in the house.
this is us … my aunt could open a commercial bakery from our kitchen if she so chose to … and all we do from October to jan is bake … and she just culled all the supplies …
If I don’t get a soda every day or so I’m told I’m a more grumpier than usual bastard lol
So how many salts do you folk need for what purposes? 
I think we just have table salt and Kosher salt.
There might be some sea salt, I’m not sure.
I keep all three - but if I didn’t bake, the only one I might have at all times is salt. And I say “might” because it’s entirely possible that I would have only a shaker full of that and the OP wasn’t talking about that quantity. We don’t use sugar - I use packets of Splenda in coffee and cereal and my husband doesn’t use any sweetener. There are only a few non-baking recipes that we use that require flour and we don’t make them that often so I would probably buy the 1lb or less can of flour when I planned to use it - but I don’t think the OP was really talking about the leftovers from small quantities bought for a specific recipe. I mean , I have half a jar of capers left over from a recipe but they aren’t a staple.
As far as what kind of meals we eat that don’t require sugar or salt, I’m kind of wondering what meals you eat that require sugar? I can think of a few side dishes that require sugar of some sort , but not so many that I would be surprised that someone doesn’t keep sugar around.
Dinner here might have some sort of grilled/broiled/possibly pan fried meat, chicken or fish ( which might have salt sprinkled on it after cooking but also might not ). Sometimes it’s steamed or fried seafood. There is usually not any sort of homemade sauce or gravy for the protein so salt and flour aren’t needed for that. We will usually have a vegetable or salad and rice/potato/pasta along with the protein. I don’t salt the water when I cook pasta , if I’m using tomato sauce it’s usually jarred which means I don’t add salt. If I’m making it with garlic and oil, I don’t use salt. I don’t use flour or sugar or salt when I make lasagna because ,again, jarred sauce.
I don’t eat a salt-free diet - but I do have high blood pressure and try to reduce my salt consumption. I find that sprinkling salt on the food after cooking lets me use less, because even if I cooked with salt, I’d end up sprinkling some.
Salt went bye-bye a couple of years ago. I got rid of all mixes, almost all canned goods, and a lot of frozen foods.
Mr VOW had a heart attack in January 2020, and he was also diagnosed with heart failure.
I have had kidney issues for quite some time now, and a year or so ago my lab results were qualifying me for CKD 3/4, with the numbers leaning more towards the 4.
I read everything I could get my hands on about managing kidney disease, and all of it said, essentially, was NO SALT.
I bought all kinds of seasonings and increased my water I intake. My next dr visit showed labs that were greatly improved. I was told, “Whatever you are doing, keep doing it!”
Supposedly, you can get used to no salt.
That’s a lie. My new seasonings are really good, and I keep looking for more ways to cook without salt. The food now is okay, but nowhere as good as it used to be. I really miss salt.
But I want to stick around for a long long time, yet.
~VOW
I’m not sure if you’re saying that it “shouldn’t” be thrown out, but I do believe it should. Case in point: Some of my usual grocery sources stopped carrying my favourite Sapporo Ichiban ramen. Rummaging around in the cupboard I found some old packages that were a couple of years past their expiry date.
Some Googling revealed that these noodles are infused with oil (I presume one of the reasons they cook so quickly) but that the oil goes rancid after some time, presumably the reason for the expiry date.
I threw them out and so have no idea if they would have been edible. What I will say, though, is that when I bought a fresh supply, the first package I opened had a lovely aroma of ramen – whether it was fresh noodles or fresh oil or some combination I cannot say, but it was definitely fresh and enticingly delicious, not stale. It does make a difference.
Salt.
I have no wheat flour but I have coconut flour, almond flour and potato starch for similar uses.
I have some honey.
Agreed that they should be thrown out due to the oil becoming rancid. It absolutely makes a difference, as you say–I’ve had packets that were borderline, and they aren’t as good. I was just saying that lots of people probably have old packets that they bought for one reason or another, have since gone stale, but are still sitting there because they don’t really cause problems unless you have moths.
A word of sympathy…
Sympathies for your plight.
I grew up from age six in a “saltless” household when Pa came home one day with a diagnosis of hypertension and high blood pressure.
While my diet has never been as truly saltless as you have labored to achieve, the change when I was a kid was abrupt, brutal and traumatizing in a lifetime scarring way emotionally. I still haven’t gotten over it, but I have grown accustomed. I use little salt and add no salt to prepackaged foods I eat. I don’t understand people to do. it tastes too…salty.
I have two kinds of sugar
Two kinds of salt
Four different types of flour
Baking powder
Baking soda
In my circle, that would be a definite no. I happen to have ramen handy these days because it’s a quick dish the kids will always eat when they’re being finicky. Before kids, it was pretty rare I had ramen around. But I’ve pretty much always had cereal. Same with my parents – I’ve never seen ramen in their house; neither my in-laws. My wife didn’t have it in her kitchen when I was dating her (and she was a student at the time, too! She did have hamburger helper, though.) I’d be surprised if even half my friends currently have ramen in their house; probably more like a quarter. But over 50% on cereal, especially if they have children. (These are just guesses based on observation, of course.) Italian pasta, though? Definitely over 50% on that, as well, probably over 75%.
Your milage will vary wildly based on your family, ethnicity, tolerance for convenience foods, etc. But my gut says households with cereal overall, in the US, outnumber households with ramen.
Do you salt the water (for flavor) when cooking pasta, rice, or beans?
I never drink soda.