When lockdown came around everyone lost their minds. Not me though, I personally was eating just fine when the time came around, why? My vegan pantry.
Because I had a LOADED pantry, and I mean loaded. With anything from beans, grains, canned foods and seaweed.
Here are the top pantry essentials for vegans, to consider for any future need.
Canned & jarred foods
Canned foods can be anything from baked beans, to chopped tomatoes and tomato paste, here are some of the canned foods to make sure you have in your pantry.
Beans (blackbeans, black eyed peas, etc)
Carrots
Corn
Green beans
Lentils
Pasta sauce
Peas
Pesto (check ingredients)
Sun-dried tomatoes
Tomatoes (chopped, passata, paste)
Olives
Pickles (cucumbers, jalapeños, turnips, onions)
These ingredients are essential for your vegan pantry, and used in an array of different meals, by vegans and non-vegans alike.
Condiments and sauces
These are essentials for the home in general, and good to know as a vegan. Vegan friendly condiments and sauces that are pantry friendly include:
Agave syrup
Barbeque sauce
Brown sauce
Curry sauce (check ingredients prior)
Chutneys
Ketchup
Hoisin sauce
Hot sauce
Mustard
Sweet and sour
Teriyaki
Vegan mayo
Relish
Salsa
Soy sauce
Tahini
Tamari sauce
Wasabi
Crackers
Cracker to go with your vegan cheese? With apocalyptic times, you might have to hold off on the cheese, not on the crackers though. Here are some vegan friendly crackers for your pantry.
Jacob’s cream crackers
Ritz crackers
Rude Health crackers
Ryvita crackers (most of ‘em)
Water crackers
Rice crackers
Dried beans, lentils and legumes
I personally prefer my dried legumes to the canned ones in brine. Helps me control the sodium levels and they taste much better this way. Here are some examples of dried lentils and beans that are perfect for the pantry.
Aduki beans
Black lentils
Blackbeans
Black chickpeas
Cannellini beans
Chickpeas
Brown lentils
Falafel mix
Green lentils
Lupin beans
Mung peas
Pinto beans
Red kidney beans
Red lentils
Split peas
Soy pieces (can be soaked to make mince)
Yellow lentils
Dried fruit
Dried fruit is a great way to get your nutrition in dire times where it’s likely to be in short supply. Here are some examples of dried fruits to add to your pantry!
Apples
Apricots
Banana
Cranberries
Dates
Figs
Mango
Mulberries
Pineapple
Plantain (chips)
Prunes
Raisins
Strawberries
Flour & baking powders
You may also want to bake when faced with another quarantine situation, so here are some examples for flours and baking powders that can be stored in the pantry for the long-term.
Baking powder
Baking soda
Cornflour
Flour (plain, self-raising, spelt, wholegrain)
Gram flour (chickpea flour)
Potato starch
Rice flour
Grains, rice & pasta
Grains are essential to a healthy, balanced diet. Here are some of the essential grains for your pantry.
Amaranth
Bulgur wheat
Buckwheat
Cous cous
Dried pasta (all variations – Just check for egg)
Millet
Noodles (instant noodles, stir fry noodles – check for egg and non-vegan ingredients for instant)
Oats (including oatmeal)
Rice (Black, red, refined, risotto and regular rice)
Spelt grain
Quinoa (red, white, black)
Herbs & spices
All spices are appropriate for the pantry, so we won’t name all the extensive list we can think of, but we’ll include some honourable mentions.
Basil
Bay leaf
Cayenne
Coriander
Cumin
Dill
Ground ginger
Ground garlic
Mint
Oregano
Parsley
Pepper (all varieties)
Rosemary
Sage
Salt (pink or white)
Stock (ensure it’s vegan first)
Thyme
Turmeric
Dried veggies, mushrooms & seaweed
Dried veggies are banging because once you rehydrate them, it’s almost as if they’ve adopted a meatier texture. Seaweed is also a vegan essential, if you want to keep up with your daily dietary iodine.
See some examples of banging dried mushrooms, veggies and seaweed for your pantry:
Champignon mushrooms
Dulse (seaweed)
Irish moss (seaweed)
Kelp (seaweed)
Porcini (mushroom)
Nori (seaweed)
Shiitake (mushroom) – You can find them easily in Chinese supermarkets
Sun-dried tomatoes
Nuts, seeds & nut butters
Nuts and seeds are always essentials to have at home, luckily these are also suitable for vegans. Products such as the following:
Vegan pantry-friendly nuts
Almonds
Brazil nuts
Cashews
Hazelnuts
Macadamia nuts
Peanuts
Pistachios
Pine nuts
Pecans
Vegan pantry-friendly seeds
Chia seeds
Flaxseeds
Hemp seeds
Poppy seeds
Pumpkin seeds
Sesame seeds
Sunflower seeds
Vegan pantry friendly seed and nut butters
Almond butter
Hempseed butter
Peanut butter (regular, crunchy, powdered, long as it’s vegan)
Pecan butter
Pumpkin seed butter
Sunflower seed butter
Walnut butter
Oil
Oils need to be stored in a cool, dark place and start off in the pantry, here are some vegan pantry friendly oils you can add to your shopping list today.
Avocado oil
Extra virgin olive oil
Hempseed oil
Sunflower oil
Other baking essentials & sweeteners
Agave syrup
Apple sauce
Blackstrap molasses
Brown sugar
Cocoa and Cacao powder
Coconut sugar
Date syrup
Egg replacement powders (ensure they’re vegan)
Golden syrup
Icing sugar (make sure it’s vegan)
Maple syrup
Extra vegan pantry essentials
Some more honourable mentions, that didn’t make the above categories, but are good to know otherwise:
Vegan milk
Most brands can last long in the cupboard, granted you don’t open them before placing them there. Once you have, you’d need to keep vegan milk in the fridge to prevent from spoiling.
Vinegars
With vinegar being naturally vegan and ranging from apple cider, balsamic to rice, this is an essential that will last a long while in the pantry.
Vegan kitchen pantry essentials
A new list of vegan pantry essentials to add to your shopping list, hopefully this post was useful for you, and you learnt a thing or two.
If you liked this article, feel free to bookmark for future reference, as well as drop a comment with any suggestions, thanks for stopping by!
