By Izzy Giacoppo, Photos By Kaltra Quilleri

You may not always want to or have the time to plan your meals and find it more ideal to put something together on a whim. The only way that this can be ideal is if you have a pantry stocked with essentials. Some of the most essential essentials are eggs, butter, and milk. If you have trouble figuring out why they are so necessary, just think of all the times you or someone you live with realizes that you are out of one of those: it is pure chaos. 

A few of the staple liquid ingredients frequently used in recipes are vinegar, olive oil, vegetable oil, and chicken or beef stock/broth. Olive oil can also be used as a simple snack or appetizer with bread. Chicken stock always comes in handy when you need an effortless way to enhance any dish.

Seasoning and spices are the best ways to get flavor in your meals. You will find that stocking up on chili powder, cinnamon, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, red pepper flakes, thyme, sage, rosemary, and Italian seasoning opens a whole new door to make your meals more exciting and flavorful.

Another basic seasoning is pepper, and if we have pepper, then we, of course, have to remember salt. It is important to have both kosher and table salt. Kosher salt works better for seasoning and table salt is better for baking. Other baking essentials are baking powder, baking soda, vanilla extract, brown sugar, sugar, and flour, commonly found in classic baked goods, such as cookies, brownies, and breads.

When it comes to stocking the pantry, keep the freezer in mind too. Keeping frozen fruits and vegetables is great because you do not need to worry about using them before they go bad. This also applies to meat, but it is advised to not keep meat in the freezer for more than three months. Another freezer basic is fries. To add flavor to them, sprinkle garlic powder, salt, pepper, and drizzle your olive oil on them before heating them up in the oven. Our last freezer must-have is a tube of biscuit dough because it offers versatility.  You can use it for different types of tarts, bundles, sliders, or pizzas.

The final pantry essentials are rice, pasta, breadcrumbs, beans, canned tomatoes, tomato paste, coffee, tea, honey, peanut butter, and jelly. There are obviously some things that you may not be able to have on hand, but already having all or even just a couple of these ingredients can transform your grocery trips into speedy, effortless endeavors.