How to Stock a Pantry Like Ree for Easy Home Cooking (2024)

Hi! ThePioneerWoman.com team here. We've tweaked this story a bit since it was first published in 2012, but it's just as helpful and true to Ree's method as it was before. Happy pantry stocking!

For Ree Drummond, having a well-stocked pantry, freezer, and fridge is a necessity—and that’s a fact any homebody at heart will understand. “Since I never like to get in my car and go anywhere, ever (don’t be like me; I have issues, man), I try my best to structure things so that I have a stockpile of basic essentials that I buy in bulk once, twice, three times a year,” she says. “Then I just fill in the fresh things (milk, bread, eggs, fresh produce, meat, etc.) as needed.”

But even for those of you who are cool with, you know, leaving your home every once in a while, a well-organized pantry is a must. In fact, it’s your secret weapon to faster, more budget-friendly cooking adventures. After all, nobody likes having to run to the store just to whip up what could have been a 30-minute meal. With all of the right ingredients, sauces, and condiments already on hand, those frantic, last-minute drives to town will be a thing of the past.

Below, find Ree’s complete, comprehensive pantry guide and her best pantry organization ideas too. With her personal list of can’t-live-without staples guiding you, you’ll better understand how to prep and plan your own at-home pantry, and—extra credit!—how to keep it organized and looking good all year long too. Yes, even if you've got an open shelving kitchen.

You’ll learn about the delicious things Ree must have in her kitchen at all times, lest she “get twitchy and start to have disturbing dreams”—not to mention some excellent storage ideas and a few special, just-for-fun, but equally essential treats (bacon, anyone?).

Goodbye, nightmares; hello, five different types of vinegar!

What items should every pantry have?

It’s important to note that each chef and home cook has their own way of doing things—and of course, every household has to take personal dietary restrictions and lifestyle habits into consideration. It’s your pantry, after all! Still, with a few tweaks here and there, the following list of Ree’s own essentials could be an excellent place to start.

Baking Ingredients

• Bulk flour (all-purpose, whole wheat, cake, self-rising)
• Sugar
• Brown sugar
• Powdered sugar
• Baking powder
• Baking soda
• Yeast
• Cream of tartar
• Chocolate chips
• Cocoa powder
• Other kinds of baking chocolate
• Evaporated milk and sweetened condensed milk
• Shortening

Canned and Jarred

• Artichoke hearts (“Throw in a pasta sauce, make artichoke dip, or put on pizza,” Ree says.)
• Assorted olives, jalapeños, pepperoncini
• Canned beans (“Great for salads and soups. Rinse before adding!”)
• Canned tomatoes: crushed, whole, diced, stewed, paste
• Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (“Add to soups and roasts, mix with mayo, add to dips.”)
• Jarred pesto and specialty relishes and chutneys (“Jarred pesto is an easy way to inject big flavor into soups, pasta, quiches, chicken salads, dips, and dressings when you don’t have access to fresh basil.”)
• Jellies: strawberry, apricot, jalapeño
• Peanut butter
• Roasted red peppers (“Place them on panini, purée and make a soup or pasta sauce, or chop for bruschetta.”)
• Ro*tel canned tomatoes with green chilies
• Stocks and broths: chicken, beef, vegetable (“Make soups, braise briskets, make pot roast. Amen.”)

Oils, Condiments, Flavorings, Herbs, and Spices

• Barbecue sauce
• Dried herbs and spices
• Honey (“Sweeten yogurt smoothies, use in recipes…and drizzle on hot biscuits. Sorry.”)
• Hot sauce
• Ketchup, different mustards, relish
• Maple syrup, pancake syrup
• Mayonnaise (“Not Miracle Whip. Grody.”)
• Olive oil, vegetable oil, peanut oil, coconut oil
• Rice wine (mirin)
• Salt: iodized, kosher, sea salt, salt blends
• Soy sauce, fish sauce, teriyaki sauce, hoisin
• Vinegars: distilled white, red wine, white wine, apple cider, rice wine
• Worcestershire sauce

Boxed and Packaged

• Cornmeal
• Dried beans: pinto, black, Great Northern, navy
• Dried beans (“Put ’em in soups. Put ’em in stews. Cook ’em in a pot with a hamhock. Make refried beans. So delightfully basic.”)
• Dried pasta “in every shape and size”
• Oatmeal and other breakfast grains
• Masa corn flour (“Use it to make tortillas, or add to chili.”)
• Panko breadcrumbs (“Top casseroles, coat fried mozzarella, mix into meatballs!”)
• Rice: long grain, brown, jasmine, Arborio

Vegetables

• Potatoes, onions, and garlic (“I store ’em in a basket so air can circulate. Onions and garlic are the basis of innumerable recipes. Potatoes are…well, essential out here.”)

Fridge

• Bacon (”And this can be a freezer item too. Make BLT’s, top burgers, cut into bits and fry with onion as the basis for some pasta sauces and soups.”)
• Butter “by the ton!”
• Cheese: long-lasting varieties like Cheddar, Parmesan, feta
• Eggs
• Heavy cream (“For cooking, desserts, and coffee!”)
• Lemons, limes, apples, carrots, celery
• Tortillas: flour and corn; if stored properly, they seem to last forever in the fridge

(Note: The fridge list contains only long-lasting staples. Fill in the more perishable items weekly or biweekly!)

Freezer

• Beef, wrapped in butcher paper
• Bread (“Crusty artisan loaves that I get when I’m in the big city, and a couple of back-up loaves of sandwich breads”)
• Chicken breasts, wings, legs, and thighs, either flash frozen then stored in ziploc bags, or vacuum sealed
• Frozen dinner rolls (“I love the (storebought!) unrisen, unbaked little round balls of dough. They rise and bake up so beautifully, and you can slather them with butter and chopped rosemary and turn them into something entirely different. And you can roll them out and use them to make calzones or mini-pizzas.”)
• Pecans/walnuts
• Frozen fruits (“Peaches, berries, cherries, etc. These are awesome stand-ins for pies, crisps and cobblers when the fresh fruits aren’t in season. And you throw the frozen fruit right into the blender for smoothies whenever you want.”)
• Frozen vegetables: peas, corn, butternut squash, broccoli, green beans (“The freezer is where I stock the veggies that aren’t great in canned form: green beans, peas, lima beans, carrots, corn. These non-acidic vegetables stay so much more delicious, nutritious, and fresh in the freezer. Freeze your own veggies out of the garden by blanching, then throwing in ice water, then drying, then flash freezing, then throwing into larger ziplocs.”)
• Nuts such as pecans, walnuts, almonds (“Keeps them from going rancid!”)
• Pie crust (“Formed into disks and stored in ziplocs. To use, just remove, let thaw for 30 minutes or so, then roll out.”)
• Raw shrimp
• Sausage: breakfast sausage, Italian sausage, chorizo
• Ready-made recipes stored flat in ziploc bags. (“Take a day where you cook up bulk recipes for the freezer, or just gradually build them up over time. Store both large and small quantities so you can easily feed a crowd…or just yourself. Reheat by adding to a large pot with a little water just to help it along. And weird little ingredients like homemade pumpkin purée—measure it in 1 or 2-cup quantities so you can easily use them in holiday recipes.”)
• Chili, “which you can eat it on its own or put on top of burgers, hot dogs, nachos, Fritos, etc.”
• Pasta sauces
• Soups and stews

What is the best way to organize a pantry?

Glad you asked! Now that you’ve stocked your pantry with all of those wonderful staples, you’ll want to make sure you can actually, you know...find them.That’s where an organizational system comes in handy. Remember: As soon as you begin actually cooking and baking with these supplies, your pantry’s bound to look a little different than it did when you excitedly started building it. It’ll need all the help it can get to stay usable!

“Decanting” (or, in this case, “de-canning”) your goods into clear glass or plastic bins is an excellent way to see the contents more clearly. Not only will this help you find the right ingredients that much faster, but it’ll also act as a built-in stock gauge. You won’t be able to ignore the fact that you’re running low on flour, sugar, or dried beans when the limited quantities are sitting there in plain sight.

Of course, a clear container is useless if you can’t identify what it is you’re actually looking at. Adding labels is a simple, inexpensive, but highly effective tactic for keeping ingredients from getting mixed up.

And finally, when it comes to maintaining your new pantry system and ensuring that you won’t tire of it, it can help to spiff it up a little! Yes, making your pantry pretty is more than just a fun afterthought; it might actually encourage you to keep it organized month after month. Try adding shelf liners for a touch of color and charm, installing vintage drawer knobs, painting on a nifty chalkboard wall, and so on. You’ll be surprised at the difference it makes.

Think we missed anything here? Feel free to shout out your not-to-be-missed pantry, fridge, or freezer staples in the comments below. And don’t forget to print out Ree’s essentials here.