Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate or referral links. I may earn a commission or receive products, services, discounts, or other compensation when you purchase or take action through certain links. You can read my full disclosure policy here.

After feeding my family for decades, I’ve learned something that has saved me money over and over again:

Some of the best foods in my pantry are the simplest ones.

I’m not talking about foods that come in fancy packages or have a dozen claims printed on the front.

I’m talking about foods with one ingredient—or at least a short, simple ingredient list—that I can use in lots of different ways.

That’s important to me because I don’t want to spend my grocery money buying a different product for every meal, snack, or recipe.

I want to bring home ingredients that give me choices.

A bag of popcorn kernels doesn’t decide what kind of snack I’m going to make.

Oatmeal doesn’t decide what breakfast has to look like.

Potatoes don’t tell me what I’m making for dinner.

I decide.

And after raising 12 children, I can tell you that having that kind of flexibility in the kitchen is valuable.

What I Mean by “One Ingredient”

When I say I like one-ingredient foods, I’m not saying that everything in my grocery cart has to contain exactly one ingredient.

That’s not realistic.

Sometimes I buy convenience foods. Sometimes I need something quick. And sometimes a prepared food is exactly what helps me get a meal on the table.

What I’m talking about is a shopping habit.

When I have a choice, I like to look for the basic ingredient.

If I can buy the popcorn kernels instead of a highly prepared snack, I have more choices.

If I can buy oatmeal and add what my family likes, I don’t need breakfast to come in a box with every flavor already decided for me.

If I can buy a bag of potatoes, I have a whole lot more possibilities than one particular potato product.

This isn’t about perfection.

It’s about paying attention to what I’m buying and asking myself:

“How hard is this food going to work for me?”

Here are ten simple foods that I think work especially hard in my kitchen.

1. Popcorn Kernels

Popcorn is one of my favorite examples because it’s such a simple food, but it can do so much.

A bag of popcorn kernels can become an inexpensive snack for the family.

I can make it with butter and salt.

I can change the seasonings.

I can make it sweet.

I can make a big batch for movie night.

And I don’t have to buy a special snack every time someone wants something to munch on.

That’s one of the things I look for when I shop.

Can I buy a basic food and make it into what we need?

Popcorn gives me that option.

2. Oatmeal

Oatmeal is another pantry staple that gives me plenty of choices.

A bowl of oatmeal can be as simple as adding a little cinnamon and sugar, or I can add fruit, nuts, peanut butter, or whatever else I have available.

And I’m not limited to breakfast.

Oats can also be used in baking and other recipes.

That’s what I like about simple ingredients.

I don’t have to decide every possible use before I put them in my cart.

I can bring them home and work them into what my family needs.

3. Potatoes

If you’ve ever cooked for a big family, you already know how useful potatoes can be.

Bake them.

Mash them.

Roast them.

Add them to soup.

Put them in a casserole.

Turn leftovers into something else.

Potatoes can be a side dish, part of the main meal, or an inexpensive way to make a meal go a little farther.

And they don’t require me to have one specific recipe planned before I buy them.

I can buy the potatoes and figure out what makes sense when I get home.

That’s a hard-working grocery purchase.

4. Rice

Rice is another food I like to keep around because it can fit into so many different meals.

I can serve it with meat and vegetables.

I can combine it with beans.

I can add it to soup.

I can use it as the base for a bowl.

I can use it to stretch another dish.

And I don’t have to know exactly which meal it’s going to become when I put it in my cart.

That’s something I really appreciate about pantry staples.

I don’t have to know the future to know I’ll use them.

5. Dried Beans

Dried beans aren’t necessarily the most exciting thing on the grocery shelf, but they can be one of the most useful.

They can become soup, chili, a side dish, part of a casserole, or a meal when combined with other simple foods.

They can also help me stretch other ingredients.

And that’s a question I ask myself quite often:

“Can this help me use something I already have?”

If I have rice and beans, I have one possibility.

If I have beans, rice, tomatoes, seasonings, and a few other basics, I have several.

That’s how simple ingredients start working together.

6. Flour

Flour is one of those basic ingredients that can open up a lot of possibilities in a kitchen.

Depending on what else I have, it can become bread, biscuits, pancakes, baked goods, or part of another recipe.

I don’t have to buy a separate packaged product for every one of those things.

Sometimes I can start with a basic ingredient and make what I need.

That’s one reason I like keeping baking staples in my pantry.

They’re not just one food.

They’re building blocks.

7. Pasta

Pasta has saved many a busy day in my kitchen.

I can add sauce.

I can add vegetables.

I can add leftover meat.

I can add cheese.

I can bake it.

I can serve it as a simple side.

I can turn whatever I have available into a meal around it.

That’s especially helpful when I’m trying to use what is already in my kitchen instead of running to the store for one missing ingredient.

I don’t need pasta to tell me what dinner is going to be.

It gives me somewhere to start.

8. Canned Tomatoes

Canned tomatoes are another simple ingredient that can earn their place in my pantry.

They can go into soups, sauces, chili, casseroles, and plenty of other meals.

I also appreciate that they’re shelf-stable.

Fresh food is wonderful, but real life doesn’t always go according to plan.

Sometimes I don’t get to the store.

Sometimes dinner changes.

Sometimes I look around my kitchen and realize I need to make something from what I already have.

That’s when a useful pantry becomes especially valuable.

A pantry should give you something to work with.

9. Sugar

Sugar might seem like an obvious pantry staple, but it actually demonstrates exactly what I’m talking about.

I’m not buying sugar because I plan to eat it by itself.

I’m buying a basic ingredient that can be used for baking, cooking, preserving, sweetening, and making other foods.

That’s how I think about many of the foods I keep.

They don’t necessarily have to be useful by themselves.

They need to work well with the other things I have.

The more ways those ingredients can work together, the more possibilities I have without buying something new for every recipe.

10. Simple Frozen Vegetables

Frozen vegetables are another good example of where I pay attention to what’s actually in the package.

A bag of frozen peas, corn, broccoli, green beans, or another vegetable can be a very useful staple when the ingredient list is simply the vegetable itself.

I can add them to soup.

I can add them to pasta or rice.

I can put them in a casserole.

Or I can simply cook them and serve them as a side.

And I appreciate having them available when fresh vegetables aren’t convenient.

They’re one more thing I can pull from my freezer when I’m figuring out dinner.

You Don’t Need All Ten

Now, before you look at this list and start making a grocery list, let me say something important:

You don’t need all ten of these foods.

Your pantry should work for your family, not mine.

Maybe your family eats potatoes constantly but doesn’t care much for rice.

Maybe oatmeal is a breakfast favorite.

Maybe you do a lot of baking and go through flour quickly.

Maybe your family loves pasta.

That’s what matters.

I don’t believe in buying something simply because somebody tells me it’s a pantry staple.

If my family won’t eat it, it isn’t a staple in my house.

A good pantry is personal.

My One-Ingredient Shopping Test

This is the little test I want you to try the next time you’re grocery shopping.

You don’t have to change everything.

Just stop for a moment before you put something in your cart and ask yourself a few questions.

Before I Buy It, I Ask:

☐ Can I find this with one ingredient?

☐ If it has more than one ingredient, is the ingredient list still simple?

☐ Will my family actually eat it?

☐ How many different ways can I use it?

☐ Can I combine it with foods I already have?

☐ Can I change it with different seasonings, toppings, or cooking methods?

☐ Can it help me stretch another food?

☐ Can I store it for later?

☐ Am I buying a basic ingredient—or paying someone else to assemble it for me?

☐ Does my pantry actually need it?

☐ Does the price make sense for the number of uses I’ll get from it?

☐ Can I picture my family actually eating it?

That last question is a big one.

Something isn’t a bargain just because it’s cheap.

If nobody in your house is going to eat it, you’ve still spent money you didn’t need to spend.

Don’t Confuse Simple With Automatically Cheaper

There’s another part of this idea that I think is important.

Buying a food with one ingredient doesn’t automatically mean you’ve found the cheapest option.

I still compare prices.

I still look at package sizes.

I still consider how much I’m actually going to use.

And I still think about what my family will eat.

The one-ingredient idea is a tool, not a rule.

I’m looking for foods that give me flexibility and value.

If a slightly more convenient option makes sense for my family and my budget, I’m not going to refuse to buy it just because the ingredient list isn’t perfect.

I’m trying to spend my grocery money wisely—not win a contest for the shortest ingredient list.

Ask How Hard Your Groceries Work

This is probably the biggest lesson I want you to take from this article.

The next time you’re shopping, ask yourself:

“How hard is this food going to work for my family?”

Can you use it in more than one meal?

Can you combine it with what you already have?

Can you change it with different seasonings or cooking methods?

Can it help you stretch another ingredient?

Can you store it for later?

Will your family actually eat it?

The more yeses you can give an ingredient, the more useful that purchase may be.

That’s one of the ways I think about Strategic Shopping.

I’m not just looking at the price on the shelf.

I’m thinking about what that food can do after I bring it home.

Your Pantry Doesn’t Have to Be Fancy

I think we sometimes make pantry building much more complicated than it needs to be.

You don’t need a picture-perfect pantry.

You don’t need dozens of specialty ingredients.

And you certainly don’t need to buy every “pantry essential” somebody puts on a list.

You need food your family will eat.

You need ingredients you know how to use.

And you need enough basic foods on hand that you can look at what’s in your kitchen and say:

“I can make something with this.”

That’s the kind of pantry I want.

A bag of popcorn kernels can become a snack.

Oatmeal can become breakfast.

Potatoes can become a side dish or part of dinner.

Rice and beans can become a meal.

Flour can become something homemade.

Frozen vegetables can help turn the food already in my kitchen into dinner.

Those foods may not look particularly exciting sitting on a pantry shelf.

But they give me something I value much more:

options.

Start With One Change

You don’t have to completely change the way you shop tomorrow.

The next time you go to the grocery store, choose just one category and pay attention.

Look at the oatmeal.

Look at the popcorn.

Look at the vegetables.

Look at the rice.

Look at the pasta.

Look at the other foods you buy regularly.

Then ask yourself:

“Am I buying the food—or am I buying someone else’s finished idea of what to do with the food?”

Sometimes the answer will be the convenience food.

That’s okay.

But sometimes you’ll realize that the simple ingredient gives you far more choices for your money.

And that’s when Strategic Shopping starts to become a habit instead of just an idea.

The Way I Look at My Grocery Cart

After all these years of feeding a family, I don’t expect my grocery cart to be perfect.

I want it to be useful.

I want to buy food my family will eat.

I want ingredients that can work together.

I want foods that can become more than one meal.

I want my pantry to help me when money is tight, when I’m busy, or when I simply don’t feel like making another trip to the grocery store.

Most of all, I want to get as much value as I can from the money I spend.

That’s why I look for one-ingredient foods—or foods with very few ingredients.

Not because I think every grocery purchase has to follow a rule.

Because I know what those simple foods can give me:

more choices, more flexibility, and more ways to make what I already bought work for my family.

I’m not just putting food on my shelves.

I’m building possibilities.

And to me, that’s what Strategic Shopping is all about.

Build a Pantry That Works for You

If this has you looking at your pantry a little differently, my Build a Better Pantry book can help you take the next step. It’s all about creating a pantry that works for your family, making better use of what you already have, and having the basics on hand when you need them.

You don’t need a perfect pantry. You just need one that works for you.

Build a Better Pantry →