Run out of a regular ingredient or what you might consider grocery staples? In many cases that pantry staple may be one you can make yourself! Try one of these pantry staples recipes to save time, money, and another trip to the store.
Whether you Make Brown Sugar or whip up a batch of Cocoa Brownies without a mix (gasp!), you’re sure to find some pantry staples substitutes that will please you just as well, if not more!
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Once in awhile you may find yourself running out of ingredients that you normally keep on hand, the pantry staples that you use on a regular basis. You could run to the store, but what if you really want to stick to your grocery budget this month or just don’t have the time or inclination to go shopping?
You’ll be happy to know that there are a number of traditional pantry staples that you can make yourself. Spaghetti sauce? Enchilada sauce? Chicken stock? Yep. All those pantry staples — and more! — can be made easily (and often better and more cheaply) at home.
Why Do This
You’ll save money making your own pantry staples. There’s a lot of mark-up on commercially produced foods versus raw ingredients. You can save more than a few pennies if you learn to make your own pantry staples.
You can make it tastier. While I still love a boxed mac and cheese on occasion, I’ve realized that making this pantry staple myself with real cheese is so much more delicious!
Making your own pantry staples can save you time. If running to the store becomes a big production, hauling the kids out in the weather or simply spending time waiting in line, you can cut that out by mixing the thing up yourself at home.
Not only that, but when we make things ourselves, we gain a sense of satisfaction and appreciation for the process in prepping pantry staples. Plus, we get a little independence from Big Food.
Whether you make it from scratch for economical reasons or just for fun, it doesn’t matter. Prepping pantry staples can be a delicious way to enjoy great food at home.
Consider these delicious pantry staples you can make yourself:
Baking Ingredients
There’s scratch baking and then there’s assembly baking. There’s a time and place for both, but if you find that you’ve run out of eggs, breadcrumbs, frosting, pie crust, or even different sugars, rest assured you can easily and cheaply make these pantry staples yourself.
Beverages
It’s so easy to fall into the trap that we need to buy our drinks at the store. Turns out you can make a lot of tasty beverages at home!
Breads
You might not have time to bake all your bread on a regular basis, but if you keep a few regular baking ingredients on hand, you can easily bake up some substitutes yourself. If you find yourself regularly buying tortillas, garlic bread, pita bread, or bread mixes, consider making these pantry staples from scratch:
Breakfast Items
Commercial foods can save a lot of time at the morning meal, but you can save both time and money when you learn to make pancakes, waffles, oatmeal packets, and biscuits yourself!
Dairy Substitutes
Run out of buttermilk, ice cream, yogurt, or flavored cream cheese? Depending on what other dairy products you have on hand, you may be able to make it yourself homemade!
Dinner Ingredients
Stocks and broths, canned beans, and boxed rice and pasta dishes can help speed along dinner from time to time, but you’ll up the flavor and clean up the ingredient list if you make some of these pantry staples yourself.
Sauces & Spreads
There’s no end to the sauces and spreads you can make yourself! Everything from a white sauce, red sauce, yogurt sauce, tartar sauce, you name it sauce, you can make it!
Seasoning & Spices
One of the benefits of making your own seasonings and spice blends is that you get control, control of both the ingredients as well as the quantity. No need to buy a big tub of something. Make just as much as you need, as spicy as you like it!
Snacks
Snack foods can cost a pretty penny, but you can save on these pantry staples by learning to make your own. Chances are the homemade version will taste better and cost less. That’s a win-win!
Soups
While canned soups are handy pantry staples to keep on hand, sometimes you want something with a little more flavor and less cost. You can make almost any soup pretty easily at home.
This post was originally published on January 8, 2015. It has been updated for content and clarity.
Pat
Wow!! What an awesome list of things you can make yourself instead of buying.
I counted 14 that I do on a regular basis :-)) That doesn’t count the spice blends I make.
Next up is pie crust for your chicken pot pie and I have apricot preserves that I got for a recipe I never tried-so BBQ sauce is on the agenda when we run out of what we have.
In these uncertain times I am not comfortable using foods that I have no control over.
Thank you for all you do!!
Jessica Fisher
Thanks for your encouragement! Can’t wait to hear how it goes for you, Pat!
Pat
I finally ate at 9:15pm–the verdict is the filling was excellent but my pie crust needs some work .Maybe I should say more practice because I can count the number of crusts on one hand and the total is not 5. Lol! I know I didn’t roll. it thin enough.
It was edible and no one complained so it was probably better right out of the oven.
Jessica Fisher
If it was too thick, did it cover the entire pan? That’s what I use as a gauge. If it covers, chances are it was fine.
Pat
It must have just been because I ate so late. My husband and son said it was perfect and delicious right out of the oven.
I only did one crust and it did cover the pan I used. They said to make it again. Hurray!
Jessica Fisher
So glad it was a keeper!
Noelle
I have been making pancakes from scratch for a few months now, and I have to say, I find them much tastier than the ones from the box! I have been struggling with the fact that it’s a lot slower to mix everything together than it is to measure from a box… so I am definitely going to use your tips for making the mixes, and make them in bulk!
Meagan
I make my own Bisquick for pancakes & waffles. Though, I made the last batch with coconut oil instead of shortening and it tastes very bland. Next time I will sub butter and see if that’s better.
MH
OK, I want to be on board with this, and I do make my own red sauce and some of these other things, but just last night we tried pancakes from scratch instead of Aunt Jemima – and they tasted like flour – not better than the sum of the parts we put in them, not light and fluffy. They were redeemed by the peach blueberry topping I made from frozen fruit. So I just clicked over to your pancake mix and read the comments – I will try again, maybe the whole wheat pastry flour will help?
Jessica Fisher
I hope it wasn’t my pancakes that tasted bad! lol. If you’re used to commercial mixes, there may be a transition period. My girls just baked a cake mix that they got with a Christmas baking kit. There are all kinds of additives put in mixes to help them turn out “perfect” while baking from scratch does require good measuring and a little finesse in the technique. Not sure why your pancakes tasted like flour, but I’d be tempted to sift the ingredients together next time and see if you like the texture better. It’s not necessary, but may help.
sylvie
Allrecipes dot com have a great easy recipe for pancakes…this ones called fluffy pancakes …..posted by kris…so you don’t grab the wrong one. By far the best.
Janet
You failed to mention your tasty recipes for homemade rice blends. I have not bought a dirty rice mix at the store since I tried your recipe. My kids love it.
I have a half dozen different spice mixes ready to go in the cupboard such as cinnamon sugar, Cajun blend and what we refer to as our pita chip blend. Measure and blend once and then store in a spice jar for dozens of uses later.
I used to think I had to have store bought tortilla strips. I usually make my own these days. Slice a few tortillas and fry the strips in a 1/4 cup oil for a minute or two and sprinkle with seasonings of my choice– quick, easy and economical tortilla strips. An added bonus is being able to select a healthier oil for the frying.
Jessica Fisher
Well, that’s fun! I’m so glad you like it!
Vanessa B
I’ll be making my own biscuit mix tonight for dinner. I’m sick of the weird taste of the preservatives in the can.
AmyG
I make my own cream of chicken soup when recipes call for it. Sometimes it is simply reduced chicken stock and milk thickened with a butter and flour roux. I usually add a little cream at the end and season with salt and pepper and fresh parsley. Sometimes I saute onion, carrot and celery and then add the vegetables and finely chopped chicken when the stock is reducing. This also makes a nice meal if you add some wild rice or serve with hot bread. In fact, it is what we are having for dinner tonight!
Jessica Fisher
Yes, me, too! I have a recipe for Cream of Celery that we love. So for any readers wanting exact measurements, here it is: http://lifeasmom.com/2011/03/homemade-cream-of-celery-soup-freezer-friendly-recipes.html