How To Build The Ultimate Meal Planning Pantry & Pantry Inventory

The easiest way to be successful in meal planning for your family is to always have certain items on hand.  These tips for building the ultimate meal planning pantry and pantry inventory will help you to have a lot of things on hand when needed to supplement your recipe list for easy meal planning. If you purchase the items for your meal planning pantry when they are on sale you can really save as well.

How To Build The Ultimate Meal Planning Pantry & Pantry Inventory

Whether you are creating freezer meals or simply trying to meal plan week to week, a pantry that has been organized and stocked to facilitate easy meals is a must.  There are many things that easily go with any meal.  You may also find that having things organized in your pantry gives you a better outlook on your menu and helps you keep your budget low as you grab from your pantry more frequently.

Create the Master Recipe Ingredient List and Pantry Inventory

One of the best ways to have the ultimate meal planning pantry is to sit down and create a master list of your most used recipes.  Next, you will need to break down each recipe by the ingredients. You can combine those items to see what you use the most on a regular basis.  This list can be useful for building your pantry, as well as your freezer and refrigerator.  When you sign up for our meal planning challenge we will send you a  special offer for meal planning printables to keep you organized.

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Look for non-perishable items like pasta, rice, dry beans, canned sauces, canned vegetables, oatmeal, cereal, salt, flour, sugar, and seasoning mixes.  These are the items you are using more than any other.  As you look at your list, you’ll be able to figure out how much of each you use month to month. I recommend having a 3-4 month supply in your pantry at all times. When you see these items on sale at the grocery store be sure to stock up. This tip alone can save you hundreds of dollars a year!   If that isn’t in your storage or budget range, that is fine.  Just make sure to keep these items always in stock by adding back to your shopping list each time you use the last item in your pantry.

Install Appropriate Shelves and Storage

If you want to have a great meal planning pantry, you need to be able to easily see what is on hand at all times.  This means having the right kind of storage and shelves.  Things like tiered shelves for those shorter items that don’t take up much space, or even using an over the door shoe holder for spices or seasoning mixes are great ideas that help you take advantage of limited space and keep everything easy to see.  I also love using the can storage options for easy rotation of canned goods. Especially when you use the same things over and over again, you may find that an older can gets forgotten and you end up wasting it.

Rotate items regularly.  When you add new items to your pantry, always make sure to rotate old items up front.  Rotation is vital to keeping your pantry stock used without going to waste.  Using the right shelving will make it easy to put new products behind the older ones so you are constantly rotating stock out of your pantry to make room for newer items. 

Stock up when items are on sale.  One of the best ways to build a great meal planning pantry is to stock up when items are on sale.  By making your master list as mentioned above, you can easily know how much of any given product you go through on a regular basis.  This makes it much easier to manage when you see a great deal on things like canned goods, mixes, seasonings, and soups that you use regularly in your meal planning.  Having stock on hand for simple meals like spaghetti, tacos, casseroles, and even pancakes or oatmeal can take a lot of burden out of your day to day cooking schedule.

Things we grab when on sale:

Canned vegetables to add to soups like corn, black beans, pinto beans, or green beans

Canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, and canned pasta sauces

Rice, dry beans, instant potatoes, and dry pasta

Oatmeal, breakfast cereal, spices, honey, sugar, flour, cocoa powder, nuts, and chocolate chips

Create your Own Homemade Mixes

 One of the biggest money saving tips for your meal planning pantry is to create your own homemade mixes instead of buying prepared items.  Buying spices when on sale, or even in bulk at your local warehouse club store can make it much more affordable to create those blends you pay high dollar for regularly.  You can even assemble your own dry ingredients for many items to help keep your food healthier and have easy to prepare items on hand at all times.

Our favorite homemade mixes to keep on hand:

Taco seasoning, ranch dip mix, French onion dip mix, fajitas seasoning, season salt, and Italian seasoning

Pancake mix, biscuit mix, brownie mix, hot cocoa mix, and cream soup mixes

Don’t Forget to Stock your Freezer

While your freezer isn’t part of your traditional pantry, it can definitely play a big part in your meal planning efforts.  Some use freezer meals for easier weeknight meals, while others simply keep basic ingredients on hand so any night they can grab things from the freezer to throw a meal together.  If you find fresh produce on sale during seasonal events, don’t hesitate to stock up and add to your freezer.  You can also add things like frozen ravioli, noodles, biscuits, and meats of all kinds for fast and easy meals.  Using fresher ingredients from your freezer can save time and keep you from eating fast food and wasting money in your budget. If you are looking to stock up on organic meat, Butcher Box is a great option.  You can also stock up on meat from Perdue farms and they will ship it to your home.
Some items we keep in the freezer:

Noodles, Biscuits, Dinner Rolls, Ravioli, and Tortellini

Breakfast sausage (homemade or purchased), hamburger, chicken, turkey, pork tenderloin, and hot dogs

Chopped onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, and tomatoes for adding to sauces or fajitas

Flash frozen beans, corn, squash, and zucchini for grilling or roasting

Flash frozen berries for smoothies

Twice baked potatoes, hash browns, or homemade French fries

Building the ultimate meal planning pantry and pantry inventory is all about keeping things on hand at all times that make it easy for you to pull together a meal at a moments notice.  Simple to prepare meals are always a great choice, and these tips for building your pantry for meal planning will make it much easier to manage.

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