When it comes to building a pantry, it can all seem a little overwhelming at first. Been there, done that. 

Ultimately, it comes down to asking yourself a few questions.

What do you like to eat?

How many times do I want to eat it? 

I remember when I first started my “ingredient household” journey and I was a bit shocked by the volume of ingredients we needed to keep on hand. Because when my husband and I first got married, a 10 lb bag of flour lasted us an eternity. Truly. Rarely were we getting out ingredients. What ingredients we did have were mostly leftovers from a recipe we tried (and clearly never made again), usually getting shoved to the back of the pantry shelves or expiring by the time we “needed” the ingredient again. 

If I were to start my pantry over, this is what I would do. 

First, I would find a handful of what I call Staple Recipes. These are recipes I use frequently and are really the “backbone” of baking. For me, bread, muffins, pie crust, cereal, crackers, and biscuits, would be the recipes I started with.