Kitchen Essentials for Plant-based Meals

When you’re starting to experiment with plant-based recipes, you can talk to any seasoned veteran and they’ll tell you that ensuring that your pantry is stocked with essentials can really make or break your mission to go meat-less that day, especially on some of those “lazy” days. So, with that in mind here are a few items that we suggest you always have on-hand.

Photo by Nadia Pimenova on Unsplash

Healthy Fats and Oils

Avocado Oil. With its high burning point and neutral flavour, avocado oil is great to use for pretty much anything. I love it for everyday cooking.

Coconut Oil is smooth and creamy. And because of that, it’s a great oil to use in baking and/or smoothies as it adds that buttery texture that we want when we’re baking.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil is amazing for flavour. You can find artisanal options too that are either more neutral or grassy in taste. I love using olive oil for roasting veggies; and then if I’ve splurged on a bottle of olive oil, it’ll be my go-to for dipping breads, making salad dressings and finishing dishes with a drizzle.

Nut Butters & Tahini are packed with flavour and oh-so-creamy. They’re a great addition to dressings where you want more coating. And amazing to make sauces to drizzle over your veggies.

Full Fat Coconut Milk is definitely a mainstay in our home. I use this when making Thai foods, Indian curries and even in some desserts when they call for regular milk. Fun fact: you can make a coconut whip topping for your cakes and brownies with full fat canned coconut milk.

Proteins

Beans & Legumes are a must! From chickpeas and split red lentils to kidney beans and navy beans. They are so versatile and add flavour and protein to any meal. It’s always nice to keep some canned versions on hand so you have them in a pinch, but otherwise I’d recommend to buy the dry versions and soak them overnight before you plan to use them.

Tofu & Tempeh are both soy-based and while they may not be everyone’s cup of tea, they are a neutral vessel for flavours. I find myself turning to extra-firm tofu when I’m feeling lazy and uncreative in the kitchen because I know I’ll get my protein and I can pair it with anything.

Nuts & Seeds can be treated as accessories for protein. They’re great to have on hand to top anything from salads to stir-fry’s. Some that I always have on hand are cashews, walnuts, pecans, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds (super high in iron!), hulled hemp seeds and chia seeds.

Acids

Apple Cider Vinegar is every plant-based cook’s best friend. It’s super diverse and is quite healthy. A lot of people will actually drink it as part of a daily tonic too. Personally, I use it in conjunction with Tamari/Soy Sauce when I’m making stir-fry’s.  

White Wine & Balsamic Vinegars are great to have on hand and not just for salad dressings. White wine vinegar is amazing to cook with when you’re looking for something a bit more neutral than apple cider vinegar, and balsamic vinegar is amazing when you want to add some tangy sweetness to a dish.

Lemon & Lime Juice, while best fresh from the fruit, can also be bought pre-juiced. It’s great to keep on hand to “wake-up” and brighten just about any dish.

Sweeteners

Maple Syrup isn’t just for your pancakes. I frequently reach for maple syrup to balance my savory plant-based meals. And I also add it to vinaigrettes and find that it makes the other flavours pop.

Coconut Sugar is my go-to when maple syrup just won’t work, and that’s typically within desserts. Some desserts just need that granulated texture that sugar brings to the table and coconut sugar is a great alternative and can be used 1:1 when a recipe calls for sugar.

Medjool Dates really do taste like candy and I like snacking on these with walnuts tucked into them on their own. These dates are amazing to have on hand for no-bake desserts and for smoothies.