Plant based grocery essentials

These 15 plant based grocery essentials are a great guide for your weekly shopping trip.  I like to plan out my weekly shopping.  You should never do a full shop without a planned list; I think that it is important to maintain a healthy diet.  If you try to shop without a plan, you will leave yourself open to unprepared mealtimes and staring at the contents of your fridge, not knowing what to cook.  This will inevitably lead to making unhealthier choices.  Planning is the key to success.

Planning

I make a list of meals that I want to make for the following week and then write out the ingredients that I will need for them.  As well as this I have an essentials list that I keep in a notebook so that I do not forget anything that I use on a weekly basis.  This means that if I need to make an extra meal or I don’t want one that I have planned, I have plenty of ingredients to rustle several things up with.

There are many things that I buy every week and I thought it would be helpful to list the main ones.  These plant based grocery essentials will make it really easy to make myriad of meals and give you a great amount of vitamins and minerals, essential for health.

Berries

I stock my fridge up with these every week, usually strawberries, raspberries and blueberries.  I use them on their own for snacks, on top of porridge, in smoothies, on pancakes, but their uses are endless.

Gluten free oats

Oats are so versatile.  I use them for porridge, overnight oats, the base for cookies, pancakes, again the list is endless.  I also like to use gluten free oats.  Obviously oats are naturally gluten free but the way in which they are manufactured means that they can be contaminated with products that contain gluten.  It isn’t guaranteed that your oats will be contaminated of course but I think it is best to just used gluten free oats to be safe.  You can be sure that the gluten free oats have been manufactured in an environment free of gluten, its best for peace of mind.

Leafy greens

This is one that you should never miss.  Full of nutrients and really important for healing your gut, leafy greens should be something that you eat daily in your diet.  My favourite leafy greens to buy because of their versatility are spinach and kale.  The ways I use these are in smoothies and salads, but I also like to add spinach to a curry and kale to a stew or soup.

Fresh herbs

Fresh herbs are so easy to use to add flavour to a meal.  Having these on hand will give you options when you cook.  I like to have coriander and basil on hand at all times.  Coriander is great for adding to a curry or a stew and basil is perfect in Italian meals like Bolognese and lasagne.

Fruit

Fresh and frozen fruit are always on hand in our house, I have two large fruit bowls so we can all help ourselves to fresh fruit whenever we want it. Every week we buy bananas, oranges, plums, apples, pears, grapes, lemons, limes, avocados and tomatoes.

Frozen berries are always in our freezer too.  I use them all the time for smoothies and sometimes I like to stew some blueberries or raspberries for topping my porridge with.

Natural nut butter

All peanut butter is not created equal.  Reading the label is so important.  Some come with palm oils, sugar and copious amounts of salt.  You can but 100% peanut butter everywhere now, even in supermarkets.  It contains just nuts and therefore is much healthier. 

My favourites are almond butter and peanut butter and I use them in so many ways, to bake, to drizzle or to have as a dip with fruit. 

Vegetables

Obviously vegetables should be added in to every meal you can for optimal health.  There are too many to list but try and mix them up all of the time so that you are varying your nutrients and eating all the colours of the rainbow.  Favourites for me are broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes, sweet potatoes, red onions, butternut squash, parsnips, turnip and cabbage; I could go on and on!

Add them to salads, stews, soups or just have them by themselves.

Coconut milk

This may not be on everyone’s list but it is always on mine.  I make a lot of curries and this is perfect to add to make a creamy curry if you wish.  I also think it is brilliant for adding to stews and soups if you want to make them creamy instead of cream or even plant based creamers which I don’t use due to all of the other added ingredients.

Beans and lentils

Beans and lentils are a must for any plant based kitchen.  You can add them to a salad or bulk out any meal with them like a Bolognese, a curry or soups and stews, they are so versatile.  My favourite are kidney beans and chickpeas, or garbanzo beans as they are otherwise known.

Dried herbs and spices

Dried herbs are perfect when you want to jazz up a meal quickly and haven’t got anything fresh to hand.  Keeping every fresh herb that you need isn’t possible for all homes, I try my best but usually only have a few at a time that thrive.  Dried herbs can really help with flavour.

Spices are a must for me, but as much as I would love to only use whole spices and grind everything myself, it just isn’t practical. It is really handy to have spices to hand for so many dishes.

Canned tomato products

Hands up if you like pasta?  I love it, I use gluten free and chickpea pasta and eat it regularly.  Nothing beats a tomato based sauce for a simple bowl of pasta but the readymade variety is not healthy.  Making your own from canned tomatoes is a great way to make your meal healthier and there are plenty of options to choose from.  Plum, chopped, crushed or passata which are sieved tomatoes and completely smooth.  Of course canned tomatoes can be used for all sorts of meals other than pasta too. I like to make my stews and soups tomato based if I haven’t got any homemade stock available as I don’t use shop bought stocks, again due to all the unnecessary ingredients.

Nuts and seeds

I love to have nuts and seeds to hand to chuck on top of my breakfast or to make granola. We mostly use them as snacks, my eldest daughter loves to take nuts to school for her break time snack.  Our favourites are pistachios, pecans, hazelnuts and walnuts.

Natural sweeteners

I do not eat refined sugar, at all.  It is linked to inflammation and I have an inflammatory disease so do not want to aggravate this.  I do however have a really sweet tooth and love dessert, and where there is a will there is a way.  I have learnt to use and cook with natural sweeteners like date syrup, honey and maple syrup; they are delicious and much better than refined alternatives.

Cacao powder

I love chocolate! I like to make chocolate flavoured sweet treats all of the time so this magic powder is used every week without fail.

Baking supplies

Essentially I like to have supplies to hand in order to bake and cook without buying the processed alternative.  Some of my all-time favourites that are always in my kitchen are: chickpea flour, almond flour or ground almonds, cacao powder and coconut flour. I can make savoury wraps, brownies, nut butter bars, pancakes; well the list is probably endless here too.

I really hope this helps to give you an idea about the ways to fill your kitchen with plant based grocery essentials, and where you can use them.

Health and happiness

Laura x