Tired of overpaying for low-quality ingredients at the grocery store? It’s time to embrace your self-sufficient era and make your own kitchen staples from scratch — don’t worry, it’s a lot simpler than it sounds. Discover how to make homemade staples from spice blends to low-carb breadcrumbs and even nut butter in this guide to DIY pantry essentials.
Why you should invest time into making homemade staples
Many essential ingredients you buy at the grocery store are simple recipes you can make at home. Although picking something up at the store is convenient, making your own version of these staples offers many advantages that are worth the little time and energy they require.
When you cook from scratch, you know exactly what goes into your food and can customize it according to your taste preferences. Your food’s nutritional labels will no longer be 20 ingredients long, with names that you can’t even pronounce. By controlling the ingredients, you can ensure your pantry staples are fresh, healthy and chemical-free.
Money is also a clear motivation to DIY whatever you can. Ingredients like nut butter and basic condiments are starting to cost an arm and a leg at the store when you can make it at home for a fraction of the price. The cost savings of homemade staples will go far, especially as you reduce the number of trips to the store.
DIY your spice blends
The DIY movement in your kitchen should extend to all the essential items in your pantry, starting with your spices. Spices are a game changer in your kitchen and can transform a plain old dish into something you can’t believe you made yourself. Creating your own spice mixes is a fun way to experiment with new combinations and avoid unwanted additives.
The key to making spices from scratch is to use a dehydrator or oven. Making garlic and onion powder is essentially the same process — just peel and thinly slice them, dry until crispy and then grind into a fine powder. If you want a little heat, blend the garlic and onion powder with dried chili peppers and a dash of oregano, cumin and whatever else your heart desires.
Bread crumbs for the perfect coating
Breadcrumbs are a must-have in your pantry. They add an unbeatable crunchy texture to your choice of protein or vegetables. The recipe comes down to baking bread, cutting it into squares, baking it until crispy and blending it.
When you buy it at the store, it’s usually made from regular flour, but if you DIY it, you can tailor the recipe to make low-carb breadcrumbs. By using oat fiber or potato fiber, you can make keto bread that is low-carb and gluten-free, perfect for your health goals and an option you won’t find easily in the aisles — at least without an absurd upcharge that grocery stores like to put on anything healthy.
Nutritious nut butter that won’t break the bank
Having nut butter at home is often a treat as it can be quite expensive to purchase. The good news is that you don’t need to be a master chef to make it yourself. With a little time and practice, you can create a spread that is adjusted to your sweetness and texture preference.
Blend your choice of nut in a food processor or blender, whether it be almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts or a combination of them. No additional ingredient is required here; you just want a pure nut base. Once you have that base, now is your chance to make it your own. Add
Dehydrated snacks to cure the munchies
When you’re scavenging your pantry and fridge for a little snack, you can finally stop reaching for that bag of chips because there’s a better, healthier and less expensive option that doesn’t sacrifice taste — dehydrated chicken chips jerky. Learning how to dehydrate chicken might sound like a daunting task, but it is completely doable.
Pressure cook your chicken, shred it up into small pieces and submerge it in a marinade if desired. Then, lay the chicken strips in a tray and put them in the dehydrator or oven until the pieces are dry. By making your own jerky, you skip out on all the preservatives and can snack in peace without worrying about its nutritional content.
Give your condiments a flavorful upgrade
Who doesn’t love fries with a side of ketchup? Condiments can truly make or break a dish, and there is no reason why you need to settle for the store-bought versions with absurd amounts of sugar and preservatives.
At its core, ketchup requires tomatoes, vinegar, sugar and seasonings like onion and garlic powder. The art of making mustard involves grinding mustard seeds, mixing the seeds with mustard powder and other seasonings and finally adding liquid. Once you roll up your sleeves and start making your own condiments, you’ll be surprised by how simple the process actually is. While you have all your spices out, why not also spring clean your pantry?
Self-sufficiency is the way to go
As you start your journey to self-sufficiency and use your kitchen more often, your next step would be to create a non-toxic kitchen. This means investing in non-toxic cookware like stainless steel or cast iron that doesn’t have a coating with harmful chemicals like Teflon.
Convenience may be nice, but spending some time creating healthier, more authentic and cost-effective pantry staples is worth every second. Making staples from scratch is simpler than you think and is incredibly fulfilling, as you enjoy the fruits of your labor at the end of the process. It’s time to take control of what you put in your body and challenge yourself to recreate grocery store items in your own kitchen.
Zuzana Paar is the creative force behind her websites Low Carb No Carb, and Best Clean Eating. As a content creator, food recipe developer, blogger and photographer, Zuzana brings diverse skills to the table with a dedication to sharing delicious, healthy recipes and helpful tips with the readers.