Capsule Pantry for the Minimalist Cook
Executive summary: Just like how a “capsule wardrobe” enables you to mix and match clothing to create different outfits, I have a “capsule pantry” of ingredients that we mix and match in various combinations to create dozens of recipes.
In the ever-ongoing pursuit to simplify my life, I have looked for ways to create meals that require a minimum amount of planning, procuring, and prepping. Not only am I seeking to reduce the amount of time spent on shopping and cooking, but I am also trying to free up the time spent thinking about what to eat, especially when I’m all out of decision-making juice at the end of a busy day. I need something mindless and quick to throw together that is reasonably nutritionally balanced, tastes decent, and that I can make on auto-pilot. (I will leave the topic of picky kids for another day – they do not feel like making my life easier, imagine that!)
One of the first things I did after graduating from college and finding myself without a dining hall meal plan (or parents to cook homemade meals for me) is make a spreadsheet of everything I knew how to cook, and chart the common ingredients between them. (Yes, of course I’m an unabashed nerd and neat freak). Since then, it’s become second nature for me to know whether or not a recipe belongs in my arsenal by a quick glance at the ingredients (and gadget) list. Do I get carried away sometimes and pick up a special ingredient or two at the store to try out a new recipe? Yes, and it’s a lot of fun, when I have the time to do something different and likely time-consuming. But when it comes to putting meals on the table for my family after a hectic day of work and various obligations, I always return to my capsule pantry and the recipes that don’t require anything extra. It also makes shopping extremely efficient, as I have a well-trod path through the store where I know exactly where to grab everything I need.
Our entire “pantry” fits in the two cupboards to the left of the microwave. We only use 2 of the 3 shelves, actually. I won’t show you the inside (I’m not a neat freak when it comes to my food storage, apparently), but it’s clear that I can’t be a hoarder of food if it all fits in here, and with room to spare.
The list of ingredients below is what I consider the bare minimum, but sometimes I will have things like fresh herbs to elevate a recipe a little bit. (They’re low on my priority list, but nice to have when I manage to plan ahead before I get to the store). And like I said, it’s fun to make something out of the ordinary sometimes, and those ingredients are also omitted from the table below.
The approx. two dozen recipes that follow are only the tried-and-true ones I make on repeat, to give you a sense of how I mix and match ingredients from our capsule pantry to create dishes (and there are also endless variations on them I didn’t enumerate here). I plan to write more detailed recipe posts in the future, but this not a food blog per se, so it will be a gradual process. Bon appetit!
