Favourite ingredients: pantry

January 28, 2025

By Alice Shopland, founder of Angel Food

I’m marking Veganuary 2025 by publishing a blog post a day.

Dried pulses and other proteins

Split peas (split pea soup is one of my favourite cold-weather meals. Split peas are so tasty they barely need any other flavours added apart from some salt and maybe a squeeze of lemon juice – but if you want to jazz them up with coconut cream or curry powder, that’s good too)

Brown lentils

Red lentils 

Black-eyed peas

Chickpeas

Small pieces of TVP (great for nacho mince and in a Bolognese sauce. It’s cheap and readily takes on whatever flavours you cook it with)

Peanuts

Mixed nuts

Sunflower seeds

Sesame seeds (toast them in a dry pan for maximum deliciousness)

Pumpkin seeds

Cashew nuts

Cans/jars/packets

Diced tomatoes

Tomato puree

Baked beans

Black beans

Brown lentils (they hold their shape better than home-cooked brown lentils, so they’re better for using in salads)

Kidney beans

Four-bean mix

Pineapple pieces in juice

Baby corn

Sweetcorn kernels

Beetroot slices

Artichoke hearts

Coconut cream

Dolmades (Greek stuffed vine leaves – great with salad and hummus for a quick lunch)

Crackers

Dark chocolate

Custard powder (most brands are vegan, but do check)

Grains

Pearl barley

Brown rice

White rice

Sushi rice

Millet and pearl millet

White and red quinoa

Buckwheat (not technically a grain – it’s a seed, related to rhubarb – and despite the name, it’s not related to wheat and is gluten-free)

Packs of pre-cooked brown rice/quinoa (very handy for quick meals)

Instant polenta

Pasta

Regular couscous and giant couscous (great with roast vegetables or with a tasty vegetable stew)

Orzo (my favourite for pasta salads)

Lasagne sheets

Small lasagne pieces (not sure why but this is my favourite for pasta-and-sauce meals – given that all pasta is made from the same stuff, it always seems odd to me that different pasta shapes can be so distinctive)

Spaghetti

Macaroni

Shells

Oils/vinegars

Cider vinegar

Balsamic vinegar

Red wine vinegar

Olive oil

Sesame oil (so good in salad dressings, especially the toasted variety)

Rice bran oil

Sauces/spreads

Peanut butter (for toast, obviously, but also for salad dressings and stirring into soups)

Tahini (I prefer the hulled variety, and I dollop it on top of everything.)

Marmite/Vegemite

Miso (for seasoning sauces etc but also great as a savoury hot drink)

Dried herbs and spices

Vegetable stock cubes and/or stock powder

Whole and ground cumin seeds

Cardamom pods

Star anise

Paprika

Smoked paprika

Chilli powder and flakes

Cinnamon powder and sticks

Whole nutmeg (grate as much as you need at a time)

Black salt (which when ground looks pink rather than black, but confusingly it’s not the same as ‘pink salt’. It has a strong sulphurous flavour which is not everyone’s cup of tea, but I love it – the flavour is strong so add a tiny amount at a time. It's often used in scrambled tofu to add an eggy flavour)

Turmeric (sprinkle some in when you’re cooking rice or other grains, for a glorious colour)

Ground white pepper

Black peppercorns

Garlic powder

Basil

Tarragon

Oregano

Bay leaves (but fresh is so much better)

Italian herb mix (cos sometimes you’re in a hurry and don’t want to faff about with adding several different herbs)