How to Stock a Kitchen From Scratch

It’s happened to me more than once that I’ve moved into a new place and been faced with a completely empty kitchen. It’s an easy enough problem to end up with, but it doesn’t always seem so easy to solve. Having to stock a kitchen from scratch is a big undertaking that requires a heavy dose of foresight and planning. And even if you don’t cook a lot (which I didn’t in my early 20s, hence the lack of kitchen necessities), it’s still always a good idea to have the essentials on hand.

There are plenty of reasons why you might find yourself with an empty kitchen. Maybe it’s your first apartment and you haven’t ever needed to stock a kitchen before. Maybe you moved across the country (or the world) and for ease of travel you packed some salt and pepper but not much else. But regardless of the why or how behind your bare-bones kitchen, you’ll have to figure out early on how to fill it up with the basics. Here’s how to do it.

Kitchen Essentials: Non-Perishables

Non-perishables—a.k.a. foods with long shelf lives that reside in your pantry and/or cupboards—are some of the biggest staples of a well-stocked kitchen. The exact items off of this non-perishables list that you’ll need depend on what you like to eat and whether you like to cook or bake, but use this as a reference guide for the non-perishable basics you might want to add to your grocery list.

  • Bread
  • Oats
  • Flour
  • Sugar
  • Coffee and/or tea
  • Lentils
  • Canned and/or dried beans
  • Quinoa
  • Rice
  • Dried pasta
  • Nuts
  • Granola
  • Peanut butter
  • Jelly and/or jam
  • Crackers
  • Honey
  • Cereal
  • Olive oil
  • Vegetable oil
  • Canned tuna
  • Canned soup
  • Ketchup
  • Mustard
  • Soy sauce
  • Hot sauce
  • Barbecue sauce

Other less essential non-perishable items you may want to purchase when stocking an empty kitchen include:

  • Pancake/waffle mix
  • Other baking mixes
  • Baking soda
  • Baking powder
  • Cornstarch
  • Vanilla extract
  • Chocolate chips
  • Trail mix
  • Granola bars
  • Canned fruit
  • Canned tomatoes

Kitchen Essentials: Spices

Home cooks know that spices are a necessary part of a delicious meal. If you have big cooking dreams but an empty spice cabinet, purchase a pre-stocked spice kit or stock a kitchen cabinet with these go-to spices:

  • Salt
  • Pepper
  • Garlic powder
  • Onion powder
  • Oregano
  • Chili powder
  • Paprika
  • Cumin
  • Cinnamon

You can pick up other spices as they’re called for in recipes.

Kitchen Essentials: Perishables

One of the hardest parts of having to stock a kitchen from scratch is picking out perishables. Because by definition perishable items (i.e. items with short lifespans that you need to stock in the fridge or freezer) don’t last very long, you want to be judicious about what you buy and not purchase a ton of food that will end up in the trash or compost bin. For that reason, start light with the perishables, just choosing the items that you know you’ll eat or cook with right away. You can add on as needed.

Fridge

  • Milk (dairy or non-dairy)
  • Fresh fruit
  • Fresh vegetables
  • Eggs
  • Butter
  • Deli meats
  • Tofu
  • Yogurt
  • Cheese
  • Hummus
  • Salsa

Freezer

  • Frozen meals
  • Frozen pizza
  • Frozen vegetables
  • Frozen fruit
  • Ice cream or other frozen treats

What about kitchen items?

If you’re really starting from scratch then in addition to a lack of food you may also have a lack of cooking and eating utensils. For now, focus on the kitchen fundamentals and purchase less essential items like bread makers and avocado slicers later on.

  • Pots and pans (start with one stock pot, one sauce pot, and one fry pan)
  • Plates and bowls (if you’re living alone, two of each is fine to start with)
  • Eating utensils, i.e. knives, forks, spoons (at least two of each)
  • Drinking glasses
  • Mugs
  • Baking sheet
  • Oven-safe cooking dish
  • Knives (start with a butcher’s knife, serrated knife, and paring knife)
  • Knife block (choose either in-drawer style or on the counter)
  • Cutting board
  • Oven mitts
  • Coffee maker or French press
  • Cooking utensils (spatula and wooden spoon)
  • Dry measuring cups
  • Liquid measuring cup
  • Measuring spoons
  • Dish towels (four to start)
  • Dish soap and sponges
  • Dish drying rack

Helpful tips for when you stock a kitchen from scratch

A common error that people make when they’re stocking a new kitchen after a move is that they buy more than they need. Food and kitchen items aren’t cheap, so you want to be sure that you shop smartly and don’t over-purchase and over spend. These tips will help you out.

Make a list. The tenets of grocery shopping 101 include always making a list before going to the store. While you may think it’s safe to assume that you’ll just remember you need something when you see it, the reality is that without a list most of us usually end up buying lots of the items we don’t need and few of the items that we do. So go with a plan, even if it just means printing out this article and bringing it along with you.

Don’t go to the grocery store hungry. This is a good tip to remember any time you go grocery shopping, but especially when you’re stocking a totally empty kitchen. Having a snack or a meal before you go to the store helps ensure that you don’t just grab things off of the shelf indiscriminately because they look good and instead pick up just the things that are on your list.

Plan out your first week’s worth of meals. You don’t need to get crazy with meal planning after a move, but you should have a general idea of what you intend to eat or cook for breakfast, lunch, and dinner while you settle in so that you know what exactly what essentials and non-essentials you’ll have to pick up.

Assume that you’ll need to make more than one trip to the store. It’s okay not to have a fully stocked kitchen after one trip to the grocery store. When you’re starting from scratch, it makes sense that it will take you a few trips before you truly have what you need, so there’s no pressure to get it all right on the first try.

For your first kitchen utensils, buy cheap. The first pots, pans, plates, etc. that you buy don’t need to be (and probably won’t be) forever items. So while quality is important, save yourself the trouble and expense of researching and purchasing the best supplies out there and instead just get whatever is available in your budget. IKEA, Target, or secondhand stores are great places to start for basic kitchen tools that do their jobs well without costing a ton.

Ask for help! Everyone might not have experience stocking a kitchen from scratch, but everyone does have a kitchen. Talk to your parents, your friends, or whoever else you think might have good insight for you about what you definitely need to have in your new kitchen and what you can definitely live without. Better yet, bring someone along with you for that first grocery shopping trip so you have an extra set of eyes and hands helping you pick out the things that you need.

When in doubt, err on the side of purchasing too few things, instead of purchasing too much — especially when it comes to perishable items and kitchen tools. The grocery store isn’t going anywhere, so you’ll be able to get what you need later on if you didn’t pick it up the first time around.

And finally: enjoy your new kitchen! There’s something very exciting about having a kitchen where you know that everything is fresh and ready to eat. As an added bonus: you’ll finally be able to choose meals from something other than a delivery menu.