30 Essential Ingredients Every Beginner Cook Needs To Have On Hand

Getting started with cooking can be daunting. First, there is navigating the amount of equipment to execute an intimidating number of techniques. Then there are ingredients. While a well-stocked spice cabinet and a refrigerator filled with ingredients are great, assembling your stockpile in slow, easily attainable steps is more manageable for you and your bank account.

We've compiled a list of staple ingredients that will help you with a wide range of recipes, all useful for multiple recipes and cuisine types, as beginner cooks don't need single-purpose ingredients. This list's intent is inspirational and aspirational; there is no need to buy every one of these ingredients before you start cooking, so view this as something to build to rather than a "must-have before you can start" list. Most of these ingredients fall into the affordable category, and many of them have long shelf lives, so you needn't worry about them going bad before you find a use for them. If any are hard and fast requirements, it is the first ingredient on the list, so please start there.

Black pepper has a smoky, slightly spicy flavor that intensifies as it blooms and appears in cuisines worldwide. Unlike chiles which contain capsaicin, black pepper's heat comes from a compound called piperine, which is neither as intense nor long-lasting. Don't just sprinkle pepper on along with salt; use it with intention. Pepper is best when fat-activated, like in cacio e pepe or country sausage, and burns at high heat, so it's not a spice you want to add before searing a piece of food. Get an inexpensive grinder and whole peppercorns to always have fresh pepper on hand.

Fresh parsley, particularly the Italian flat-leaf variety, adds a grassy, herby pop of flavor to many dishes. It's a light flavor in small doses, but it can also be the star ingredient of sauces or condiments like chimichurri. Add a dash to beurre noisette with a few capers to finish a piece of fish, mix it with some minced shallots or garlic to make compound butter, or add a bit to your scrambled eggs to brighten them. Wash your parsley under running water and then store it whole in a glass of water in your refrigerator until needed.

Grapeseed oil is what olive oil is not. It's a neutral-flavored oil that stands up to high-heat cooking. Nobody will remark on a unique flavor from your grapeseed oil, but they also won't notice a burnt smell that could result from high heat and olive oil. When cooking with grape seed oil, you can add flavor and richness by adding a knob of butter to your pan along with the oil and adding your food when the butter foams. You can also add a nob after you sear your food to baste it during cooking.

If you're trying to conserve pantry space or ingredient spending, there's one vinegar to have on hand. Cider vinegar walks the line between the subtlety of white wine vinegar and the brashness of the red wine varieties and can fill in for either, if necessary. That's not to say it doesn't have flavor or uses of its own, as cider vinegar can make vinaigrettes, marinades, and mayonnaises or serve as a pickling medium or the base of a BBQ mop sauce. Try to find a cider vinegar — not cider-flavored — with the mother for the best quality and flavor.

Capers are the flower buds of a common Mediterranian plant that possess a briny taste similar to a cross between a lemon and an olive. However, some find a Dijon mustard-like flavor to them, as well. You'll often find capers in classic Italian dishes like Chicken Picatta or Puttanesca. But what else are they good for, and why keep them around? Use capers anywhere that you want a bright, salty flavor. They pair well with lemon, tomato, and olives. Capers also pair well with fish, like smoked salmon or beurre noissette and parsley, to finish lighter fish varieties.

Soy sauce is another East Asian staple, but don't view it as limited to a finish for an uninspired stir-fry. There are several types of soy sauce in varying intensities and complexities beyond those commonly encountered on the grocery store shelf, and we're particularly fond of mushroom soy for its intense umami-building capabilities. You can slip a little into places you wouldn't think it would fit, like marinara, to create complexity and extra body. It's also great for marinades and dressings and can boost sweet dishes when used with restraint.

Collectively called mirepoix in French cooking, these three ingredients are far greater than the sum of their parts. You can use them at their simplest; throw them into a pot with leftover chicken bones, and you've got chicken stock. Add them to a stew or pot roast to add depth and body to your broth. But if you take a few extra steps, you reap more significant benefits. Taking the time to sweat (cook over low heat until they lose their raw flavor and crunch) and season your mirepoix yields far more depth and body than using them raw.

Cream is high in fat. But fat adds flavor, and when used in moderation, cream is not a bad thing. You can, of course, use it for dessert purposes, like mousse, ganache, or caramel sauce. You can also use it to add a bit of body to your pan sauces, or a little lemon juice or buttermilk added to your cream yields homemade creme fraiche. It adds a bit of decadence to mashed or scalloped potatoes and can turn your jarred marinara into Princess sauce. Look for the fewest ingredients on the label when buying as an indication of the best quality.

Cornstarch's primary use has been as a thickening agent for sauces, soups, and stews. Simply mix it with a bit of water to make a slurry, pour it into boiling liquid, and you're good to go. But it also has utility in "velveting" meats for stir-fries and as a coating to make a crisp exterior for sauteed meats and seafood. It can also help you with your fried rice game, or improve your onion ring batter. Like flour, it may not be something you use frequently, but it also won't go bad on you at the back of the cupboard.

Italians view pasta differently than elsewhere; the pasta is the star, and the sauce only enhances it. We can't expect everyone to adhere to that mindset, but we can recognize that different shapes pair better with specific sauces. There are hundreds of pasta shapes, so covering them all is exhaustive. Keeping a stranded pasta like spaghetti or bucatini, a tube pasta like penne or rigatoni, and a small pasta like ditalini will cover most of your bases. Learn how to best cook and treat your pasta and learn a few sauce basics to pair with them.

Everyone who can eat cheese should keep three types of cheese on hand. A hard, grating cheese like Parmesan, a sliceable cheese like Swiss or cheddar, and a soft cheese like brie will cover most recipe situations. They each serve a purpose, like finishing pasta, melting, or sandwich making. Chefs can be particular about what types of cheeses they keep in their fridges, but they largely follow the same guidelines as above. With the basics covered, there are plenty of upgrades to the types of cheese we've mentioned if you're seeking different flavors or textures.

Frozen peas may seem like an odd addition to this list of essential ingredients, but hear us out. If you have some pasta, butter, and cheese for grating or perhaps some bread crumbs, a hand full of frozen peas rounds out a complete, if not wholly satisfying, meal when there's little else on hand. Quickly blanching some frozen peas and blending them with some olive oil and herbs like mint, basil, or parsley yields a pesto-ish sauce that can finish pasta or risotto, serve as a finishing garnish for poultry or fish, or even function as a spread for appetizers.

Regional and family recipes varyfor this Middle Eastern spice blend, but they usually contain oregano, thyme or marjoram, sesame, and sumac. It can flavor roasted meats, poultry, and fish or be used directly on roasted vegetables or in a vinaigrette to finish them. It's particularly effective tossed on some roasted potatoes. If you don't feel like getting adventurous, toast some bread with olive oil and za'atar or use the two as a dip for your bread or pita as a dinner accompaniment.

Dried noodle packets needn't be the domain of broke students. On their own, they're pretty one-dimensional, a bowl of noodle soup that's ready in 10 minutes or less. Rummage around the cabinet and refrigerator, and you'll be hard-pressed not to find something to make those noodles more exciting. Boil or fry an egg and drop it in the finished soup, or scramble the egg and stir it in. Some chopped herbs or fresh chiles liven it quickly. Sesame oil adds fragrance and body. Don't look at the packet as the end as anything but a blank slate to draw on.

Painful fact; most of the tomatoes in your grocery store are picked green and ripened later. That's why they lack flavor. Canned tomatoes ripen on the vine before picking, packing more flavor than most fresh tomatoes. So if you plan on making sauce from grocery store tomatoes, head to the canned vegetable aisle. Yes, canned tomatoes can make marina, but also a great tomato soup. As an accompaniment, they add body, acidity, and flavor to soups and stews, as well as braised meats or vegetables. Cooked with a little sugar, blended, and frozen, you have tomato granita.