Making your own pantry staples can save you money, enable you to leave out nasty of problematic components and, it's fun! These books are worth checking out to give you information and ideas for you own DIY pantry. There are other books on preserving, both generally and for specific techniques which also fit into the category of DIY pantry books. Links to those articles are available at the end of this one.
From Scratch – Fiona Weir Walmsley – Hardie Grant Books (AUS) 2022 ISBN 978 1 74379 807 2 – This is an amazingly comprehensive book if you are looking for things to make for, and out of, your pantry! The book has over 200 recipes for pantry essentials divided up into fourteen different categories. From front to back they are: ’Pantry Lovers’ eg curry powder, taco seasoning, condensed milk, egg pasta; ‘A Bakery Item, Please’ eg breadsticks, muffins, flatbread; ‘A Deep Love of Condiments’ eg harissa, beetroot relish, aioli, mayo; ‘Broths (and Soups) of life’ eg bone broths, veggie broth, cauliflower soup, pumpkin soup; ‘Breakfasts of Champions’ eg fried scones, pancakes, crumpets, muesli; ‘Life is Sweet’ eg various cakes and biscuits, slices, desserts and special treats; ‘So Saucy’ eg chilli sauce, ketchup, tartare sauce, BBQ sauce; ‘Jams and Spreads’ eg bacon jam, lemon curd, peanut butter; ‘Snackaroonies’ Potato and kale chips, vegetarian sausage rolls and muesli bars; ‘Obviously Crackers’ eg brown rice crackers, oatcakes, seaweed crackers; ‘Dairy Beloved’ eg butter, yoghurt, ricotta, ghee, mozzarella; ‘Fermented Goodness’ eg sauerkraut, kimchee, kefir; ‘Drink Me’ eg hot chocolate mix, coconut milk, lemon barley cordial; In For a Quick Dip eg basil pesto, hummus, salsa, olive dip. This book is a great reference, well worth having in your library if, like me, you enjoy making pantry staples from scratch! The book has lots of colour photos.
The New Home Larder – Judith Wills – Transworld Publishers (UK) 2009 ISBN 978 1 905 81131 1 – (Larder = pantry = store cupboard) As the blurb on the back of the book says about setting up a larder – “….You’ll have everything you need to make delicious and nutritious meals without shopping for items everyday”. The book has three parts, part one is ‘Your Larder’ which provides information on setting up your own home larder including why it is important, detail on setting it up and practicalities of operating a larder including cleaning and clearing, avoiding and treating larder pests and making the most of space. Section two, almost half the book, provides a series of recipes based on the stores in your larder including easy suppers, salads and side dishes, preserves and preserving, baked goods and festive occasions. Part three is entitled ‘resources’ and gives a detailed paragraph on all of the larder staples and where you can get them (UK Based). The book has lots of colour photos.
Attainable Sustainable Pantry – Kris Bordessa – National Geographic (US) 2025 ISBN 978 1 4262 2333 4 – This book is written in three parts. The first part is titled ‘Break out of the box’ and is composed of seven chapters, chapter one talks about how to put together your own whole food pantry, what should be in it, how to store it and for how long, chapter two is about breakfast, chapter three is baked goods, chapter four is about bread, chapter five is about condiments and how to make them, chapter six is about making snacks and chapter seven is about a few DIY staples. Part two is about preserving and after an introduction on where to get produce (Chapter eight) covers pickling (chapter nine), preserving in salt sugar and oil (Chapter ten), dehydration (chapter eleven) and fermentation (chapter twelve). The third part covers various aspects of modern canning in about 100 pages. After a canning introduction (chapter thirteen) the book covers fruit spreads (Chapter Fourteen), canning fruit (chapter fifteen), canning tomatoes (Chapter sixteen), salsas chutneys and relishes (Chapter seventeen) and pressure canning (Chapter eighteen). The book has over 120 recipes and lots and lots of colour photos.
The Homemade Pantry – Alana Chernila – Clarkson Potter Publishers (US) 2012 ISBN 978 0 307 88726 9 – The book starts with an introduction on the benefits of home made food, a list of tools to help out making food at home and how to use your freezer. The book is then divided up into chapters the author calls aisles (as in supermarket aisles). Aisle 1 – Dairy gives recipes and talks about how to make products like cheese, yoghurt, butter, and crème fraiche. Aisle 2 – Cereals and snacks – similar for granola, oatmeal, popcorn and car snacks, Aisle 3 – canned fruits, vegetables and beans, Aisle 4 – condiments, spices and spreads such as ketchup, mustard, salad dressings and spice mixes. Aisle 5 – soups, including stock, lentils soup and pureed soups, Aisle 6 – baking needs and mixes including pancakes and waffles, pie crust and pudding, Aisle 7 – frozen foods including veg, pizza and veggie burgers, Aisle 8 – Pasta and sauce Aisle 9 – breads and crackers including hamburgers buns, bread and tortillas. Aisle 10 is drinks including teas, sodas and hot chocolate and Aisle 11 is candy and sweet treats such as fruit rollups, marshmallows and chocolates. The book has lots of colour photos.
Larder – Orla McAndrew – Blasta Books (Eire) 2025 ISBN 9978 1 7384795 6 6 – This book is part of a series of at least eleven other books in the ‘Blasta’ Series. The books are small (A5 67 pages) providing quick and easy recipes for their chosen subject. This book provides 100 recipes covering 30 pantry staples, covering how you can make a quick feed combining the focal pantry staple with other pantry staples to make quick delicious recipes. Focus staples include pesto, hummus, eggs, rice, pasta, gnocchi, tinned fish and coconut milk. There combination pages with a number of recipes on a single idea such as ‘supermarket sweep’, ‘build a bowl’ and ‘one sauce, many ways’. The book has many coloured line drawings.
The Pantry Gourmet – Jane Doerfer – Rodale Press (US) 1984 ISBN 0 87857 506 5 – At almost 300 pages long, this is quite a comprehensive book, to be fair though, it was written in the early ‘80s and still pays some homage to the food of the ‘70s. It may not be to everyone’s taste! The blurb on the cover summarises things pretty well – “over 250 recipes for mustards, vinegars, relishes, pate’s, cheeses, breads, preserves and meats to stock your pantry, freezer and refrigerator.” The book starts with an introduction that also covers the ingredients used in the book and is followed by twelve chapters. The chapters cover, respectively – condiments; appetizers salads and soups; relishes and pickled vegetables; fruit preserves; meats sausages and pates; fish; cheeses; pastas, breads and pastries; sweets; snacks and beverages; cold sauce and salad dressing; basics. Illustrations are restricted to a small number of line drawings.
A Self-Sufficient Larder – Mike Foxwell – MacDonald Optima (UK) 1988 ISBN 978 0 356 14860 2 – This is another small book, but it is quite informative, covering a large number of subjects, recipes and details on how to do things. The introduction talks about how food production in the UK has gone from local to centralised and the issues with the numerous additives involved. There are eleven chapters in all, with a chapter covering bread; chutneys, sauces and ketchups; sausage and burgers; curing meat; jam making; soft cheese; pies, pates and terrines; brewing beer; winemaking; ice cream; organic herb growing. The book has a few line drawings.
Meals in a Jar – Julie Languille – Ulysses Press (US) 2013 ISBN 978 1 61243 163 5 – The idea behind this book is that you can put together homemade ready meals yourself and store them in your pantry. They will not have the preservatives and rubbish in commercial ready meals, but can contain home produced ingredients and they will also be cheaper. The book has ten chapters, the first one giving the what and why of homemade ready meals, chapter two gives an introduction to canning and dehydrating foods at home and chapter three introduces the equipment, ingredients and supplies needed. Chapter four, breakfast in a bag, gives recipes granola, pancakes muesli etc, chapter five, soups on, gives recipes, instruction on how to put together and other necessities (eg a can of tomatoes) and how to set up the instruction on the label for 24 soups. Chapter six does the same of pastas and chapter seven covers 24 main courses such as chicken and veg (10 ways), pulled pork braised brisket and coq au vin. Chapter eight, ready-made meal side kits covers things like grits, polenta, mashed potatoes, tortillas and naan. Chapter nine covers snacks beverages and extras and Chapter ten covers the all-important dessert including cobbler mix, ten different cookie mixes and sugar and spice nuts. Apart from a diagram on each chapter title page, there are no illustrations.
The Spice and Herb Bible – Ian and Kate Hemphill – Robers Rose (CAN) 2014 (3rd ed.) ISBN 978 0 7788 0493 2 – This is a BIG book! It is almost A4 size and 800 pages long. If you have a hankering to put together your own spice mixes, this is the book for you! The book is divided into three parts, the first part – ‘The World of Spices’ covers the first 36 pages and talks about the spice trade, difference between a herb and a spice, culinary and medicinal herbs and spices, growing drying and storing your own herbs and using them fresh. The second part – ‘Spice Notes’ is a series of almost 100 monographs on herbs and spices including over 150 recipes. Each monograph covers names of the plant in other languages, background, the plant, processing, buying and storage, use and usually a recipe or two. Part three – ‘The Art of combining Spices’ gives a general introduction then recipes and details on making 66 spice blends, including how the blend is prepared and used. The book hs a large number of colour photos.
Links
Food Preserving Books - General
Food Preserving Books - Specific Techniques
