Weekly Shopping List

The Items That I Buy Every Single Week + Pantry Store Cupboard Essentials

I cook in some form or another every single day and I know a lot of you do too. Here are the items that I buy every week to have on hand for my cooking. I can’t shop ahead. I just don’t know what I am going to want that day, so we shop in a somewhat European fashion. We have certain things on hand all the time and then our protein we will usually buy the day of. I also hit my the farmer’s market every Thursday and see what’s in season and that supplements my grocery store shopping. This list doesn’t include things outside of my cooking. For instance, I am not going to put down fruits or things that my kids on. This is just a cooking ingredient list.

Note that that doesn’t include pantry items, which I will also list out below.

Produce:

Tomatoes - cherry if not in season, Heirlooms if in season

Yellow onions

Spring onions

Potatoes - I will have either waxy (Yukon Gold) or floury (Russet) on hand all the time

Romaine lettuce

Garlic - don’t get the kind in a bag already peeled or the Jarlic, it’s just not as good

Celery

Carrots

Bell peppers

Cucumbers - English hot house or Persian

Fresh herbs - always parsley and cilantro and then I also buy tarragon, chives, basil or other ones depending on what I am cooking

Fresh herbs - thyme or rosemary or sage - I will always have 1 of these to hand and I also have a Bay tree so I always have those too

Lemons - I have a tree but if I didn’t I would always have lemons to hand

Dairy:

Eggs - I love Vital Farms and Happy Eggs or ones from the farmer’s market

Cream - in the US this is heavy whipping cream in the UK this would be double cream

Milk - I use whole milk

Butter - I have both salted and unsalted. Some butters I use just for toast or bread which are ones like Buerre Bordier and are $$

Parmigiano Reggiano - the real one has the stamp on the rind spelling this out

Meats:

The only meats I buy every single week are either a whole chicken for roasting or chicken thighs. Both items I make weekly, so I know they will get used.

Everything else I buy per what I feel like cooking. So that might be in season vegetables like zucchini or fennel or cabbage or eggplant. Or for the protein, it might be fish or steak or lamb or something like that.

With the roast chicken carcass, I make bone broth every week and use that all week in my dishes.

Bread:

Baguette or a sour dough boule - I buy one every 3 days or so

Pantry Items:

Pasta - I have all shapes, spaghetti, linguine, fusilli, paccheri, etc but I would have at least 1 short and 1 long type

Rice - Japanese short grain, Carnaroli risotto rice and then long grain like Basmati

Dried Beans

Canned beans - pinto, garbanzo, white beans

All Purpose Flour - for pancakes and thickening things

Honey

Sugar

Vinegars - I would have at least red wine vinegar but I have a lot of different ones

Dijon mustard - Edmond Fallot is my favorite brand

Olive Oil - I love Frantoia

Finishing Olive oil - I love Masseria

Avocado oil or Algae oil - for high heat searing and cooking

Coconut milk or cream - I always have a can to hand

Canned tomatoes - I have peeled whole and sometimes crushed - I love Mutti

Dried chilis - I like pequin and then I crush them per use

Anchovies - I love the Fishwives brand

Tomato paste - I love the Mutti brand

Salt - Kosher or sea salt for pasta water

Maldon salt - I use this for everything else

Black pepper - freshly cracked only for me

Cured meat - I buy a large 3 lb piece of Guanciale 2-3x per year off of Amazon and it lasts me for months - Salumeria make a good one. The key is looking for one with a dark rind that you have to cut off. If the rind is light, I have noticed it’s not as good.