How the Strategist Staff Stocks Their Pantries

The perfect mustard does exist, and it’s this one — a blend of smooth and whole grain — originallyrecommended to meby an old colleague atBon Appétit. It’s perfectly spreadable but still studded with some pungent seeds for texture. I use it near nightly for salad dressings but also in sauces, as a dipping condiment for sausages, and on sandwiches, of course.

Speaking of salad dressing, I’d be remiss not to mention the Sherry vinegar I always keep on hand. It’s my go-to for that purpose (ideally as a co-source of acid alongside lemon), as well as for finishing braises and stews and for stirring into marinades and sauces. It tastes well-rounded to me — less acidic and bracing than red-wine vinegar.

My pantry is full of canned and dried beans of all kinds, but here I’ll give a shoutout to the humble lentil. I like all kinds, but black lentils are my favorite, and these specifically are the best I’ve ever had. Black lentils are quite firm and retain their shape after being cooked (similar to Le Puy lentils but, in my experience, even more so). This makes them great for soups and salads, but my favorite application is to let them cool and dry after simmering and then shallow-fry them in olive oil so they crisp up — a perfect topping or side.

I’m less spice tolerant than I’d like, but there are three nonnegotiable sources of heat I keep at all times:Chili Garlic Cholula,Lao Gan Ma Spicy Chili Crisp(going to take my colleague Michael’s advice below and source the kind with black beans next time), and some version of Aleppo pepper. The silk chili from Burlap & Barrel is a Turkish version and my favorite. It’s fruity — almost tomatoey — and so flavorful but not overwhelming. It’s perfect for sprinkling in or on pretty much any food, so much so that it’s actually the only other form of seasoning I keep in a small bowl on my counter, next to the salts and pepper grinder (and speaking of, I fill that with the same whole peppercorns Michael recommends below, too).

Artichoke hearts are the only canned vegetable I stock. They’re super-helpful to have on hand for weeknight dinners when there’s little else in the crisper. I add them to salads and pastas and one-pan chicken dishes. Make sure you grab the ones preserved in water (marinated artichokes are delicious but distinctly tangy and infused with other various flavors).

For years now, no matter the occasion, I always set out Goldfish before a dinner party. I love the combo of them beside a bowl of Castelvetrano olives — so simple and not too filling. But they also work on their own, or as part of a bigger, more impressive spread. I should note: I stole this delightful idea from a family friend, who stole it from Julia Child (it’s true, look it up).

While I’m already aBean Clubmember and thus receive regular shipments throughout the year of many pounds of beans, I still find it necessary to order additional shipments of Rancho Gordo’s black beans. No other black beans I’ve cooked have the same dense, velvety texture or hauntingly savory flavor. They’re also my kids’ favorite beans to eat, and we’ve gone through ten pounds of them in the last year.

You might think,It’s just ACV, what’s the big deal?But it’s absolutely worth paying the extra money for the good stuff. Where the supermarket kind has a kind of piercing, eye-watering acidity that flattens everything else, Katz’s apple-cider vinegar has a mellower, more rounded tang that highlights the apple flavor and sweetness in it. When I dress beets with this, my 10-year-old licks her plate clean — and sometimes I do, too. After we finish off the bottle, I’m going to get thehalf-gallon jug.

I’ve eaten a lot of short-grain white rice in my time, and the Rice Factory sources some of the best I’ve ever tasted. Ideal texture, flavor, and aroma — I love to inhale deeply when I pop the lid of my rice cooker after making a batch of this.

I have maybe four different soy sauces from Yun Hai (and some more from other brands), but this one is not quite like the others: I use this more for finishing stir-fries, where its saucy consistency, sweetness, and more complex flavors can be enjoyed more immediately.

If I don’t use the soy paste, I might use this. So much umami, so delicious.

If mayonnaise makes a mediocre sandwich good and a good sandwich great, then this takes a sandwich several clicks farther in that direction.

I’ve never found the half-kilo sack to be too much (once it’s open, I store the whole thing in the fridge), but Gustiamo also sells a little 90-gram jar of these.

I’m on my second ten-pack and have yet to experiment more with these beyond just eating them straight from the tin with toast or half a bagel. A very good combination.

Admittedly, I was sent this expensive sea salt by the brand, but I’ll repurchase. It is the saltiest salt I have ever sprinkled on my food in my life. It is unbelievable. Maldon is a scam compared to this stuff.

I will make pasta with literally any pasta that’s on sale at the supermarket, but when it comes to Asian noodles, I’m way fussier. I would be nowhere without A-Sha packets. I eat them a few times a week. They have a chewiness that you don’t get with other brands. Rather than obeying the packet instructions, I usually make a very quick and lazy single-portion version of Hetty McKinnon’s dan dan noodle recipe.

Sometimes you don’t want a thick, gloppy artisanal hot sauce so much as a thin, drippy, vinegar-y one. I like how the bottle dispenses just a drop or two at a time. It doesn’t overwhelm the dish.

Fly by Jing has a greatvegan recipe for mapo tofuon its site that I’ve been making for years, and the brand’s Sichuan chili crisp is the key ingredient. It’s the perfect 30-minute meal for any occasion: a cold winter’s day, when I’m PMS-ing, and when I want to feel like I put in alittlebit more effort than just boiling some noodles.

This pastrami-spiced tinned salmon turns any sad-looking, lazily thrown-together salad or bowl into a meal worth savoring. The touch of brown sugar amplifies the natural umami of the fish without making it sweet, and the texture isn’t nearly as oily as a tin of sardines or oil-packed tuna. I’m not a macros tracker, but I know enough to know that 21 grams of protein in a single serving is pretty good.

These tomatoes may be called “DiNapoli” but they’re actually from California, not Naples. For my money, though, they’re more tomatoey than any DOP San Marzanos I’ve come across, and I stock up every time I come across them at retail price (online resellers, be damned). I use these in Italian recipes, sauces, and soups, of course, but they’re also great for South Asian curries or even a midwinter Chinese tomato-and-egg stir-fry.

These air-dried instant noodles contain only three ingredients (flour, water, salt) and are as pleasurably toothsome as homemade ones when cooked al dente. They’re made by A-Sha, the Taiwanese manufacturer that also makes Momofuku’s premium instant noodles, but these wider noodles cost half as much per package and have a superior texture.

This is the perfect shortcut for people who cook a lot of Asian food. The only ingredients are ones that I would add to a stir-fry or marinade anyway, so I am happy to save the time and add more of what I need as necessary. Critically, it contains quite a bit of sugar, which is an integral part of a lot of Asian cooking that a lot of westernized recipes omit.

My wife’s heat tolerance has all but disappeared during her pregnancy, so I’ve been using this warm, tingly oil in place of spicier chili flakes.

The best black peppercorns I’ve ever had were bought from a street vendor in the farmlands surrounding Siem Reap for $1. The second best are the ones my friends recently brought back from India. These Vietnamese ones are a distant third, but they’re very affordable.

The vinegar of my youth. Irreplaceable for Shaanxi-style cooking and the secret ingredient to Chinese smashed-cucumber salads. A bit of soy, minced garlic, sesame oil, and chili crisp is all you need to make the perfect dumpling sauce. Also great on noodles or for hot pot.

You can get Lao Gan Ma chili crisp in many supermarkets now, but the version with black beans is a bit harder to come by. The unctuous umami flavor imparted by the fermented legumes is worth the extra effort.

I grew up with Kikkoman but switched to Yamasa after working at the Brooklyn-based Japanese breakfast spot Okonomi. This imported, preservative-free soy sauce packs more soy flavor and tastes less salty. Importantly, it’s cheap enough to use guilt-free in marinades.

This is a recent addition to our pantry that I have become completely obsessed with. I love tuna, but sometimes tuna from a can feels less than exciting, even a little fusty. Not this one! I like to make big chaotic salads with this tuna, raisins, walnuts, farro or rice, whatever lettuce greens I have, parmesan cheese or feta, olives, and the marinated gigante beans they sell at the Park Slope Food Coop. The tuna adds depth and brightness and protein.

I used to hate all salad dressing. Now I am quite picky about the ones I will eat, especially ones that come in a jar or a bottle. This ginger dressing tastes just like what you get on a side salad in Japan. It’s punchy and slightly sweet and good enough to drink from the bottle.

Apple butter is incredibly underrated in my opinion. It’s between a jam and a compote and so satisfying on toast or in yogurt. My husband and I are always looking for low-sugar foods to replace traditional treats and condiments for our son. This has a mere four grams of sugar per tablespoon and is delicious.

Speaking of reduced-sugar condiments, Crofter’s fruit spreads ride a similar compote-jam cusp and have much less sugar than conventional jams. This strawberry spread has just seven grams of sugar per tablespoon and is the one currently in my fridge. But we’ve also dabbled in raspberry and four fruit.

These are the juiciest figs I’ve had. A very integral part of my campaign for more fiber.

A tasty snack, and I keep on hand to add to my ramen.

My favorite tinned fish! It’s just pretty expensive so I ration it. But the smoky sweetness is delicious.

In addition to the Korean and other Asian staples in my pantry like gochujang, doenjang, soy sauce, sesame oil, fish sauce, etc., I can’t live without mirin, a sweet Japanese rice wine I use for marinating meats and seasoning udon stock I make from scratch. I usually buy the biggest size.

My local wine store used to carry resealable cartons of white wine that I would keep in the fridge for cooking, but they stopped, so I started buying this because it was what came up on Fresh Direct. I honestly don’t know anything about it, but it seems to do the trick when I’m making shrimp scampi and other Italian dishes.

My mom started using this and now I do, too. I put it inchicken-tortilla soupto give it a deep, fiery kick. It’s actually so good and smokey and spicy. I need to find more uses for it. After opening the can, I put the rest in a small mason jar and keep it in the fridge.

I love a pot of homemade sauce, but on weekdays I don’t have time. This jarred sauce is one of the best I’ve tasted. I keep a jar or two on hand to make a quick and easy dinner.

I love a sprinkle of granola on top of my Greek yogurt or cottage cheese. Purely Elizabeth is my favorite. It contains multiple grains and no filler ingredients.

I don’t eat low-carb. I do enjoy pasta, but when I’ve been skimping on vegetables or trying to balance out my macronutrients, I’ll make this instead of regular pasta. I like it much more than other plant-based pastas I’ve tried.

I made a few recipes that required this seasoning, and since then I’ve kept a box in a pantry. It’s an easy way to add a lot of flavor to chicken, pork, or fish.

Essential for a mid-day pick-me-up. I get cranky if we don’t have any in the house.

I decided to give this a try afterKenji Lopez-Alttold me it is his favorite chili crisp. I trust Kenji implicitly, and he did not fail me. It really is a great chili crisp — just the right balance of heat, sweetness, and umami, filled with satisfyingly crunchy bits. I’m almost out of the big jar and need to re-up stat.

I always keep this ramen around for occasions where I get home after midnight and I’m ravenous. The potato noodles have a firm, chewy texture that I much prefer over regular ramen noodles.

Together, my boyfriend and I go through kettle corn like crazy; whenever I spot it at the grocery store, I’m buying three bagsat least. I like that this one isn’t coated in caramel but still has a noticeable sweetness.

I realize this is probably the rice pilaf equivalent of instant ramen, but I could eat this every week without issue and be so happy. This boxed rice pilaf is extremely easy to make for how yummy it is, and it works well for a lazy weeknight dinner alongside some veggies and protein (tofu in my case, as I’m a vegetarian).

My usual breakfast is cottage cheese on toast (sometimes avocado toast if it’s the right season), and I always used to put regular everything-bagel seasoning on top. Then I discovered Spicewalla’s citrusy everything seasoning, which is even better than the traditional kind. It’s the perfect topping on either toast variation.