How to Give Your Kitchen a Whole-Food, Plant-Based Makeover

For most people, goingwhole-food, plant-baseddoesn’t require a complete fridge and pantry overhaul. You’ll continue to use staples from your local grocery store, including fresh and frozen produce, dried and canned beans, dried pasta and grains, herbs, spices, condiments, sauces, and dips. But some things will change. Here’s a breakdown of what to toss, what to keep, and what to stock up on when going whole-food, plant-based (WFPB).

For specific brands that we recommend for convenience foods such as vegetable broths, crackers, breads, and more, check out ourWhole-Food Vegan Grocery List.

First Things First: What to Toss

We recommend getting rid of allanimal productsandhighly processed junk foods. Be ruthless. With those unhealthy foods no longer at your fingertips, you can’t mindlessly reach for them. This will also create space for more nourishing whole plant foods you’ll be bringing into your daily life.

White bread, white pasta, white rice

Cooking oils, oily salad dressings and sauces, margarine

Dairy products (cheese, milk, yogurt, butter)

Eggs

Highly refined sweeteners (pure cane sugar is OK to keep for sparing use in sauces and desserts)

Meat, poultry, and seafood

The Well-Stocked WFPB Kitchen: Your Plant-Based Pantry List

Once you’ve cleared away the animal products and highly processed foods, take a look at what’s left. You may only need to fill some gaps to have a well-stocked WFPB kitchen. Using the lists below as a guide, take stock of your pantry, freezer, and refrigerator, and make a list of what’s missing. You don’t need to buy everything on your first shopping trip. Use your judgment, choose what you’ll enjoy, and get started.

Pantry

(Tip: When shopping for canned foods, choose low-sodium or no-salt-added options.)

Aluminum-free, low-sodium baking powder (baking powder can be surprisingly high in sodium)

Applesauce (unsweetened)

Arrowroot powder or cornstarch (for thickening sauces)

Assorted canned and/or dried beans: black beans, chickpeas (garbanzo beans), kidney beans, white beans, lentils

Canned tomato products: whole, diced, and crushed (including seasoned and fire-roasted varieties); tomato sauce; tomato paste

Flaxseed meal(mixed with water, it makes a brilliant egg replacer)

Flours: whole wheat flour, white whole wheat flour, whole wheat pastry flour, oat flour, all-purpose flour (AP flour may be used sparingly in recipes)

Hot sauce, such as Tabasco

Jarred roasted red peppers

Low- or no-sodium vegetable broth

Natural sweeteners: pure maple syrup, brown rice syrup, fresh dates, pure cane sugar (use sparingly)

Nuts and seeds: almonds, raw cashews, walnuts, peanuts, pepitas*

Oil-free pasta sauces

Popcorn kernels for air-popping

Soy sauce and/or tamari

Unsweetened whole grain cereals: shredded wheat, rice puffs, corn puffs, muesli

Assorted vinegars: apple cider, rice, balsamic, red and white wine varieties

Assortedwhole grains: brown rice, quinoa, steel-cut or rolled oats, wheat berries, millet

Whole grain crackers: rye crispbreads, whole wheat crackers, brown rice snaps

Assortedwhole grain pastas and noodles: whole wheat spaghetti and couscous, Thai-style brown rice noodles, lentil pasta

Fresh Pantry

Garlic

Fresh ginger

Lemons and limes

Onions and/or shallots

Potatoes, sweet potatoes

Tomatoes

Freezer

Frozen Veggies

Frozen artichoke hearts

Frozen carrots

Frozen corn

Frozen peas

Frozen spinach

Frozen stir-fry blends

Frozen Fruits

Frozen blueberries

Frozen cranberries

Frozen mixed berries

Frozen mango

Frozen peaches

Frozen pineapple

Frozen strawberries

Frozen Cooked Grains

Plain brown rice

Quinoa

Refrigerator

Condiments: mustard, ketchup, oil-free barbecue sauce, pure fruit preserves

Dips and sauces: oil-free hummus, fresh salsa

Assortedfresh fruit(some presliced for instant access)

Assorted fresh vegetables (some presliced for instant access)

Miso paste (for adding umami flavor without meat)

Natural-style nut and seed butters: peanut butter, almond butter, tahini

Unsweetened, unflavored plant milk, such as almond, soy, cashew, or oat (The fewer the ingredients, the better. For brands we like, seeYour Whole-Food Vegan Grocery List: Oil-Free Breads, Sauces, and Other Go-To Products.)

Tofu: extra-firm and silken (Tip: Silken tofu, which is great for creamy desserts and sauces, is often sold in aseptic packaging in the vegetarian or natural foods aisle, near the shelf-stable plant milks.)

Whole grain bread and tortillas, corn tortillas

Spice Rack

Basil

Bay leaves

Black peppercorns

Cayenne pepper and/or chipotle chili powder

Mild chili powder

Cilantro

Crushed red pepper

Curry powder

Dill

Garlic powder (not garlic salt)

Ground cinnamon

Ground cumin

Ground ginger

Italian seasoning

Marjoram

Nutritional yeast

Whole nutmeg

Onion powder

Oregano

Paprika and/or smoked paprika

Parsley

Sage

Sea salt

Turmeric

Ready to get started? Check out Forks Meal Planner, FOK’s easy weekly meal-planning tool to keep you on a healthy plant-based path. To learn more about a whole-food, plant-based diet, visit our Plant-Based Primer.