Pantry Guides

Ingredients

Demystify spices, know your flours, and learn how to stock your kitchen for different cuisines with our pantry guides.

Essential ingredients of a Persian Pantry

Stocking a Persian Pantry: Explore The 2,500+ Year-Old Cuisine With These Ingredients and Recipes

Bread vs Ap Flour

Bread Flour vs. All-Purpose Flour: Our Culinary Team Explains the (Very Important!) Difference

Basmati and jasmine rice

Basmati vs. Jasmine Rice: Here Are the Most Important Differences, According to Experts

A collage of fish sauce and different dishes.

The Umami-Rich Pantry Ingredient That Will Instantly Improve Your Cooking (It's Not MSG)

What Is Basmati Rice? A Guide to What Some Call the "Queen of Rice"

Graphic of Orange Blossom bottles

Why I Always Keep This Sweet, Floral Ingredient in My Pantry

Graphic for Jasmine rice

You Can Get the "World's Best Rice" in Almost Any Supermarket—Here's How to Buy the Best and Cook It Properly

a group of pantry items typically used in Jamaican cooking

How to Stock a Jamaican Kitchen: The 3 Types of Indispensable Ingredients

Overhead view of pink peppercorns

How to Use Your Favorite Forgotten Spice of the ’90s

Overhead view of all the essential ingredients needed in a pantry to cook a range of Nigerian dishes. Ingredients range from spices to roots to tinned food and fresh spices, organized in a neat grid

Everything You Need to Know About Stocking a Nigerian Pantry

Bowl of black peppercorns and a bowl of white peppercorns

White Pepper vs. Black Pepper: What's the Actual Difference?

Overhead view of items in an Armenian Pantry

Your Complete Guide to Stocking an Armenian Pantry

Doughnuts with pistachio cream and pistachios on top on a tan plate.

Here’s Why Sweet, Green Pistachio Cream Has Replaced Nutella in My Kitchen

Best Places to Buy Spices Online

The Best Places to Buy (Whole, Ground, Blended) Spices Online

a variety of jars of honey with their tops open

Everything You Need to Know About Buying Honey

Cascade of ground coriander followed by whole coriander seeds.

What is Coriander?

Overhead view of star anise on a plate on a purple background

What is Star Anise?

Overhead view of sumac in a bowl

A number of chili crisps on a wooden coutnertop.

Spicy! Crunchy! Crispy! The Best Chili Crisp You Can Buy Online

a variety of tinned fish on a pale, sea foam green background

The Best Tinned Fish (and Other Seafood) You Can Buy Online

an illustration of a golden tin of caviar with caviar on oysters on plates, and glasses of wine.

Where to Buy Caviar Online

Curry leaves on a plate with Spice Cabinet badge

What Are Curry Leaves?

Cornstarch being added to cheese

A Guide to Cornstarch

20200615-nutritional-yeast-vicky-wasik-3

Nutritional Yeast: What It Is, How It’s Made, and How to Use It

Overhead view of Korean pantry ingredients arranged on a dark gray surface.

How to Stock a Korean Pantry: Jeot, Jang, and More Ingredients to Know

Close up of a variety of different types of salt

A Guide to Salt, the World’s Most Popular Food

20190312-peppercorns-vicky-wasik-group-1500x1125

A Guide to Pepper: The World’s Most Popular Spice

Closeup of a bottle of aged Italian fish sauce called colatura.

Colatura di Alici: What It Is, Why It’s Worth It, and How to Use It

How to Stock a Japanese Pantry: 13 Indispensable Ingredients

20160707-mexican-pantry-vicky-wasik-primary

How to Stock a Mexican Pantry: 14 Ingredients to Know and Love

overhead shot of an array of tinned fish, or conservas, on a wooden table with bread and olives.

A Guide to Canned Fish and Seafood from Spain and Portugal

20160721-turkish-Small piles of ingredients and spices used in Turkish cooking.-vicky-wasik.jpg

How to Stock a Turkish Pantry: Flavorful Ingredients Worth Seeking Out

Overhead shot of Chinese culinary ingredients like sauce, mushrooms, and chilies

How to Stock a Chinese Pantry: Essential Staples to Keep on Hand

A selection of seaweeds (kelp, nori, ogo-nori, ao-nori, sea beans, wakame, dulse) viewed from above

A Seaweed Primer: How to Use Kelp, Nori, Wakame, and More

Overhead view of jar of passata, a bag of pasta, and mise en place ingredients.

All About Tomato Passata, Italy's Puréed Pantry Essential

a spread of ingredients commonly used in Indonesian cooking shot from above on a dark blue background

Essential Indonesian Ingredients and How to Use Them

A collection of ingredients used in Moroccan cooking, including preserved lemon, rose water, cinnamon, saffron, Ras el Hanout, harissa, and a sheet of warqa pastry

How to Stock a Moroccan Pantry: Harissa, Ras el Hanout, and More

Bags of different types of flour against a purple background.

Types of Flour: A Guide

A small bowl of capers.

All About Capers, the Powerhouse Pantry Staple

Spice Hunting: Piloncillo

An assortment of vanilla extract bottles on a marble background.

Real Talk: DIY Vanilla Extract Is a Waste of Time and Money

Overhead view of Indian pantry items arranged on a fuchsia surface.

How to Stock an Indian Pantry: Spices, Dals, and More Essential Ingredients

Bloom Ground Spices in Oil for Better Flavor

Use Gelatin to Improve Pan Sauces, Store-Bought Stocks, and Beyond

Spice Hunting: Cinnamon

20180810-saffron-vicky-wasik-13

How to Use Saffron

A cartoon figure, holding an arm-like appendage to their cheek area. A thought bubble is to the left of their head and contains question marks, a molecular diagram, a hamburger, and a slice of pink layer cake.

What's the Point of Bay Leaves? | Ask The Food Lab

20190515-cumin-lentil-sausage-vicky-wasik-1

How to Buy, Store, and Cook With Cumin

A bowl of pho with meat, noodles, herbs, and a pair of chopsticks resting on the side of the bowl

These Dried Worms Make Pho Taste Great

Spice Hunting: Asafoetida (Hing)

Why Sherry Vinegar Deserves to Be Your One True Vinegar

Spice Hunting: Vadouvan, A Curry Powder for Every Pantry

Spice Hunting: What's The Deal With Saffron?

Spice Hunting: Black Cardamom

Pantry Essentials: All About Liquid Seasonings

Spice Hunting: Chinese Fermented Black Soy Beans

Spice Hunting: Fennel Pollen

A handful of long pepper.

Spice Hunting: Long Pepper

Jar of Marmite

Pantry Essentials: All About Marmite and Other Yeast Extracts

Spice Hunting: Anardana, Dried Pomegranate Seeds

Spice Hunting: Black Mint

Mexican Food You've Maybe Never Heard of: Mixiote

What's Inside a Slim Jim?

Spice Hunting: Fenugreek (Methi)