Absolute kitchen cupboard basics

Rice - long and short grain)
Pasta
Stock cubes (veggie)
Tinned tomatoes
Tomato puree
Garlic puree (because I'm too lazy to crush it)
Bird's Custard Powder
Flour (plain, SR and wholemeal)
Dried Yeast
Milk Powder
Oil (olive and rapeseed)
Vanilla Essence
Herbs
Spices
Ceylon leaf tea
Rooibos tea bags
Coffee (for visitors)
Honey

Porridge oats, coffee, milk, bread flour, marmalade are my absolute non-negotiable essentials.
I like to have tins of pulses, baked beans, tomatoes and soups on hand as well.
I just buy fusilli and lasagne sheets now for pasta - can't be doing with the fuss of spaghetti!

I must be the odd one out as my cupboards are half empty.
I only buy what I need for specific meals. So all I have is the leftovers from previous recipes, such as rice, pasta, spices and the makings of this week's meals.
Coffee, tea, sugar etc are in another cupboard with the cups above the kettle.
We live 5 minutes walk from a supermarket and can easily get a takeaway delivered.

The staples I've always got -
tinned chopped tomatoes
baked beans
tinned sweetcorn
pasta, spaghetti
rice
curry sauces
tomato puree
lots of herbs and spices
gravy granules
soups
tinned tuna and salmon
flours
sugars
teas (decaf, ordinary and fruit ones) and coffee
tinned custard
stock cubes (beef and chicken)
orzo

asadkhan, during the first lockdown when flour and eggs were hard to come by, I made a barm brack (a sort of tea bread) with mostly very out of date GF flour and some very dried up mixed dried fruit. And various ‘ends’ of assorted brown/Demerara sugar I’d had for ages. Only one egg needed.

The fruit was soaked overnight in cold tea and it turned out remarkably well.

I made a tea loaf a couple of weeks ago. The recipe stated 1 tsp mixed spice. Ours was 2 years out of date. The tea loaf was fine.

Tea
Coffee
Plain and SR flour
Cornflour
Bistro granules
Stock pots
Raisins
Marmalade
Redcurrant jelly
Tartare sauce
HP sauce
Tinned tomatoes
Baked beans
Lea and Perrin’s
Thousand island salad dressing
Chutney
Mushy peas
Peanut butter
Oatcakes

Not for me but essential for the grandchildren
Nutella
Microwaveable rice
Instant noodles
Ketchup
Mayo

Many more essentials that I keep in the fridge

Witzend

Why would you chuck pasta? AFAIK it doesn’t go off. During the first lockdown I used all sorts of out of date dry goods from the back of the cupboard - all fine. One packet of split peas IIRC was dated best before 2017, and some gluten free flour I had only ever used for a visiting BiL was BB 2015!

My new essentials would be,
Tinned tomatoes
Tomato purée
Stock cubes (chicken, beef, lamb and fish)
Rice - long grain and risotto
Red lentils
Pearl barley
Orzo and penne pasta
Spaghetti
Tinned kidney beans
Coconut milk
Stir fry sauces (little sachets)
Soy, fish and oyster sauces
Medium egg noodles
Ginger and red chilli pastes (in the fridge, not in a cupboard)
Thai green curry paste
Too many herbs and spices to mention!
Plain and SR flour, cornflour
A couple of tins of baked beans
Tins of tuna and Campbell’s condensed mushroom soup, both needed for the odd really lazy dinner.

... useful - thanks!

BTW - you can make a lovely chicken casserole using Campbell's Condensed Mushroom Soup as the cooking sauce.

Another here who has to have tinned tomato’s, lentils, condensed soup for lazy sauces, pasta, sardines, baked beans and dried butter and haricot beans. All my essential store cupboards apart from herbs, spices and stock cubes, cooking oils etc.

Tomatoes, chick peas and herbs/spices would be high on MY list!!

I would look in the front of a good cook book and use the stock cupboard list tgere. Can't beat Delia B but Jamie includes some more contempoary ingreduents.

There is a lot I would not buy because I loathe them- baked beans, lentils, kidney beans, custard, tuna, sardines.

I would add all sorts of flour because I never bake anything.

I also am not keen on tinned soup.

Needless to say ny cupboards are full to overflowing.

Haha wildswan16, I too once ate out of date custard but mine was added to an out of date Christmas pud . And yes, I'm still here too.
I ate these in April to prove the point to Mr B who constantly seems to be scanning the cupboards and fridge for best before's and use by's.
Me? I've better things to do.

Last week I found (and ate) a packet of instant custard dated 2018 ! I am still alive and kicking.

My staples would be rice, lentils, pasta, flour etc, tinned tuna, sardines, tin tomatoes, baked beans, marmalade, stock cubes, sugar and salt.

I made a tea loaf a couple of weeks ago. The recipe stated 1 tsp mixed spice...........ours was 2 years out of date.........the tea loaf was fine.
I do agree with the OP though, when I started out on my own the years ago stocking up the kitchen cupboards cost me a fortune.

Why would you chuck pasta? AFAIK it doesn’t go off. During the first lockdown I used all sorts of out of date dry goods from the back of the cupboard - all fine. One packet of split peas IIRC was dated best before 2017, and some gluten free flour I had only ever used for a visiting BiL was BB 2015!

My new essentials would be,
Tinned tomatoes
Tomato purée
Stock cubes (chicken, beef, lamb and fish)
Rice - long grain and risotto
Red lentils
Pearl barley
Orzo and penne pasta
Spaghetti
Tinned kidney beans
Coconut milk
Stir fry sauces (little sachets)
Soy, fish and oyster sauces
Medium egg noodles
Ginger and red chilli pastes (in the fridge, not in a cupboard)
Thai green curry paste
Too many herbs and spices to mention!
Plain and SR flour, cornflour
A couple of tins of baked beans
Tins of tuna and Campbell’s condensed mushroom soup, both needed for the odd really lazy dinner.

I had to do this kitting out mi Casa in Spain and spent €50 on rice, pasta, flour, dried beans &pulses, herbs, spices and seasonings teas, coffee, hot chocolate.

Add to that a stash of canned veg, crackers, nuts, cereals, pickled/preserved goods and soft drinks, another €50.

Then the important stuff....?????? €50

Lastly, the household stuff - loo roll, tissues, k roll, toiletries and cleaning materials, probably another €50!

Soon adds up doesn’t it? And I don’t always buy branded if a cheaper item will do!