Stocking a raw food kitchen is one of the toughest parts of starting the raw food lifestyle.For many people, raw food staple ingredients are unknowns to them.
Some new raw fooders get overwhelmed by the recipes that call for a number of ingredients they don't have on hand or have not even heard of. Here are a few tips on stocking a raw food kitchen.
I've broken down this post into two sections: required kitchen implements and required raw food ingredients. This list is based on my personal experiences starting out as a raw fooder.
Required kitchen implements:
For a detailed discussion of kitchen implements, see my recommended raw food appliances post.
- Sharp knives
- Cutting boards
- A blender
- A food processor
- A dehydrator (optional)
- A coffee grinder for small seeds (optional)!
Example 20-item shopping list for stocking a raw food kitchen:
- 1. Seeds - Such as pumpkin, sunflower, or chia seeds (seeds are more affordable than nuts)
- 2. Basic nuts - Such as almonds, walnuts or pecans (can usually substitute these for one another)
- 3. Creamy nuts - Such as cashews or macadamia nuts (creamy nuts are more expensive and should be used sparingly if you're on a budget)
- 4. Sea salt
- 5. Spices - Cinnamon, Italian spices, Cumin, Cayenne pepper, Curry powder (buy as needed)
- 6. Olive oil - Or another oil
- 7. Apple cider vinegar
- 8. Garlic
- 9. Flax seeds - Used as binding agents in many recipes to hold food together
- 10. A concentrated natural sweetener - Such as agave nectar or stevia
- 11. Nori rolls - Sheets of seaweed to make sushi-type rolls
- 12. Dates - Medjool are best, be sure to remove the pits (dates are used as natural sweeteners)
- 13. Bananas - Add creaminess and sweetness
- 14. Apples
- 15. Avocados
- 16. Lettuce
- 17. Tomatoes
- 18. Cucumbers
- 19. Onions
- 20. Your favourite fruits or vegetables - Such as fresh pineapple, kalamata olives, celery, kale, strawberries and/or grapes or whatever you like!
What do you think? When you started out stocking a raw food kitchen, what did you include? What couldn't you live without?
Comments
Top voted
Cyndeehule
Aug 23, 2011
I am getting my Vitamix in less than a week, and I am ready to get started! Since we basically eat most raw.. my kitchen already has all the staples for the meals it needs.. My vitamix will be living in a happy home!
cenaw10
Nov 02, 2009
I just started, and couldn't get along without nuts and avocados. Next would be lots of fruits, pineapple and strawberries (frozen berries this time of year,)lemons, papaya, apples, and more bananas. Then salad greens and veggies, salsa makings...
The Rawtarian
Aug 25, 2011
Yaaay Vitamix!! You will LOVE it. Congrats!
All
colbyp
Oct 15, 2024
Are there any specific brands you would suggest at the grocery store? If you were to buy nut milk as opposed to making it in the event you are busy with a very demanding job.
Al
Nov 12, 2015
I see most raw/vegan recipes call for cashews, what do you find to be the best alternative if you cannot eat cashews or peanuts?
The Rawtarian
Nov 14, 2015
Hi Al,
You can use macadamia nuts or pine nuts instead of cashews in pretty much any recipe. They all have a similar creaminess factor :)
Cyndeehule
Aug 23, 2011
I am getting my Vitamix in less than a week, and I am ready to get started! Since we basically eat most raw.. my kitchen already has all the staples for the meals it needs.. My vitamix will be living in a happy home!
The Rawtarian
Aug 25, 2011
Yaaay Vitamix!! You will LOVE it. Congrats!
Janet
Mar 21, 2011
Bananas, nutritional yeast, flax seeds, cilantro and Kale are ALWAYS in the kitchen... they all go in my morning smoothie and in a good deal of my entrées. Plus, frozen bananas with cinnamon and vanilla bean blended = the best dessert of all time.
The Rawtarian
Mar 21, 2011
"frozen bananas with cinnamon and vanilla bean blended = the best dessert of all time" - Never had this. Sounds divine! Do you add water, too?
April
Feb 18, 2012
I am new to your site however I could never imagine living without you now! Thank you so much for being such a wealth of knowledge. My husband and I keep my nephew on the weekends and we call him our love child as he has inherited as many of our behaviors as those of his own parents. We just introduced him to this Frozen Banana treat and he is addicted! He loved pealing the vanilla bean out of the pod and watching the bananas whip into cream. He now walks around asking what each food he eats does for his health. You're a genius!
The Rawtarian
Feb 18, 2012
No, you are a genius for recognizing a good thing when you see it, lol.
Thank you for your note!! And welcome April :)
Janet
Apr 21, 2011
No water, though, if I want to make it more creamy, almond milk (1 tbsp per frozen nana) does that for me. I'm sure any nut milk on hand would do the trick. Good luck!
Ena van den Berg
Oct 02, 2010
Mm,like Cenaw10 and Julie, I have to have avocados in high supply, almost felt like my raw lifeline initially so that my stomach could just feel full.
Also bananas (I always stock frozen for that sweet&rich cravings) and mangoes in summer.
Now that we're at the end of our cold season, I see things had changed in winter: spinach is a daily necessity, garlic, ginger, seeds too definitely (indeed inexpensive and invaluable). A biggy for me is LENTILS! I sprout them, have even started stocking the round-the-world mix for the colour variety.
I love pineapple and guava. Lemons, they are essential as primary 'seasoning taste agent'. Don't know if you find this in winter too, but I haven't felt like fruit the past few months (do have some daily anyway). So stocked raw oats and made a raw muesli mix most mornings...yummy! I'm willing to share the recipe...
Julie
Jan 19, 2010
I just started eating raw a couple weeks ago, and am the same way! Gotta have my nuts and avocado!
...Lots of bananas, apples, mangos, and tomatoes!
I dont have a dehydrator yet, but did find some delicious raw crackers, 'raweos' choco cookies, and kale krispies!
Cant wait to start making my own!
Thank you for such a wonderful site, your recipes look delicious and the information in your blogs is priceless, and helps newbies like myself stay motivated and encouraged to stay raw for life!
cenaw10
Nov 02, 2009
I just started, and couldn't get along without nuts and avocados. Next would be lots of fruits, pineapple and strawberries (frozen berries this time of year,)lemons, papaya, apples, and more bananas. Then salad greens and veggies, salsa makings...
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