The everyday pantry
Make a shopping list from what you already have.
A reverse shopping list starts in your kitchen. Choose what to use, check the ingredients you have, then write down the gaps.
Start with your next two dinners
You can do this with paper, a notes app or a pantry tracker. You do not need an inventory of every cupboard before it is useful. Start with two meals you actually expect to cook and the food you want to use in them.
The method gives you a check against buying an ingredient twice. It does not guarantee a shorter bill: you may still need breakfast, lunches, household essentials or enough food for extra people.
Three passes before you shop
- Choose what needs attention. Look in the fridge and at opened packs. Pick a few foods you can build a meal around. Check their labels and storage instructions; an app’s suggested date is a planning aid.
- Check what can go with them. Look for grains, pasta, tins, frozen vegetables and seasonings. Check quantities, not just names: “rice” might mean a full bag or a spoonful.
- Write only the gaps for those meals. Compare what each dinner needs with what is available. Add other meals and essentials separately so a small dinner list does not turn into an incomplete weekly shop.
A worked example: two dinners for two
This is an illustrative planning example. Quantities are for the two dinners below; adjust portions to your household and follow the recipe and the food’s own preparation instructions.
What is already at home
- 3 peppers, 2 onions and 100 g spinach
- 250 g dry rice and 200 g dry pasta
- 1 × 400 g tin of chickpeas and 1 × 400 g tin of chopped tomatoes
- Oil and the seasonings you normally use
| Dinner | Use from home | Missing |
|---|---|---|
| Pepper and chickpea rice bowls | 2 peppers, 1 onion, 150 g dry rice, the tin of chickpeas, oil and seasonings | 1 lemon for the dressing |
| Tomato, pepper and spinach pasta | 1 pepper, 1 onion, all 100 g spinach, 200 g dry pasta, the tin of tomatoes, oil and seasonings | Nothing |
The dinner shopping list is one lemon. After these meals, 100 g of dry rice remains. The spinach, peppers and onions have each been assigned once; neither dinner relies on an ingredient already promised to the other.
If you prefer a different dressing using ingredients you have, you may not need the lemon. If someone is coming for dinner, revise the portions before deciding that the list is complete.
Keep the list useful in the aisle
Write a quantity next to anything easy to overbuy. If the shop has a different pack size, decide where the remainder will go before putting it in the trolley. If an item is unavailable, change the meal and check the new gaps.
A pantry list is only as current as its last update. If you are unsure whether something is still at home, flag it for a check instead of treating an old entry as certain.
Use the method with iGarde
Check Today for food needing attention, then check Pantry for available quantities. Add the missing items to your shopping list. The pantry, Today, shopping list and everyday use updates are free.
After shopping, scan your receipt on your iPhone or add items by hand, and review the names, quantities and dates. After cooking, record what you used. Recipes, Cook Mode and the weekly meal planner are optional iGarde Plus features; you can follow this method without them.
The next step is keeping the inventory accurate after shopping and cooking, especially when you use only part of a pack.
Cook what you already bought.
Get iGarde for iPhoneWritten by the iGarde team. Product steps checked against iGarde’s current iPhone features. The meal and quantity example is illustrative, not a customer result or a claim of typical savings.