20 Ingredients to always have in the kitchen

Here's a list of the ingredients I try to never run out of. They are inexpensive and provide the basics to many recipes (you can even make a few things just with them). I am convinced that one of the keys to save on grocery shopping is to be organized in your purchases, so you always know what do you have on hand when you want to cook something.

20. Cabbage: You can make rolls, coleslaw, kapusta, colcannon and many other things.

19. Sausages: They are a valid option whether it's for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

18. Plain yogurt: Use instead of mayo, add honey and cereal for a dessert, or cumin and lemon for a savory dip.

17. Apples: Just as a snack or as part of a salad or dessert, they have so many uses...

16. Lettuce: Please don't buy the one already packed and washed, unless you cook in a hurry (saving time is also saving).

15. Pasta: Try to have a type of long and a type of short pasta and restock as you use them.

14. Instant noodles: A 20 cents pack will improve a lot when you add a few things at home.

13. Radish: Healthy, colorful, tasty and you don't even have to cook them.

12. Ham: A wildcard to use and add protein quickly to salads, sandwiches and pasta.

11. Canned tomatoes: If you want a nice sauce, this is a must.

10. Tomatoes: Roasted or raw, alone or in a recipe; and especially, on a fresh toast with salt and olive oil.

9. Carrots: Chopped them and add them to rice, eat them as snack, make creamy soup out of them, etc.

8. Onions: Make quiche, add them to meatballs, sauces, sandwiches, stuffing, salads... I thing you can add them to practically all savory dishes.

7. Canned fish: Sardines for extra-affordable option, tuna or mackerel for normal priced and salmon to have a treat. Even the costliest ones are not so expensive.

6. Oat meal: Great way to start the day (although I love it for dinner), and also, to make awesome biscuits.

5. Sliced cheese: It's mere presence between two loafs of bread lets you have a decent sandwich, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.

4. Potatoes: After moving to Ireland, I quickly jumped from eating them once a week to having potatoes between three and five times a week. I'd need a new post just to list the things you can do with them.

3. Eggs: Even if you eat them without any thing else, you still have a lot of tasty options.

2. Sliced bread: The only carb that hasn't been overthrown by potatoes in my list. Bread is the perfect vehicle for food.

1. Milk: For coffee, tea, hot chocolate, milkshakes, smoothies, and also cereal, sauces, even soups. I can't let my kitchen run out of this magic ingredient.

As you see, most of these ingredients are under 3 euros a pack (many under 2 or 1), and if you have them at home, there are plenty of combinations between them that will make nice meals (and in many cases, you don't even have to cook, or the prep time is less than 15 minutes).