Do you know what's in your kitchen cabinets, fridge, or pantry? When was the last time you took stock of what's in there? If you want to save some money, one of the best things you can do is be more careful about what we buy. Yet, many of us don't even really know what we have in our pantries. You can end up buying duplicates of the same products or throwing out things that don't get used up on time. Fortunately, there are ways to make the most of what's in your kitchen to save money and even expand your repertoire in the kitchen.

Curate Your Staple Ingredients

Taking a good look at how you stock your kitchen can be really helpful if you want to make the most of what you have. What do you consider to be essentials that you always reach for? These can be important to keep stocked, but there's also not much point in having much more than you need. What staple ingredients could you add to your kitchen that might allow you to be more adventurous and cook a wider range of meals? There are various ingredients that are must-haves for cooking certain cuisines, with plenty of crossover.

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Check Your Stores Before Shopping

Before you do any grocery shopping, it's always smart to check what you already have. If you don't, you can end up buying duplicates or missing stuff that you actually need. It will also help you to identify anything that might need to be used before it goes off. It shouldn't take too long to check what you have and make a note of what you need to buy. You might decide what to cook first and then see if you have what you need, or you can check what you have and plan your meals based on that.

Have Go-To Recipes

One of the easiest ways to make the most of what's in your kitchen or pantry is to have go-to recipes that make use of your essentials. Once you have bought some key ingredients, your reliable recipes should help you to use them up. A Mongolian beef recipe can make use of some key Asian ingredients, such as garlic and soy sauce, as well as some other essentials such as sugar. This type of recipe can also be something easy and quick that you can soon learn to make without having to refer to the recipe.

Learn to Use Up Leftovers

Using up leftovers is another great way to save money and make the most of what you already have in your kitchen. One option is just to have a meal where everyone helps themselves to different leftovers, but there are also plenty of great leftover recipes. You can also find ways to use up various odds and ends of different ingredients, especially if you don't want to be stuck in a cycle of buying more just to use up the last bit of the last purchase.

Learning how to use what you have in your kitchen can save you a lot of money, and it could help you to be more adventurous when you're cooking.