10 Easy Pantry Swaps for a Cleaner Kitchen
When you’re striving to live a healthier, more natural lifestyle, the pantry is a great place to start. Our modern pantries are often filled with processed foods, artificial ingredients, and seed oils that can sabotage our efforts toward cleaner living — often without us even realizing it.
The good news? You don’t have to overhaul everything overnight. By making a few simple swaps at a time, you can slowly build a kitchen that supports your family’s wellness goals — and aligns with traditional, from-scratch homestead values.
Simple Ingredient Upgrades to Support a Healthier, From-Scratch Lifestyle
In this post, I’m sharing how to ditch some of the most common and most harmful ingredients hiding out in the pantry. But with easy swaps to help make the transition to a healthier life a bit easier.
Here at Boots & Hooves Homestead, we are on a mission to make simple changes slowly over time.
Let’s dive in, shall we?
Ditch Vegetable Oil → Use Tallow, Lard, Butter, or Coconut Oil
Vegetable oils like canola, soybean, and corn oil are highly processed and linked to inflammation. Traditional fats—like tallow, lard, grass-fed butter, or unrefined coconut oil—are more stable for cooking and better support your health.
Kerrygold is an easy to find grass-fed butter that tastes amazing. If you have an Aldi grocery store near you, they have a super affordable option too!
Pro-tip: Try making your own tallow or lard from pasture-raised animals for a truly homestead-friendly option.
Refined White Sugar → Organic Cane Sugar, Honey, or Maple Syrup
Most store-bought sugar is heavily refined and sometimes bleached. Choose organic cane sugar for a cleaner option, or swap in raw honey or pure maple syrup when baking or sweetening drinks.
These natural options contain trace minerals and a more robust flavor.
If you’re able, to source raw local honey for the extra benefits of helping with seasonal allergies.
Iodized Table Salt → Sea Salt or Redmond Real Salt
Table salt is stripped of its natural minerals and often contains anti-caking agents. Opt for mineral-rich sea salt or a real salt like Redmond’s to boost flavor and nutrition in your cooking.
One of our favorites to use is Himalayan sea salt.
Store-Bought Peanut Butter → Natural Nut Butters
Many commercial peanut butters contain added sugar, hydrogenated oils, and preservatives. Choose natural peanut butter with just peanuts and salt — or try almond or cashew butter for variety.
Pecan butter is super tasty too!
Canned Broth → Homemade Bone Broth (or Clean Store Bought)
Canned broths often contain MSG, flavor enhancers, and preservatives. Simmering your own bone broth is a nourishing, budget-friendly way to use leftover bones. And it is super simple to make.
Our bone broth recipe is incredibly flavorful and a reader favorite!
Short on time? Choose a store-bought version with just bones, veggies, and salt.
Canned Soups → Homemade Soups in Bulk
Even “healthy” canned soups can hide starches, additives, and seed oils. Batch cook your own soup and freeze leftovers for a quick, nourishing meal later.
Recipes to try: chicken soup, chili, or vegetable stew with real food ingredients.
I love to make a variety of soups in bulk and freeze leftovers in these Souper Cubes then transfer to freezer bags for longer term storage.
Bottled Salad Dressings → Homemade Vinaigrettes
Most commercial dressings use soybean oil, added sugar, and preservatives. Whip up your own using olive oil, vinegar, mustard, and herbs.
Pro tip: keep a basic vinaigrette recipe on hand for quick salads any time.
We love to make a simple dressing of equal parts of maple syrup with dijon mustard. Or add a pinch of smoked paprika for a little smoky kick. Or try our Thai peanut sauce on an Asian inspired cabbage salad!
A basic vinaigrette typically uses a 3:1 ratio of oil to vinegar (or acid), but this is a flexible guide that can be adjusted to your taste.
Flavored Oatmeal Packets → Rolled Oats + Homemade Add-ins
Instant oatmeal packets are full of sugar and artificial flavors. Instead, use rolled oats and flavor them with real ingredients like cinnamon, apples, nuts, and raw honey.
More of our favorite add ins are:
- raw pepitas or other raw seeds
- raw nuts like pecans or walnuts
- pumpkin pie spice
- frest berries
Bleached White Flour → Organic, Unbleached, or Einkorn Flour
Conventional white flour is heavily processed and stripped of nutrients. Choose organic unbleached flour—or experiment with ancient grains like einkorn or spelt for better digestibility.
If you’re ready to dive in to the world of sourdough bread, try our einkorn sourdough starter recipe.
Packaged Seasoning Mixes → Homemade Spice Blends
Taco seasoning, ranch mix, and other spice blends can contain MSG, starches, and artificial flavors. Make your own with pantry spices like cumin, garlic, paprika, and oregano. This really is super easy to do!
Customize to your family’s taste preferences and skip unnecessary additives. Keep things simple and only buy the spices your family uses on a regular basis.
More Pantry Swaps
- Skip packaged pancake mix and diy it or make them from scratch. Bonus, try sourdough pancakes for extra benefits! Try our einkorn sourdough pancakes, or these fall flavored apple cinnamon sourdough pancakes!
- Swap out the pre-packaged bread for easy to make homemade versions. Try our two most popular reader favorite bread recipes: honey oat bread and our easy homemade sandwich bread.
- Make your own granola — here are a few of our favorites: healthy homemade granola, healthy maple pumpkin granola, or our pumpkin spice sourdough granola.
- Make your own sauces like homemade mayo, bbq sauce, etc.
Tips for Making the Switch Easier
- Start small; focus on one swap per week to avoid overwhelm.
- Use what you already have before replacing it.
- Shop in bulk to save money on real food staples. I like to use Azure Standard for bulk purchases.
- Organize your pantry for visibility and simplicity.
- Keep a running list of your favorite clean brands or DIY recipes.
A cleaner kitchen doesn’t have to mean a complicated lifestyle. With these 10 easy pantry swaps, you’re taking simple but powerful steps toward a more natural, nourishing way of feeding your family.
