Nobody builds a great pantry in one heroic shopping trip. The pantries that actually get used are built one jar at a time, replacing the sad back-of-cupboard relics with things worth reaching for.
Start with the workhorses
Good olive oil (one for cooking, one for finishing), a couple of vinegars, soy sauce, canned tomatoes you’d happily eat from the tin, dried beans and lentils, and three kinds of rice. These are the background singers of 80% of dinners.
Then the flavour makers
Whole spices instead of pre-ground (they keep for a year; ground goes flat in months), a proper chilli crisp, tahini, peanut butter, honey, and tinned fish. Each one turns “nothing in the fridge” into an actual meal.
The one rule
Buy the small jar first. Pantries fail when they’re full of aspirational ingredients bought in bulk. The best pantry is the one where everything in it gets used — then you buy the big jar with confidence.