This list of Paleo and Whole30 pantry recipes gives you 18 ideas to make every meal of the day a little easier, healthy and delicious!
While the Paleo diet emphasizes fresh fruits and vegetables, animal proteins and healthy fats, you can also incorporate ingredients from your pantry, fridge and freezer. With our busy lives, it’s perfectly okay to use a bag of frozen veggies or whip up a sauce made from cans and bottles.
Some use all pantry staples while some will feature mostly pantry ingredients plus a few fresh, basic ingredients.
Note that “pantry ingredients” below refers to standard items in your pantry, fridge and freezer.
For more information, check out this article about what to include in a Paleo pantry.
Paleo Pantry Recipes
Paleo Almond Flour Biscuits
These light and fluffy biscuits are easy to make and perfect for breakfast, dinner or a snack with ghee and honey.
Pantry ingredients: palm shortening, almond flour, arrowroot flour/starch, baking soda, salt, apple cider vinegar
Fresh ingredients: eggs
Chocolate Tahini Smoothie
You can whip up this thick, luscious smoothie with only a handful of ingredients that are easy to have on hand.
Pantry ingredients: almond milk from a carton, unsweetened cocoa powder or cacao powder, tahini, dates or frozen bananas
Pecan Molasses Bread
This light and fluffy quick bread features the deep tang of molasses with a little sweetness from honey.
Pantry ingredients: pecans, almond flour, salt, baking soda, avocado oil, honey, molasses, vanilla
Fresh ingredients: eggs
Paleo Cornbread
You’ll be amazed how a secret ingredient creates a light, fluffy, yellow and slightly sweet treat, just like regular cornbread.
Pantry ingredients: coconut flour, baking soda, salt, apple cider vinegar
Fresh ingredients: plantains, eggs
Crunchy Plantain Chip Chicken
Feel free to use frozen, thawed chicken breasts (patted dry) to coat them in a crunchy, savory coating.
Pantry ingredients: plantain chips, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, avocado oil or ghee, chicken breasts (if frozen)
Fresh ingredients: chicken breasts (if fresh), eggs
Cranberry Prosecco Chutney
Dress up your cheese and crackers with this sticky, sweet, tart and tangy condiment that’s also great on pork or chicken. And while you might have a bottle of Prosecco laying around, you can also use white wine vinegar.
Pantry ingredients: avocado oil, salt, mustard seeds, red pepper flakes, Prosecco or white wine vinegar, dried cranberries, honey, mustard
Fresh ingredients: shallots
Fudgy Salted Caramel Brownies
These fudgy brownies are rich and indulgent and a perfect fix for your chocolate fix.
Pantry ingredients: dates, unsweetened chocolate, palm shortening, almond flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, salt, vanilla, ghee, honey, maple syrup, coconut milk
Fresh ingredients: eggs
Paleo Chocolate Chunk Cookies
Thick, rich and buttery, these cookies will make fans of anyone even if they’re not gluten-free!
Pantry ingredients: coconut sugar, palm shortening, vanilla, apple cider vinegar, almond flour, baking soda, chocolate, flaky sea salt (optional), pink peppercorns (optional)
Fresh ingredients: eggs
Hot Chocolate Skillet Cake
This easy cake takes just a few ingredients to make a fudgy cake that also happens to be vegan!
Pantry ingredients: vanilla almond milk (or almond milk and vanilla), unsweetened cocoa powder, coconut sugar, chocolate chips (dairy-free if necessary), palm shortening, salt, ice cream of your choice
whole30 pantry recipes
Sweet Potato Smoothie Bowl
You just need two ingredients and your favorite toppings to make these smooth, creamy smoothie bowls.
Pantry ingredients: almond milk, toppings such as nuts, seeds, granola
Fresh ingredients: sweet potatoes, toppings such as fresh fruit
Italian Egg Bake
An easy way to get more veggies, even if they’re not fresh. This savory breakfast casserole is perfect for breakfast or brunch, plus it’s keto!
Pantry ingredients: frozen spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, salt, pepper, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, coconut milk
Fresh ingredients: eggs, scallions (or omit and use onion powder)
3-Ingredient Curried Sweet Potato Soup
You’ll be amazed at how 3 simple ingredients creates the perfect bowl of warm and warmly spiced comfort.
Pantry ingredients: chicken or veggie broth, salt, curry powder
Fresh ingredients: sweet potatoes
Balsamic Jam Pork Chops
Just 3 ingredients is all you need for juicy chops coated in a sticky, sweet and tangy glaze. And yes, if you use unsweetened jam, this is Whole30 compliant!
Pantry ingredients: balsamic vinegar, unsweetened jam, pork chops (if frozen, thaw and pat dry)
Fresh ingredients: pork chops (if fresh)
3 Easy Paleo Meatballs
The easiest meatballs you’ll ever make. No browning, no rolling. Just mix your ingredients, scoop onto a baking sheet and bake. Fast, portable protein with a lot of flavor, plus they’re keto!
Pantry ingredients: ground meat (if frozen, thawed); various spices and seasonings (see post for full list)
Fresh ingredients: ground meat (if fresh)
Slow Cooker Espresso Pulled Pork
All you have to do is rub a pork roast in spices, set it and forget it. Juicy, savory pulled pork will be ready for dinner. Plus it’s keto!
Pantry ingredients: instant espresso powder, chili powder, salt, black pepper, paprika, mustard powder, garlic powder, onion powder, cinnamon, cayenne/red pepper flakes, coconut sugar (omit for Whole30)
Fresh ingredients: boneless pork butt/shoulder
Beef Satay Stew
What do you get when you take the irresistible peanut sauce from beef satay and pour it over a roast? Luscious beef in a deeply savory sauce that’s perfect over cooked frozen cauliflower rice or sweet potato rice.
Pantry ingredients: coconut milk, coconut aminos, dates, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, coriander, red pepper flakes, sunbutter, lime juice, sesame seeds (optional, for garnish)
Fresh ingredients: beef stew meat
Tuna Sardine Salad
This easy lunch combines the flavors and nutrients of both canned tuna and sardines for a classic tuna salad with a twist. Plus it’s also keto!
Pantry ingredients: canned tuna, canned sardines, avocado oil mayonnaise, mustard, red wine vinegar, salt, pepper, dried chives (optional)
Crispy Skin Salmon 2 Ways: Pan-Fried and Broiled
You just need frozen salmon (thawed and patted dry) plus a few other ingredients to make buttery salmon with crisp skin.
Pantry ingredients: salmon (if frozen, thawed, patted dry), avocado oil or avocado oil spray, salt, pepper
Fresh ingredients: salmon (if fresh)
Nut-Free “Peanut” Sauce
Smooth, creamy sunbutter makes this classic sauce nut-free, but just as good as the original!
Pantry ingredients: sunbutter, coconut aminos, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, salt, honey (optional, omit for Whole30)
bonus recipes
My list of 10 sauces and toppings you can make in 10 minutes contains both Paleo and Whole30 options, and Tequila Pineapple BBQ Sauce can be made Whole30 if necessary.
Tequila Pineapple BBQ Sauce
This vibrant, zesty sauce is good on pork, chicken, beef or veggies. Plus it’s easy to make alcohol-free and Whole30 if necessary.
Pantry ingredients: avocado oil, tomato paste, salt, chicken broth, pineapple chunks, tequila, lime juice (if from a bottle), molasses, cayenne
Fresh ingredients: shallots and garlic (but you can use onion powder and garlic powder in their place)
10 Flavor Boosters You Can Make While Dinner is Cooking
This list is full of easy ideas: balsamic vinegar and mayo makes the most luscious balsamic aioli, nuts and seeds make a dukkah you’ll want to sprinkle over everything, and more.
Pantry ingredients: various, see post
Fresh ingredients: various, see post
Check out the post here: 10 Flavor Boosters You Can Make While Dinner is Cooking
Paleo and whole30 pantry recipes – ready to go!
These recipes are meant to help you get breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and dessert on the table as easily as possible.
Stacey Crawford says
So many tasty recipes to try. I love the Paleo Pantry article too!
Anne Lawton says
Thanks for this extensive collection of recipes. perfect to refer to when I’m wondering what’s for dinner!
ChihYu says
Every one of these recipes look amazing! I don’t even know where to start! So glad that the ingredients are ones that I already have!
Megan Stevens says
So many yummy recipes! We’d love the tahini smoothie and plantain chicken! Thanks for sharing all these practical ideas!
Jean Choi says
So many amazing ideas!! Such a great way to use what’s on hand. I’ll be trying some of these out, thank you!
Mansi says
These recipes look very delicious! My brother started his Paleo diet this January and this will be very helpful for him!
Paleo Gluten Free Guy says
Oh cool! Tell him to hit me up if he has any questions. 🙂
Ashley says
So many amazing recipes. I am definitely going to try some they look amazing!
Paleo Gluten Free Guy says
Thanks so much!
Ashlee says
All of these recipes sound so good and I can’t wait to try some of them. Starting with the salted caramel brownies!
Paleo Gluten Free Guy says
Thanks! Let me know what you think!
Jen Towkaniuk says
I’ve followed the paleo diet for over 7 years – but never could get the motivation to do Whole 30. I love my coffee and honey too much! Great recipe ideas. Looking forward to trying a few of these out this week!
Paleo Gluten Free Guy says
I totally get it. I’ve done the Whole30 and it was great and taught me a lot about how food affects me but it’s tough!
Rebecca @ Busy Mom Smart Mom says
I’ve never tried paleo anything before but these recipes look so good! Staying at home has us pretty tired of our usual recipes so I’ll have to add some of these to the list.
Paleo Gluten Free Guy says
Yep, I get it. The routine is getting pretty boring by now. 😉
Jen says
Thanks for the ideas. For some reason quarantine has got me fed up with the kitchen. Not sure why, just being home so much has me feeling really uninspired to come up with new things to make.
Paleo Gluten Free Guy says
Yeah, it’s hard having to come up with our own meals 3 times a day, every day, without a break. But trying something new is a good way to break out of that. 😉
Amelia says
These all look so delicious!! My mouth watered while reading!
Paleo Gluten Free Guy says
Thank you! 🙂