Cooking and freezing
The pantry
Updated
This is general guidance, not medical advice. IBS triggers vary from person to person, so talk to your GP or a registered dietitian before changing your diet.
Stocking up from an empty cupboard costs roughly £15–20. After that, most shops are just the fresh veg, the protein and a tin or two, and the jars last for many batches.
What to stock
The counts are out of the 100 recipes outside the IBS-friendly collection. Buy the top of the list first; the bottom rows are for one or two styles of cooking only.
| Item | Used in (of 100) | What to buy |
|---|---|---|
| Rapeseed or olive oil | 98 | 1L bottle, ~£2 |
| Chopped tomatoes | 54 | Stock 6–8 tins; own-brand ~43–47p each |
| Smoked paprika | 36 | Largest jar you can find; it goes fastest |
| Turmeric | 28 | Own-brand jar, ~£1.10 |
| Coconut milk (full-fat) | 20 | 4 tins, ~75p each; light works with a thinner sauce |
| Ground cumin | 34 | Own-brand jar |
| Tomato purée | 41 | 200g tube or tin, ~59p |
| Soy sauce or tamari | 34 | Tamari if you need gluten-free |
| Frozen leaf spinach | 14 | 900g bag, ~£1.65; cheaper than fresh and goes straight in |
| Chilli flakes | 20 | Own-brand jar |
| Ground coriander | 23 | Own-brand jar |
| Stock cubes | 42 | Chicken and veg, 10-packs |
| Garam masala | 17 | Own-brand jar |
| Cinnamon, bay, thyme, oregano, black pepper | 6–14 each | Own-brand jars |
| White miso | 6 | 100g tub, ~£1.80; keeps for months in the fridge |
| Dried lime leaves | 5 | Small jar, ~£1.50–2; or use lime zest |
| Lemongrass and galangal paste | 5–6 each | Fresh lemongrass stems freeze well; galangal paste ~£1.80 |
| Red split lentils and tinned pulses | Many | 1kg lentils ~£2.60; chickpeas, black, kidney, butter and cannellini beans ~40–50p a tin |
For the IBS-friendly recipes
The IBS-friendly recipes skip chilli and tomato and go easy on onion, so they lean on a slightly different cupboard. These counts are out of those 50 recipes.
| Item | Used in (of 50) | What to buy |
|---|---|---|
| Garlic | 49 | A bulb or two. Swap in garlic-infused oil if garlic bothers you |
| Stock cubes | 40 | Chicken and veg. Low-FODMAP ones if onion bothers you |
| Ground cumin, turmeric, garam masala | 30 | Own-brand jars; check blends have no chilli or garlic |
| Spring onions | 25 | A bunch, ~70p. They freeze well, chopped |
| Fresh ginger | 24 | Freeze a knob and grate it from frozen |
| Leeks | 22 | Gentler than onion |
| Tamari or soy sauce | 22 | Tamari if you need gluten-free |
| Cornflour | 20 | For thickening without wheat |
| Dried thyme, sage, rosemary | 17 | Own-brand jars |
| Tinned beans | 15 | Butter, cannellini, kidney and black, ~45p a tin. Rinse well |
| Light coconut milk | 13 | 400ml tins, ~85p each |
| Maple syrup | 13 | Use instead of honey, which is high in FODMAPs |
| Sweet smoked paprika | 12 | Make sure it says sweet (dulce), not hot |
| Tinned green lentils | 11 | ~45p a tin. Rinse well |
| Porridge oats | 9 | 1kg bag, ~£1.20 |
| Tinned chickpeas | 6 | ~45p a tin. Rinse well |
| Smooth peanut butter | 5 | 100% peanuts, no palm oil |
| Quinoa | 4 | 500g bag, ~£2.25 |
| Ground linseed (optional) | 3 | 250g bag, ~£2.50. A spoonful adds fibre to any block |
Buying spices for less
World-food aisles and Asian grocers sell spices in 100g bags at about half supermarket-jar prices, which cuts the spice cost of every batch. If you cook for IBS, check the ingredients of any blend for chilli, garlic and onion.
Making sauce cubes too? The sauce pantry lists the staples behind the 50 sauces.