Slimming World Essentials – Whether you are new or old to food optimising, this list is great for anyone following the Slimming World plan and is your one-stop place for recipes, meal plans, tips, reviews and shopping lists.
Never heard of Slimming World? Check out my Slimming World Review
After reading about Slimming World, you may be wondering if online or a Slimming World group is the best for you. This post on The Benefit of Slimming World Classes may answer any questions you have.
Maybe you have been a member a while or have been reading about speed foods and you are confused about how to incorporate them into your meals. Take a look at my posts The Benefit of Speed Foods and Speed before Free Foods.
Maybe you are browsing this after falling off plan and needing to get back on track. My 10 Tips to Increase Motivation on Slimming World may be just what you need.
and if you need some help with meal planning there are plenty to choose from in my Slimming World Meal Plans
My FULL RECIPE INDEX with over 500+ delicious Slimming World recipes (be sure to bookmark this page, it will be your life saver when it comes to finding a particular recipe. You can search by meal type, syn value, ingredients etc
If you are on a tight budget. I recommend checking out my 20 Tips for shopping on a budget.
If just starting Slimming World or maybe you are looking for some new ideas for staples to add to your kitchen, well this Slimming World Essentials is just the post for you.
Below is a list of the basic foods I always make sure I have in my pantry cupboard, freezer and fridge.
There are obviously things I sometimes buy outside of that list and you will see such items in the Slimming World friendly products links below.
FRUIT & VEGETABLES
- Apples (my fav’s are Jazz, Fuji, Pink Lady’s and Lady Alice varieties)
- Bananas
- Grapes
- Watermelon
- Oranges/Lemons/Limes
- Berries – strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries
- Seasonal Fruit
- Onions (red and white)
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Tomatoes (Roma and Cherry varieties)
- Courgettes/Zucchini
- Mushrooms
- Peppers (Red, Green and Yellow)
- Salad Leaves (usually romaine or baby spinach/baby leaves)
- Kale
- Fresh Herbs (basil and cilantro/coriander are my main ones, occasionally Italian parsley)
- Potatoes (sweet and white)
- Butternut Squash
- Spaghetti Squash
- Parsnips
- Rutabaga (swede)
- Cucumber
- Broccoli slaw mix (great in stir-fries)
- Sugar Snap Peas (my favourite speed and syn free snack)
BAKERY
- Sprouted Grain Bread (HEb)
- Whole Wheat Bread (HEb)
- Whole Wheat English Muffins (USA/Canada only) (HEb)
DAIRY/FRESH
- Eggs
- Butter (syns)
- Greek plain yoghurt
- Quark
- Low-Fat Cream Cheese
- Mozzarella (HEa)
- Cheddar (HEa)
- Parmesan cheese (HEa)
- Feta
- Milk (HEa)
MEAT/FISH
I always make sure I have a good stock of meat/fish products. I often buy big packs and then portion up and freeze, that way I can take out what I need without any waste.
The below are meat/fish items which I usually always have a supply of in my fridge or freezer:
- Prawns/shrimps
- Salmon fillets
- Extra lean ground beef/turkey/lamb
- Stewing beef
- Pork Loins
- Chicken (breast, thighs and drumsticks), plus whole chickens come in handy too
- Lamb Loins
- Tilapia
- Sea bass fillets
- Pork Shoulder Roasts
- Low syn sausages
- Canadian bacon
- Ham
- Cooked Chicken
FROZEN ITEMS
It is handy to have a supply of the frozen vegetable bags so that you can always get that speed food on your plate, at times when you need to put together something quickly.
I always have a supply of the below speed food items in my freezer, as they can come in really handy when you need some quick speed foods:
- Broccoli Florets
- Cauliflower Florets
- Carrots
- Green Beans
- Spinach
- Frozen Berries
- Stir Fry Veg-Mix
Sometimes if I have onions and peppers that are close to spoiling, I chop them up into slices and freeze in freezers bags. You can do this for a whole heap of vegetables and is a great idea for homemade oven chips (check the link for how to prepare those for freezing) too. I also add fresh chilli’s, whole bulbs of garlic, and peeled ginger root into ziplock bags and freeze, as you never know when you might need some.
and then also the following:
- Sweetcorn
- Garden Peas
- Edamame Beans (great for snacking)
STORE CUPBOARD INGREDIENTS
- Rice (various kinds, brown, arborio, jasmine)
- Pasta (penne, spaghetti, lasagne)
- Broth/Stock Cartons (I prefer these over stock cubes, fresher tasting and cleaner ingredients)
- Couscous
- Bulgur Wheat
- Quinoa
- Lentils (brown, green and red)
- Dried beans (chickpeas, kidney beans, haricot etc, super cheap to buy and handy for cheap meals)
- Weetabix (Heb)
- Plain Oatmeal (Heb)
- Coconut oil (syns)
- Ghee (syns)
- Olive oil (syns)
- Spray Oil (I pick varieties where the ingredients is 100% oil, no preservatives etc
- Baked beans
- Chickpeas
- Butterbeans
- Soy Sauce (tamari for gluten-free or coconut aminos for soy free)
- Fish sauce
- Sesame oil (syns)
- Coconut milk, canned (syns)
- Thai pastes (syns)
- Mirin (syns)
- Tabasco
- Rice vinegar
- Organic Turbinado Sugar (syns)
- Balsamic vinegar
- Worcestershire sauce
- Passata
- Chopped Tomatoes
- Tomato Paste
- Marmite
- Honey (syns)
- Maple syrup (syns)
- Tea and coffee
- Arrowroot powder (syns)
- Cornstarch (syns)
- Tapioca flour (syns)
- Baking powder (syns)
- Baking soda (syns)
- Almond flour (syns)
- Coconut flour (syns)
- All-purpose flour (syns)
- Tuna
- Sardines
- Canned salmon
- Selection of raw nuts and dried fruit (HEb choices)
- Unsweetened applesauce
- Good quality dark chocolate (syns)
- Almond butter (syns)
- Peanut butter (syns)
- Sweet Freedom Choc Shot (syns) – great for a choc fix and only 0.5 syns per tsp
- Sukrin Gold – brown sugar type natural sweetener with no aftertaste
- Sukrin:1 – granulated sweetener with no aftertaste
SPICES
Far too many for me to actually list, oh boy you should see my collection. My advice would be to start with the basics and each week or fortnight buy a new one until you build up a good selection. Spices are what add all that lovely flavour to your food.
Here are the basics I really do recommend getting:
- Sea salt
- Black Pepper
- Cumin
- Coriander
- Chilli Powder
- Paprika
- Mixed Herbs
- Cinnamon
Start off with those and go from there. You can gradually add to those as you start cooking my recipes.
SNACKS
For snack type items, I try to have a selection of things around the 100 calories (5 syns) mark, which means I can easily treat myself within my daily syn allowance. Here are some of my favs
- Cereal Bars (syns)
- Popcorn (syns)
- Meringues (syns) – mix with fruit and yoghurt for a dessert
- Pizzelles (syns) these are an Italian wafer, great for topping with fruit
- Flavoured Rice Cakes (syns) – again great for topping with fruit or peanut butter for a snack
- I will also sometimes buy flavoured yoghurt that is not fat-free (better flavour and some are not too bad syn wise)
Also, check out my Syn Free/Low Syn Snacks post for many more ideas.
The place where all the recipes on Slimming Eats are created.
Below is a list of useful kitchen items I have:
Obviously, it is not vital you have every single item here, but these are what I own and use regularly.
The below contains some affiliate links. You can find out what those are here
- Good quality pans (I love cast iron, but also have some ceramic pans/ non-stick pans which are vital for cooking on Slimming World)
- vegetable spiralizer (I love my Paderno, but a julienne peeler will work fine)
- Peeler – perfect for peeling spuds, carrots, apple etc.
- deep lidded casserole pot (I love my cast iron dutch oven)
- baking trays
- wok
- small egg pan
- egg poacher
- grill pan
- Potato Chipper
- weighing scales (for weighing healthy extras etc)
- measuring cups and spoons
- measuring jug
- garlic press
- grater
- various wooden spoons, spatulas, utensils
- good selection of chopping boards
- good selection of knives
- mini food processor and hand blender set
- full-size blender and food processor
- good selection of oven dishes
- colanders
- mixing bowls
- slow cooker
- Pressure Cooker
- Mortar and Pestle (I love mind for mixing and grinding up spices for my recipes)
- actifry (not essential, but I love mine)
- lidded containers for leftovers
- parchment paper
- aluminium foil
- Meal Prep Containers – great for batch cooking
- Ziplock Freezer Bags – I should have shares in these, love them for freezing all kinds of things.
Check out these Slimming World friendly products for the USA and Canada:
- Slimming World USA Friendly Food Products
coming soon….
Following Slimming World in Canada? This is just the post for you. Find Slimming World friendly products here for Canadian grocery stores.
if you love grocery hauls, this is the link for you, here I share some of my grocery hauls of Slimming World friendly products.
Pin or save this handy little list below for some of my recommend Slimming World Essentials:
