21 Essential French Country Pantry Items & Pantry Staples

My neighbours all have a cave. Not a wine cellar (although there’s wine in it), but a proper French country pantry. You walk in and see shelves lined with preserved tomatoes in Le Parfait jars, demijohns of cider quietly fermenting in a corner, and strings of garlic and bunches of thyme hanging from hooks overhead. The root vegetables sit in old baskets and wooden crates, the garlic lives in heavy stoneware, and every single thing in there is something they have grown, made or put up for winter themselves.

It’s a working country pantry that has grown slowly over the years, filled with what they grow, make and preserve, plus the pantry staples they actually use. And it just happens to be beautiful, because it’s real. A piece of stone-washed linen lies over the bread, wicker baskets hold the vegetables that need a bit of air, glass jars line the shelves so you can see at a glance when something is running low, and in the corner, there’s a demijohn of dandelion wine fermenting, as there is every year. It’s quite something, how self-sufficient French country families can be.

If you’d like to build a French pantry that works the same way, to store seasonal food and keep the preserves you made in summer, and looks lovely while doing it, here are the 21 country pantry items I’d start with, the staples to keep on the shelves, and how to make it all work in your own space.

What makes a country pantry different

A country pantry is really about storing and preserving food the way people did before supermarkets, using methods that still, frankly, work better than most modern shortcuts.

It’s seasonal

The pantry fills up in summer and autumn, when you’re preserving tomatoes, making jam and fermenting vegetables, then slowly empties through winter and spring as you work your way through everything you put up. What’s on the shelves changes with what’s in season, what you’re cooking and what you’re preserving next.

It’s self-sufficient

Or at least as self-sufficient as you want it to be. Maybe you grow your own vegetables and preserve them, or maybe you buy from the market and learn to put things up yourself. Either way, you’re making the food rather than buying everything ready-made: jams, pickles, preserved fruit, fermented vegetables and homemade drinks.

It uses traditional equipment that last

Traditional equipment works, and it lasts. Glass, wicker, stoneware and linen cost more upfront than plastic tubs and disposable packaging, but you only buy them once. A Le Parfait jar from the 1950s works just as well as one made today. In fact, if you buy an old house in France, you may well be able to reuse everything you find in the pantry, cobwebs and dust included, which tells you how long these things last. Wicker baskets keep going for decades if you look after them a little, stoneware crocks stay in a family for generations, and linen tea towels only get better the more you wash and use them.

Plastic containers, on the other hand, warp, stain, absorb smells and crack, so they need replacing every few years, and disposable packaging goes straight in the bin, which is a waste of your money and hard on the planet too. So over time, the sums start to favour traditional materials, and from then on you’re simply saving money while everything quietly gets nicer with age.

21 essential country pantry items

A working country pantry starts with the right equipment. But you don’t need everything on day one. Add pieces as you need them, as you start preserving new foods and building your own system, and slowly but surely, your pantry will take shape.

Jars and bottles

1. Le Parfait 500ml jars

Le Parfait jars are the backbone of a French country pantry. They’re the classic clip-top jars with glass lids, orange rubber seals and metal clips, and you’ll spot them everywhere in France, at markets, in hardware shops and garden centres, and on the shelves of almost every pantry and kitchen. They’ve been made in France since the early 1930s, and the design has barely changed, because it does exactly what it needs to do.

The rubber seal and clip make an airtight closure strong enough for food preserving, so you can sterilise the jars in a water bath and trust them to seal properly, while still being easy to open and close every day. The glass is thick, the clips are solid, and the jars last for decades. Only the rubber seals need replacing: Le Parfait says to use a new seal every time you sterilise a jar, and they cost very little.

The 500ml jar is the one you’ll reach for all the time. A batch of jam from 2kg of fruit usually fills four or five of them, they line up neatly on a shelf, you can see what’s inside straight away, and they’re small enough that you finish a jar (of ratatouille for example) before it has any chance to spoil in the fridge.

2. Le Parfait 1 litre jars

A 1 litre jar is perfect for anything you want in slightly bigger quantities. It holds enough pickled cornichons or fermented carrots to last a few weeks once opened, and it’s a lovely size for whole tomatoes or peach halves, anything where you want the pieces to stay whole and look pretty in the jar.

3. Le Parfait 2 and 3 litre jars

The 2 and 3 litre jars are what you want for fermenting sauerkraut or pickling onions, as they’re big enough for a proper batch. They’re also brilliant for dried beans, flour, sugar and other bulk ingredients, and the wide opening makes them easy to fill and just as easy to scoop from.

Build up your collection slowly as you start preserving different things, and there’s no need to kit out a whole pantry in one go. The handy thing with Le Parfait is that the same seal size fits several jar sizes, spare parts are easy to find, and the jars stack reasonably well when they’re empty.

4. Small Le Parfait jars for spices

These smaller Le Parfait jars are what I use for all my spices. The airtight seal keeps them fresh far longer than supermarket tins, and you can see exactly what you have and how much is left. Write the names on the lids with a permanent marker, so you can read them easily when they’re stacked.

5. Clear demijohns

Demijohns are those big glass bottles with a narrow neck, and they come in all sizes, from a few litres up to around 50. They’re what French country houses tend to use for cider, fruit wines and dandelion wine, which sounds a bit mad until you taste it. The ones my neighbours use were bought by the previous owner of their house, and they’re still going strong.

They’re perfect for fermenting, because the narrow neck limits how much air gets in while still letting the gas escape. Clear demijohns let you watch what’s happening inside, which is half the fun.

6. Amber glass growlers

Once your cider or fruit wine has finished fermenting, it needs somewhere to live, and that’s where amber glass growlers come in. Each one holds about 1.9 litres (half a gallon), the dark amber glass protects your drink from the light, and the screw caps seal tightly, so whatever’s inside keeps its flavour on the pantry shelf.

They’re just as handy for homemade cordial, kombucha or apple juice from the autumn pressing, and the little handle makes them easy to carry to the table, or to a neighbour’s for apéro.

7. Airlocks

An airlock is a simple little water-filled piece that sits on top of a demijohn and lets the gas out without letting air back in. It’s what gives you a clean, controlled fermentation instead of something vinegary or mouldy, and it costs almost nothing.

Fermenting

8. Traditional stoneware crocks

For sauerkraut, pickles, kimchi or any vegetables in brine, a fermentation crock is worth having. Traditional stoneware crocks are heavy glazed stoneware, with a water-seal lid that lets gas escape but keeps air out. They work beautifully and will last for generations. The only drawbacks are that you can’t see what’s going on inside, and they’re quite heavy to move around.

9. Fermentation weights

Whatever you ferment in, a crock or a big Le Parfait jar, the vegetables need to stay under the brine, and that’s what fermentation weights are for. Glass or stoneware weights sit on top of the vegetables and keep everything safely submerged.

Baskets and crates

10. Wicker baskets

Country pantries use wicker baskets everywhere, and not just for the rustic look, although I do seem to come home from the brocante with another one every time I see a pretty one. They’re the practical choice for so many things. My neighbours use them to pick dandelions for their wine, or take them to the forest to forage for mushrooms.

A woven wicker basket with a sturdy handle is perfect for carrying vegetables in from the garden, and seagrass baskets are lovely on the shelves for onions, garlic and potatoes, because they let the air through and look beautiful lined up together.

Look for wicker that’s woven tightly enough to hold some weight but open enough for air to move through. Choose natural, untreated wicker that can breathe and cope with a little moisture without rotting. A good wicker basket will last for decades if you treat it kindly: when it’s empty in summer, put it away somewhere dry, because a basket left in a damp corner all year will start to grow mildew.

11. Wire baskets

Wire baskets are brilliant for potatoes, onions, tea towels and all sorts of other bits and pieces, and they’ll last you for years.

12. Wooden crates

Wooden crates help you build vertical storage while keeping everything easy to see and reach. They’re sturdy enough for heavy things, bottles, larger jars and bulk dry goods in their bags, so you can stack them against a wall or under shelves to make the most of the floor. They’re also great for rotating things with the seasons: load them with root vegetables in autumn, and with your preserving equipment in winter, when you’re not using it. And unlike plastic crates, wood looks better after thirty years of use, not worse.

13. Wire egg baskets

Classic French wire egg baskets hold a dozen eggs comfortably, and the open wire lets air circulate around them. They’re also perfect for garlic bulbs or small shallots, and the handle makes them easy to grab when you’re shuffling things around on the shelves.

Linen and natural fibres

14. Stone-washed linen tea towels

These stone-washed linen tea towels end up doing a bit of everything. Keep a small stack just for the pantry: one in the bread basket, and a couple for covering bowls and dishes. They wash happily at 60°C and last for years.

15. Jute drawstring bags

Jute drawstring bags are perfect for dried beans, lentils, grains, nuts and dried fruit. The natural fibres let the air move while protecting everything from the light, which makes them a much better choice than sealed plastic bags for foods that need to breathe a little.

Small things that keep it running

16. Bulldog clips

Bulldog clips close any opened bag much better than elastic bands, and they last forever. Get a mix of medium and large ones, keep a dozen or so in a jar, and you’ll soon wonder how you ever managed without them.

17. A stoneware garlic keeper

A garlic keeper is a small stoneware pot with little holes for ventilation. It keeps garlic fresh for weeks, because the holes let the air circulate while the lid keeps out the light. The Le Creuset one is sturdy enough to last a lifetime, looks good on the shelf and does its one job very well.

18. A herb drying rack

This herb drying rack is technically sold as a utensil rack, but it’s perfect for drying herbs. Hang it where the air can move around it and load it with bay, thyme, rosemary or whatever you have. If you have the ceiling space, use it, otherwise a wall-mounted rack does the job just as well.

19. A thermometer

A small thermometer tells you how your pantry behaves through the year, so you know which corner stays coolest for root vegetables and where your preserves are happiest.

Bigger storage

20. A stackable wine rack

And of course, when in France, you need somewhere to keep the wine! A stackable wine rack keeps the bottles on their side, so the corks stay moist and in good shape. You can build it as high as you like and slide it under shelves or into a corner, so the bottles stay tidy and easy to grab without taking up shelf space.

21. A rolling kitchen cart

If your pantry has room, a rolling kitchen cart makes life much easier. Park it under a shelf when you don’t need it, and roll it out when you want to reach the things at the back. The wheels make cleaning underneath much simpler too. Choose one with metal shelves if you’ll be putting anything damp or heavy on it.

The pantry staples in a French country pantry

Alongside the jars of whatever has been preserved this year, most French country pantries keep a steady supply of the same basics. They’re the pantry staples that turn whatever’s in the garden or the market into a meal:

• Flour and sugar, in big jars, for tarts, cakes and jam
• Dried beans and lentils, such as lentilles vertes du Puy, haricots and split peas, in jute bags or large jars
• Coarse sea salt and peppercorns, for cooking and for the table
• Dijon mustard and vinegar, for vinaigrettes and sauces
• Olive oil, and often walnut or sunflower oil too
• Dried herbs, bay, thyme and rosemary from the garden, dried on the rack
• Garlic and shallots, in the garlic keeper or a wire basket
• Nuts and dried fruit, walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds and prunes, for baking and for the apéritif
• Honey, often from a local beekeeper
• Last summer’s preserves, jams, pickles and preserved fruit

The seasonal rhythm of a country pantry

A country pantry is always changing. It isn’t a fixed wall of shelves, it behaves more like a living thing that shifts with the seasons, the harvest and what you’re cooking, and that rhythm is what makes it work. You preserve when everything is abundant and cheap, then you live on those stores through the winter, when not much is growing.

Spring

In spring, the pantry is at its barest. You’re finishing the last of the winter jars, making elderflower cordial when the blossoms come out, and starting to plan what you’ll grow or buy for preserving this year. The demijohns may be emptying as you bottle the drinks that fermented over winter.

Summer

Summer is when the preserving starts: strawberry jam in June, apricot jam in July, and pickled vegetables as each crop comes into season. The shelves begin to fill again, and the demijohns might be fizzing with elderflower champagne. It’s a good time to keep an eye on shelf space and pick up extra jars if you need them.

Autumn

Autumn is peak preserving time. Tomatoes arrive in huge waves, so you end up making tomato sauce in bulk and batches of ratatouille for the freezer, the cucumbers all seem to want to become pickles at once, and the apples get pressed for cider. The pantry fills fast, and the shelves you emptied in spring are full again. The wicker baskets are piled with onions, garlic, squash and potatoes, and the fermentation crocks come out for sauerkraut season.

Winter

In winter, the pantry is at its fullest, and you’re really living on what you put away. Preserved tomatoes turn into pasta sauces, pickles go on the table, jams get opened, root vegetables come out of their baskets, and cider pours from the demijohns. The preserving gear gets cleaned and put away, and you start making quiet notes about what worked and what you’d like to change next year.

Making it work in your space

You don’t need a separate cave or room to have a country pantry. What you need is a cool, dark place with decent air circulation, and you can usually create that with a bit of thought.

If you have a basement or cellar

That’s ideal. Put up strong shelves, group things by type and make sure the air can move. Root vegetables, onions and potatoes like it cool, ideally under 10°C, while squash prefers somewhere a little warmer and drier. Jars of preserves and fermenting drinks are happy at a steady 10 to 18°C, and wine likes it cool and stable too.

If you have a garage or outbuilding

This can work, as long as it doesn’t freeze in winter or bake in summer. Add some insulation if you need to, use metal shelving, and keep everything off the floor in case of damp. Anything that might attract mice should go into rodent-proof containers, such as glass jars or metal tins.

If you only have kitchen cupboards

Use what you have. Lower cupboards are good for root vegetables in baskets, and upper cupboards for jars and preserves. Demijohns can sit in a cool corner, under the stairs or in a spare room, anywhere that stays reasonably cool and dark.

If you have a garden shed

A shed can handle some storage. You can keep vegetables in baskets out there, along with empty jars and equipment, and demijohns might be fine too if the temperature stays fairly steady. It’s not ideal for finished preserves, though, because big swings in temperature are hard on them.

FAQ

Over to you

Start with what makes sense for your space and what you already store. That might be a few Le Parfait jars and a basket for onions, or finally getting some good linen tea towels and saying goodbye to plastic bags. Or maybe it’s that wine rack you keep thinking about, or a rolling cart so you can reach the back of the shelves without crawling.

The lovely thing about a homestead pantry like this is that it grows with you. You can buy one piece at a time and only add equipment when you truly need it, so let it build itself slowly instead of trying to create the perfect pantry in a single weekend. My neighbours’ French pantry certainly didn’t appear in a year. It’s the result of decades of picking up tools that work, keeping what earns its place, and building a system that fits the way they actually live.

Your pantry won’t look like theirs, and that’s exactly how it should be: a different space, a different climate and different cooking habits. The principles stay the same, things that last, storage you can see into and equipment that simply does its job, but how you put it all together is entirely yours.

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What’s the first piece you’re bringing into your pantry? Or do you already have something that’s been brilliant, maybe something I haven’t mentioned? Tell me in the comments, I’d love to hear what you’re building.

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