§04 · Sources & methodology · the receipts

Sources.

Every claim links to a source. The research behind the pantry, the scoring model behind the ranking, and a log of every change that moved either.

§04.01

The MVP scoring model

Every pantry item carries a composite MVP score (0–100) built from four axes. The weights below are read directly from the scoring engine — what's published here is what's computed. One rule above all: the score describes the pantry, it does not decide it. Membership is curated and logged; no score threshold gates it.

Nutrition × 0.50

Evidence-adjusted from a neutral 50: every item starts at 50 and each published signal moves it — Food Compass 2.0 (the strongest weight, a purpose-built 1–100 cross-category scale), Health Star Rating, Nutri-Score (A–E, mapped), NOVA processing class (bonus for class 1, penalty for 4), percentile position in the curated ANDI/CDC tables, and +3 per endorsing dietary framework (the categorical "whole grains and legumes are healthy" evidence). No research at all → exactly 50: absence of evidence is neutral, never a penalty.

Cost efficiency × 0.15

Cost per serving: a tracked retail package price per item (source + date on every row) resolved to price-per-gram, then scaled by that item's own serving size — what one realistic use costs, so a tiny-jar spice isn't punished for its per-weight price. Normalized by inverted log min-max, since values span orders of magnitude.

Shelf life × 0.15

Months at the storage the pantry actually uses (pantry / fridge / freezer), FoodKeeper-guided, linear with a 24-month cap — past two years the differences stop mattering for restocking.

Versatility × 0.20

Log-scaled share of the 17,108-recipe corpus the ingredient appears in, floored at the rank-500 cutoff.

Honest footnotes

  • Neutral is a choice. 26 items — mostly the spice rack and baking infrastructure — appear in none of the profiling systems, so they sit at the 50 baseline, nudged only by framework endorsements. A pinch of oregano is treated as nutritionally neutral rather than punished for being unstudied. The deviation weights themselves are editorial calls, published above.
  • ANDI/CDC percentiles discard magnitude. Those two tables are ordinal, heavily skewed, and cover only curated-healthy foods — scoring low within ANDI still means "a notably healthy food." They carry a modest weight for exactly that reason; the cardinal Food Compass family does the heavy lifting.
  • Yes, the lentils. Brown lentils rank #26 of 75 — their versatility axis is floored because generic "lentils" falls outside the corpus's ranked top 500 (see the frequency caveat below). We publish the honest number rather than tune the weights to flatter the brand ingredient. The thesis survives: the world's recipes underuse lentils. That's sort of the point of this site.
  • Prices drift. Each cost row names its retail source and month. Scores use relative position on a log scale, so ordinary drift barely moves the ranking. Affiliate price feeds will eventually replace the hand-tracked file.

§04.02

Ranking & Grading Systems

Each of these is a separate published system that scores or grades individual foods — some numeric (ANDI, Food Compass, Satiety), some a letter or star grade (Nutri-Score, Health Star Rating), some a processing class (NOVA). They're documented one card each, on their own terms. Items that appear in the current pantry are marked with a In Pantry badge.

ANDI — Aggregate Nutrient Density Index

Dr. Joel Fuhrman · Scale 0–1000 · ~200 foods

drfuhrman.com ↗

Ranks foods by nutrient density using the formula H = N/C (Health = Nutrients ÷ Calories), across 34 nutritional parameters. Cruciferous leafy greens score 1000 — the maximum. Used at Whole Foods Market. Serves as a per-serving measure of how much nutrition you get relative to caloric cost.

Note: ANDI scores nutrient density, not overall healthfulness. High-calorie whole foods (nuts, legumes) score lower than leafy greens despite being excellent foods. Use alongside other systems.

Show full ANDI rankings (plant foods)

Vegetables

FoodScore
Kale & Collard Greens 1000
Bok Choy 824
Spinach, raw 739
Chinese/Napa Cabbage 704
Spinach, cooked In Pantry 697
Brussels Sprouts, cooked 672
Arugula, raw 559
Radish 554
Cabbage, raw In Pantry 420
Lettuce, Romaine 389
Broccoli, raw In Pantry 376
Pepper, red, cooked In Pantry 366
Carrots, cooked In Pantry 336
Mixed Baby Greens 300
Cauliflower, cooked In Pantry 295
Tomato, raw In Pantry 164
Butternut Squash 156
Green Peas, cooked In Pantry 70
Corn, sweet, white In Pantry 44
Potatoes, baked w/skin In Pantry 43

Fruits

FoodScore
Strawberries In Pantry 212
Blackberries 178
Raspberries 145
Blueberries In Pantry 130
Papaya 118
Orange & Grapefruit 105
Cantaloupe 100
Kiwi 97
Peach, Apple & Tangerine 73
Banana 30

Beans & Legumes

FoodScore
Lentils, boiled In Pantry 104
Red Kidney Beans, boiled 100
Great Northern Beans In Pantry 94
Adzuki Beans, boiled 84
Black Beans & Black Eyed Peas In Pantry 83
Hummus 70
Pinto Beans, boiled 61
Edamame 58
Split Peas, boiled 58
Chick Peas / Garbanzo Bean In Pantry 57
Lima Beans, boiled 46
Tofu In Pantry 37

Grains

FoodScore
Bran Flakes 64
Oats, old fashioned In Pantry 53
Barley, whole grain 43
Brown Rice, cooked In Pantry 41
Sprouted Grain Bread 39
Whole Grain Bread 30
Quinoa, cooked In Pantry 21
Whole Wheat Pasta, cooked In Pantry 19
Oats, quick, cooked 19
White Bread & White Pasta 18
White Rice 12

Nuts & Seeds

FoodScore
Brazil Nuts & Pecans In Pantry 124
Sunflower Seeds 78
Flax Seeds & Sesame Seeds In Pantry 65
Tahini & Sesame Butter In Pantry 54
Pumpkin Seeds In Pantry 52
Pistachio Nuts, unsalted 48
Almonds & Peanuts, unsalted 38
Walnuts In Pantry 34
Cashew Nuts, unsalted In Pantry 27
Almond / Cashew / Peanut Butter In Pantry 26

CDC Powerhouse Fruits & Vegetables

Di Noia J. 2014 · Peer-reviewed · Scale 0–100 · 41 qualifying foods

cdc.gov ↗

Classification scheme from a peer-reviewed CDC paper (Prev Chronic Dis 2014;11:130390, PMID 24901795). Scores 47 fruits and vegetables on 17 qualifying nutrients per 100 kcal. Foods scoring ≥10 qualify as "powerhouse" — 41 of 47 did. Scores are bioavailability-weighted.

Note: This study covers fruits and vegetables only — it doesn't rank legumes, grains, or nuts. Blueberries, garlic, and onion were studied but fell below the powerhouse threshold.

Show full CDC Powerhouse rankings (41 foods)
#FoodScore
1 Watercress 100.00
2 Chinese cabbage 91.99
3 Chard 89.27
4 Beet green 87.08
5 Spinach In Pantry 86.43
6 Chicory 73.36
7 Leaf lettuce 70.73
8 Parsley 65.59
9 Romaine lettuce 63.48
10 Collard green 62.49
11 Turnip green 62.12
12 Mustard green 61.39
13 Endive 60.44
14 Chive 54.80
15 Kale 49.07
16 Dandelion green 46.34
17 Red pepper In Pantry 41.26
18 Arugula 37.65
19 Broccoli In Pantry 34.89
20 Pumpkin 33.82
21 Brussels sprout 32.23
#FoodScore
22 Scallion 27.35
23 Kohlrabi 25.92
24 Cauliflower In Pantry 25.13
25 Cabbage In Pantry 24.51
26 Carrot In Pantry 22.60
27 Tomato In Pantry 20.37
28 Lemon In Pantry 18.72
29 Iceberg lettuce 18.28
30 Strawberry In Pantry 17.59
31 Radish 16.91
32 Winter squash (all varieties) 13.89
33 Orange 12.91
34 Lime In Pantry 12.23
35 Grapefruit (pink and red) 11.64
36 Rutabaga 11.58
37 Turnip 11.43
38 Blackberry 11.39
39 Leek 10.69
40 Sweet potato In Pantry 10.51
41 Grapefruit (white) 10.47

Did not qualify as powerhouse (score <10): Raspberry, Tangerine, Cranberry, Garlic, Onion, Blueberry. Note: blueberries and garlic are still nutrient-dense but scored below the 10% DV/100 kcal threshold used in this specific study.

Satiety Index (Holt et al. 1995)

Holt SHA, Brand Miller JC, et al. · Eur J Clin Nutr · White bread = 100 baseline · 36 foods

PubMed ↗

The original satiety study (PMID 7498104). Participants ate 240 kcal portions of 36 common foods and rated their fullness over 120 minutes. White bread is the baseline at 100. Foods scoring above 100 produce more fullness per calorie than white bread. SI correlated positively with protein, fibre, and water content; negatively with fat and palatability.

Note: Single study from 1995. Evidence for health claims derived from the satiety index alone is considered insufficient. Useful as one signal for fullness per calorie — relevant to weight management and meal design, not a standalone health metric.

Show full Satiety Index rankings (36 foods, white bread = 100)
FoodSatiety Index
Potatoes (boiled) In Pantry 323
Ling fish (white fish) 225
Porridge / Oatmeal In Pantry 209
Oranges 202
Apples 197
Brown pasta In Pantry 188
Beef 176
Baked beans 168
Grapes 162
Whole meal bread 157
Grain bread 154
Popcorn 154
All-Bran 151
Eggs 150
Cheese 146
Lentils In Pantry 133
Brown rice In Pantry 132
Crackers 127
Cookies 120
White pasta 119
Bananas 118
Cornflakes 118
French fries 116
White bread (baseline) Baseline 100
Ice cream 96
Crisps (chips) 91
Peanuts In Pantry 84
Mars Bar 70
Doughnuts 68
Cake 65
Croissant 47

Food Compass 2.0

Barrett EM, Mozaffarian D, et al. · Tufts · Nature Food 2024 · Scale 1–100 · 9,273 foods

Tufts ↗

The most comprehensive nutrient profiling system to date, developed at the Friedman School of Nutrition at Tufts. Scores 9,273 foods across 54 attributes in 9 domains (nutrients, food ingredients, processing, specific food types, phytochemicals, additives, and more). FCS ≤40 = minimise; FCS 41–69 = moderate; FCS ≥70 = encourage. Published in Nature Food 2021 (v1) and 2024 (v2).

Our data status: we extracted 9,246 of the 9,273 foods (99.7%) straight from the supplementary PDF's text layer (scripts/extract_food_compass.py). Every row passes an internal check (FCS 2.0 − FCS 1.0 = the paper's stated difference); the ~27 unrecovered rows are line-wrapped mixed dishes, no pantry staple among them. The paper's Table 5 also tabulates each food's Nutri-Score, Health Star Rating, and NOVA class — the three separate systems documented in their own cards below.

Show Food Compass scores (49 pantry items, best first)
#Pantry itemFCS 2.0
1 Green Lentils 100
2 Red Lentils 100
3 Tomato Paste 100
4 Dried Shiitake Mushrooms 100
5 Ground Flaxseed 100
6 Chia Seeds 100
7 Carrots 100
8 Cabbage 100
9 Frozen Strawberries 100
10 Frozen Spinach 100
11 Frozen Broccoli 100
12 Frozen Cauliflower 100
13 Crushed Tomatoes 99
14 Pepitas 99
15 Black Beans 98
16 Frozen Blueberries 97
17 Tahini 95
18 Onion 93
19 White / Cannellini Beans 92
20 Walnuts 92
21 Chickpeas 91
22 Quinoa 89
23 Cashews 89
24 Frozen Bell Pepper Strips 89
25 Peanut Butter 87
#Pantry itemFCS 2.0
26 Pecans 85
27 Whole-Grain Pasta 82
28 Garlic 82
29 Sweet Potato 82
30 Rolled Oats 81
31 Bottled Lemon Juice 81
32 Frozen Peas 79
33 Extra-Virgin Olive Oil 78
34 Canola Oil 78
35 Medjool Dates 77
36 Bottled Lime Juice 76
37 Raisins 73
38 Dijon Mustard 72
39 Brown Rice 69
40 White Miso 67
41 White Potatoes 63
42 Tamari 62
43 Frozen Corn 62
44 Canned Coconut Milk 41
45 Apple Cider Vinegar 40
46 Rice Vinegar 40
47 Balsamic Vinegar 40
48 Better Than Bouillon 19
49 Maple Syrup 16

Cited as Barrett EM, et al. Food Compass 2.0 is an improved nutrient profiling system. Nat Food 2024;5:911–915. PMC11578874.

Nutri-Score

Santé Publique France · France, 2017 · Front-of-pack · Grades A–E

Nutri-Score ↗

A front-of-pack label that collapses a food's nutrition into a single letter, A (best) to E, on a five-colour scale. Points are assigned per 100 g for energy, saturated fat, sugars and sodium (negative) against fibre, protein, and fruit/vegetable/legume/nut content (positive). Adopted across much of the EU; a distinct system from Food Compass, with its own algorithm and governing body.

The per-food grades here are as tabulated in the Food Compass 2.0 supplement (Barrett et al. 2024, Table 5), which reports a Nutri-Score for every food — see the extraction note above.

Show pantry items by Nutri-Score grade (49 items)

A Best 33

Apple Cider VinegarBalsamic VinegarBlack BeansBottled Lemon JuiceBottled Lime JuiceCabbageCarrotsChia SeedsChickpeasCrushed TomatoesDried Shiitake MushroomsFrozen Bell Pepper StripsFrozen BlueberriesFrozen BroccoliFrozen CauliflowerFrozen PeasFrozen SpinachFrozen StrawberriesGarlicGreen LentilsGround FlaxseedOnionPecansPepitasQuinoaRed LentilsRice VinegarRolled OatsTahiniTomato PasteWalnutsWhite / Cannellini BeansWhole-Grain Pasta

B Good 6

Brown RiceCanola OilCashewsExtra-Virgin Olive OilFrozen CornSweet Potato

C Fair 4

Better Than BouillonMedjool DatesPeanut ButterWhite Potatoes

D Low 4

Canned Coconut MilkDijon MustardMaple SyrupRaisins

E Poor 2

TamariWhite Miso

Cited as Santé Publique France. Nutri-Score. santepubliquefrance.fr.

Health Star Rating

FSANZ · Australia / New Zealand, 2014 · Front-of-pack · 0.5–5 stars

HSR ↗

The Australian/New Zealand front-of-pack system, rating a food from ½ to 5 stars in half-star steps. An algorithm scores "risk" nutrients (energy, saturated fat, total sugars, sodium) against "positive" components (fruit/vegetable/nut/legume content, fibre, protein); more stars is healthier. A government scheme independent of both Food Compass and Nutri-Score.

The per-food ratings here are as tabulated in the Food Compass 2.0 supplement (Barrett et al. 2024, Table 5).

Show Health Star Ratings (49 pantry items, best first)
#Pantry itemStars
1 Green Lentils ★★★★★ 5
2 Red Lentils ★★★★★ 5
3 Chickpeas ★★★★★ 5
4 Black Beans ★★★★★ 5
5 White / Cannellini Beans ★★★★★ 5
6 Onion ★★★★★ 5
7 Tomato Paste ★★★★★ 5
8 Dried Shiitake Mushrooms ★★★★★ 5
9 Ground Flaxseed ★★★★★ 5
10 Chia Seeds ★★★★★ 5
11 Pepitas ★★★★★ 5
12 Carrots ★★★★★ 5
13 Cabbage ★★★★★ 5
14 Frozen Peas ★★★★★ 5
15 Garlic ★★★★½ 4.5
16 Walnuts ★★★★½ 4.5
17 Pecans ★★★★½ 4.5
18 Tahini ★★★★½ 4.5
19 White Potatoes ★★★★½ 4.5
20 Frozen Blueberries ★★★★½ 4.5
21 Frozen Strawberries ★★★★½ 4.5
22 Frozen Spinach ★★★★½ 4.5
23 Frozen Broccoli ★★★★½ 4.5
24 Frozen Cauliflower ★★★★½ 4.5
25 Frozen Corn ★★★★½ 4.5
#Pantry itemStars
26 Rolled Oats ★★★★ 4
27 Quinoa ★★★★ 4
28 Whole-Grain Pasta ★★★★ 4
29 Crushed Tomatoes ★★★★ 4
30 Cashews ★★★★ 4
31 Sweet Potato ★★★★ 4
32 Frozen Bell Pepper Strips ★★★★ 4
33 Canola Oil ★★★★ 4
34 Brown Rice ★★★½ 3.5
35 Peanut Butter ★★★½ 3.5
36 Apple Cider Vinegar ★★★½ 3.5
37 Rice Vinegar ★★★½ 3.5
38 Balsamic Vinegar ★★★½ 3.5
39 Bottled Lemon Juice ★★★½ 3.5
40 Bottled Lime Juice ★★★½ 3.5
41 Medjool Dates ★★★½ 3.5
42 Dijon Mustard ★★★ 3
43 Better Than Bouillon ★★★ 3
44 Raisins ★★★ 3
45 Extra-Virgin Olive Oil ★★★ 3
46 Maple Syrup ★½ 1.5
47 Tamari ½ 0.5
48 White Miso ½ 0.5
49 Canned Coconut Milk ½ 0.5

Cited as Food Standards Australia New Zealand. Health Star Rating System. healthstarrating.gov.au.

NOVA Food Processing Classification

Monteiro CA, et al. · University of São Paulo · Classes 1–4

NOVA ↗

Classifies a food not by its nutrients but by how much it has been industrially processed: 1 unprocessed or minimally processed, 2 processed culinary ingredients (oils, salt), 3 processed foods, 4 ultra-processed. Widely used in nutrition epidemiology to study ultra-processing on its own terms — a lens the nutrient-scoring systems above miss. A whole-food pantry sits overwhelmingly at NOVA 1, which is rather the point.

The per-food classes here are as tabulated in the Food Compass 2.0 supplement (Barrett et al. 2024, Table 5).

Show pantry items by NOVA class (49 items)

1 Unprocessed 35

Black BeansBottled Lemon JuiceBottled Lime JuiceBrown RiceCabbageCarrotsCashewsChia SeedsChickpeasDried Shiitake MushroomsFrozen Bell Pepper StripsFrozen BlueberriesFrozen BroccoliFrozen CauliflowerFrozen CornFrozen PeasFrozen SpinachFrozen StrawberriesGarlicGreen LentilsGround FlaxseedMedjool DatesOnionPeanut ButterPepitasQuinoaRaisinsRed LentilsSweet PotatoTahiniTomato PasteWalnutsWhite / Cannellini BeansWhite PotatoesWhole-Grain Pasta

2 Culinary 8

Apple Cider VinegarBalsamic VinegarCanned Coconut MilkCanola OilCrushed TomatoesExtra-Virgin Olive OilMaple SyrupRice Vinegar

3 Processed 5

Dijon MustardPecansRolled OatsTamariWhite Miso

4 Ultra 1

Better Than Bouillon

Cited as Monteiro CA, et al. Ultra-processed foods: what they are and how to identify them. Public Health Nutr 2019;22(5):936–941. PMID 30744710.

Recipe Frequency

This project's corpus · 17,108 recipes · 7 cooking sites · ranked by share of recipes

Corpus ↗

The culinary-usefulness axis: how often each ingredient actually shows up across 17,108 recipes scraped from Cookie and Kate, Minimalist Baker, Serious Eats, Skinnytaste, EatingWell, Downshiftology, and The Mediterranean Dish. This is the #N rank on every pantry card — a food's reach, not its nutrition.

Note: the 7 sites skew plant-forward and health-conscious, so dried legumes are underrepresented (brown and red lentils fall outside the top 500 entirely) and baking staples over-represented. Canonicalisation folds variants together — every row below is the food a pantry item was counted as.

Show recipe-frequency ranks (74 pantry items)
#Counted as% of recipes
1 Salt In Pantry 67.5%
2 Pepper In Pantry 42.34%
3 Olive oil In Pantry 39.45%
4 Garlic In Pantry 34.32%
5 Onion In Pantry 23.81%
6 Lemon In Pantry 18.11%
11 Neutral oil In Pantry 12.51%
15 Tomatoes In Pantry 8.93%
16 Vanilla extract In Pantry 8.22%
17 Ginger In Pantry 7.62%
19 Cinnamon In Pantry 7.24%
21 Lime In Pantry 7.08%
22 Cumin In Pantry 6.99%
26 Baking powder In Pantry 6.43%
28 Garlic powder In Pantry 5.06%
29 Baking soda In Pantry 5.05%
30 Dijon mustard In Pantry 4.71%
31 Bell pepper In Pantry 4.66%
33 Carrots In Pantry 4.41%
34 Oregano In Pantry 4.3%
36 Red pepper flakes In Pantry 4.07%
37 Thyme In Pantry 4.06%
38 Cornstarch In Pantry 3.82%
39 Spinach In Pantry 3.79%
40 Paprika In Pantry 3.77%
41 Maple syrup In Pantry 3.67%
43 Soy sauce In Pantry 3.58%
44 Basil In Pantry 3.43%
45 Nutmeg In Pantry 3.14%
55 Chili powder In Pantry 2.64%
62 Tomato paste In Pantry 2.43%
64 Coriander In Pantry 2.31%
65 Turmeric In Pantry 2.17%
66 Rice vinegar In Pantry 2.08%
67 Bay leaves In Pantry 2.04%
68 Walnuts In Pantry 2.03%
69 Rosemary In Pantry 1.98%
#Counted as% of recipes
70 Vegetable broth In Pantry 1.98%
71 Smoked paprika In Pantry 1.96%
73 Onion powder In Pantry 1.89%
74 Almonds In Pantry 1.86%
75 Balsamic vinegar In Pantry 1.85%
80 Apple cider vinegar In Pantry 1.71%
92 Pecans In Pantry 1.51%
93 Strawberries In Pantry 1.5%
99 Chickpeas In Pantry 1.48%
109 Rolled oats In Pantry 1.34%
111 Cabbage In Pantry 1.32%
112 Sweet potato In Pantry 1.32%
127 Coconut milk In Pantry 1.17%
129 Chia seeds In Pantry 1.16%
131 Potatoes In Pantry 1.15%
133 Blueberries In Pantry 1.13%
134 Broccoli In Pantry 1.13%
136 Black beans In Pantry 1.13%
138 Whole-grain pasta In Pantry 1.12%
139 Cauliflower In Pantry 1.11%
143 Tahini In Pantry 1.07%
154 Quinoa In Pantry 0.96%
157 Brown rice In Pantry 0.94%
162 White whole wheat flour In Pantry 0.9%
173 Raisins In Pantry 0.84%
177 Peas In Pantry 0.82%
182 Corn In Pantry 0.79%
187 Mushrooms In Pantry 0.78%
220 White beans In Pantry 0.64%
263 Cashews In Pantry 0.54%
266 Dates In Pantry 0.54%
281 Flaxseed meal In Pantry 0.49%
286 Tofu In Pantry 0.48%
295 Pumpkin seeds In Pantry 0.46%
312 Nutritional yeast In Pantry 0.42%
319 Peanut butter In Pantry 0.4%
373 Miso In Pantry 0.33%

§04.03

Dietary Frameworks

These documents define what to eat in terms of patterns and proportions — not individual food scores. Each represents a different institution, methodology, and evidence standard. Where they agree, the evidence is stronger.

EAT-Lancet Commission

Peer-reviewed commission · 2019
Source ↗

Planetary health diet — human health + environmental sustainability

  • Half of all calories from whole grains, legumes, nuts, and unsaturated oils
  • Red meat dramatically reduced — ≤14 g/day average (roughly one small serving/week)
  • Fruits and vegetables: ≥300 g/day
  • Legumes and soy: 75 g/day combined
  • Strongly plant-forward but not prescriptively vegan
Pantry alignment

The legume/nut/whole-grain emphasis is directly aligned with the pantry. Lentils, chickpeas, black beans, brown rice, oats, and quinoa all sit in the core EAT-Lancet food groups.

Willett W, et al. Food in the Anthropocene: the EAT-Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems. Lancet 2019;393:447–92.

USDA Dietary Guidelines 2020–2025

Government guidance · 2020
Source ↗

Mainstream evidence-based US dietary guidance

  • Half the plate: fruits and vegetables
  • Half of all grains: whole grains
  • Protein variety: seafood, legumes, nuts/seeds, lean meats, poultry, eggs
  • Low-fat or fat-free dairy: 2–3 cups/day
  • Limit added sugars (<10% of calories), saturated fat (<10% of calories), sodium (<2,300 mg/day)
Pantry alignment

Whole grains and legumes directly map to the pantry. The USDA pattern supports beans, lentils, oats, brown rice, and whole wheat pasta as core staples.

USDA/HHS. Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020–2025.

WCRF/AICR Cancer Prevention

Continuous systematic review · 2018
Source ↗

Reducing cancer risk through diet — the most rigorous ongoing systematic review in nutrition

  • At least 30 g dietary fibre daily
  • At least 400 g non-starchy vegetables and fruit daily (5 portions)
  • Red meat: ≤350–500 g cooked per week (≈3 portions)
  • Processed meat: as little as possible
  • Sugar-sweetened drinks: avoid
  • Alcohol: ideally none
Pantry alignment

High-fibre pantry staples — lentils, oats, chickpeas, whole wheat pasta — directly support the WCRF 30 g/day fibre target. Frozen spinach, broccoli, and tomatoes contribute to the 400 g vegetable target.

World Cancer Research Fund. Cancer Prevention Recommendations. Continuous Update Project.

Harvard Healthy Eating Plate

Academic guidance · 2011
Source ↗

Evidence-based visual guide — no food industry input, improves on USDA MyPlate

  • Half plate: varied vegetables and fruits (potatoes excluded due to blood sugar impact)
  • Quarter plate: whole grains (refined grains limited)
  • Quarter plate: healthy protein — fish, poultry, beans, nuts; limit red meat/cheese; avoid processed meat
  • Healthy oils in moderation (olive, canola, soy, sunflower, peanut); no trans fats
  • Beverages: water/tea/coffee primary; limit milk and juice; avoid sugary drinks
Pantry alignment

Beans and whole grains fill two of the four plate quadrants. Frozen spinach, broccoli, and tomatoes fill the vegetable half. Harvard explicitly calls out beans as a preferred protein over meat.

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 2011.

DASH Diet

Clinical trial-backed · 1997
Source ↗

Dietary approach to reducing blood pressure — strongest evidence base for cardiovascular risk

  • Grains: 6–8 servings/day (emphasise whole grains)
  • Vegetables: 4–5 servings/day
  • Fruits: 4–5 servings/day
  • Lean meat/fish: ≤6 oz/day
  • Nuts/seeds/legumes: 4–5 servings/week
  • Sodium: ≤2,300 mg/day (≤1,500 mg for greater effect)
  • Sweets: ≤5 servings/week
Pantry alignment

Oats, brown rice, whole wheat pasta, and lentils all fit the DASH whole-grain and legume targets. The low-sodium emphasis aligns with buying dried or no-salt-added canned legumes.

NHLBI. DASH Eating Plan.

Mediterranean Diet

Large cohort + RCT evidence · 1993
Source ↗

Most extensively studied pattern for longevity and cardiovascular health

  • Most meals: vegetables, fruits, whole grains, olive oil, beans, nuts, legumes, herbs/spices
  • Twice weekly: fish, poultry; up to 4 eggs/week
  • Daily in moderation: cheese, yogurt
  • Rarely: red meat, sweets
  • Olive oil as the primary fat — no cap on total fat intake
Pantry alignment

The Mediterranean core — olive oil, legumes, whole grains, tomatoes, herbs/spices — maps directly to the pantry. Olive oil, lentils, chickpeas, tomatoes, and smoked paprika/cumin are all Mediterranean staples.

Oldways / Harvard / WHO pyramid, 1993. Key evidence: PREDIMED trial.

Dr. Greger's Daily Dozen

Expert synthesis (not a single study) · 2015
Source ↗

Practical daily checklist of evidence-supported foods (NutritionFacts.org)

  • Beans: 3 servings/day
  • Berries: 1 serving/day
  • Other fruits: 3 servings/day
  • Greens: 2 servings/day
  • Cruciferous vegetables: 1 serving/day
  • Other vegetables: 2 servings/day
  • Flaxseed: 1 tbsp ground/day
  • Nuts and seeds: 1 serving/day
  • Herbs and spices including turmeric: daily
  • Whole grains: 3 servings/day
Pantry alignment

The Daily Dozen is unusually well-aligned with this pantry. Beans/lentils (3 servings), frozen berries (1 serving), frozen spinach/broccoli (greens + cruciferous), whole grains (brown rice, oats, quinoa), and turmeric are all pantry staples.

Greger M. How Not to Die. NutritionFacts.org.

Endorsement chips on pantry cards

Frameworks recommend food groups, not individual foods — DASH's own material says "no per-food ranking." So an endorsement chip means: this item belongs to a group the framework tells you to eat, and its tooltip names the exact group it was counted under. The judgment is auditable, item by item.

Daily Dozen

NutritionFacts.org · How Not to Die (2015)
Source ↗

A whole-food plant-based daily checklist. Not a ranking — recommended servings per food category.

  • Beans3 servings/day
  • Berries1 serving/day
  • Other Fruits3 servings/day
  • Greens2 servings/day
  • Cruciferous Vegetables1 serving/day
  • Other Vegetables2 servings/day
  • Flaxseed1 tbsp ground/day
  • Nuts and Seeds1 serving/day
  • Herbs and Spices1 serving/day
  • Whole Grains3 servings/day
55 pantry items counted ↓

Green Lentils · Red Lentils · Chickpeas · Black Beans · White / Cannellini Beans · Tofu · Rolled Oats · Brown Rice · Quinoa · Whole-Grain Pasta · Onion · Garlic · Crushed Tomatoes · Tomato Paste · Dried Shiitake Mushrooms · Cashews · Walnuts · Pecans · Tahini · Ground Flaxseed · Chia Seeds · Pepitas · Peanut Butter · Medjool Dates · Raisins · Carrots · Sweet Potato · Cabbage · Frozen Blueberries · Frozen Strawberries · Frozen Spinach · Frozen Broccoli · Frozen Cauliflower · Frozen Peas · Frozen Corn · Frozen Bell Pepper Strips · Black Pepper · Cumin · Smoked Paprika · Sweet Paprika · Chili Powder · Turmeric · Cinnamon · Garlic Powder · Onion Powder · Dried Oregano · Dried Thyme · Dried Rosemary · Dried Basil · Bay Leaves · Ground Ginger · Ground Coriander · Nutmeg · Red Pepper Flakes · Whole Wheat Flour

EAT-Lancet

Willett et al. · The Lancet, 2019
Source ↗

The global reference diet for healthy people on a sustainable planet, with gram-per-day targets per food group (2,500 kcal reference).

  • Whole grainstarget 232 g/day
  • Tubers & starchy vegetablestarget 50 g/day
  • Vegetablestarget 300 g/day
  • Fruitstarget 200 g/day
  • Legumestarget 50 g/day
  • Soy foodstarget 25 g/day
  • Nuts & seedstarget 50 g/day
  • Unsaturated oilstarget 40 g/day
40 pantry items counted ↓

Green Lentils · Red Lentils · Chickpeas · Black Beans · White / Cannellini Beans · Tofu · Rolled Oats · Brown Rice · Quinoa · Whole-Grain Pasta · Onion · Garlic · Crushed Tomatoes · Tomato Paste · Dried Shiitake Mushrooms · Cashews · Walnuts · Pecans · Tahini · Ground Flaxseed · Chia Seeds · Pepitas · Peanut Butter · Medjool Dates · Raisins · Carrots · Sweet Potato · White Potatoes · Cabbage · Frozen Blueberries · Frozen Strawberries · Frozen Spinach · Frozen Broccoli · Frozen Cauliflower · Frozen Peas · Frozen Corn · Frozen Bell Pepper Strips · Extra-Virgin Olive Oil · Canola Oil · Whole Wheat Flour

Mediterranean

Oldways · Harvard School of Public Health · WHO (1993)
Source ↗

The best-studied traditional dietary pattern. The pyramid works in relative emphasis, not gram targets.

  • Base of the pyramidvegetables, fruits, whole grains, olive oil, beans, nuts, legumes — most meals
  • Herbs and spicesinstead of salt
56 pantry items counted ↓

Green Lentils · Red Lentils · Chickpeas · Black Beans · White / Cannellini Beans · Tofu · Rolled Oats · Brown Rice · Quinoa · Whole-Grain Pasta · Onion · Garlic · Crushed Tomatoes · Tomato Paste · Dried Shiitake Mushrooms · Cashews · Walnuts · Pecans · Tahini · Ground Flaxseed · Chia Seeds · Pepitas · Peanut Butter · Medjool Dates · Raisins · Carrots · Sweet Potato · Cabbage · Frozen Blueberries · Frozen Strawberries · Frozen Spinach · Frozen Broccoli · Frozen Cauliflower · Frozen Peas · Frozen Corn · Frozen Bell Pepper Strips · Extra-Virgin Olive Oil · Black Pepper · Cumin · Smoked Paprika · Sweet Paprika · Chili Powder · Turmeric · Cinnamon · Garlic Powder · Onion Powder · Dried Oregano · Dried Thyme · Dried Rosemary · Dried Basil · Bay Leaves · Ground Ginger · Ground Coriander · Nutmeg · Red Pepper Flakes · Whole Wheat Flour

DASH

NHLBI
Source ↗

The blood-pressure evidence base: food-group servings for a 2,000-kcal day, sodium capped.

  • Grains6–8 servings/day (prefer whole)
  • Vegetables4–5 servings/day
  • Fruits4–5 servings/day
  • Nuts, seeds & legumes4–5 servings/week
  • Fats & oils2–3 servings/day
40 pantry items counted ↓

Green Lentils · Red Lentils · Chickpeas · Black Beans · White / Cannellini Beans · Tofu · Rolled Oats · Brown Rice · Quinoa · Whole-Grain Pasta · Onion · Garlic · Crushed Tomatoes · Tomato Paste · Dried Shiitake Mushrooms · Cashews · Walnuts · Pecans · Tahini · Ground Flaxseed · Chia Seeds · Pepitas · Peanut Butter · Medjool Dates · Raisins · Carrots · Sweet Potato · White Potatoes · Cabbage · Frozen Blueberries · Frozen Strawberries · Frozen Spinach · Frozen Broccoli · Frozen Cauliflower · Frozen Peas · Frozen Corn · Frozen Bell Pepper Strips · Extra-Virgin Olive Oil · Canola Oil · Whole Wheat Flour

§04.04

What the Evidence Agrees On

Despite coming from different institutions and research traditions, these sources converge on a consistent set of messages. Where multiple independent bodies agree, the signal is strongest.

✓ Prioritise whole, minimally processed plant foods

All sources

✓ Legumes (beans, lentils, chickpeas) are high-value staples

EAT-Lancet, WCRF, Mediterranean, Daily Dozen, Harvard Plate, USDA

✓ Whole grains over refined

All sources

✓ Nuts as a healthy calorie-dense food

EAT-Lancet, Mediterranean, Harvard Plate, DASH, Daily Dozen

✓ Limit / avoid ultra-processed foods

WCRF, Daily Dozen (Traffic Light), Food Compass (FCS ≤30 = minimise)

✓ Limit processed and red meat

EAT-Lancet (<14 g/day avg), WCRF (<500 g/week), Mediterranean (rarely), Harvard Plate (avoid processed), USDA

✓ Limit added sugar

USDA, DASH, Harvard Plate, WCRF

✓ Cruciferous and dark leafy greens are highest-value vegetables

ANDI (kale/collards score 1000), CDC Powerhouse (watercress #1, spinach #5), Daily Dozen

✓ Fibre is a key protective nutrient

WCRF (≥30 g/day target), Satiety Index (positively correlated), NRF Index, Food Compass

✓ Berries and colourful fruits are highest-value fruits

ANDI (strawberries 212), CDC Powerhouse (strawberry #30), Daily Dozen

✓ Olive oil as preferred added fat

Mediterranean, Harvard Plate, USDA (unsaturated oils)

§04.05

All Primary Sources

Full citations for every system and framework referenced on this site.

ANDI Fuhrman J. Nutritarian Handbook and ANDI Food Scoring Guide. Link ↗
CDC Powerhouse Di Noia J. Defining Powerhouse Fruits and Vegetables: A Nutrient Density Approach. Prev Chronic Dis 2014;11:130390. PMID 24901795. Link ↗
Food Compass v1 Mozaffarian D, et al. Food Compass is a nutrient profiling system using expanded characteristics for assessing healthfulness of foods. Nat Food 2021;2:809–818. Link ↗
Food Compass v2 Barrett EM, et al. Food Compass 2.0 is an improved nutrient profiling system. Nat Food 2024;5:911–915. PMC11578874. Link ↗
Satiety Index Holt SHA, et al. A Satiety Index of common foods. Eur J Clin Nutr 1995;49:675–690. PMID 7498104. Link ↗
NRF Index Fulgoni VL III, et al. The Nutrient Rich Foods Index helps to identify healthy, affordable foods. Am J Clin Nutr 2009;90(4):920–925. PMID 20181811. Link ↗
ONQI / NuVal Katz DL, et al. Performance characteristics of NuVal and the Overall Nutritional Quality Index (ONQI). Am J Clin Nutr 2010;91(4):1102S–1108S. PMID 20181809. Link ↗
Nutri-Score Santé Publique France. Link ↗
Health Star Rating Food Standards Australia New Zealand. Health Star Rating System. Link ↗
NOVA classification Monteiro CA, et al. Ultra-processed foods: what they are and how to identify them. Public Health Nutr 2019;22(5):936–941. PMID 30744710. Link ↗
EAT-Lancet Willett W, et al. Food in the Anthropocene: the EAT-Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems. Lancet 2019;393:447–92. Link ↗
USDA Dietary Guidelines USDA/HHS. Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020–2025. Link ↗
WCRF/AICR World Cancer Research Fund. Cancer Prevention Recommendations. Continuous Update Project. Link ↗
Harvard Healthy Eating Plate Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 2011. Link ↗
DASH NHLBI. DASH Eating Plan. Link ↗
Mediterranean Diet Oldways / Harvard / WHO pyramid (1993). Evidence: PREDIMED trial. Link ↗
Daily Dozen / Traffic Light Greger M. How Not to Die. NutritionFacts.org. Link ↗
Open Food Facts Open Food Facts database. Link ↗

§04.06

Changelog

Material changes to the methodology, the data, or the qualifying list — anything that moves a score or a ranking bumps the version and lands here.

2026-07-07
v0.4 The scored pantry. MVP scorecard introduced: four axes with published weights (50% nutrition, 15% cost, 15% shelf life, 20% versatility), descriptive only. Nutrition is evidence-adjusted from a neutral 50 using the newly extracted Food Compass 2.0 family (FCS, Nutri-Score, Health Star, NOVA — 49 of 75 items mapped), ANDI/CDC percentiles, and framework endorsements. Cost ($/serving at tracked US retail) and shelf-life data added for all 75 items. Endorsement chips wired (Daily Dozen, EAT-Lancet, Mediterranean, DASH — group-level, auditable per item). Categories consolidated from twelve to six. Site redesigned in the field-journal language.
2026-07-05
v0.3 The quantified pantry. Label-grade nutrition for every item from USDA FoodData Central, with per-serving and per-100 g display. Structured recipe amounts on a per-ingredient unit vocabulary, so every quantity resolves to grams — enabling the grams toggle, the 1×–5× batch multiplier, and per-serving recipe nutrition. Recipe canon filled to 27 dishes. Dark mode.
2026-07-02
v0.2 The evidenced pantry. Research metric badges (ANDI, CDC Powerhouse, Satiety, recipe frequency, Food Compass) wired data-driven onto every pantry card, deep-linked both ways with this Sources page. Ingredient quantities injected into method steps from recipe data, so amounts can't drift from the ingredient list. First site-wide design system.
2026-06-30
v0.1 First public catalog. The pantry became a single fixed list with every recipe guaranteed cookable from it — earlier drafts had a separate "fresh" layer, which was dropped as needless complexity. Quick-pick homepage (tonight's dinner, decided), first recipes, real 404.
2026-06-29
reframe The pantry was reframed around a whole-food, plant-based premise after seven internal list revisions. Health moved from one competing axis to the ticket for entry; the six axes now decide among foods that already clear that bar.
2026-03-01
corpus Two-pass ingredient evaluation completed. Breadth pass: 198,899 distinct ingredient names counted across 2,231,142 RecipeNLG recipes. Depth pass: 17,108 recipes with parseable ingredients scraped from 7 curated cooking sites (18,165 scraped in total), top 500 canonical ingredients ranked — this ranking is the versatility axis and the pantry cards' #N metric. First draft of the pantry list.
2026-02-27
genesis Project started: a fixed pantry, a recipe library built only from it, and every claim traceable to a source.

§04.07

Known limits

The scoring is opinionated in ways that advantage shelf-stable plants. It is biased against anything requiring a weekly shop, anything with a short season, and anything that can't be bought ahead. Those biases are the point — but they are biases.

Pricing reflects single-point US retail observations, dated per row. Cost rankings will not transfer cleanly to other markets; nutrition rankings will.

The recipe corpus skews plant-forward and English-language, which shapes the versatility axis (see the frequency caveat in §04.02).

Nothing here is medical advice. If you have a clinical condition, your dietitian outranks our spreadsheet.