I'm a food reporter and these are the 11 essential items I always have in my pantry

Pancake mix (left) and chicken broth (right) are two must-haves for me.Rachel Askinasi/Insider

• Pantry staples are must-have food items that vary from person to person.
• There are so many things I love to have in my cupboard at all times, but there are only 11 that I take extra care to make sure I always have.
• From easy-to-use pancake mix to olive oil and chicken stock, my pantry essentials are all over the map.
• Canned tuna, alliums, potatoes, vinegar, pasta, boxed mac and cheese, rice, and dark chocolate are all things I like to keep on-hand.

I'm nearly 25 years old, I live in a small New York City apartment with roommates, and I'm typically cooking for just me. That means my pantry — which is really a little cubby and some shelf space in my kitchen — is stocked with the things I reach for most.

To me, a pantry staple is, at its core, one of two things: something that you can buy for later, or something kept out of the refrigerator that you use daily. By that standard, my pantry staples include for-later items like canned tuna and chicken stock as well as every-day stashes of olive oil and dark chocolate.

There are plenty of other pantry items that I typically have on-hand, like canned beans and tomato products like paste or sauce, but this is a list of things I always have without fail.

My feeling is that the core of your pantry should reflect the things you would be really bummed about if they weren't there when you reached for them. From boxed macaroni and cheese to pancake mix, here are 11 of my personal must-have pantry items.