Eating well at home begins with stocking the right groceries in your kitchen. With a variety of pantry staples, vegetables, flavor boosters, and proteins on hand, you can whip up a satisfying meal whenever you need to. And when it comes to navigating the aisles of a grocery store to find the most useful and delicious items, private chefs might just be the ultimate pros.

Private chefs spend much of their professional lives strategizing in grocery stores and must plan a week’s worth of meals while also accommodating clients’ personal preferences, dietary restrictions, and special occasions. By managing deadlines, planning weekly grocery lists, and cooking multiple dishes a day, they learn to identify the kitchen staples that will prove most useful again and again.

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Through experience, private chefs tend to favor certain frequently-used ingredients that they always make sure to pick up. To discover which groceries they see as essential and to share some tips for our own weekly shopping, we spoke with top private chefs about their shopping habits and the favorite products they always turn to.

Fresh herbs

Meredith Haydenmight be the most well-known private chef online. After showcasing her work for high-profile clients on social media and building a dedicated following, she released her New York Times-bestselling cookbook,The Wishbone Kitchen Cookbook, earlier this year.

Hayden tells Food & Wine that if there’s one item she buys on every single grocery trip, it’s “definitely fresh herbs.” Some of her must-have summer herbs are chives and basil, and in the winter, she tends to reach for thyme, rosemary, and cilantro, while parsley is an ingredient she gravitates towards year-round.

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The bestselling author also notes that planning to use the same herbs for a variety of meals is an easy way to save money while still leveraging flavorful ingredients. She notes that you could “plan a menu containing dishes that only use basil and parsley, rather than buying multiple different types of herbs.”

San Francisco Sourdough at Whole Foods

Hayden’s most frequent shopping destinations are farmers markets, Whole Foods Market, and Citarella. And if she’s at the Amazon-owned grocer, she almost never leaves without one specific bakery item. “I love the San Francisco Sourdough at Whole Foods,” she tells us.

The San Francisco Sourdough Boule is a popular pick among other shoppers, too, and can be found in the store’s bakery department. It’s a classic tangy loaf with a crisp, chewy crust and an airy interior — the kind of bread you can enjoy every day.

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Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt

When planning a dinner party,Top Chefalum and New York-based private chefStephanie Buttermilkhas to consider a wide range of variables. “The first thing I do is create a game plan. How many courses? What’s the season? Occasion? If you create a clear plan, it’s much easier to execute.”

While all these considerations may change depending on the occasion, one constant remains: her favorite salt. “If I’m shopping to cook somewhere that I’ve never been, I always buy Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt — it’s affordable, the flake is the perfect size, and it makes seasoning a pinch!” Cmar emphasizes.

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Fresh, seasonal produce

For both chefs, picking up fresh ingredients from the grocery store is always mandatory. Cmar often turns to one particular trio, saying, “I have a genuine fear that if I don’t buy that one avocado, bunch of radishes, (and) sole jalapeño, dinner will combust… They each add something — heat, crunch, and fat.”

Of course, the produce they pick up will vary depending on the season, client, and menu, but Hayden notes that when shopping at Citarella, she loves to get seasonal fruits and vegetables like McCoun applesramps, and ls when they’re available.

Specialty cheeses

Keeping an interesting cheese on hand is an easy way to instantly upgrade a dinner party dish, like simple roasted vegetables, or turn eggs and toast into something that feels special. One of Hayden’s dairy staples is Meredith Dairy Farmstead Sheep & Goat Cheesea tangy, spreadable goat and sheep’s milk cheese packed in a jar with extra virgin olive oil, peppercorns, fresh thyme, and garlic.

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San Francisco-based private chef and formerTop Chefcontestant Robert Hernandez likes to keep a medley of cheese on hand. “I buy so much cheese (and) tend to use cheese all over my menus,” he tells Food & Wine. Depending on the budget, his staples include Pecorino Romano, Parmigiano Reggiano, or Grana Padano. He often uses fresh Bulgarian feta, which he notes is “easy to whip,” and says, “I also like to use queso fresco, queso cotija, ricotta salata, and chèvre — it really just depends on what I am making.”

Mirepoix

To make sure he can build a flavorful dish at any time, Hernandez explains that “I always want to make sure I have mirepoix (onions, carrots, and celery).” This trio of ingredients is a classic part of French cooking and can serve as a base for everything from chicken noodle soup to braised beef short ribs. While professional chefs like Hernandez usually use fresh vegetables to make a mirepoix, home cooks might prefer to try options like the frozen, pre-chopped mirepoix blends available in many grocery store freezer aisles.

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Spices

Spices are another must for “layering flavors,” according to Hernandez, who always keeps a good selection on hand “in case I get inspired.” His spice rack staples include fennel, coriander, cumin, Mexican and Mediterranean oregano, chile de árbol, guajillo chile, toasted garlic and onion powders, peppercorns, and warm spices.

“I’ll add spices to pesto, vinaigrettes, chili oil, and so many other things. Last year, I was really into making different chili oils, using the fry method — taking hot oil at 450° and then pouring it into large amounts of spices,” he shares.

Hernandez likes mixing his own seasoning blends or purchasing them from his favorite spice shop, Oaktown Spice Shop. Home cooks who want to expand their spice collection without overspending might consider shopping at Costcowhere buying in bulk can reduce the costs of these often expensive ingredients.

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Chicken powder

Chicken powder is another one of Hernandez’s must-haves. He points out that it’s “used a lot in Mexican cuisine and is the secret to making the perfect salsa — it gives a lot of umami.”

Also known as powdered chicken bouillon, this ingredient is a blend of dehydrated chicken stock, salt, and often MSG. A pinch of the powder can immediately add depth and extra savory flavor to many dishes; its uses aren’t limited to just making stock, and you can sprinkle it on everything from popcorn to roast chicken.