The Universal Grocery List

By Morgan Dixon

Top 20 Most Versatile Ingredients

Analysis of 2 million+ recipes reveals the items that truly form the backbone of cooking.

Salt
Sugar
Pepper
Flour
Butter
Egg
Vanilla
Onion
Garlic
Water
  1. 1.Salt
  2. 2.Sugar
  3. 3.Pepper
  4. 4.Flour
  5. 5.Butter
  6. 6.Egg
  7. 7.Vanilla
  8. 8.Onion
  9. 9.Garlic
  10. 10.Water
  11. 11.Milk
  12. 12.Olive Oil
  13. 13.Cinnamon
  14. 14.Baking Powder
  15. 15.Lemon Juice
  16. 16.Baking Soda
  17. 17.Brown Sugar
  18. 18.Margarine
  19. 19.Cream Cheese
  20. 20.Vegetable Oil
Explore the Research Data

The Problem: An Overwhelming World of Ingredients

Every home cook faces the same challenge: you find a new recipe, but you're missing half the ingredients. This leads to expensive, one-time grocery trips and pantries full of spices used only once. We asked a simple question: Can data reveal a core set of ingredients that form the backbone of modern cooking?

Our Methodology: Casual Research in Action

This study exemplifies casual research - the process of investigating one's life and what makes your world tick. Rather than accepting the overwhelm of endless grocery lists, we applied scientific thinking to a personal, everyday problem.

We embarked on this casual research project, leveraging publicly available data to solve a practical problem that affects millions. Using a dataset of over 2 million recipes from Kaggle, we wrote a Python script in Google Colab to perform a large-scale analysis. This demonstrates how casual research can combine personal curiosity with powerful data analysis tools. The script was designed to:

  • • Parse millions of ingredient lists to find universal patterns.
  • • Normalize the data by cleaning up measurements and descriptions.
  • • Count the frequency of each core ingredient across diverse cuisines.

Why This Matters for You

$$$

Save Money

Focus your grocery budget on versatile staples, leading to less waste and smarter spending.

🍳

Cook More

Reduce the friction of starting a new recipe. With a well-stocked pantry, you're always ready to cook.

🌎

Reduce Waste

Minimize food waste by buying ingredients you'll use over and over again.

Casual Research Insights

This grocery list optimization demonstrates the power of casual research - taking time to investigate patterns in your personal world that can lead to meaningful improvements. What started as frustration with endless grocery shopping became a data-driven solution that thousands can benefit from.

What Makes This Casual Research?

Personal Motivation

Started with a real problem affecting daily life

Accessible Methods

Used free tools and public data anyone can access

Practical Application

Results directly improve everyday decisions

Shareable Insights

Benefits extend beyond personal use to help others