Ultimate Guide Clean Eating Grocery List

This clean eating grocery list is a great place to start for clean eating beginners! Take this food list to the market or keep it on hand when placing your online grocery order, and set yourself up for a healthier start to the new year!  The shift in my kitchen pantry and fridge from conventional products to more nutrient dense, “real” foods took some time. I want to make sure I reiterate it did not happen overnight and took time and flexibility. It is highly recommended when making changes to your dietary lifestyle that one go slow and steady. Attempting to make dramatic changes all at once can be demotivating, overwhelming and even harmful. In the beginning, there was no method to my madness, and I flexed as I needed to, and put my foot down when I needed to. In the end this approached has worked well for our family. Below I share my clean eating food list that can be as handy for novices as seasoned pros. I’ll also share some clean eating for beginners tips and tricks. Also, once you’ve switched over your pantry, keep on track with healthier eating by staying organized. Here’s my full guide to small pantry organization. 

The first clean eating foods swaps I made

The first 7 food items I switched out were Nutella, Coffee Mate, Eggo waffles, Country Crock margarine, frozen chicken nuggets, Cheez-Its and artificial maple syrup. These items were the biggest offenders in our household because they were filled with sugar, artificial colors, additives, preservatives, and hydrogenated oils. We were also consuming them on an almost daily basis. Here are the items I replaced these foods with, I’ll share the rest of my grocery list must-have items and swaps below.

Clean Eating Food List:

• Coffee Mate replacement: I initially switched over to better coffee with a splash of quality half and half. The Strauss brand in particular is yummy, and for a little bit of sweetness, add a teaspoon of maple syrup. However I now find the Califia Barista blend almond milk to be our favorite. It froths up beautifully either hot or cold, in the Nespresso frother.
• Margarine replacement: Good old fashioned grass fed butter. The Kerrygold brand in particular is what we use, which can be purchased in bulk at Costco.
• Eggo replacement: My kids love waffles and could eat them almost daily. Many weekends I make a double batch of my own from scratch and freeze leftovers for the week. For days we’re in a pinch, I love Birch Benders . They contain all natural ingredients, are delicious and nutritious.
• Artificial syrup replacement: Real maple syrup which is lower on the GI index and offers a host of added nutritional benefits including manganese and magnesium. It’s more costly but also sweeter, so you just need a dollop and can be used as a white sugar replacement in many baked goods. I buy it in bulk at Costco.
• Frozen chicken nuggets: I replaced those with real homemade baked nuggets that are now my kids favorite. On nights when I’m in a rush or just can’t cook another thing, we like the Applegate frozen nuggets.
• Cheez-Its replacement: While we initially went cold turkey off Cheez-It’s, I eventually brought them back into our lives in moderation. We have also switched to healthy swaps and brands with minimal ingredients (5 or less). Bagged kettle corn and sea salt popcorn, organic tortilla chips, etc.

Clean eating food list swaps for other kitchen staples

Clean Eating Sugar Replacements:

Sugar is still sugar, so even with the more natural sugars I keep in my pantry, I try to use with discretion.

• Maple syrup is my favorite liquid sweetener
• Raw honey is great on plain yogurt and pancakes
• Coconut sugar is great because it can be swapped cup for cup
• Organic stevia (liquid or powdered packets) is perfect for sweetening beverages

Clean Eating Oil Replacements:

• Extra Virgin Olive oil – I buy it in bulk at Costco, which is surprisingly very good quality.
• Coconut oil can be used for anything and everything including smoothies, sautéing foods, and as a moisturizer!  Refined coconut oil is great for high temp cooking. If using it to add to smoothies and other baking recipes, go for unrefined to get the most nutritious bang for your buck.
• Expeller pressed organic Canola oil for when I need a neutral flavor
• Sesame oil here and other nut and seed oils such as walnut or avocado oil. They are great to enhance flavors of dishes. I love the Spectrum line of oils.
• Ghee is clarified butter used in Ayurvedic medicine for thousands of years. Because the milk proteins have been gently boiled down, this is a great high-heat cooking alternative.

Clean Eating Flour Replacements:

• While I keep a small container of regular all-purpose flour on hand in my pantry, my go-to is now whole wheat flour and rice flour..
• For all my flour needs I love Bob’s Red Mill or King Arthur Flour, in addition the bulk bins at Sprouts.
• I also just recently added hazelnut meal or flour as a pantry staple for making “Nutella alternative” recipes and as a breading for chicken nuggets, in replacement of bread crumbs.
• Almond flour is more widely available and also makes a great gluten free flour alternative and breadcrumb coating.

Clean Eating for Beginners Guide to Animal Products

When we began eating clean I didn’t give much thought to how this tied in with the animal products we were eating. But after reading Eating Animals, I began to realize that there was an advantage to eating “clean” proteins as well. Following is a break down by category of the animal products I try to source as much as possible.

• Eggs: Pasture raised or organic free range eggs, especially from a local farmer’s market.
• Dairy: If possible, go for organic dairy products. The organic label requires that by law, the cows must spend a specific amount of time on pasture. Plus, in a study published last year, organic dairy was proven to be more nutritious than conventional dairy products. Look for dairy products that have gone through low temp pasteurization versus ultra high temp pasteurization (UHT). UHT kills the most important beneficial bacteria, and also changes the milk proteins, making it harder to digest. The process also makes the milk taste burnt, so companies often have to include additives to make the smell and taste pleasant again.
• Non-Dairy: We always have coconut milk and almond milk on hand at all times.

Choosing beef, pork and poultry

• Red Meat: We source a great deal of red meat through a local farmer who offers a discounted CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program. We also frequent the farmers market. The organic label is helpful but not necessary. Note that grass fed is starting to become diluted a bit, as all cows start off on pasture and are “grass fed”. The grass finished label means that the cows stayed on pasture its entire life and never went to a feed lot.
• Poultry: Happy healthy chickens, and in particular turkeys, are hard to find in conventional supermarkets. I do my best to shop at farmer’s markets or when purchasing at the grocery store, stick with organic and air-chilled chickens.  Mary’s or Rosie’s Chicken are both great brand and are often on sale at Whole Foods. Diestel Farms, Empire (a Kosher brand), Applegate and Niman’s Ranch are also great brands.
• Pork: In learning about how animals are raised for meat production, I was most saddened to read about how pigs are raised. Most of the very large scale hog ranches use gestation crates for their sows. Pasture raised pork can be hard to find and pricy, so I do my best to limit how much we eat.

Cleaning Eating Food List – General Food Items

Sauces and Dressings:

• I make most of my own dressings and sauces. Once you get in the habit they are really quite easy and quick. Some are more complicated and I reserve those for the weekend, but a simple salad dressing requires nothing more than olive oil, a squeeze of citrus or vinegar, and some salt and pepper. For bottled dressings, Tessemae’s brand is tasty and has minimal, all-natural ingredients.
• I keep a bevvy of sauces on hands to heighten foods and dishes including Red Boat Fish Sauce, hoison sauce, tons of vinegar including red wine, white wine, balsamic, white balsamic, rice wine, red plum wine and apple cider.
• For richer dressings and sauces, I always have a container of plain yogurt on hand, as well as Vegenaise.

General Pantry Items:

• Nut butters including peanut, cashew and almond. Contrary to some beliefs, both have just about equal nutritional value, but almond butter has risen in popularity because for those following a Paleo diet, it falls under the nut category, versus peanut butter is a legume.
• Dates are awesome for sweetening baked goods and other awesome things like these Carrot Cake Inspired Energy Bites.
• I love having cacao powder, cacao nibs and chia seeds on hand as well. I like Navitas Naturals for some of these items.
• Quinoa flakes are great for hot cereal and making Quinoa Granola
• Tkids love having oatmeal for breakfast so I always have old fashion rolled oats on hand.
• Quinoa of course, brown rice and arborio rice for making risotto
• I have also added arrowroot powder/starch to my cooking rotation and have swapped it out for corn starch to thicken sauces and soups.

Herbs & Spices:

Cinnamon, cumin, garlic powder, cardamom, dried sage, turmeric, fresh basil, cilantro, and parsley, are just a few I always keep stocked. If you want to make your healthy homemade food taste flavorful, be bold and freely use herbs and spices. I cannot stress this enough!

Clean Eating Grocery List for Produce:

Nothing is off limits in the produce aisle, but here are some staples that are a permanent part of my clean eating grocery list. I try to focus first and foremost on what’s in season, and try to source locally as much as possible, and definitely try to stick with US grown

• For greens we love kale, spinach and chard. All work great in smoothies, sautéed, or eaten in salads.
• Carrots , beets, lemons, lime and oranges. We add them to green juice, smoothies, salads or of course eat as is.
• Onions, potatoes, and garlic.
• Broccoli, cauliflower and whichever squash is in season.
• Apples, avocados, tomatoes and melons if in season, as well as bananas.

Clean Eating Food Lists for Snack Items:

Here are a few of the brands and types of snacks we love to keep on hand at all times. I tend to just buy what’s on sale and stock up for a week or two at a time.

• Kettle Brand potato chips,
• Popcorn – Trader Joe’s Organic Olive Oil Popcorn, Angie’s Popcorn, both Kettle Corn & Boom Chicka Pop
• Mary’s Gone Crackers
• Plain organic graham crackers, organic tortilla chips
• Pure Bar fruit strips and sandwiches
• Anything that has few, all natural ingredients.

Look out for hidden forms added sugars and artificial colorings and flavors if your children are sensitive to those. If you are looking for tips and trick on packing healthier school lunches for your kids, consider a bento style lunch box. Here’s my full post reviewing the Planetbox Rover lunch box, as well as answering the most commonly asked questions.

Sweet Treats:

• Justin’s peanut butter cups,
• Yum Earth Naturals jelly beans
• Fair trade chocolate bars (Green & Blacks is my favorite)
• Ruby Rocket’s popsicles

As I said above, this list is not meant to be exhaustive of every product I use, but it’s a general overall guide. Please let me know if you have any questions or products/categories to add. I think I’ve thought of almost everything, but know it’s not everything!

Clean Eating Grocery List