The ingredients that open the most recipes

We counted every ingredient across the site. Here are the ones that turn up most, and what that means for a short shopping list.

Tomato and eggplant shakshuka, photographed from above — Tomato and eggplant shakshuka, North African. AI-generated illustration.

Pantry Hand matches recipes to what you already have, so it's worth knowing which ingredients do the most work. We counted every ingredient in every recipe on the site, leaving out salt, pepper, oil and water, which every recipe assumes.

1 garlic 1,164 recipes · 30%
2 sugar 1,057 recipes · 28%
3 egg 1,051 recipes · 27%
4 onion 1,028 recipes · 27%
5 butter 892 recipes · 23%
6 flour 778 recipes · 20%
7 lemon 536 recipes · 14%
8 soy sauce 497 recipes · 13%
9 scallion 432 recipes · 11%
10 milk 422 recipes · 11%
11 tomato 364 recipes · 9%
12 ginger 362 recipes · 9%
13 cilantro 337 recipes · 9%
14 potato 307 recipes · 8%
15 parsley 300 recipes · 8%

None of this is surprising on its own: garlic and onion start dishes on every continent. What it does tell you is where a small shop goes furthest. If your fridge has onions, garlic, eggs and something sour like a lemon or lime, you are a few items away from a large share of the site.

Try it

Type the ingredients you have on the home page, or open "Pick ingredients" and tap them. Recipes that use the most of what you have, and need the least extra, come first.