The Versatile Grocery Store Aisle You Should Never Skip

No matter who you are or what you eat, everyone has those areas of the grocery store they tend to skip and those in which they linger. Passionate carnivores spend long stretches of time considering their options in the meat section, but they are also more likely to skip over aisles brimming with tofu and tempeh. 

Shoppers looking to stay healthy extensively browse fresh produce, but then quickly pass right over the soda shelves. Kids yawn through areas full of cleaning products, but they perk up upon approaching the frozen food aisle's plethora of chicken tenders and ice cream. Even the most omnivorous eaters ignore certain sections of the store.

This vast variety of food is the modern grocery store's greatest strength. No matter who you are or what you eat, it has you covered. But becoming a little too set in your ways regarding which sections you browse and which you ignore has its downsides. In fact, there's a good chance you might be ignoring one of the most versatile and useful aisles of the entire store.

Baking is intimidating to a lot of people. It requires precision, patience, and a lot of preparation. Those who neglect these principles quickly encounter consequences in the form of stiff cookies, rubbery cakes, and flat breads — to say nothing of those disasters that are outright inedible. If you're one of these people, it's tempting to skip the baking aisle altogether. But in fact, this segment of the store contains plenty of goodies for even those shoppers who've never managed to bake a single biscuit.

The number-one reason to take a stroll down the baking aisle is its rich trove of seasonings. Most stores keep their herbs and spices here, and absolutely nobody who spends any amount of time in a kitchen should be without a well-stocked spice cabinet. Moreover, spices and herbs should be replaced more often than you probably realize: As spice giant McCormick notes, most of them lose their potency after a year or two. Have a container of ancient thyme lying around? Toss it, and then take a stroll through the baking aisle for a restocking visit.

The baking aisle is also home to nuts, which are key to a massive range of recipes beyond baked goods. Whether you're making a spinach salad with pine nuts or cranberry and macadamia nut stuffing, nuts can take just about everything to the next level. Nuts are also a healthy snack when eaten out of hand, and a pleasantly portable one at that.

The baking aisle is a treasure trove of cashews and coriander — but that's not all it is. Even ingredients that seem baking-specific have plenty of uses beyond the oven. 

Corn starch, for example, is the key to crispy fried food, as Cook's Illustrated points out. It's also a quick and effective way to thicken a thin chili, according to MasterClass. Cocoa powder isn't just for brownies and chocolate cakes: It brings a delicious depth to such savory dishes as short ribs and pork tenderloin. Vanilla extract — an ingredient as closely aligned with baking as anything can be — has its place in savory cooked dishes. Risotto and vanilla also play especially well together.

Don't sleep on the baking aisle's canned goods either — they might seem like nothing but pie filling, but in fact, they're incredibly versatile. Canned pumpkin, for example, makes an excellent smoothie ingredient, and it forms the cornerstone of a delicious pumpkin soup. Just be sure to get plain canned pumpkin rather than canned pumpkin pie filling, which has already been enriched with sugar and sweet spices. Evaporated milk is also a gamechanger, capable of taking coffee-based drinks and soups to the next level.