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Ever wanted to peek inside your neighbor's fridge? Here's the closest you can get without being creepy. The NPD Group recently released its Kitchen Audit 2011, a giant report published every three years that examines the contents of the average American kitchen.
Among the fun facts the survey uncovers: More than 30 percent of American households have go-to dinner recipes that they turn to once a week (or more). Close to 20 percent of households have a favorite dessert they eat at least once a week. The more you earn, the more likely you are to own a food processor. And larger households -- five people or more -- are more likely than singles to keep marshmallows, frosting, Mexican foods and breakfast foods stocked.
The average American kitchen always has ...
1. Yogurt
2. Eggs
3. Cheddar cheese
4. Soy sauce
5. Solid pack pumpkin
But never has ...
1. Acai berry juice
2. Fresh artichokes
3. Fresh turnips
4. Mincemeat in any form -- can, jar or package
5. Almonds
What's the weirdest thing you keep perma-stocked in your kitchen? Tell us what it is on our Facebook page -- if we like your answer, we may use it in an upcoming TODAY Health post!
Follow TODAY.com health editor Melissa Dahl on Twitter: @melissadahl.
Leave a Comment:
Soy Sauce, but no milk?? How odd is that? And almonds? I've got some in mine almost year round for munching.
Mom, I always have almonds in the house too.
I also have almonds at all times, but almost never have canned pumpkin. I also on occasion have fresh turnips and artichokes too. :P
I usually have almonds (unless I've eaten them and haven't got to to store yet). I keep canned pumpkin (great binder for stomach icks). No eggs, milk, bread unless I'm specifically going to use 'em (I got tired of throwing away bad perishables)
Lori - please explain! My family had the flu last Tuesday and tummies still aren't feeling so great at my house. Got lots of pumpkin, but no stomache remedy!
Anyway, my kitchen always has apples, bananas, milk, yeast 100lbs of sugar and double that in Red Rose flour. Also, potatoes, pasta, rice, cheese, eggs, dried beans, Ranch-Style Beans, tomato sauce or juice depending on how the canning season went, beef (because we butcher our own)and chips.
I rarely have anything on the never list. Yogurt I don't keep stocked.
Thigs I can't believe didn't make the list are jello and coffee =)
Wow. I am shocked that milk did not make the list. And what is solid pack pumpkin?
canned pumpkin puree
Did this survey happen in October or November? Most moms I know have a can of pumpkin in their pantry during the fall but not year-round.
No beer?? GTFOH
I always thought beer, mustard and cheese (any kind) were the staples.
Tony, your house must smell great...LOL
Weird list. I'm really surprised that pumpkin is a household staple. I wouldn't even know what to do with that. What about butter, milk, carrots, stock?
I always have almonds in the house too, but they can get expensive.
i always keep Parmesan on hand. it adds another level to roasted veggies. I also always keep sriracha sauce to add a kick to almost anything.
Hummm, let's see...no pumpkin, no soy sauce, no yogurt, Colby-Jack cheese...I guess you can call me the unaverage American.
No yogurt, no soy sauce, no solid pack pumpkin (WTH?), and my cheese is not cheddar. We do have frosting, Mexican foods, and breakfast foods on hand and we're just a family of three (mom and two kids). What does this say about our fridge, I wonder? But yes, we do have a "go-to" recipe that we have on a regular basis (spaghetti) and generally have ice cream on hand as well.
What the hell is "solid pack pumpkin"??? Yes to eggs, cheddar cheese (sharp), and soy sauce. Surprised ketchup, mustard, and/or Worcestershire sauce aren't mentioned.
Good question -- "solid pack pumpkin" is just pumpkin puree, like that Libby's brand you use to make pie, etc.
you know, most of just just call it "canned pumpkin" vs "solid pack pumpkin." Do you call canned tomatoes "solid pack tomatoes"? I don't think so.
And the article/survey is totally worthless if they don't discriminate between fridge and kitchen. There's a lot of stuff in my pantry that's there because it's been there for years, vs standard stuff in fridge which is always stocked or on grocery list.
Cocowgirl, solid pack pumpkin is what lower moisture canned pumpkin puree is called in the industry and has been for years. Comparing canned tomatoes to solid pack pumpkin is almost like comparing canned apples to unsweetened apple sauce, so no, I don't call canned tomatoes "solid pack tomatoes." Canned tomato paste is a much closer comparison than the example you used. Furthermore, if you'd read the article correctly before posting and dismissing the survey as "worthless" (does a human interest story really have to have value?), the lists that followed the body of the article were headed by the words, "The average American KITCHEN always has....but never has." The lists included both refrigerated and pantry items. (Which brings us full circle back to the original topic of my post,i.e., solid pack pumpkin.) Most people I know keep unopened canned goods in the pantry, not the refrigerator.
In regards to that article: with the exception of the acai berry juice(darn pricey source of antioxidants) and the fresh artichokes (only in season in our house, due to high price, otherwise we use artichoke hearts canned in glass jars for cooking), we usually have all of the items on both lists in our house. We rarely have fluid milk in our refrigerator, but we always have powdered milk in the pantry and heavy cream in the fridge for cooking and baking. We also always have onions, potatoes, celery, carrots, sirracha, all types of rice, pasta and IQF shrimp on hand for quick meals. While usually well-stocked, there's nothing that's been in my pantry for years with the exception of some whole spices. The pumpkin I use for many things outside of the realm of pie-baking so it is always in our house. I guess that I must live in an average American household--at least according to this survey, lol!
What the heck is "sirracha"? I've never heard of it before and I've got quite a number of odd-ball food items in my fridge and pantry.
Crimson - Go look on theoatmeal.com and search for Sirracha .. it explains it perfectly.
It's our favorite go-to hot sauce seasoning in our house. Great on everything from eggs to stir-fry to macaroni and cheese. It's usually kept in the Asian foods section of the grocery store (large clear plastic bottle with green squeeze lid).
pumpkin? i don't think so... I don't know anybody that keeps it year-round anyway.. just for holiday pie-making.
You know, I still have some leftover from Thanksgiving. Maybe it's not that people keep it stocked -- but that they've always got a leftover can they've forgotten about!
Pumkin? There's no chance that's accurate. Maybe for your fridge, but not for Americans as a whole. I can't even immagine pumkin would make a list of top 100 items. It sounds like a fake Family Fued answer that you just know there's no possible way that was muttered out of anyone's mouth when asked. Mayonnaise is the number one most popular condiment in America. How is that not on this list, but pumkin is???
"In 2011, pumpkins harvested from 48,500 acres were valued at $116.5 million"
"Hellmann’s alone accounted for $401.2 million in sales last year, according to Businessweek -- nearly a third of the total $1.3 billion mayo market"
We have frozen pumpkin puree, we buy pie pumpkins every fall. My husband's specialty is home-made pumpkin pie, he starts from scratch by making the puree from the pumpkins, then using the frozen puree throughout the season. We haven't purchased canned pumpkin in years. Never tasted a pumpkin pie better than his, either!
I started buying pumpkin regularly when I started watching my weight. You can use it in all kinds of meals, not just pies. I have an awesome pumpkin chipotle soup recipe!
This is a really weird list. I would never had said pumpkin. I would think: butter, milk, eggs, cheese and yogurt.
Huh? What is it?
See above :)
It's really sad the number of posters here who don't even know what solid pack pumpkin is.
I would be more concerned that it made the top five list when there is absolutely zero chance it is in your average Americans kitchen outside of the holiday season if even then.
Melissa - sorry, but pumpkin anything is not a staple in American fridges. Ive never once seen pumpkin anything in another persons kitchen unless it was around Thanksgiving. I would bet the house on that.
What about the leftover can that is in the pantry because it almost never expires? I'm sure I have one in there somewhere.
Fresh artichokes are the best. Steam them, and eat them with butter. yum!
Eggs? Check.
Yogurt? Check.
Cheddar Cheese? Check.
No on the Soy sauce and Pumpkin.
Things ALWAYS in our kitchen? Milk, Coca-Cola, Tabasco, bacon, Chips, trail mix, Worcestershire sauce, A variety of frozen meats, Potato's, Canned veggies, Tortillas, spices, and more.
Dead body? Or is "what's in your freezer" next week?
My fridge is boss....stocked at all times with awesome stuff. Having a whole foods, trader joes and costco all within a mile makes it easy to keep it that way.
And I definitely always have a can of pumpkin around....same with those fried onions that go on green bean casserole. Reason I always have some is because I always forget that I do so next year at TGiving, I'll buy both again.
I've got all of the above but how is milk of any kind not on the list? Milk, almond milk, silk, something! Also, I really think that ketchup should replace the pumpkin. Who doesn't have ketchup in their home?
Another totally useless article on msnbc!
People probably bought a can of pumpkin once to make a pie, and have had the other half sitting in their fridges for the past 7 years.
Almonds are always in my house. Pretty much my only source of fat, as I am vegetarian and don't eat milk products with fat.
What!?! No mayo!?!
My perma-stocks are tomatoes, canned vegetarian baked beans, apple-flavored sausages, canned solid white tuna in water, whole grain pasta, Prego, fat-free mayo and rye bread. But then, I'm on a mostly non-dairy diet...
Why the hell would anyone put a can of pumpkin in the fridge even if they had it??
The article is about what's in an American kitchen, meaning the whole thing, cabinets, pantry etc...but then they go and talk about looking in your neighbors fridge....it's written weird.
Well, I always have the first 4 items. I'm surprised people don't know what 'solid packed pumpkin' is. I have it almost always, but not always. It makes a healthy non-fat dessert just on it's own. It can also be added to a lot of things--hot cereal, muffins, pancakes, etc..
Other items I always have: cereal (hot & box), milk, apples, cabbage, onions, bread. I never have frosting. So easy to make I don't know why you'd buy the box or can kind. It's cheap enough too, especially considering that it isn't something you eat very often.
Always have potatoes, rice and black pepper in the pantry. Our staples that others might not have include rye bread, pickles and brown mustard. The absolute, gotta-have-'em staples are Milk Bones. My Lab MUST have her treats!
Only 20% of household surveyed said they had solid pack pumpkin on hand.
Yes--I think that the issue here is that this is the "typical" contents of a kitchen, which doesn't really tell us much when we stop to consider that they were also looking at the "kitchens" of single people (and people are more likely to be living alone then ever before). If the kitchen were of a household with 3 or more people, I think that one would see different things. Solid-pack pumpkin appears to be in a minority (a strong minority) of kitchens, but just happens to be among the top five most-commonly-occuring items.
About all the study tells us is that "most kitchens" don't have the same things and that the list is a trifle random. I would put the yogurt down to its being an easy meal that many single young women have, and the pumpkin probably is just an anomaly because of the time of year the study was conducted.
I think that this article demonstrates pretty effectively that journalists do not understand statistics.