Even professional chefs don’t plan every single meal down to the parsley garnish.

That’s where a well-stocked kitchen comes in.

If you want to be able to toss together an impromptu meal like the pros, what should you keep on hand in your pantry or refrigerator?

We asked several local chefs what they would consider their most important kitchen staples, and here’s what they said:

SMOKED BLACK PEPPER

“I like stuff that tastes like I cooked outside,” said Chris Cavender, executive chef of Jay’s Seafood in the Oregon District.

The easiest way to achieve that flavor without actually cooking outside is to use smoked seasonings, he said.

His most-frequented pantry shelf also includes smoked sea salt, Worcestershire, a variety of hot sauces, basil, oregano, garlic and thyme, but smoked black pepper is king, showing up in “almost everything in the restaurant” as well as Cavender’s home.

SRIRACHA

Nick Hoover, owner and executive chef of Coldwater Cafe in Tipp City, was stymied when asked to name his top pantry staple — but his employees knew right away what he should say: Sriracha hot chili sauce.

“My sous-chefs often laugh when they bring me a sauce for me to taste and I say, ‘It needs a little Sriracha.’”

He’s used it to make white cheddar Sriracha bread and Sriracha salt (“awesome on margaritas”), and he wants to try out a Sriracha-peach sorbet.

Donald Ford, sous-chef at Coco’s Bistro in the Oregon District, shares Hoover’s top choice.

“Sriracha wakes up the taste buds,” he said, noting he uses it in eggs, cream sauces and spicy dishes.

Hoover recommends looking for it at Asian markets or in the Asian aisle of the supermarket.

LEMON JUICE

Damian Bumgarner, executive chef of The Caroline in Troy, keeps a bottle of lemon juice to add to soups, sauces, pasta dishes and more.

“I can use less salt in many recipes by using a little lemon juice,” he said, although he does stock kosher salt, too.

Bottled lemon juice, he said, is also a good preservative for apples and avocados after they’ve been cut.

“Of course, fresh lemon juice is better, but the convenience (of bottled) is hard to beat.”

OLIVE OIL

“Butter has always been the king in my kitchen,” said Anne Kearney, chef/proprietor of Rue Dumaine in Washington Twp., “but I have converted to (extra virgin) olive oil for most of my personal cooking.

“I like the shine it adds to a relish or the nice flavor to a vinaigrette when a boost is needed.”

Carrie Walters, corporate chef for Dorothy Lane Market, concurs: “I use it every day in my home kitchen. It is indispensable.”

Kearney says olive oil intensifies the golden color of a grilled cheese sandwich, and for a quick pasta toss, she simply infuses olive oil with fresh herbs.

For Walters, olive oil is the base for the consummate summer salad: “Who needs to cook when you can take a ripe local tomato, some basil out of the garden and maybe some fresh mozzarella or burrata cheese and anoint it with extra virgin olive oil? It doesn’t get much better than that!”

SEASONING BLEND

A special seasoning blend is the most important ingredient in the arsenal of Paul Dagenbach, corporate chef of The Pub in The Greene, Beavercreek.

“It can make all the difference, and if your food is not seasoned properly, you will not have the desired end result.”

The Pub makes its own blend, and Dagenbach didn’t reveal any secrets. But he did say a simple Web search would yield lots of salt-and-spice-blend recipes for home cooks to experiment with.

GOOD PASTA

“I always keep good pasta in my pantry,” said Candace Rinke, chef/owner of the Hawthorn Grill in Kettering. “It’s quick for a weeknight dinner, and you can combine it with anything from local produce (to make it seasonal) to something as simple as garlic, fresh parsley and parmesan with good olive oil and a little of the pasta cooking liquid to make a delicious, fast side dish.”

GOOD MEAT

A steakhouse chef like David Hulme, owner of The Pine Club, downtown, thinks of meat as the backbone of his kitchen.

“It sounds kind of silly” to say meat is his go-to ingredient, “but 90 percent of my menu is high quality, prime, aged meat.”

Hulme buys larger cuts like tenderloin and then cuts and trims his own steaks in-house.

FRESH HERBS

For William Pence, head chef of Carvers Steaks & Chops in Washington Twp., the go-to place is the herb garden out back of the restaurant. One of Pence’s favorite condiments is a garlic butter seasoned with fresh parsley.

Fresh herbs “are a big deal in adding a lot of flavor to a dish that might otherwise be boring,” he said.

EGGS

It might sound elementary, but a breakfast chef just can’t get by without eggs. So even though co-owner Amy Beaver calls her Downtown establishment “Butter Café,” she says her most important ingredient is actually eggs — naked or mixed into pancake batter, French toast mix and just about everything made in the café.

SAMBAL

Dayton native Ming Tsai, a renowned chef and host of the public television cooking show “Simply Ming,” says sambal is “one of my all time favorite ingredients that I always keep on hand.

“It is a chile-based condiment from Southeast Asia that adds not only heat but also a depth of flavor.”

He uses it in stir-fry dishes, noodle dishes, sauces and braises.

His upcoming cookbook, “Simply Ming in Your Kitchen,” due out in October, includes about a dozen recipes made with sambal.

Home cooks can find it, he said, at Asian markets or the ethnic section of some mainstream grocery stores.

Tsai sells plum sambal on his Website, mingspantry.com.

Sambal Shrimp Gumbo

Serves 6 to 8

1 tablespoon canola oil

4 Chinese sausages, sliced ¼ inch thick; or 4 slices bacon, cut ¼-inch thick

1 tablespoon minced garlic

2 large onions, minced

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 head celery, ribs cut into ¼-inch slices

2 large bell peppers, red and green, minced

1 tablespoon paprika

2 tablespoons sambal or hot sauce

4 tablespoons organic Worcestershire sauce

1 pound okra, stemmed and cut into ½-inch slices

2 quarts fresh chicken stock or low-sodium bought

2 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons water

2 pounds small (51-60) shrimp

Heat a large casserole or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the oil and swirl to coat the bottom. When the oil is hot, add the sausages and cook until their fat is rendered, 1 to 2 minutes. If using bacon, cook it until crisp, 3 to 4 minutes.

Add the garlic and onions, season with salt and black pepper, and sauté, stirring, until translucent, about 2 minutes. Add the celery, bell peppers and paprika, adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, and sauté, stirring, until tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the sambal and Worcestershire sauce, and sauté, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the okra, stir, and season with salt. Add the stock, adjust the seasoning, bring to a simmer, covered, and cook until the mixture is reduced by a fifth, about 10 minutes.

Whisk in the cornstarch slurry, add the shrimp, return to a simmer and cook until cooked through, about 2 minutes. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.

Serve gumbo over hot cooked rice.

Source: “Simply Ming in Your Kitchen: 80 Recipes to Watch, Learn, Cook & Enjoy” by Ming Tsai with Arthur Boehm (to be released October 2012)