There is a big difference between having food in the pantry and having a pantry that can actually feed you.
I don’t particularly want shelves full of ingredients that only work in one recipe.
I want rice that can become fried rice, curry, rice bowls or soup.
Tinned tomatoes that can become pasta sauce, shakshuka, curry, soup or pizza.
Beans that can stretch mince, become a salad, bulk out soup or turn into dinner themselves.
Flour that can become bread, pizza, flatbreads, dumplings or something sweet.
That, to me, is a resilient pantry.
Not panic buying.
Not shelves of food nobody actually likes.
Just enough useful ingredients that a missed grocery shop, an expensive week, bad weather or one of those “there’s nothing for dinner” evenings doesn’t have to become a problem.
And once you start thinking in meals rather than individual ingredients, a relatively simple pantry can go a very long way.
What I mean by a well-stocked pantry
Mine isn’t limited to cupboards.
When I say pantry, I really mean the useful food we keep across the:
- dry pantry
- fridge
- freezer
- garden
- preserving shelf
You don’t need every item below at once.
But some useful basics might include:
Dry goods: rice, pasta, noodles, flour, oats, lentils, beans, chickpeas, breadcrumbs, couscous or another grain.
Tins and jars: tomatoes, tomato paste, tuna, sardines, beans, coconut milk, stock, olives, capers and perhaps a jar of pesto.
Fridge basics: eggs, cheese, yoghurt, butter, milk or your usual alternative.
Freezer basics: bread, vegetables, stock, meat portions, fish, leftovers and sauces.
Flavour: garlic, onions, herbs, spices, soy sauce, Worcestershire, mustard, vinegar and oil.
Then add whatever fresh vegetables, herbs and protein happen to be available.
That is enough to create an extraordinary amount of food.
50 meals hiding in there
Pasta & noodles
1. Napolitana pasta
Tomatoes, garlic, onion and herbs. Add whatever vegetables you have.
2. Tuna tomato pasta
Tinned tuna, tomatoes, garlic and capers if you have them.
3. Sardine puttanesca
Sardines, tomatoes, olives and capers.
4. Pesto pasta
Add peas, beans, chicken or vegetables if they need using.
5. Sausage pasta
One or two sausages can flavour an entire family pasta when bulked out with vegetables and tomato.
6. Lentil Bolognese
Lentils, tomatoes, onions, herbs and pasta.
7. Pantry lasagne
Use meat, lentils or vegetables depending on what you have.
8. Pasta bake
Leftover sauce + pasta + vegetables + cheese.
9. Garlic, chilli and olive oil pasta
One of the simplest emergency dinners there is.
10. Quick vegetable noodles
Noodles, frozen or fresh vegetables, egg and soy.
Rice & grain dinners
11. Egg fried rice
Leftover rice is ideal. Add egg, vegetables and any leftover meat.
12. Chicken fried rice
The next-day destination for leftover roast chicken.
13. Bitsa rice bowls
Rice topped with whatever combination of vegetables, protein, pickles and sauces you have.
14. Bean and tomato rice
Beans, tomatoes, spices and rice.
15. Curry and rice
Vegetables, chickpeas, lentils, chicken or meat can all go into a pantry curry.
16. Coconut lentil curry
Lentils, coconut milk, tomatoes and spices.
17. Tomato rice
Cook rice with tomatoes, stock and vegetables for an easy one-pot base.
18. Stuffed vegetables
Rice, lentils or mince can fill capsicum, zucchini or tomatoes.
Beans, lentils & chickpeas
19. Chickpea curry
One of those meals worth knowing without a recipe.
20. Lentil soup
Stock, lentils and whatever vegetables need using.
21. Bean chilli
Beans, tomatoes, spices and vegetables.
22. Beans on sourdough
Make them tomatoey, herby, spicy or cheesy.
23. Chickpea fritters
Chickpeas, egg, flour and whatever herbs or vegetables are available.
24. Warm chickpea and roast vegetable salad
Add feta, egg or leftover meat if you like.
25. Lentil shepherd’s pie
A brilliant meat-free pantry dinner under a proper mash topping.
Eggs save dinner
26. Omelette
One of the best destinations for bits in the fridge.
27. Frittata
Especially useful for leftover potatoes and vegetables.
28. Shakshuka
Eggs cooked in tomatoes with herbs and spices.
29. Quiche
Use pastry or go crustless.
30. Egg and vegetable fried rice
Worth listing twice in spirit because eggs + rice can rescue almost anything.
31. Baked eggs with beans
Tomatoes, beans, eggs and cheese if you want it.
Potatoes
32. Loaded baked potatoes
Top with tuna, beans, Bolognese, leftover curry, cheese or vegetables.
33. Cottage or shepherd’s pie
Mince, lentils or both under mash.
34. Fish cakes
Tinned fish or leftover cooked fish + potato.
35. Corned Beef Hash
Cooked potatoes, leftover corned beef, onion and whatever vegetables need using.
36. Potato curry
Potatoes, chickpeas, tomatoes or coconut milk and spices.
37. Homemade wedges and bits
Serve with eggs, beans, leftover chicken or whatever needs eating.
Bread, flour & dough
38. Sourdough pizza
Tomato sauce plus whatever toppings you have.
39. Flatbreads
Flour and yoghurt can get you surprisingly far.
40. Quesadilla-style leftovers
Wraps or flatbreads + cheese + whatever leftovers fit.
41. Savoury pancakes or fritters
Add grated vegetables, herbs, cheese or leftover corn.
42. Soup and homemade bread
Simple, filling and inexpensive.
43. Stew and dumplings
One of the best uses of flour on a cold evening.
Freezer & leftover meals
44. Chicken soup
Stock, leftover chicken, vegetables and noodles/rice/dumplings.
45. Bitsa tray bake
Vegetables + protein + seasoning + oven.
46. Leftover roast tacos
Chicken, pork or beef all work.
47. Mixed vegetable soup
The drawer-clean-out meal.
48. Bitsa curry
The slightly random vegetables suddenly become intentional.
49. Leftover pasta or rice bake
Add sauce, vegetables and cheese and put it in the oven.
50. Bitsa night
A little of everything.
Leftovers. Eggs. Bread. Salad. Roast vegetables. Cheese. Soup. A lonely sausage.
Put dinner on the table and call it done.
The pantry doesn’t need to be enormous
This is the important part.
You don’t need fifty different ingredients to make fifty meals.
You need ingredients that can do more than one job.
A tin of tomatoes doesn’t belong to one recipe.
Neither does rice.
Or an egg.
Or a bag of lentils.
That’s why I think a useful pantry is much more valuable than a fashionable one.
It gives you options.
Before you grocery shop
Have a look at what is already there.
Ask:
What needs using?
What meals could this become?
What could I add rather than replace?
You might discover you have another three, four or five dinners sitting in the house before you’ve bought anything.
And that’s one of the simplest ways I know to make food go further.
Make the next meal easier
This is also the thinking behind EAT by Mrs E, which I’m building to help you turn the ingredients you already have into a small handful of practical meal ideas.
Because a well-stocked pantry is useful.
Knowing what to do with it is even better.
For somewhere to start today, read Stop Asking “What Should I Cook?” Start With What You’ve Got and try my simple four-step Bitsa method.