Easy pantry meals are delicious options when you are too busy to make a proper meal. You can whip up a dish of delight within few seconds if you just take a peep into your pantry. Easy pantry feast can be created out of anything available on your pantry shelves. Whether you are leaving for a long holiday or can’t find time to run to your grocery store, pantry food recipes come to your rescue.
There are several appetizing and yummy ways to work out your pantry dinner menu. Cook up a storm from the pantry recipes with shelf-stable dry goods, such as beans and lentils, pasta, rice, and canned goods, or frozen foods. Awe your family with inspiration and serve quick-and-easy meals and flavours.
Pantry staples for quick meals
Lean on pantry-friendly recipes to get meals on the table, and rework your familiar dish into something new and marvellous. Plan your meals around your pantry ingredients that are easy to pull off and packed with big flavours.
Stock your kitchen with ready to choose items that can help you grab a few ingredients and come off with meals that require little work and fuss. Find here some pantry staples you need to stock.
Canned goods for easy pantry dinners
Canned foods are often cheap and convenient but pick ‘low-sodium’ or ‘no-salt-added’ options.
- Beans – black, kidney, chickpeas to add to soups, stews, salads, stir-fries, and more.
- Vegetables – corn, green beans, pumpkin, mixed peas and carrots.
- Tomatoes – crushed, sauce, and paste.
- Coconut milk – for enhancing soups and curries, cooking rice, or poaching meat.
- Stock/broth – to pep up your soups and pasta.
- Pickles and Condiments – mustard, jam, soy sauce, etc.
Dried goods
Dried foods or dehydrated foods are often single whole foods that are rich in nutrients. They can help you eliminate the added sugars, chemicals, and preservatives that often come in processed food from your diet. If you are in the habit of cooking with them already, no doubt you have them handy. If you’re stocking up fresh, here are a few goods for easy pantry meal ideas:
- Lentils – Pick up both red and either green or brown.
- Oatmeal – Quick fix for breakfasts; add to bread and cookies.
- Beans –Buy red and white kidney beans; use a pressure cooker to save time.
- Pasta – Choose options with more whole grains, vitamins, and minerals.
- Spices – Store dry spices such as allspice, bay leaves, cumin, cinnamon, chilli flakes, oregano, paprika, and pepper.
- Baking supplies – Buy flour, sugar, baking soda and powder, and yeast to have a fancy snack you crave.
Freezer food
Your freezer is your best friend if you are caught up at home and cannot go out. Stock your freezer with fresh food for easy pantry meals:
- Meat – Buy pre-frozen chicken and fish as they are first-class lean proteins.
- Fruit – You can freeze most fruit and enjoy them all year long. Frozen fruit is great for making smoothies, adding to hot cereal, using in muffins and quick bread, mixing with yogurt, or making a fruit sauce for pancakes and waffles.
- Vegetables – The best vegetables to consider are corn, peas, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, green beans and squash.
- Greens – Dark, leafy greens like kale, chard, collards and spinach can be used in salads, smoothies, soups, and stirred into casseroles or dips.
A versatile pantry is the backbone of every kitchen. Go for vegan pantry meals or vegetarian pantry meals when you are health conscious. Swap your flavours with new spices and lift the taste buds. Not only will your food budget be eased, but you will also no longer be boggled by what to buy next.