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11 Pantry Staples Recipes: What to Make When There’s “No Food” in the House

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Sometmes you’ve gotta make due wth what you’ve got n the house. Here are 11 of my favorte easy pantry staple recpes to help you make a flavorful, healthy, and delcous meal n mnutes!

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    Shelf Stable Ingredents11 Pantry Staples Recpes: What to Make When There’s No Food n the House

Ths week I had a lovely exchange on Facebook wth two long-tme Scramble members who shared how The Scramble has helped them to plan ther meals and grocery trps durng the stay-at-home orders. One member shared that she has only been to the grocery store TWICE snce March 5, thanks to The Scramble. Then one of the members suggested a roundup of easy recpes made from pantry staples… and so, of course, I accepted the challenge!

The Scramble has a lst of pantry essentals, but for ths challenge I thought I should go even more bare-bones, so I lmted the lst of ngredents to tems that are shelf-stable or last a very long tme n the refrgerator. Here s what I what I came up wth:

Shelf Stable Ingredents

    Fresh produce that lasts for a whle: onons, green onons, shallots, garlc, potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, celery, wnter squashes, lemons and lmes Frozen produce Canned or dred beans and legumes Canned fsh Eggs Canned tomatoes Canned coconut mlk Chcken or vegetable broth Grans (pastas, rce, couscous, qunoa, farro, etc.) Condments, spces, and sweeteners Parmesan cheese Ols and butter

A note about my selectons

You wll note that other than canned fsh, I dd not nclude meat. Ths s not to say that meat cannot be stored n the freezer or that cured meats (e.g., bacon, proscutto) don’t last for a long tme, but I really wanted to select tems that you ddn’t have thnk too much about when t came to storage.

In addton, there are some recpes ncluded that lst fresh herbs. I tred to select recpes where dry herbs could also be used successfully.

Some of the recpes nclude optonal ngredents that are not staples. My thnkng was, f you have those optonal ngredents, that’s a bonus, but t sn’t requred for a successful meal.

So, wthout further ado, here at 11 easy meals made from pantry staples.

11 Pantry Staples Recpes: What to Make When There’s No Food n the House

Penne Puttanesca

Salty and spcy, ths quck Italan classc makes good use of olves and capers to fll out the flavor. If you don’t have one or the other, you can easly make do wth what you’ve got. And f you’ve got anchoves knockng around your pantry, they also can make a great addton here.

Crspy Hash Browns wth Sunny Sde Up Eggs

Breakfast for dnner s always a wnner n my house and ths s one of our favorte optons. The hash browns get so crspy on the outsde and soft on the nsde and then soak up the egg yolk for a super satsfyng meal! To speed up the gratng process for the potatoes, use the grater attachment on your food processor, f you’ve got one.

Warm Sweet Potato, Corn, and Black Bean Salad

Use frozen corn for a pantry-frendly verson. If you don’t have the fresh herbs, they can be skpped or just throw n some dred. No matter whch way you go, though, the combnaton of textures, as well as the balance of sweet and savory n ths recpe s always a ht.

Creamy Chckpea Tomato Curry (Chana Masala)

An Indan classc. Ths s one of my comfort foods—t’s so nourshng and flavorful. If you don’t have a jalapeño pepper, you can skp t or add a dash of curry powder or cayenne. And f you don’t have any fresh gnger on hand, ½ tsp. powdered gnger wll work as well.

Tangy Tuna and Whte Bean Wraps

Use any wrap or bread you’ve got n the house, or just eat ths delcous salad on ts own. Packed wth lean protens and a wde range of flavors, ths s also a great opton to make ahead and then use for quck lunches or snacks.

Mghty Meatless Four Bean Chl

Usng four dfferent knds of beans (or however many you have) adds a lot of flavor and vared nutrton to ths lovely chl that s so smple to make you may never go back to another chl recpe agan.

Spaghett wth Classc Italan Tomato Sauce

Forget the jarred stuff, ths smple sauce wll become your go-to from here on out. Just lke grandma (f you had an Italan grandma, whch I ddn’t) used to make.

Spansh Oven Omelet wth Dced Potatoes

I fell n love wth ths dsh when studyng abroad n Span. Ths healther, smpler verson means that t can be prepared any tme (and for any meal of the day). It s also delcous served at room temperature, so feel free to make t ahead of tme.

Chckpea Tomato Stew

Don’t you love meals that taste lke they have been cookng all day, but really only take a short tme to prepare? Ths s one of those meals! Hearty, healthy, and super flavorful, ths stew s fantastc served over rce or wth crusty bread.

Honey Sesame Spaghett

Not your classc pasta dsh, but oh so good! Your famly wll love the sweet and savory Asan flavors of ths meal, and you’ll love how smple t s to throw together. If you don’t have sesame seeds, then feel free to use any fnely chopped up nut for an added crunch.

Butternut Squash and Yellow Lentl Stew

Ths warm, soothng stew s packed wth proten and can be as chunky or as smooth as your famly lkes. If you don’t have fresh gnger, you can use ½ tsp. powdered gnger and t wll stll be delcous!

Do you have favorte easy pantry staple recpes that you use for quck meals? I’d love to hear about them n the comments! And don’t mss out on our lst of the best pantry staples to have on hand.  

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