Essential Recipes, Endless Dinners – 10 Staple Recipes For When You Don’t Know What to Cook

No idea what to cook? No problem. These essential recipes help you whip up dinner with what you’ve got—using staples and a little know-how.

If you’ve read any of my other articles, you’ll know I’m a big fan of meal planning.

I rely on meal planning to reduce the mental load of feeding a family every night of the week.

Because, to be honest, I feel like I’m drowning in mental load these days. As the kids get older, there’s more, not less. More emails. More forms. More taxiing them places. Just more. I should start wearing a headset and charging Uber rates.

Meal planning is one way to make it all feel a little bit…less.

But there’s another strategy that’s just as important when it comes to frugal cooking, and that’s knowing how to wing it with whatever you’ve got on hand.

That need to wing it hit home a couple of weeks ago with a cyclone on the way (we ended up being unaffected in the end; others weren’t so lucky).

What does a cyclone have to do with frugal cooking?

We decided to eat through the freezer in the days leading up to the cyclone so that if we lost power like last time, we wouldn’t waste a ton of food.

No finely tuned meal plans. No shops. Just making do.

For me, that’s fine. I’ve been taught to cook with what I have on hand. But DH made a good point: it can be tricky when you don’t have a plan to fall back on or flexible recipes in the mental database.

It’s like the mystery box on Master Chef. Rice, cream cheese and some random bacon at the back of the freezer. Now go!

It reminded me that having a few basic recipes in your repertoire allows you to create an endless variety of meals from what you have on hand – great for frugal cooking, reducing waste, and cooking seasonally.

Here are my 13 essential recipes.

And while I’ve given basic recipe formula, I’ve also added some recipe ideas to spark creativity. But the point is, when you know the foundational recipe, you can just use what’s on hand.

But First, Pantry Staples: The Bridge Between Ingredients and Meals

Pantry (and cold) staples are the basis of flexible cooking.

I wrote about this recently in the article on capsule meal planning. Here’s the definition I used:

“It involves stocking your kitchen with basic staples you always have on hand and having a few adaptable recipes in your cooking repertoire to which you can add seasonal produce & seasonings for variety.”

This article covers those adaptable recipes. 

But first, here are some pantry staples that form the foundation of flexible meals (feel free to sub in gluten and dairy-free variations if that’s your thing).

• Flour
• Pasta and noodles
• Rice
• Cooking oil and or butter
• Flavour additions (ie herbs, spices, sauces, etc.)
• Eggs
• Milk
• Cheese (optional)
• Onions, garlic or powdered variations
• Stock or stock cubes
• Tinned tomatoes
• Baking powder

1. Eggs: Omelettes, Frittatas, and Quiche

Quiche, frittata (aka crustless quiche) and omelettes offer endless flexibility when there isn’t an egg shortage, of course.

Whether you’re mixing your additions into the egg and baking (frittata and quiche) or folding it into the cooked egg, the basics are fairly similar.

First, cook the meat (if using) and vegetables (except quick-cook veg like baby spinach or tomato) before adding them to the egg mixture. This is the perfect opportunity to use up leftovers.

Second, add a splash of milk to the egg mixture before cooking. For frittatas, the rough ratio is about half a cup of dairy to six eggs, although I generally just eyeball it. 

The great thing about egg dishes is that they don’t just use up vegetables and meat; you can switch up the dairy and use up cream, sour cream, and different cheeses. You can also add a variety of fresh or dried herbs for different flavour versions.

Egg shortage aside, these three dishes are my absolute favourite go-to recipes when flexing (being flexible, not showing off) in the kitchen.

2. Soup – Bits in Broth

Homemade soup is essentially just bits cooked in liquid. Whether you keep your bits (I mean the soup bits) whole or blitz it all into something smooth, the basic method is the same.

Start with stock. If you’ve got some in the pantry—great, skip to step two. If not, you can easily make your own by gently simmering leftover cooked bones in water for an hour or two before moving on.

Next, sauté your flavour base—usually onion, sometimes carrot and celery too. Then add your stock, vegetables, and flavourings (herbs, salt, pepper, maybe a bay leaf if you’re feeling fancy). Simmer, covered, until everything is tender.

For a more filling soup, add a handful of rice or pasta. For a smooth soup like pumpkin, blend with a stick mixer or blender. A splash of cream at the end never hurts, but it’s totally optional.

Whether it’s lentil, veggie, or meat-based, there are endless soup variations to suit every taste. And soup is infinitely forgiving – you don’t need an exact recipe, just a few bits and some simmer time.

3. Pasta and Noodles and The Art of Throwing Things Together

Pasta and noodles are the frugal and flexible heroes in the pantry. From good ol’ spag bol, pasta and pesto (simple) to ramen smothered in peanut butter, they are the foundation of a million easy dinners.

For tomato-based sauces, it’s hard to go wrong with tinned tomatoes, onion, garlic, and a pinch of herbs. OR just use flavoured tinned tomatoes to make dinner even easier.

To this base, you can add cooked vegetables, leftover meat, tinned tuna, or some delicacies like olives and capers. Yum!

For cream-based tomato sauces, you can simply add a drizzle of cream to cooked pasta, along with the garlic, parmesan and optional cooked veg and meat. Or a cheaper option is to create a roux-based sauce with butter, flour and milk.

White sauce is the basis of a ton of meals in itself including mac and cheese, tuna mornay, veggie bake or cream-based pot pies like chicken and leek pie.

As for noodles, toss them with a quick stir fry sauce, veg, egg, or protein (meat or vegetarian) and you’ve got dinner in a flash. There are a ton of ways to jazz up ramen on YouTube – as I said, my favourite involves peanut butter!

4. Flavoured Rice – The World’s Favourite Staple

So, I didn’t know what to call this category of rice-based dishes, but it encompasses fried rice, risotto, pilaf, rice pudding, etc.

Basically, a full but flexible meal where rice is the main attraction and you can add a variety of ingredients for flavour and to round out the meal.

Risotto and pilaf are super easy, super cheap, but also very impressive. And you don’t need fancy rice – regular white rice works fine for both.

With risotto, you add the cooked veg and meat at the end, once the rice is cooked. With pilaf, the vegetables and meat are often cooked with the rice. And of course, fried rice is perfect for cold, leftover rice.

Jazz these rice dishes up with spices or herbs and you have a bazillion ways to cook the world’s most eaten food.

5. Stews – Good Today, Great Tomorrow

Stew is basically vegetables and/or meat (usually cheaper cuts) and maybe grains stewed in a flavoured liquid like stock.

For this reason, it encompasses curries as well, except the ingredients might be simmered in coconut milk.

You can even throw in some beer or wine (not the curry, though. More like a Belgian, Irish or French-style stew).

Both meat based and vegetarian, stews are the heartier version of soup and a filling and flexible dish to know.

Here’s a basic overview of the stew formula:

First, if using meat, brown in batches and remove from the pan. For some stews, you can coat the meat in flour to help thicken them. Or you can add a cornflour slurry later on.

Then, saute the flavour base like onion and garlic, maybe tomato paste, carrot, or celery. For curries, this might be when you add the curry paste or spices.

Add the other ingredients and the chosen liquid and simmer low and slow until everything is tender and delicious. Perfect for slow cookers!

Softer vegetables may be added later than the firm veg so they don’t disintegrate during the long cooking time.

Taste, season, serve.

The fabulous thing about stews is they taste better on day two, so perfect for making double and freezing in batches for later!

6. Stir Fries – 15-Minute Magic

Stir fries have a super simple formula and a quick cooking time:

Protein + veg + sauce + rice or noodles

So easy and it doesn’t matter if you’re using bits and bobs from the crisper or easy frozen stir fry veg.

It doesn’t matter if the protein is half a chicken breast stretched to serve four or a tub of tofu.

It doesn’t matter if you use a store-bought sauce, wing the sauce with a bit of this and a bit of that (I like an oyster sauce and honey combo), or using a tried and true stif fry sauce.

What does matter is that its fast and flexible.

If you’re looking for a homemade all-purpose stir fry sauce (Chinese), you can’t go past Nagi from Recipe Tin’s Charlie stir fry sauce. It’s a concentrate that you can keep in your fridge, ready to add flavour to whatever protein and veg you have on hand.

7. Savoury Mince (Or Sub in Lentils or Beans for a Veg Version)

The reason I’m adding savoury mince (or the veg alternative) to the list is that you can make so many meals from it.

You can start with a basic mince and tomato marinara base and create:

• spag bol
• lasagne
• baked potato topper
• shepperd’s pie
• sloppy Joe
• or just on toast or mash
• mince and marinara casserole with rice/pasta and cheese

Make a huge batch and freeze it in portions, and you’ve got a base to add all sorts of vegetables or grains to.

To the basic mince and marina, you can add chilli and beans and end up with:

• chilli and rice
• tacos
• nachos

Then you have your traditional savoury mince, flavoured with curry powder instead of tomatoes, to which you add whatever veg you have on hand maybe add some noodles or serve on rice.

8. Yeast-Free Breads – Flatbread and Damper (Soda Bread)

Flatbread is something we eat every day. But I’m not going to lie, we buy it, not make it from scratch.

However, it’s cheap and easy to make from basic pantry staples, whether it’s tortillas, naan, or a simple yeast-free bread. 

Why are flatbreads so good to have on hand?

You can turn them into a variety of meals:

• wraps and quesadillas
• homemade pizza bases
• Dippers for curries, stews, and soups

Damper or soda bread is another yeast-free bread recipe that’s worth having on hand to bulk up meals on a budget. 

A third option is scones or the very slightly different American biscuit. Served sweet or savoury, they are quick and easy to make from cheap pantry staples.

9. Pancakes, Crepes, and Fritters, Oh My!

Pancakes are so cheap and flexible – perfect for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snacks!

My dad would make up a big batch of pancake batter and leave it in the fridge and we would make a pancake for an after school snack.

I tend to make my pancakes more like the British version: thin and no sugar. Then you can add whatever sweet or savoury toppings you like.

Add sugar and make them tiny, and you’ve got pikelets. Add a ton of sugar and some baking powder, and you’ve got American pancakes.

Make the batter runny, and you’ve got crepes.

Nothing says classic retro entertainer like mushroom sauce or chicken wrapped in crepes.

Fritters are sorta-kinda like pancakes in that they are often flour-based and fried in a frying pan. Corn fritters are a favourite, or you could try Polish potato pancakes, Japanese cabbage pancakes, some of the veggie fritter recipes below.

10. Muffins – Mix and Match Baking

My final essential recipe muffins.

It’s super quick and easy to whip up a batch from scratch – I can usually get a batch of muffins in the oven in under 10 minutes.

Muffins are versatile. You can make sweet or savoury muffins and add in a bazillion different things to change up the flavour including fruit, chocolate, grated veg (for sweet or savory), spices, cheese, coffee…

Basic mix + add-ins = endless muffin varieties

The other thing about muffins is that they are usually made with oil, not butter, which makes them a bit cheaper, given the cost of butter these days and also dairy-free, assuming you also swap the milk for a dairy-free version.

Having a few flexible, frugal recipes under your belt means you’re never stuck wondering what’s for dinner again. And it allows you to make the most of seasonal produce, specials, and to use up leftovers and reduce waste – a frual triple whammy!

Do you have a favourite flexible meal that saves dinner at your place? Share it in the comments – I’d love to know what you make when you’re winging it!