It's 6pm. You're standing in front of the fridge. The answer to "what's for dinner?" isn't in there — or at least it doesn't look like it. But it probably is.
These 10 meals use ingredients that almost every household already has. Each one takes 30 minutes or less, serves 2–4 people, and produces something genuinely satisfying — not a compromise meal.
Fry or scramble eggs. Halve tomatoes and cook in the same pan with garlic and olive oil until they blister and collapse. Serve on good toast with salt, pepper, and fresh herbs if you have them. Add cheese or hot sauce. This is a complete, satisfying meal that takes less than 10 minutes.
Cook pasta. While it cooks, fry 4–5 cloves of sliced garlic in olive oil until golden (don't burn it). Add chilli flakes. Toss the drained pasta with the garlic oil, a ladle of pasta water, and parmesan. This is one of Italy's greatest dishes and requires almost nothing to make.
Fry onion, garlic, and ginger (or powder) for 3 minutes. Add a tin of tomatoes, a tin of chickpeas, a tin of coconut milk, and curry powder. Simmer for 8 minutes. Serve over rice. This is a complete, filling meal from pantry staples — no fresh protein required.
Drain and rinse tinned kidney beans or black beans. Fry with onion, garlic, cumin, smoked paprika, and a splash of water until the beans are soft and well-seasoned. Serve in warmed tortillas with whatever you have: cheese, yoghurt, salsa, hot sauce, shredded lettuce, avocado.
Sauté onion and garlic. Add any vegetables that need using — carrots, courgette, leek, potato, whatever you have. Add stock (or water with salt and a stock cube). Simmer until soft. Blend half for creaminess. Serve with bread. This uses up vegetables before they go off and makes a proper meal.
Day-old rice works best. Fry garlic in oil until golden. Add rice and toss on high heat until it starts to crisp slightly. Push to the side and scramble 2–3 eggs in the centre, then mix everything together. Add soy sauce, sesame oil if you have it, and frozen peas or any veg. Better than most takeaways.
Drain tinned tuna and tinned cannellini beans or chickpeas. Mix with red onion (or any onion, finely sliced), capers if you have them, lemon juice, olive oil, and salt. This is a proper Mediterranean meal from a tin and takes under 10 minutes. Serve over salad leaves or with crusty bread.
Fry onion, garlic, and ginger. Add cumin seeds and turmeric. Add 200g rinsed red lentils and 700ml water or stock. Simmer 20 minutes until lentils dissolve into a thick, creamy sauce. Season with salt and a squeeze of lemon. Serve over rice with flatbread. This costs about $2 and is deeply satisfying.
Layer grated cheese (or sliced halloumi) between two tortillas. Fry in a dry pan over medium heat, pressing down, until golden on both sides and the cheese melts. Add beans, roasted peppers, jalapeños, or anything else that fits. Cut into wedges. Serve with yoghurt or sour cream.
Boil noodles. In a separate pot, mix hot water with miso paste, soy sauce, and a dash of sesame oil. Add noodles, soft-boiled egg, any vegetables, and spring onions if you have them. If you don't have miso, substitute with soy sauce and a stock cube. Warming, fast, and genuinely restorative.
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Download Free →The next time you're staring at the fridge wondering what to cook, remember: you almost certainly have the ingredients for at least three of these meals right now. The barrier isn't ingredients — it's knowing what to do with them.