• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Sweetphi logo

  • Recipes
    • Recipe Index
    • Five Ingredient Fridays
    • Meal Plans
    • Reader Recreations
  • About
    • About & Contact
    • Partnerships
  • Cookbooks
  • Life
    • Love Lists
    • Catching up with the Kelnhofers
    • Travel
  • Shop
  • Work With Me
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

Recipes Using Basic Pantry Staples

Apr 8, 2020 · 4 Comments

Not every meal has to be some big fancy production. Sometimes I find myself opening the pantry and looking at the contents and drawing a blank, especially in today’s climate. So I thought I’d share a list of recipes using basic pantry staples.

The best recipes using basic pantry staples this image

Like many, lately I’ve been cooking: breakfast, lunch and dinner, and snacks, every day. It’s a lot. And then when I go to pick up a basic pantry staple, say a can of diced tomatoes, I just hold it for way to long before figuring out what to do with it, so I hope this list helps (if anything, I hope it sparks some ideas for some great pantry recipes). Last comment before we dive in – it’s all about flexibility and adaptability and what you have on hand (if you have rice – not quinoa, know that they’re interchangeable in recipes, same with walnuts/pecans/most nuts and nut butters, things like that) so lets dive in:

Recipe to make with canned tomatoes

RECIPES TO MAKE WITH A CAN OF TOMATOES

  • Make it into soup (tomato white bean noodle soup, or classic tomato soup from The Kitchn )
  • Make it into pasta sauce or pizza sauce
  • Use it as a pizza topping (sausage and kale pizza with tomatoes)
  • Use it as a sauce to make a slow cooker pot roast (slow cooker diced tomato pot roast recipe or oven baked fire roasted tomato pot roast here – could also substitute chicken instead of pot roast and just don’t cook it as long)
  • Make it into salsa (recipe for restaurant style 5 ingredient salsa)
  • Make mussels in a tomato sauce or this sauce works so well with shrimp in it!
  • Use it as a sauce like in this 5 ingredient green beans beef and tomatoes
  • Make your own ketchup!

The best recipes to make with pasta

RECIPES TO MAKE WITH PASTA

  • Pretty much all pasta/noodles are interchangeable, so use rigatoni or penne or linguine or whatever you have
  • Good basic pasta formula is pasta + sauce + protein + cheese (pasta, marinara, chicken/ground beef, Parmesan)
  • 5 Ingredient baked chicken parmesan pasta – just put everything in a baking dish and put in the oven
  • 5 Ingredient healthy pasta -with turkey sausage and swiss chard or spinach
  • 5 Ingredient stovetop mac and cheese – kid approved!
  • 5 Ingredient carbonara pasta – I could legit eat a whole pot of this!
  • Chicken feta tomato pasta – this is the first meal I cooked Nick!
  • Pepperoni pasta salad in a jar – healthy and tastes like a pizza pasta salad (good even if you don’t have pepperoni)
  • Japanese pan noodles – vegetarian, can be made with all kinds of different noodles
  • Italian herb pasta salad – with a yogurt dressing (this is good cold and you can use whatever vegetables you have)
  • 5 Ingredient cheesy beef and egg noodle casserole – can be made with any kind of noodles
  • 4 Ingredient chicken sausage pesto tortellini – easy and oh so good
  • 5 Ingredient Instant Pot chicken alfredo – easy made in one pot and so good
  • Instant Pot chicken spaghetti casserole – so comforting and family favorite
  • 5 Ingredient Instant Pot spaghetti and sauce – one of my all time favorites to make in the Instant Pot
  • Instant Pot sausage and sweet potato soup with orzo – use any kind of pasta in place of orzo, just break it up a little
  • Healthy kids mac n cheese – a great kid friendly recipe
  • Chicken broccoli alfredo pasta freezer meal – something I always have in my freezer

The best recipes to make with rice and quinoa

RECIPES TO MAKE WITH RICE (OR QUINOA OR GRAINS)

  • One pot sausage and rice casserole
  • 5 ingredient slow cooker chicken and quinoa
  • A good one if you’re craving a healthy version of bar food – this 5 ingredient slow cooker buffalo chicken and quinoa is full of protein and tastes like chicken wings
  • One pot Thai shrimp and quinoa
  • Asian ground turkey and rice bowls
  • Instant pot lemon chicken risotto – so good and can be made with regular rice, I’ve done it successfully with Jasmine rice, so good!
  • Red coconut curry with chicken and vegetables and rice
  • Freezer to slow cooker Jambalaya
  • Chicken enchilada casserole

RECIPES TO MAKE WITH CORNFLAKES (OR CEREAL)

  • Use cornflakes (or other relatively non-sweet like rice cereal or chex) crushed up as a breading for chicken or pork, like this unfried cornflake chicken(this has long been a favorite)
  • Make ‘no bake’ cookies by melting butterscotch chips (or chocolate chips or white chocolate chips) and the mixing with cornflakes or other non-sweet cereal) and then spooning onto parchment paper or nonstick surface and allowing to cool, then enjoy (a recipe was in my cookbook, adapted into butterscotch peanut butter clusters and shared by another blogger, my son makes these all the time.)
  • Chex snack mix -banana foster chex mix or chocolate turtle chex mix
  • Rice Krispie treats – like these 5 ingredient rice krispie treats
  • Another cereal dessert treat (would work with Cheerios) are these salted honey blondies
  • If you have milk (or a milk alternative), obviously an easy breakfast (or dinner sometimes – no judgement) is cereal and milk

Easy recipes to make with a ramen packet

RECIPES TO MAKE WITH A PACKET OF RAMEN

  • 5 ingredient ramen with a fried egg – a different and so so good way to make ramen
  • 5 ingredient beef and pepper ramen
  • Peanut butter ramen with roasted broccoli from How Sweet Eats

The best recipes to make with canned black beans

RECIPES TO MAKE WITH A CAN OF BLACK BEANS

  • Super easy idea is a can of beans and rice or a grain on the side (dollop some hot sauce or spice up your beans with some chili powder)
  • Quesadillas- one of my favorite restaurants serves this black bean and cheese taco, I’ve remade it at home and use just plain (drained) smashed black beans on a tortilla with garlic salt, and then cheese on top and another tortilla, and then cooked in a pan with a little butter. So so good.
  • Chili – slow cooker chili is such a good one, also make a lot and good to freeze for later
  • Make them into burgers -sweet potato black bean burgers
  • Use them in enchiladas – 5 ingredient shrimp and black bean enchiladas
  • Make them into burritos like these 5 ingredient black bean burritos
  • Savory black bean pie – not even joking when I say this is one of Nick’s favorite recipes I make. It’s so good.
  • If you want to try something neat, try using black beans in sweets like these black bean brownie muffins from Ambitious Kitchen, or use a can of black beans and brownie mix to make black bean brownies from Skinnytaste. I know someone who swears by these brownies and makes them for her kids all the time.

Easy recipes to make with canned white beans

RECIPES TO MAKE WITH A CAN OF CHICKPEAS OR WHITE BEANS

  • Chickpeas are a great source of protein and there are so so many recipes using them that are sweet and savory, chickpeas and white beans can be used pretty interchangeably
  • Greek chickpea salad in a jar 
  • Chickpea curry from A Couple Cooks
  • Chicken and leek and white bean skillet – use an onion instead of a leek
  • Chickpea blondies from Ambitious Kitchen – I’ve made these before and they’re actually quite good
  • 5 ingredient white bean artichoke dip
  • Chickpea zucchini burgers
  • Steak with white bean leek mushroom potato hash
  • White bean tomato soup with parmesan
  • This one is a recipe made with chickpeas and black beans – called the whole bowl with tali sauce it’s a really good vegetarian recipe even my non-vegetarian husband loves. Based on a dish that has been described like eating a ‘hug’
Easy and deliciosu recipes with canned tuna
My food stylist-helper goofing off on the job (haha)

RECIPES TO MAKE WITH A CAN OF TUNA

  • Tuna is a great protein that can go on bread for a tuna melt or in pasta (it’s definitely something I don’t use nearly enough
  • Make a quick tuna salad with chopped up pickles and a little bit of mayo, serve with crackers/pretzels or toast or my favorite version of tuna salad: tuna salad recipe with pickled celery
  • I make this tuna noodle casserole from Cooking Light
  • Easy canned tuna pasta – I’m making this this weekend!
  • An awesome list of recipes using canned tuna from Ambitious Kitchen

The best recipes to make with nut butter

RECIPES TO MAKE WITH PEANUT BUTTER (OR NUT BUTTERS)

  • Peanut butter can be used for sweet and savory dishes
  • Nut butters are pretty interchangeable so if you have almond butter or peanut butter you can interchange them
  • 20 minute baked spicy peanut ginger chicken
  • Peanut butter sea salt cookies (I have this super awesome recipe in my cookbook, shared by another blogger here)
  • Thai peanut salad dressing recipe from Gimme Some Oven
  • Granola bars – like these almond butter granola bars and peanut butter banana granola bars
  • Energy balls – like these oatmeal cookie energy bites or peanut butter pretzel energy bites
  • On top of toast – nothing like a classic pb&j or almond butter and bananas (I only had pb&j when I was like 20 so I love them lol)
  • If you’re looking for super decadent try this 5 ingredient peanut butter nutella bars

RECIPES TO MAKE WITH NUTS

  • We like making ‘snack mixes’ – basically trail mixes – like this banana tuxedo chip mix or this Wisconsin trail mix
  • Can be crushed and used as a topping for fish
  • Can be crushed and used as a topping for chicken like in this 5 ingredient pecan buttermilk chicken
  • Can be candied and used as a salad topping (like for this spinach salad or this soft boiled egg spinach salad)
  • In bread like these fruit and nut bread rounds (like the Starbucks ones)
  • In cookies (like these 5 ingredient pecan snowballs)
  • You can get really fancy and make a cinnamon sugar pecan challah braid

Delicious recipes to make with honey

RECIPES TO MAKE WITH HONEY

  • Honey and maple syrup can be interchanged pretty easily, so keep that in mind
  • You can make a spicy honey to go over chicken/potatoes. Just like in this sheet pan hot honey chicken potatoes and broccoli (can substitute potatoes for sweet potatoes and broccoli for other veggies like cauliflower or bell peppers or carrots)
  • If you want to get fancy – iced salted honey latte or iced maple latte
  • Drizzle it on some toast – ricotta pear honey toast (I’ve made this recipe recently with toast/almond butter/slice of apple/dash of cinnamon and drizzle of honey) or drizzled on some biscuits
  • Honey goat cheese appetizer
  • In a sauce like this slow cooker honey mustard chicken

The best recipes to make using oats

RECIPES TO MAKE WITH OATS

  • Obvious is oatmeal (all you need is oats and water)
  • Overnight oats (pumpkin overnight oats or vanilla overnight oats)
  • Grind it up to use as ‘flour’ – oat flour (someone told me this morning that she makes waffles out of ground up oats, apple sauce, cinnamon and vanilla extract
  • Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies or oatmeal raisin cookies from Quaker Oats
  • Oatmeal cookie energy bites
  • Make breakfast cookies
  • Make 5 ingredient jam crumb bars
  • Homemade granola is so so good
  • Make bread (the best whole wheat honey oat flax bread – I’ve been making this once a week!)

How to make the best cheese and cracker board

Some more ideas for easy recipes to make with pantry ingredients:

  • Bowls: we love making ‘bowl’ meals where it’s essentially a protein (chicken, salmon, beans), a sauce (teriyaki, a vinaigrette, bbq sauce, marinar, etc.) a vegetable (can be as basic as frozen broccoli or canned tomatoes or as fancy as pickled vegetables) and then grain (brown rice, quinoa, couscous, pasta, etc.). If you want to get fancy you could add a unique seasoning. Here are some of my favorite bowl recipes: 5 ingredient jerk chicken, 5 ingredient Greek chicken bowls, sesame salmon bowls, 5 ingredient Hawaiian chicken bowls, 5 ingredient vegetarian sushi bowls, air fryer falafel bowls, Instant Pot Asian shredded beef bowls, Asian ground turkey and rice bowls
  • Sheet pan meals: so easy and all on one pan! Often times we make something with freezer ingredients (like sweet potato fries in this balsamic meatloaf sheet pan meal). Some favorite sheet pan meals include: hot honey chicken with potatoes and broccoli, sheet pan pork chops with sweet potato and fennel, sheet pan pizza.
  • Tacos: I love making unique tacos, because throw some spice or seasoning on it, and almost everything can be made into a taco (or quesadilla). Some examples: 5 ingredient salsa chicken tacos, 5 ingredient slow cooker pork carnitas tacos, the best ground turkey tacos, Korean beef bbq tacos, sweet chili fish tacos, chicken pineapple salsa tacos

I’d love to hear from you, are there any pantry ingredients you’d like recipes for? I also shared recipes to make with canned food.

Blog Posts, Easy Dinner Ideas, Main Meals, Recipes easy recipes, pantry recipes, recipes to make with pantry staples

Did you make this recipe? Hashtag with us! Be sure to follow/tag @sweetphiblog and hashtag #sweetphiblog – we love to see what you’re cooking up!”

Get the Weekly Newsletter right in your inbox

Reader Interactions

Trackbacks

  1. Catching Up With The Kelnhofers -37 - Sweetphi says:
    August 19, 2020 at 2:32 pm

    […] Most visited blog post […]

    Reply
  2. Recipes to Make with Canned Food – PinkDIY.com says:
    June 23, 2020 at 2:03 pm

    […] I also shared Recipes To Make With Basic Pantry Staples […]

    Reply
  3. Catching Up With The Kelnhofers - 36 - Sweetphi says:
    April 18, 2020 at 8:36 am

    […] because it’s something I’ve been using so much lately. I’ve also been using my recipes using basic pantry staples ideas all the time – like this week when I made iced salted honey lattes, a nice change of […]

    Reply
  4. Catching Up With The Kelnhofers - 35 - Sweetphi says:
    April 11, 2020 at 12:59 pm

    […] Recipes using basic pantry staples – this post took over 16 hrs to write, it’s full of so so many good ideas, I’ve used it 3 times this week already. It has things in it like ‘recipes to make with canned tomatoes’ or formulas for how to put together a ‘bowl’ meal with what you have on hand! […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

Top 5

Related Posts

  • 1 Weekly meal plan 12/11/23-12/18/23
  • 2 Love List - frozen fruit chocolate treat and a family gift
  • 3 Sugar Cookie Apple Cobbler Recipe
  • 4 Gingerbread Cut Out Cookies Recipe
  • 5 Pizza with chili crisp

Philia Kelnhofer, Danish, Chicken tacos, Kelnhofer familySweetphi.com is a destination for easy recipes, showcasing beautiful content and inspiration, everyday family life, motherhood, and fun finds from around the web. 

Learn More

Footer

Save this for the best CANDIED NUTS recipe!! - 1 Save this for the best CANDIED NUTS recipe!!
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 cups mixed nuts or any single nut you prefer, like almonds, walnuts or pecans
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or wax paper. Have 2 forks handy to separate nuts.
- In a heavy-bottomed saucepan or skillet mix the sugar and cinnamon together. Then add the water and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. 
- Add the nuts and continue stirring over medium heat until they become shiny looking. They will look dry, when they look ½ shiny ½ dry, that’s when they’re done.
- Quickly pour onto the prepared baking sheet and separate with 2 forks. Allow to cool, then enjoy!
Find the full recipe with notes at https://sweetphi.com/candied-nuts-recipe/
#candiednuts #easyrecipe #holidayrecipe #candiednutsrecipe #pecans #kidsinthekitchen  #foodblogger #milwaukeefoodblogger
Recipe for the most delicious pork- slow cooker It Recipe for the most delicious pork- slow cooker Italian pork!
 Ingredients:
- 2 cups Mirepoix or 1 small yellow onion, 2 stalks celery, 3 carrots, all finely chopped
- 1 can (28oz) crushed tomatoes fire roasted or regular
- 2/3 cup chicken stock or you could use beef stock
- 2 bay leaves
- 2-3 lbs pork tenderloin or you could use boneless pork butt or shoulder, fat trimmed off
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
 Put ingredients in a slow cooker low 8hrs, high 4. Shred and enjoy 
Full recipe and notes online at https://sweetphi.com/slow-cooker-italian-pork/
#slowcookerrecipe #crockpotrecipe #porkrecipe #porktenderloin #italianpork  #easydinnerrecipe #slowcookerrecipes #crockpotrecipes  #foodblogger #milwaukeefoodblogger
Save this recipe for 5 ingredient crispy onion hon Save this recipe for 5 ingredient crispy onion honey mustard chicken sheet pan meal!
- 4 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
- 1/2 cup honey mustard dressing/dipping sauce plus more for serving
- 3 cups fresh broccoli florets
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup crispy fried onions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C) (optional - line a sheet pan with parchment paper or foil for easy cleanup.)
- Place chicken breasts on one side of the baking sheet and the broccoli on the other.
- Slather the honey mustard dipping sauce over the chicken breasts. 
- Drizzle the olive oil over the broccoli
- Sprinkle the crispy onions on top of the chicken and then on top of the broccoli as well. 
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until the chicken is baked through (internal temp of 165).
- Divide onto 4 plates and serve with additional honey mustard dipping sauce and enjoy
Full recipe and notes online at https://sweetphi.com/5-ingredient-crispy-onion-honey-mustard-chicken/
#sheetpanrecipe #onepanmeal #chickenrecipe #easydinnerrecipe #5ingredientrecipe #5ingredientsorless  #sheetpanmeal  #foodblogger #milwaukeefoodblogger
Save this recipe for the perfect holiday dip, it e Save this recipe for the perfect holiday dip, it even has red and green colors for a festive dish!
- 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, not oil packed
- 8 oz. goat cheese
- 1/2 cup basil fresh, chopped
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 3 Tbs. milk, any percentage is fine
- Chop sun-dried tomatoes into small pieces.  Finely chop basil.
- Add goat cheese, garlic powder and milk in a bowl. Stir all ingredients together and enjoy!
- Tip - let this sit at room temperature for a little bit before serving so that it’s spreadable!
https://sweetphi.com/5-ingredient-goat-cheese-spread-with-sun-dried-tomato-and-basil/
#dips #appetizer #appetizerrecipe #holidayrecipes #holidayrecipe #foodblogger #milwaukeefoodblogger #goatcheeserecipes
Here are my November 5 star books: Mrs Nash’s A Here are my November 5 star books:
Mrs Nash’s Ashes by @sarahadlerwrites  I did not want this lovely book to end! The characters had such great chemistry and it was overall such a good romance.”A starry-eyed romantic, a cynical writer, and (the ashes of) an elderly woman take the road trip of a lifetime that just might upend everything they believe about true love.”
Will They Or Won’t They by @avawilderwrites Such a cute story and I loved the ending, was not expecting it to end the way it did with the little twist. “Onscreen, they’re in love. Offscreen, they can’t stand each other. From the author of How to Fake It in Hollywood comes “a sexy lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers romance that smolders then bursts into flames”
Flying Solo @lindaholmes97  @justjuliawhelan narrates - she’s my fave narrator. This was such a fun audiobook, there were parts that had me loling and it was a unique love story, I thoroughly enjoyed it. “A woman returns to her small Maine hometown, uncovering family secrets that take her on a journey of self-discovery and new love, in this warm and charming novel from the NYT bestselling author of Evvie Drake Starts Over.”
The Lost Bookshop @evie.gaughan This was such a lovely cozy read with a touch of whimsey, I really loved the story. “The Keeper of Stories meets The Lost Apothecary in this evocative and charming novel full of mystery and secrets. ‘The thing about books,’ she said ‘is that they help you to imagine a life bigger and better than you could ever dream of.’ On a quiet street in Dublin, a lost bookshop is waiting to be found…”
Find a full review (with non 5-star books too) on SweetPhi.com
#bookrecommendations #bookreviews #romancebooks #bookstagram #reading #romancereader #5starreviews #bookstagrammer #thelostbookshop #flyingsolo #willtheyorwontthey #mrsnashsashes
We all know how busy and chaotic Christmas morning We all know how busy and chaotic Christmas morning is, so plan ahead for what you’ll be eating to make the morning even more relaxing! 🎄
We’ve put together 16 delicious Christmas morning recipes that are perfect to help everyone have a cozy morning after Santa’s visit 🎅🏼
Grab these recipes on the blog!
https://sweetphi.com/recipes-delicious-christmas-morning/
#christmas #christmasmorning #breakfast #breakfastideas #breakfastclub #holidays #familybreakfast #kids #brunchrecipes #brunch #recipes #food #foodie #easyrecipes
There’s something about using real cranberries i There’s something about using real cranberries in recipes that just screams winter baking! ❄️
These big chocolate chip cranberry cookies are made with real cranberries and are one of my favorite cookies for the holiday season!
Grab the recipe on sweetphi.com ❤️
https://sweetphi.com/big-chocolate-chip-cranberry-cookies-made-real-cranberries/
#christmas #christmascookies #cookies #recipe #christmasbaking #baking #cranberries
This recipe for 5 ingredient peanut brittle withou This recipe for 5 ingredient peanut brittle without a candy thermometer is super easy to make and perfect to give as a holiday gift! 🎁
It’s the perfect sweet/salty combination!
Have you ever tried making your own peanut brittle?!
Get this recipe on sweetphi.com❤
https://sweetphi.com/5-ingredient-peanut-brittle-without-a-candy-thermometer/
#recipe #5ingredients #candyrecipe #brittle #peanutbrittle #holidayfood #christmas #christmasrecipe #holidaybaking #dessert #giftideas #giftguide #foodgifts #food #foodie #easyrecipe #easydessert
  • Recipes
  • Baby
  • Cookbook
  • Five Ingredient Fridays
  • Travel
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 · SWEET PHI