10 Things You Can Cook Using What’s In Your Pantry

Finding something you can cook is not always an easy thing to do. Especially if you have the bare minimum and have yet to get paid so that you can go grocery shopping. Despite that, there is always something in the pantry that you can use to make something savory. Trust me. To give you a better idea, here are some things you can cook using what is in your pantry.

1. Pancakes

Baking soda, flour, salt, eggs, and milk. Again, the bare minimum. Everything I just listed—except the eggs and milk—are the basic essentials you can always find in your pantry. Thankfully, if you need a mouthwatering breakfast and cannot think of anything to cook that will fill your belly, then you are in luck. The ingredients I mentioned earlier are all that you need to make a batch of pancakes. If you happen to have a bottle of vanilla extract, blueberries, strawberries, chocolate chips, or cinnamon handy, then do not be shy to incorporate those into the mix as well.

Easy Basic Pancakes

2. Mac & Cheese

Mac & cheese! No matter if you are at the bare minimum or every cabinet in the kitchen is full, everyone has a box or two of mac and cheese sitting in their pantry. Waiting to be used and eaten. Whether it is Mrs. Leepers, Annie’s, Kraft, Velveeta, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, or Back to Nature Crazy Bugs. You can always count on macaroni and cheese being there for you. In your pantry. Calling your name to cook it.

3. PB & J

Sometimes it is the simple things we forget that are the answer to the dire question of the day. What do I want to eat? That is when the childhood favorite, peanut butter, and jelly sandwich, comes in. You are bound to find the easy ingredients in your pantry, cupboard, and refrigerator: bread, jelly, and peanut butter. Slice up a banana and throw it in the sandwich as well, if you would like to. Effortless. Plain sailing and it did not even take five minutes of your time to make.

4. Pasta

Pasta! Another thing you can always find in your pantry is pasta noodles. Whether it is Barilla, Mueller’s, Ronzoni, Creamette, Buitoni, American Beauty, Skinner, San Giorgio, or No Yolks. What is great about cooking pasta is that you can make it your own. Incorporate any meat, veggies, spices, or sauce that you want. So, grab your box(es) of pasta noodles, boil the water, grab some canned veggies, spices, or anything else you think you might need or want for your dish, and get to cooking. Make it for yourself, you and a friend or for your family.

5. Chicken Pot Pie

Among the things you can cook using what is in your pantry is good ole fashion chicken pot pie. It may not be as easy as making pasta or peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but man does it do the job. For this dish, all the ingredients you need are canned chicken breasts (how many cans depends on how big you want the pie to be), Bisquik, canned veggies, cream of chicken soup or chicken broth (whatever you got handy), and whatever seasoning and spices you want to incorporate into the meal. Now, these may not be the exact ingredients you usually incorporate into your chicken pot pie—some people use turkey instead of chicken and frozen vegetables instead of canned—but a chicken pot pie is still a chicken pot a pie.

6. Soup

A dish that is most commonly prepared during the winter season and the April showers is soup. The ingredients for this hot, flavorful dish are almost identical to the ones stated above, for the chicken pot pie. Canned vegetables, chicken or beef stock, or broth, seasoning, water, and rice or pasta (whichever you prefer). Whether it is a tomato, vegetable, chicken, noodle, beef or any other kind of soup. It will do the trick.

7. Grilled Cheese

Bread, butter, a stove, and some good ole American cheese. I can smell it right now. Simmering on the stove top, in the pan. Grilled cheese is one of the all-time best meals you could cook for yourself, or for others, using what is only in your pantry. The only exception to that is the cheese—and butter if you choose to use it. Most people pair their homemade grilled cheese sandwiches with a hot bowl of canned tomato soup. The pairing is not ideal for me. However, if you have a can of tomato soup sitting in your pantry, cook it next to your sandwich on the stove. Give it a try, if you have not before.

8. Mashed Potatoes

One of the last things you can cook only using what is in your pantry is mashed potatoes. Whether it is packaged, or fresh mashed potatoes will fill you up faster than the apple that is sitting on display in your fruit basket, on the kitchen island. All you need to make packaged mashed potatoes is water. The ingredients you will need to make fresh mashed potatoes are milk, butter, and some russet potatoes. The seasonings and spices are up to you.

9. Popcorn

Popcorn! Everybody has popcorn sitting in their kitchen pantry. Even if it is just one package. That is good because now you have something to cook for a snack. Whether it is while you are watching a movie, during the day, or midnight. If you happen to have garlic seasonings and butter handy as well, why not mix the two and make a garlic butter too?

10. Tuna Casserole

The last thing you can cook using what is in your pantry is a tuna casserole. Now, I know this specific dish may not sound appetizing after saying it out loud, but trust me when I say it is both satisfying and tasty. The ingredients for this dish are—as the title states—easily found in your pantry. Canned tuna, macaroni, milk, and a couple cans of cream of chicken or mushroom soup. If you do not take my word for it, try it yourself with the recipe down below.

Quick and Easy Tuna Casserole

What are some things you can cook using what is in your pantry? Did this list inspire you to cook any of the dishes? If so, which one? Let us know in the comments below.