10 Recipes You Can Make with Minimal Ingredients
When your cupboards are bare and there’s little in the fridge, it can be easy to feel uninspired in the kitchen. But regardless of how poorly-stocked your local shops are at the moment, you can still create exciting and colourful dishes that are packed with flavour, and with a bare minimum of ingredients.
To provide a little kitchen inspiration during these challenging times, here we showcase 10 recipes you can make with just a handful of store cupboard staples.
- Baked Eggs
Brunch, lunch or dinner – baked eggs is a fantastic, wholesome recipe that you can scale up or down depending on how many mouths you’re feeding. Relying on store cupboard essentials like chopped tomatoes, kidney beans and eggs, all you need is a few herbs and spices to make a wonderful, warming dish. What’s more, you can make easy additions depending on what you have in your cupboards and fridge; chorizo and feta work particularly well.
Take a look at the baked eggs recipe here.
- Gnocchi Cacio e Pepe
Many people have a pack of gnocchi in their cupboard; it’s one of those things you buy and then forget to use. The great thing about vacuum-packed gnocchi is that it lasts for ages, so you can stock up and have it when you like. This recipe uses just a handful of ingredients, with the main flavour being black pepper. Simple and easy to make, gnocchi cooked cacio e pepe style is surprisingly authentic, taking you straight to Italy. Plus, it’s from the pantry to plate in well under 15 minutes – perfect for those busy after-work dinners.
Here’s the recipe.
- Butter Bean and Chorizo Stew
A stew may strike you as a winter warmer, but this simple Mediterranean-inspired recipe is ideal for summer, when your cupboards are looking a little sparse. Whether you’re cooking for two or five, you’ll get big, bold flavour from the chorizo and pesto, as well as lots of fibre and protein from the butter beans. Don’t have one of the ingredients? Simply substitute it for something else, like kidney beans or beef mince.
You’ll find the recipe right here.
- Garlic Chicken Parcels
For a speedy yet special midweek meal that requires the bare minimum of ingredients, look to garlic chicken parcels. Moist chicken breast flavoured with garlic and wrapped in a layer of crunchy puff pastry – delicious. Ready-rolled puff pastry is a versatile ingredient that we’d always recommend having in your kitchen (it can also be easily frozen). This fancy-sounding recipe relies on just six ingredients, including olive oil, so it’s ideal if you’re looking to impress without visiting the shops.
Learn how to make garlic chicken parcels here.
- Red Pepper Linguine
Who doesn’t love linguine? A pantry essential, most of us have a pack hidden at the back of the cupboard, and you really don’t need much to make a fulfilling meal. This recipe calls on garlic, red pepper, and parmesan, which many of us have in the fridge. You can also add walnuts to give the dish more flavour and sustenance, but it’s not essential. What you will need, however, is a food processor or blender, which will allow you to whip up a delicious red pepper sauce.
Fancy giving this dish a go? Discover the recipe here.
- Crispy Greek Pie
It’s amazing what other cultures can do with just a handful of ingredients. Indeed, across the Mediterranean, you’ll find that the best-loved dishes are made from just two or three ingredients – such is their quality. Take this classic crispy Greek pie for example. Based on the Greek ‘spanakopita’, it’s made from spinach, feta, eggs and filo pastry, but packs a huge amount of flavour. Make a big pie for the whole family to tuck into, or smaller, bite-size versions that are ideal for lunchtime snacks.
Find the recipe for crispy Greek pie here.
- Salmon Fajitas
Tex-Mex fajitas make for an exciting, colourful and fresh plate of food no matter what you put inside them. Here, we’re showcasing a salmon version, accompanied with a few herbs and spices, and an avocado. The combination of marinated salmon and creamy avocado is a real winner, while lime and coriander can really elevate your dish. If you don’t have salmon, any frozen white fish will do; you can even try crispy fish fingers for a child-friendly version.
Like the sound of fish fajitas? Take a look at the simple-to-follow recipe here.
- Squash and Coconut Curry
A curry may sound like a complicated thing to make when your cupboards are bare, but you can still enjoy the taste of India without hundreds of different spices and ingredients. This vegetarian curry uses butternut squash and coconut milk, with an easy-to-use shop-bought curry paste to add those much-needed spices. Five ingredients are really all you need to create a satisfying curry at home, and you can easily adjust the spiciness by adding more or less coconut milk. Prefer a meat version? Substitute the squash for chicken.
Get the recipe for this five-recipe vegetarian curry here.
- Peanut Butter and Jam Flapjacks
If you’re craving something sweet but don’t feel like venturing to the shops, why not try making these delicious and moreish peanut butter and jam flapjacks. A doddle to make with common store cupboard ingredients, these bite-sized flapjacks are bound to be a big hit with the kids. All you need is butter, peanut butter, jam, oats and brown sugar, and you’re on your way to the perfect after-dinner treat. What’s more, the children will love lending a hand, so you can keep them entertained while you work.
Find the recipe for peanut butter and jam flapjacks here.
- Mini Blueberry Tarts
If you love baking and experimenting in the kitchen but have only a few ingredients in your larder, try your hand at these delicious blueberry tarts. Like a scaled-down blueberry pie, these tasty morsels can be made using just five ingredients, including fresh blueberries, sugar, cornflour, ready-rolled shortcrust pastry and an egg. Don’t have blueberries? Any berry or cherry works well, be it strawberries or raspberries, so you can adjust to your fruit bowl.
Get the recipe for these delicious tartlets here.
At Breville, we want to help you feel inspired in the kitchen, no matter what food you have in your cupboards. For more culinary inspiration, take a look at our blog, or visit the homepage to browse our range of high-quality kitchen appliances.