How to Use What You Have in the Kitchen

These simple steps can help you use what you have in the kitchen. With some practice, this skill will let you make a delicious dinner no matter what you have that needs to be used.

We live in a day and age where food waste is sadly common. I often find myself in a position where I have perishable food in my fridge that needs to be used and have no idea how to use it in my meals. After years of practice, I have found some practical tips you can implement in your cooking to use what you have in the kitchen rather than letting it go to waste. These tips are also a great way to stay within a budget by buying only what is on sale and adjusting your meal plan accordingly.

Some of these tips are things you can implement and practice immediately, while others might take time to perfect. It took years of Googling recipes with the list of items I had on hand before I was confident and familiar enough with cooking and how to combine flavors to make a delicious dinner no matter what I have.

Pantry Staples

The first step to being able to use what you have in the kitchen is to keep your pantry stocked with staples. Doing this will allow you to have what it takes to throw together a meal last minute with whatever you have. Then you can focus your meals around the produce that needs to be used instead of having to plan around the other ingredients.

In order to save money I recommend trying to buy extra shelf stable ingredients when things are on sale. It might take time to figure out what you use and how quickly you go through it.

Growing up my mom had something of a routine where she’d rotate through dinners with pasta, potatoes, tortillas, bread, and rice. Keeping these staples on hand helped her be able to make quick dinners no matter what other ingredients she had on hand.

Meal Plan Using What You Have in the Kitchen

What do you have that needs to be used, or what is going to go bad next? Before you go grocery shopping, make a plan on how you will use these ingredients first. Find a way to add these ingredients to one of your family’s favorite meals (look below for a list of my family’s favorite modifiable meals), or do a couple Google searches to find a new recipe.

Learning to plan a meal around what you have is a skill that may take time to develop. It is probably one of my favorite skills though, because it requires me to get creative in the kitchen. I love searching for new ideas of how I can be resourceful and use what I have in my kitchen. In my time since becoming a full-time homemaker I have become very efficient at this skill. Rather than meal planning before shopping, I can go shopping and buy what is on sale. Then figure out what I want to make out of it later.

Learn to Cook From Scratch

Learning to cook food from scratch has helped to use what I have in the kitchen. If I have a carton of cream going bad, I can think of several ways I could use it including in dinners, desserts, and even bread. I have loved becoming more confident in my cooking and baking. Making it so that I can easily substitute ingredients to use what I have, and still have confidence that my food will be delicious.

One time that I found this skill to be very useful is when making bread or rolls. The last couple times I have made rolls I have spent time looking for a recipe that uses exactly what I have. Finally I realized that as long as the consistency of the dough is right I can use what I have rather than following an exact recipe. I can swap butter and milk for cream, or sugar for honey without a lot of consequence.

Learn to Make Modifiable Meals

Having go-to meals that can easily be modified, is one of the easiest and most useful ways to use what you have in the kitchen. This is where the skill of knowing how to pair vegetables comes in handy. If you have a base meal that you know your family loves. It is more resourceful to modify it with the ingredients you have. Than to go out to buy new ingredients in order to make it as you usually would.

Some of my family’s favorite modifiable meals are:

• oatmeal
• cream of wheat
• pancakes
• pizza
• fried rice
• nachos
• sandwiches
• one pot rice dish
• soups
• salads
• pasta sauces
• stir fry
• curry

Breakfast

Breakfast is one of my favorite meals to modify. I like to use up extra fruit or breads to prepare a breakfast with ingredients getting past their prime. Brown bananas can be made into delicious muffins or pancakes. Pancakes can be topped with any number of fruit syrups made on the stove top with berries or other in-season fruit. Day-old or stale bread can be made into french toast or french toast casserole. Oatmeal or cream of wheat is another quick meal that can be topped with whatever you have in the kitchen. Make these dishes seasonal by pairing in-season produce to go on top or inside.

Lunch

Most of my family’s lunches are made from leftovers. When we don’t, a couple of my go-to lunch options are sandwiches and pizzas. I like to make most of my breads at home from scratch. We often have leftover bread that needs to be used before it goes bad. Left over bread if perfect for sandwiches. Leftover pitas are great for quick pizzas topped with whatever vegetables and meats I have that need to be used.

I like to use extra chopped vegetables and diced meats to top nachos. Or I can mix the vegetables into day-old rice for a quick fried rice lunch everyone enjoys. I am not sure why, but fried rice is one of the few lunches I can serve where my kids clear their plates every time. It is an easy dish that can be filled with a variety of different vegetables.

Dinner

Dinner is the time of day that I use the bulk of my produce. It is fun to pair the vegetables I have in unique and delicious ways. I do this according to what is in season and what I have in the refrigerator. I recognize that I am a bit of an oddball, because I don’t mind spending a couple hours in the kitchen in order to prepare a delicious and unique dinner. For days I don’t have as much time or energy, I have found several dinners I can make in well under an hour, no matter what I have on hand.

Soup is probably one of the easiest modifiable dinners. Start by sauteing an onion with whatever veggies you have. Add a protein, broth, seasonings and a starch, then boil until cooked and voilà! Dinner is done. Salads are another simple dish that can easily be made into a main course. They can use a variety of ingredients in your fridge. Including leftover grains or proteins, day-old bread for croutons, and diced fruits and veggies to add flavor and nutrients.

The spaghetti sauce I grew up with had 2 ingredients: ground beef and a can of tomato sauce. On a fancy day my mom might dice an onion to cook with the beef, or add a can of tomatoes for a sauce with more texture. Since I’ve started to make spaghetti sauce myself, I often stir in a variety of vegetables that I have in my fridge. I usually add peppers or zucchini to my spaghetti sauce. To creamy sauces like Alfredo I might add broccoli, carrots, or peas. Although this might not be traditional, it adds vegetables to my meals and uses ingredients from my fridge that might otherwise have gone bad.

Curries and stir fries are also easy meals to add whatever you have. Many curry sauces are made by sauteing vegetables with loads of spices, then blending until the sauce is smooth. This makes it the perfect dish to hide extra veggies into. In these curries the vegetables flavor is masked by the seasonings and the texture is blended out. Although stir fries often showcase more largely chopped vegetables, it is hard to come up with a vegetable that doesn’t pair well in a stir fry served over a bed of rice.

Learn to Use What You Have in the Kitchen

Following these tips and tricks may take time to learn and implement in your own home. You may need to analyze the foods you typically eat so that you limit excess. Then come up with ways you can modify or get creative with the ingredients that you have. I am confident that by following these tips, you can help your budget, limit food waste, and have less stress in preparation for dinner each night. All by using what you already have in your kitchen.