What to cook with what you have at home

Updated November 9, 2026

The fridge isn't empty, yet there's "nothing to cook". Usually there's enough food — what's missing is an idea. Here's a method for turning what's already on your shelves into a meal, without a trip to the shop.

Step 1. A two-minute check

Open the fridge and the cupboard and answer four questions:

• What needs using up? An open tub of yoghurt, herbs, yesterday's rice, half a courgette. Start there — less ends up in the bin.
• What's the base? Potatoes, pasta, rice, couscous, bread, wraps or noodles.
• What's the protein? Eggs, chicken, mince, fish, cheese, tinned beans or chickpeas.
• What adds flavour? Onion, garlic, tomato purée, soy sauce, spices, lemon, a stock cube.

Step 2. The dinner formula: base + protein + veg + flavour

Almost any home-cooked meal is built from these four parts. Pick one from each group and you have a plan: rice + chicken + carrots and onion + soy sauce make a filling stir-fry in 25 minutes; pasta + eggs + frozen peas + cheese make a quick carbonara-style pasta.

If one of the four is missing, you can still make a meal: without protein, use a cheese or egg sauce; without fresh veg, use frozen veg, a tin of tomatoes or a simple side salad.

Ideas for the things you almost always have

You have eggs

An omelette or frittata with leftover veg and cheese, shakshuka in tomato sauce, French toast, egg fried rice, a quick egg curry, or boiled eggs on a salad.

You have potatoes

Jacket potatoes with beans and cheese, hash browns with a fried egg, cottage pie with mince, potato soup, roast wedges, or bubble and squeak with leftover veg.

You have pasta

Pasta with tomatoes and garlic, a quick bolognese, pasta bake with cheese, creamy pasta with peas and ham, or a simple noodle soup.

You have rice or grains

Egg fried rice, chicken and vegetable risotto, a rice bowl with beans, couscous with roasted veg, or porridge with fruit for breakfast.

You have chicken or mince

Chicken traybake, meatballs in tomato sauce, chilli con carne, burgers, chicken wraps with salad, or a meatball soup.

You have bread or wraps

Cheese toasties, quesadillas with beans and cheese, wrap pizzas, bruschetta with tomatoes, or a bread-and-butter bake.

What's missing — what to buy

Often one ingredient stands between you and a good meal. If you have mince and pasta but no tomatoes, a tin of chopped tomatoes turns them into a bolognese. Keep a few "keys" at home that bring any leftovers to life: tinned tomatoes, cheese, yoghurt or cream, onions, garlic, frozen veg and tinned beans.

How Panilo does it

In Panilo you just say or type what you have and how much time you've got, for example: "There are three of us, we have mince and potatoes, an hour." The app suggests two different dishes, checks the ingredients against everyone's allergies and dislikes, and adds anything missing to a shared shopping list with one tap. You don't even have to list your food — suggestions work with an empty pantry, and a photo of the fridge or a receipt fills it in seconds.

Questions