8 Easy 30 Minute Pantry Dinners for When the Fridge Is Empty

You open the fridge, and there’s a lemon, some mustard and a jar of something you don’t remember buying.

That’s my fridge most Thursdays.

The cupboard almost always has more in it than the fridge does, and I’m a little proud of how many dinners I can pull out of it.

These need little or nothing fresh.

1. Shakshuka

Eggs poached in a spiced tomato sauce, eaten straight from the pan with bread.

Tomatoes, bell pepper, garlic, chili and cumin simmer into a thick sauce, then the eggs get cracked into little wells and cooked until the whites set.

The recipe uses fresh tomatoes and spinach, but a can of crushed tomatoes works on a pantry night and the spinach is optional.

It’s ready in thirty minutes.

Cover the pan once the eggs go in so the tops cook while the yolks stay runny.

2. Pasta Puttanesca

Puttanesca is a cupboard sauce, with canned tomatoes, olives, capers and garlic doing all the work.

This version is vegan, so there are no anchovies, and the olives and capers bring plenty of salt and punch.

Twenty minutes, five servings.

Add one or two anchovy fillets with the garlic if you have a tin and you aren’t cooking for vegans.

Fresh parsley is nice, and it’s the first thing to skip.

3. Canned Salmon Patties

Canned salmon is one of the most useful things you can keep in the cupboard, and this is my favorite use for it.

The salmon gets mixed with breadcrumbs, egg, mayo, Dijon, lemon juice, Old Bay and green onion, then pan-fried until golden on both sides.

Thirty minutes, six servings.

Chill the patties for ten minutes before they go in the pan and they’ll hold together better.

The soft bones in canned salmon are edible and mash right in, so don’t bother picking them out.

4. Easy Chickpea Curry

Three cans, some spices and twenty minutes.

Chickpeas simmer in coconut milk and tomato sauce with garlic, ginger, turmeric and a pinch of cayenne, and a handful of spinach wilts in at the end if you have it.

It serves four.

Ginger and garlic from a tube or jar are completely fine here.

Serve it over rice or with warm naan.

5. Black Bean Tacos

The beans here get simmered in broth with onion, garlic, cumin, chili powder and coriander until they’re thick and saucy.

A squeeze of lime at the end wakes them up.

Thirty minutes, four servings.

Warm the tortillas in a dry skillet so they bend without cracking.

Guacamole and pico de gallo are great on top, and a spoon of salsa from a jar does the job on an empty-fridge night.

6. Pasta e Ceci

Pasta e ceci is pasta with chickpeas, a Roman dish made from almost nothing.

Onion, garlic, rosemary and tomato paste go into the pot with a can of chickpeas and broth, then small pasta cooks right in it until the whole thing turns thick and creamy.

The recipe adds escarole, but any greens or none at all will do.

Thirty minutes, four servings.

Mash some of the chickpeas against the side of the pot to thicken it.

7. Spaghetti Aglio e Olio

Spaghetti, garlic, olive oil and chili, and that’s genuinely all you need.

Garlic cooks gently in olive oil with chili, then the spaghetti finishes in the pan with pasta water until the sauce turns glossy.

About thirty minutes for four, and most of that is waiting for the pasta water to boil.

Keep the heat low for the garlic, because it goes from golden to bitter in seconds.

Lemon juice or a little grated Pecorino are good additions if you have them.

8. Spanish Rice and Beans

Rice and beans make a filling meal on their own, and this one has enough flavor to stand alone.

Long grain rice cooks in vegetable broth with red beans, salsa, tomato sauce, smoked paprika, chili powder and cumin.

Thirty minutes, six servings, one pan.

Toast the dry rice in the oil for a couple of minutes before the liquid goes in, which helps the grains stay separate.

A fried egg on top turns it into a bigger dinner.

Tips for a Pantry That Always Has Dinner

Keep a few cans of tomatoes, chickpeas and beans, since those three cover half the recipes here.

Dried pasta and long grain rice last for months.

Olives, capers and canned salmon are worth a permanent spot on the shelf.

Garlic, onions and lemons aren’t technically pantry items, but they keep for weeks on the counter.

Notes on Swaps

Any small pasta works where a recipe calls for a specific shape.

Kidney beans, pinto beans and black beans can trade places in most of these.

Frozen spinach stands in for fresh, so squeeze out the water first.

Dried herbs work in place of fresh at about a third of the amount.