Collection · 14 recipes

Meals from cupboard staples

Some weeks the budget is tight, the fridge is bare and the last thing anyone wants is a long shopping list. Every recipe here needs six items or fewer from the shop, because much of what goes into it should already be in a typical cupboard: oils, stock cubes, dried herbs, spices and sauces.

A well stocked cupboard is the quiet backbone of cheap, quick cooking. Keep a few basics topped up and a surprising number of proper dinners are only a fresh ingredient or two away. It is also one of the easiest ways to cut waste, because fewer fresh ingredients means fewer going limp in the fridge before you use them.

Each recipe splits its ingredients into what to add to the shop and what should already be in the cupboard, so you can see at a glance what you need to buy. When you plan the week, the shopping list pools everything together and you can tick off what you already have before you order.

Build a plan from these