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Easy Meals from pantry stock

March 21, 2020 by Jill Leave a Comment

If you’re looking for ideas on how to make easy meals from pantry stock, you’ve just hit the jackpot. I’ve curated a collection of over ++ easy recipes using simple food items you probably already have on hand. And, doesn’t “curated” make me sound sort of uppity and fancy? I’m neither and neither are these recipes – but they are good and most of them are very simple and cheap. Check out these easy meals from pantry stock the will give you lots of ideas on how to meal plan and stretch your food budget.

Table of Contents

  • 50+ Easy meals from pantry stock
  • How to use this list
  • Easy meals from pantry stock: Casseroles
  • Easy meals made from pantry stock containing tuna
  • Easy meals from pantry stock: soups and stews
  • Easy meals from pantry stock with rice
  • Easy meals from pantry stock with beans
  • Vegetarian Dishes
  • Easy meals from pantry stock with lentils
  • Baked goods

50+ Easy meals from pantry stock

It helps if you have a well-stocked pantry to start out with. Check out my “what’s in my pantry” list for an idea of what I think it ideal to start with. I used what I had on hand to plan a month’s worth of meals for my family of four. Read all the way to the bottom to see what I wish I’d have done differently now that I’m actually dependent on my pantry stock to make meals for my family.

I’ve teamed up with some of the best bloggers out there to bring you lots of simple and delish recipe ideas. Have a favorite you don’t see here? Let me know and I’d be happy to add it.

How to use this list

I’ve categorized these but some of the dishes overlap. If you’re looking for vegetarian recipes, don’t skip the bean and lentil sections. 

If the title of a recipe looks good to you, click the link. Most of the recipes will open in a new window. The recipes in bold are my own creations and the recipes not in bold are from other websites. If you like the look of the recipe and want to save it for later, the best way to do that is to pin it to Pinterest.

If you don’t have some sort of family recipe board, now is a great time to create one. If you save a lot of recipes to Pinterest, I suggest making a board called “easy meals from pantry stock” or something like that to keep all of these types of recipes in one place.

Easy meals from pantry stock: Casseroles

Casseroles are a great way to feed your family and stretch your proteins to make more meals.

Easy enchilada skillet|Ripped Jeans and Bifocals

Crock pot Moroccan chicken with Apricots and Chick Peas|Our Little Family Adventure

Cheesy Taco Penne Ziti|This Ole Mom

Chicken Pasta Salad|This Ole Mom

Easy Instant Pot Spaghetti|Life Family Fun

Chicken and rice casserole|Crayons and Cravings

One pan Spanish chicken and rice|Thrifty Frugal Mom

Instant Pot Goulash|Blackberry Babe

Easy Instant Pot taco pasta|Three Little Ferns

Chicken noodle casserole|Three Kids and a Coupon

Cornbread chili casserole|Dancing Through the Rain

Easy vegan chili|Allergy Yummy

Chalupas – an easy large family meal|Little Earthlings

Tomato beef stew|The Tiptoe Fairy

Creamy pasta with spinach and chick peas|Go Health Ever After

Easy meals made from pantry stock containing tuna

Tuna is cheap and easy to stock up on. If you’re having trouble finding fresh meat or can’t afford it, tuna is a great source of protein.

Tuna Tomato Pasta|Honestly and Truly

Easy Asian tuna vermicelli noodle salad|Fearless Dining

Rainbow chard curried tuna salad|Fearless Dining

Best Mediterranean tuna salad|Keto Cooking Wins

Easy tuna casserole|Food Meanderings

Best tuna casserole recipe ever|The Mama Maven

3 ingredient tuna recipe|The Mama Maven

Easy meals from pantry stock: soups and stews

Kick-Ass crock pot chili|Ripped Jeans and Bifocals

Quick Beef Stew|Nerdy Mama

White bean and barley soup|Sustain my Cooking Habit

5 can chicken enchilada soup|Bloggers Share

Crock pot chicken stew with tomatoes|Two Healthy Kitchens

Quick and Easy Taco Soup|Really Are You Serious?

Instant Pot tortilla soup|Cardamom and Coconut

Old-fashioned goulash|Dancing through the Rain

Easy meals from pantry stock with rice

Rice is a great pantry staple. We typically keep a large bag of brown rice and another of basmati rice on hand.

Lemon rice recipe with brown rice|Go Healthy Ever After

Coconut Rice|Ruffles and Rain Boots

Cajun brown rice and beans|A Hedgehog in the Kitchen

5-Minute easy rice and beans|Two Healthy Kitchens

Easy meals from pantry stock with beans

Beans are cheap and a great source of protein. If you don’t eat meat, don’t have meat or need to stretch a recipe, beans are a great way to go. I always keep a couple of bags of dry beans on hand but canned beans are a lot easier. 

Slow cooker beans and ham|Life Family Fun

Cuban black beans|Panning the Globe

Slow cooker baked beans|Savory with Soul

Kidney bean curry|Little Sunny Kitchen

Old fashioned bean salad|Spend with pennies

Five soup pasta|Simply Stacie

Ham and bean crock pot soup|Savory with Soul

Mung bean humms|Mind Body and Spirit

Slow cooker black beans|Call me PMC

You might also like: The ultimate list of easy weeknight meals

Vegetarian Dishes

Pantry dishes are a great way to eat vegetarian. 

Lazy falafel|Rhians Recipes

Black bean and rice open face tacos|A Mummy Too

Vegan air fryer lentil sliders|Any Reason Vegans

Easy vegetarian lasagna|The Curious Frugal

Vegan black bean soup|24 Bite

Vegetarian taco soup|Freezer Meals 101

Creamy coconut vegan korma|Little Sunny Kitchen

Vegan chili chickpea burritos|Plants Dish

Pimento cheese grits|Call me PMC

Hearty sweet potato corn chowder|Flavor and Flavor

Heart vegan sweet potato and corn chowder|Flavor and Savor

Pumpkin and black bean soup|Ripped Jeans and Bifocals

Easy meals from pantry stock with lentils

Lentils are so versatile and easy to keep on the shelf. There are lots of recipes out there. Here are just a few. 

Lentil curry with spinach|Go Happily Ever After

Vegan lentil ragu|Vegan on Board

Crock pot madras lentils|Peas and Crayons

Coconut lentil curry|Clean Eating Kitchen

One pot vegan green lentil dal|Healthy and Healthy Mamas

For basic info on cooking lentils, check out The Forked Spoon’s article on how to cool lentils

Baked goods

If you have the urge to whip up bread or cookies from scratch, here are a few things to tempt you. 

Toffee graham cracker cookies|Ripped Jeans and Bifocals

Gluten free chocolate chip cookies|Ripped Jeans and Bifocals

Easy homemade white bread|Sustain my Cooking Habits

Bread machine Hawaiian Rolls|Sumptuous Spoonful

Baked oatmeal|Ripped Jeans and Bifocals

Dried fruit oatmeal bake|Any Reason Vegans

Best bread machine recipe|Crave the Good

You might also like: Meals to make when it’s cold outside. These warm and comforting dishes are great for cold weather but can be enjoyed year round. 


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All About Jill

I'm a digital content creator and essayist who copes with parenting and most other situations with humor and snark. Just so you know, if this weren't the internet, I'd be smiling awkwardly and answering simple questions like "How are you today" with gems like "I like pockets."

I really do love pockets, though.

I spent 26 years in the USAF, which went by really, really fast. I'm very proud of my service but I'm loving my second act even more. Writing gives me the opportunity to flex my creative muscles and that's what makes me happy. Welcome.

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rippedjeansandbifocals

Freelance Writer & Travel Expert
Producer, Listen to Your Mother SA
💜 Mom via birth & #adoption
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🇺🇸 USAF veteran
📍#texas

Jill Robbins
This little guy wasn’t a keeper - a fish has to This little guy wasn’t a keeper - a fish has to be at least 20 inches long to keep and this one was a couple of inches short. That said, the excitement of catching my first fish was BIG. 🎣 
.
I was invited down to South Padre Island this weekend for #NationalCookYourCatchDay and I’m not gonna lie: I was a little nervous. Things could go wrong. I could fall out of the boat, break something or get eaten by a shark. (I have a vivid imagination.)
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None of those things happened.
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Our boat caught enough keepers to feed us dinner and I wanna go fishing again.  I liked it a lot more than I expected to.
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I’m still going through pictures and videos and I’ll tell you all you want to know about planning your own fishing trip on the Texas Gulf Coast + where to eat and some other things to do. Every day can 
be #nationalcookyourcatchday 
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Thanks @visitsouthpadreisland for hosting me & Captain Eddie (AKA @fishingpadre ) for being such a patient teacher. 
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#sopadre #southpadreisland #southpadre #texascoast #texastodo #anglerlife #fishinggram #fishinglife #gonefishing
Happy Wednesday. 📷 taken at Wasserman Wranch n Happy Wednesday.

📷 taken at Wasserman Wranch near Alpine. Check my bio link for more information. 

#texastravel #westtexas #texastodo #welovetexas #texaskids #donkeysofinstagram #westtx #texastravel #onlyintexas #alpinetexas #alpinetx #igtexas #igtexasphoto #alamocreatives #heymama_love #texasblogger #satxbloggers #texasthingstodo #miniaturedonkey #miniaturedonkeysofinstagram
"Intelligence + Character. That is the goal of tru "Intelligence + Character. That is the goal of true education." Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I saw a lot of posts about Martin Luther King yesterday when I was doing my scrolls through social media...on a day where I wasn't supposed to be ON social media, ahem. We hear and see a lot of Dr. King's words and quotes one day a year. So, instead of apologizing for posting this "a day late" I'll share that I'm challenging myself to remember some of these important words more than one day a year.

Our kids are watching us right now. I mean...they're always watching us but I think what they see in these times is more important than ever. Nuturing our kids' intelligence and character is more important than ever. My kids are 10 now - this picture is about four years old - and they are absorbing EVERYTHING we say, how we say it and even what we don't say. 

This mural is near the suspension bridge in downtown Waco. Waco is famous for all the Magnolia things but there's a lot there for families, too, and the park around the bridge is a great place to explore along the Brazos River. 

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#raisinggoodhumans #raisingboys
Here’s something you’ve probably never seen be Here’s something you’ve probably never seen before: my bottom teeth.
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I always hide my crooked bottom teeth in pictures and I’m super self-conscious when I talk. So I did something about it.
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I wore braces as a kid and my top teeth are straight but my bottom teeth are shifting and one tooth is traveling into the back of my mouth and I have some crowding. My orthodontist said it’s very unusual to put braces on just half your mouth but my bite is still aligned so they didn’t have to put them on my top teeth - my wallet is thankful.
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Questions I’ve already been asked:
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1️⃣ At your age? Yes, at my age. I still care about my smile. 
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3️⃣ How long do you have to wear them?
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6-9 months.
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3️⃣ Do they hurt? 
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My teeth are sore and my mouth is tender but not to the Tylenol level so I guess the answer is “Not too much.”
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Other questions? Advice?
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#braceface #adultbraces
Little things can really be big - do you agree? M Little things can really be big - do you agree?

My husband gets up with our kids twice a week and does their breakfast and morning routine and takes them to school so I can sleep in. I don't laze away the morning in bed - it usually amounts to about an extra hour of sleep for me and a little more peace and quiet as I start my day. 

This probably seems like a little thing but this is huge for me. The mental benefits of not having to set my alarm on a schoolday is truly my love language. I would rather have sleep than flowers or presents. 

On those morning where my husband takes my kids to school, I will inevitably find the kitchen not "just so." There will be spills on the table or something that didn't get put away. I resist the urge to be sarcastic or to ask "Um, is there a reason we have four boxes of cereal just sitting on the counter?" or point out that it would take less than 30 seconds to wipe a tabletop or put a box back on the shelf. I resist saying stuff like "I guess if I want it done a certain way, I have to do it myself." I don't even say that to myself. 

My husband isn't "doing me a favor" by taking care of our kids. When I talked about being stressed and tired during an argument last year, he offered to take some things off my plate and giving me two mornings where I don't have to set an alarm was one of his ideas. It's part of the give and take of marriage and even though it makes me clench a little when I see spilled milk or stuff that hasn't put away, I appreciate having a partner who shares the load with me. 

My marriage definitely is not perfect and I'm in no position to give relationship advice. But for us, this one little thing is a really big deal. 

And, as I've recently discovered, a cereal box can sit on the counter for several days and the world doesn't explode. Who knew.

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