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What's some easy recipes that only use non-perishables?

I'm getting really tired of my food expiring before I make anything with it, and I want to quit buying anything that can't be frozen or last several months in the cupboard.

68 comments
  • Here's one that's lazy, pretty much foolproof, and uses all canned food from the pantry. (If you know what it's called, good for you.)

    1. Add oil to stockpot, put in anchovies, dried red pepper, and garlic, fry it up a little bit until it smells good.
    2. Add in a can of crushed tomatoes, drained olives, and caper. Boil, then simmer.
    3. Cook some spaghetti to al dente(approximately 6-7 minute, SALT THE WATER, DON'T OIL THE WATER)
    4. Drain the pasta and mix into sauce, add olive oil and Parmesan to taste, serve.
    • Seems like a pretty good dish, I'll have time to try it some time. Thanks for the suggestion!

    • Oh yes! Puttanesca is the only time I'll eat anchovies. This is a tasty dish.

  • Beans and rice, and dry spices, countless varieties of beans and even rice will keep the dish from feeling stale and samey.

  • Canned milk, jarred tomato sauce or pesto, pasta, frozen vegetables, frozen shrimp or chicken. Cheese lasts a while and you can put it in the freezer if you don't care about texture (such as for cheese sauce). Whole wheat pasta is a while grain and decently healthy and significantly more filling than white pasta. You can make white sauce or mac and cheese with the canned milk.

    Most meat can be frozen when packaged without fair (look for tubes instead of flat packages). Flash frozen vegetables are pretty good. You can also portion and package meats for the freezer yourself, it just takes a while and you may want to get a vacuum sealer.

    Dry whole grains and dry beans or legumes are the good basis for vegetarian diets, and together will make a whole protein. Just don't forget B12 or also eat meat. Both whole grains and legumes go bad after about a year on the shelf but will last much longer in the fridge or freezer (depending on how bulk you are buying). Oils will also go rancid eventually, especially olive oil or sesame, I keep those in the fridge too but they will last a few years like that.

    I want to note that non-whole grains last longer, such as white rice or white flour, due to the oils and proteins (and most of the nutrients) removed.

    Soups and stews can be made in advance, portioned for a few meals and frozen. You can use meat, beans, canned tomato for chili. Lentil soup doesn't always need much else aside from stock and seasoning.

    If you make or buy fresh bread, you can let it completely cool, then slice it, then put it in as air tight a bag as you can and freeze it. This is great for toast but not as great for sandwiches. You can do the same with bagels, defrosting them in the microwave until still cold and then put them in the toaster. Frozen bagels make for decent sandwiches, maybe because they are already supposed to be chewy.

    A soup portion with a side of grain or bread is pretty filling and delicious.

    You can probably freeze Burger buns and treat them as I've described bagels, using them for burgers. Pickles are jarred and last a long time in the fridge.

    "American cheese" lasts a very long time in the fridge. Unwashed eggs lasts about a month out of the fridge and a few months in the fridge. Use some frozen sausage for breakfast sandwiches.

    Frozen vegetables usually have a slightly cooked texture, so cooking them is better. Roasted broccoli or cauliflower from frozen is pretty good. Served with a side of beans and rice with a baked chicken breast from frozen and that's a big delicious healthy meal. Don't forget to season and maybe use hot sauce.

    • Thank you! That's so much useful info! I'm definitely saving this comment for later.

  • Vegetarian chili. Chick peas, various beans, tomatoes, and a jar of spaghetti sauce. Get some frozen precut onions and sweet corn, or whatever you're into. Good standby meal, takes 20 minutes to put everything together and it tastes even better left over.

    Season with garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, and chili powder. Add a little brown sugar (or white) as well to cut the acidity.

    • That sounds pretty good! I'll save your comment for later, so I can try it sometime. Thanks for the suggestion!

  • Lentil soup. The only fresh ingredient is the greens (and you can freeze them to use later). The finished soup can be frozen.

    2 cups black beluga lentils (or green French lentils), picked over and rinsed
    1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
    1 large onion, chopped
    1 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
    1 28- ounce can crushed tomatoes
    2 cups water
    3 cups of a big leafy green (chard, kale, etc), rinsed well, deveined, finely chopped

    1. Boil the lentils for 20 minutes, drain and set aside.
    2. Saute the onion until soft
    3. Add everything else except for the greens; bring to a simmer
    4. Stir in the greens and cook for another couple of minutes
    5. Adjust seasoning
    • Looks interesting! Thanks for the suggestion, I'll save the comment so I can try it out someday.

  • Vegetarian chili - canned or dry beans and lentils, tomato sauce, canned veggies if you want. It's versatile enough that you can make it differently every time.

  • You can preserve meats through the ancient method of salting here's an excellent video about how to do it

    Get a dehydrator and some mason jars and look up all the stuff you can dehydrate.

    In general seeds, nuts, dried friuits like raisins, and properly stored grains will last a VERY long time

  • Salsa chicken in the instapot. Frozen chicken, taco seasoning, jar salsa, chicken stock, black beans. Yum.

68 comments