Cooking is my stress release after FT work and two very small humans and I’ve recently got into budget cooking and pantry/freezer meals.
So can we share our top Fridge-is-empty recipes JUST with freezer and pantry goods? Here are the ones I have recently made :
- Fishy rice with herb-crusted cod: Rice tossed up with canned tuna in garlic oil. Frozen white fish fillets baked then topped with mix of dried herbs, minced garlic, breadcrumbs and crisped for 3 mins before eating.
- Keema Curry and pilau rice: Rice made in rice cooker with stock cube, whole cinnamon, bay leaf, cardamom, cloves and pinch of sugar. Frozen mince and red lentils in equal parts with cubed potatoes and with usual curry spices and onion garlic ginger paste to make the keema. Was Delish.
- Chicken casserole: with frozen chicken portions, tinned carrots, tinned baby potatoes, stock cube, onions and garlic. Bay leaf. Served with mash.
- Chilli! Frozen mince, canned tomatoes, plenty spices, extra oomph from ancho chilli flakes. Rice jazzed up by cooking in beef stock.
- South Indian fish curry with pilau rice: Frozen fish pie mix, can of coconut milk, usual curry paste base with onion garlic ginger trio but with curry leaves and mustard seeds instead of bay leaves and cumin to make distinctly South Indian. Pilau rice as above.
What I’m finding is we are wasting less fresh food in case too tired to cook or don’t fancy whatever was planned to be cooked as fish/meat is frozen and won’t go off if plans changed. Also spending far far far less. Valuing spare fridge space to store actual cooked meals in boxes for yummy lunch next day.
Ooh also - Daal is an easy one, also Egg Curry (just substituting boiled eggs with the mince/lentils in Keema recipe above). That’s it I think?
Do others want to add their cheap eats focusing on pantry and store cupboard? Particularly keen to see if possible to do East Asian flavours this way as I love Chinese Vietnamese and Korean stuff but super aware that the pastes and ingredients need to be fresh if making from scratch - but hey - what are packet mixes for if not this!