Storecupboard cookery

[ThisIsntMeHonestGuv]

In order to get a good balance of storecupboard ingredients, I'm planning to base my stores on what I would want to make. So what are your best storecupboard recipes?

Some ideas I've had are :

Veggie chilli using tinned tomatoes, mixed spicy taco beans, sweetcorn and spices, served with rice. Tinned mince could be added (or fresh obvs)

Pasta in a tomato sauce using garlic and onion granules, cannellini or butter beans and capers or olives. Or a version of aglio y olio.

A version of Jack Munro's kidney bean burgers missing out the carrot if its not available, served with homemade bread.

I’m a rubbish cook but my fave meals from the cupboard are tinned potatoes and tinned mushy peas with super thick gravy or smashed spaghetti boiled in a pan with just a cheap tin of chopped tomatoes, some chilli powder and a tiny bit of water.

Told you I was a bad cook, but a bad cook is usually good at making something just about edible out of nothing, while all the good cooks cry because they ran out of pancetta or something

I'm really new to this topic but am poorly so have been reading it all afternoon!!

We got snowed in last winter & I had thankfully just done a big shop but was very aware had it anowed 2 days earlier we would have really struggled!

I've practised a few 'store cupboard' meals & they've been pretty good.

Vegetable curry made out of tinned butter beans, tomatoes, carrots, peas & curry powder. Served with rice.

Chilli made with kidney beans, tomatoes, chilli powder & a veg stock cube. Served with jacket potatoes.

We're vegetarian & love sausage mix that comes dried, you add water to it & fry it in whatever shape you like, sausages, burgers etc. Serve this with tinned potatoes & baked beans.

Pasta with stir-in sauce

Tinned mushrooms with garlic paste & coconut milk served with rice or pasta.

I've been making a list of things to stock up on!

LOVE this topic

Nice one @JurassicGirl

I've just discovered that hot chocolate, made with the kind of powder you usually use with milk, but using boiling water instead, is actually fine if I add some evaporated milk. TBH I always struggle to finish the can anyway, so I'm glad to find a way to use it up! I wonder if it would work with powdered milk too - I don't fancy the skimmed stuff though, & I'd rather not buy Nido, if possible, as it's a Nestlé brand. Any recommendations for other brands?

UHT oat milk (Oatly) - or UHT Alpro soya 1-3+ if you have children and/or want the added fats/vitamins. Although if you have found one you like that works just with water stick to that and save the milk for other stuff that really needs it :)

Awd, that was how my late father (wartime child) preferred his cocoa, due to rationing of milk when he was young.
If you use decent cocoa powder, you can add hot water, evap plus some sweetener needed. I also tried with condensed milk (thicker and sugar already in), but this is too sweet for me.
Great for camping too!

I might try it with cocoa powder sometime, thanks quince. I have stocked up on cocoa powder already but not hot chocolate (not seen it on offer yet). Got quite a lot of evaporated milk though! If anyone uses the Millicano instant coffee, I've discovered that the plastic caps seem to be the perfect size to cover the top of many tins, good for storing in the fridge.

OMG... have just had cocoa made with boiling water, just a little sugar (I really don't have much of a sweet tooth) & a little evaporated milk. I am now wondering why I've been drinking it with milk for all these years - it's so much nicer like this!

DH & DD have expressed satisfaction with their Galaxy instant hot chocolate. Complete with mini marshmallows. I am living with savages...

Nice field test!

That’s great, Awd. It’s a much more grownup taste, isn’t it?

I gave the dcs some sachet hot choc (Galaxy or Aero) recently - we had bought it when on holiday and not used. It was soooooo sweet and with barely any chocolate taste. Even they couldn’t finish it as they are used to cocoa.
Makes you realise how sweetened and blunted in taste many foods have evolved in modern times. Prepping can be very good for counteracting this!

Idahoan dauphinoise potato mix (from Asda and possibly other supermarkets) has proved better than expected - it's essentially dehydrated potatoes and powdered sauce. I made it with powdered milk and less liquid than the packet advised, but would halve the butter next time.

Curry - mae ploy curry paste (I used massaman), coconut milk, rice, tamarind, pinch of sugar, frozen prawns, tinned / frozen onions, peanuts

I have those potatoes. That curry sounds yummy

Are you veggie? If not try spaghetti with chopped tomatoes, anchovies, Italian seasoning (dried), garlic (I use frozen but you can buy granules) and onions, never tried dehydrated but would work. For a vegan version substitute anchovies for capers.