Talk to Tesco about your store cupboard hero and your top three ways to use it - you could win a £200 Tesco voucher NOW CLOSED

[AngelieMumsnet]

We've been asked by Tesco to find out about Mumsnetters' store cupboard heroes.

Here’s what Tesco say, “The Tesco Eat Happy Project is our long-term commitment to help children have a healthier and happier relationship with their food. We’ve got lots of recipes for healthy, tasty dishes that we think they’ll love – especially if they help you prepare them. But we’re keen to hear your recipe ideas too.”

So, what is your store cupboard hero and what are your top 3 ways to use it? Perhaps you always keep pesto in your cupboard, to stir into pasta, pep up a risotto or spread onto pastry to make a savoury puff? Or maybe you like to have lentils in stock, to add to soup, bulk out a stew or make a warm winter salad with?

Whatever your store cupboard hero is, Tesco would love to hear about it!

Everyone who adds their comments to the thread will be entered into a prize draw to win a £200 Tesco voucher.

Please note that any comments posted on this thread may be used by Tesco in further marketing material (anonymously, of course).

Thanks and good luck,
MNHQ

Eggs are my store cupboard hero. I panic when we run low!! Eggs for breakfast (any style)... Egg fried rice, egg ham and chips...

Frozen quorn sausage - I use them to accompany roasts, in casseroles, puff pastry tarts and pasta - they're not too heavy and a healthy alternative. My boys love them :-)

Worcester sauce. Great for adding into stews, tomatoey dishes, or cheese on toast.

Out other staple in this house is spaghetti hoops. We go through tins of the things!

Coconut oil, not only is it meant to be really good for you health but you can use it to cook with, put into cake mixtures, use for curries, sauces….and when you bored of all that it's also great to massage into you're skin when it's really dry!

Instant dried mashed potato. We use it to make low calorie pizza/garlic bread base, cheese scones and also as a sauce thickener to avoid using cornflour.

Passata: -add some cram cheese for a yummy pasta sauce

• with Mediterranean vegetables as a ratatouille

• with milk and some croutons as a comforting soup

Baked beans - they're great on toast, but also fab in spag bol, chilli, stews, jacket potatoes.

I have to say for us it's Baked Beans. My children love them and we use them in casseroles and curries as well as the usual meals like mash or chips. They're high in fibre and plant based proteins as well as B vitamins. They're also filling! We always have a few tins of beans in there!

Definitely some of the same contenders as others have mentioned, but the first thing I thought of was baked beans. I don't really like them myself but they are great for a quick supper as something like beans on toast +/- cheese or baked potatoes +/- cheese (hmm, better add cheese to that list), along with adding them into bolognese sauce or chilli.

Stock cubes - they pack in a lot of flavour and add 'body' to so many meals, soups, sauces, gravies + + + I wouldn't be without them in my cupboard.

Anchovies! ( I think I may be addicted to them!) chopped with lemon zest, garlic & broccoli to serve with pasta, mashed with olives & basil to make a tapenade which can be spread on salmon and baked, chopped over green beans before baking.....endless ways of adding a bit of extra flavour.

Eggs

I use them hard boiled in salads
Home made Quiche
And love French toast, plenty more but you only asked for three.

Tinned carrots. I use just on their own, make a carrot and lentil soup or throw them in a bolognaise sauce. It's one of the few vegetables my DC will eat without complaint.

Essential porridge oats - use them in crumble topping, to make porridge & add them to yogurts etc. Very good for your health.

Rice for risottos, as a side dish or as rice pudding

Red lentils - I cook with onions and garlic, a tin of tomatoes and a pinch of chilli powder to make a pasta sauce. Left overs get reheated with a vegetable stock cube to make soup for the lunches.

It gets used for filling out veggie lasagnes, and goes into stews and currys to bulk them out and reduce the amount of meat we eat.

Tuna cans.

Tuna + sweetcorn + salad
Tuna + sweetcorn + mayo + salad + bread (when I'm more hungry lol)
Tuna + tomato + eggs

It has to be tinned tomatoes they are so versatile and are a instant go-to for many meals!

Mine would be Vanilla! I bake so much and it can be used in so many bakes; just adds that little bit of extra flavour that can make all the difference. Some recipes I use it in are Key Lime Pie, Cheesecakes, Brownies, Crème Brulee, and a personal favourite of mine, Marshmallows! Nothing beats those marshmallows

Eggs!
Versatile for breakfast lunch dinner and desserts. When my newest brood of hens went off lay I almost had to buy some in store. I didn't realise how much I used them.
Today, for example we'll have, egg and bacon muffins, roast beef with Yorkshire puddings, then bread and butter pudding.

If I forget to get something out of the freezer in the morning, omelette for tea, if I run out of sandwich fillings, egg and cress for lunch, if I have a little left over chilli, bolognaise, ham, it's simple to knock up some fresh pasta for tortellini using up the leftovers.

It has to be Baked Beans for me! With baked potato & cheese, with toast, or with mash, yum! :)

chickpeas. i can make hummous, mixed bean casserole in the slowcooker, or just put them in a lunchtime salad.

Good old boring baked beans for me. Great as they are on toast or jackets, but really step up to the plate ('scuse pun), when added to stews/casseroles/sheperd's pie/curry/bolognese etc. A healthy and cheap way of making dinner go further.

Cumin - add it to chilli, curries and stew - love it

Boringly mine is tinned tomatoes too.

I use them in sauces, curries, as part of a quick meal (I.e. bacon and tomatoes). They can be wizzed up to use on pizzas, in the slow cooker to make a quick stew with some pork and chorizo loads of uaes