Pasta, jarred sauce, and frozen meatballs.

Trader Joe's orange chicken (freezer), rice, and whatever fresh green veg we have (usually broccoli but there's always something because my kid likes raw broccoli, snap peas, snow peas in his lunch).

TJs frozen meals, mostly frozen filled pastas and gyoza.

canned tomatoes, chickpeas, coconut milk and basmati rice for a quick chana masala.

eggs, potatoes, and whatever veg we have on hand for scrambles.

pasta, parmesan, and milk for cacio e pepe.

In a pinch, I rely on Indian, Thai or Italian food.

For that, I always have the shelf staple food in bulk. If I did not have to touch the fridge, I will still have the following in my pantry -
Rice - Basmati rice, short grain rice, risotto rice, flattened rice
Lentils and beans - at least 9-10 varieties of beans and lentils
Whole wheat flour, chickpea flour, millet flour, all purpose flour, almond flour
Whole spices - cumin, coriander, turmeric, red pepper, black pepper, bay leaves, cardamom, and many others.
Fats - Ghee, olive oil, mustard oil, canola oil, grapeseed oil, coconut oil, sesame oil
Noodles, pasta, varieties of ramen from around the world
Fried shallots, various soups and broths, dried milk, condensed milk, tea, coffee, sugar, molasses, brown sugar
Cans - tomato, beans, thai curry base, coconut milk, baby corn, water chestnut, straw mushroom
Cold storage in basement - onions, potatoes, ginger, garlic, galangal, turmeric, sweet potatoes, Okinawa purple yams, pumpkins and squash.

I don’t let us run out of bread or peanut butter. I also have frozen goods from Trader Joe’s.

black beans and rice

Anonymous wrote:Trader Joes frozen food, in the freezer.

+1

I find the freezer much more useful for this. The pantry is fine for grains but canned veg is disgusting.
I can make shrimp scampi in 15 minutes using pasta and stuff from freezer. I alway keep frozen garlic and frozen basil cubes in freezer in case I’m out of fresh.

Rice and bean bowls are another that mostly works from pantry but I would want fresh cheese and chopped tomatos, at least.

Chickpeas
Artichoke bottoms
Trader Joe’s bruschetta sauce
Lavash or pita or naan in freezer

Anonymous wrote:Can't really imagine what meals you could concoct from that last. A jar of sauce to use with the pasta? Mayo for some tuna salad?

OP: We don't use canned sauce or mayo. From this list, we usually make pasta with capers and anchovies, bean/veggie tostadas, open face sandwiches, salads/fried rice/couscous with whatever veggies/eggs are left in the fridge. But as I said, we are in a rut. What do you keep in your pantry as staples for quick meals?

Silken tofu
Furikake
Seaweed
Ramen
Udon

Anonymous wrote:Can't really imagine what meals you could concoct from that last. A jar of sauce to use with the pasta? Mayo for some tuna salad?

Agree with this! We also always have yeast packets, parmesan cheese, and jarred tomato sauce to whip up a quick pizza and lasagna noodles to whip up one layered easy baked lasagna. For dessert, my DH is fit/muscular and eats non-stop. We usually have a cake or brownie mix for his sweet tooth.

For kid friendly meals - frozen salmon, pierogies and/or ravioli, tofu, canned beans, quick cook brown rice.

Trader Joes frozen food, in the freezer.

Can't really imagine what meals you could concoct from that last. A jar of sauce to use with the pasta? Mayo for some tuna salad?

I have the same meals that I gravitate towards to, and am looking for some new ideas.

We keep:
Anchovies, tuna in olive oil, smoked canned fish
Capers, pickled jalapenos, pickled veggies, pickles
Canned black and pinto beans, tostada rounds
Pasta
Instant couscous
Sushi rice