Olives, roasted red peppers, raisins and canned tomatoes and you can make a pretty good approximate picadillo.

Sesame oil and rice wine vinegar, and pre shredded slaw and you can make egg roll in a bowl.

Precooked rice packets, any meat, any vegetable, and soy sauce/oyster sauce and chili oil and you can make fried rice.

Keeping the ingredients on hand to make Cajun seasoning, Italian seasoning, or taco seasoning. Sprinkle it over a sheet pan dinner with oil.

I nearly always have the ingredients for frittatas or egg bakes (eggs, cheese, mustard, veg, herbs, some meat).

When its tomato season i always have capers and red wine vinegar for salads or panzanella.

Canned dolmas and hummus ingredients.

My backup quick meal is pasta and meatballs.

I make my own meatballs, used to be a beef/pork blend but now I make them from chicken or tuna. I freeze them so I always have some ready to go.

Having tried a bunch of brands both cheaper and much more expensive, my jarred pasta sauce of choice is Mezzetta’s roasted garlic. It’s simple sweet and oh so garlicky!

There is always a wedge of Parmesan cheese in the fridge.

Pantry Only (like a bunker challenge) you can make corn chowder with broth, cream style corn, corn, and evaporated milk. A bonus is potatoes and onion fresh, but you could cube up canned potatoes and use dehydrated onion.

Anonymous wrote:We have two backup emergency boxes of Kraft Mac & Cheese in the pantry at all times.

,+2

And a box of spaghetti and marinara

Eggs, rice and Spam. Yes, Spam. Slice and fry. There is even turkey Spam.

Pancakes and hash browns. Breakfast for dinner.

Can of San Marzano tomato sauce, onion and butter. Marcella Hazan’s tomato sauce is the best in a pinch.

We always have some form of pasta and rice
TJ frozen food
Frozen bbq pork bao buns (I make in large batches and freeze)
Frozen fish (I can't remember the brand but its preseasoned and doesn't need much time in the oven)
Always seem to have frozen batches of soup
Various frozen veggies

Chickpeas
Coconut milk
Diced/crushed/whole peeled tomatoes
Black/pinto/kidney beans
Diced green chilies
Onions, garlic, ginger
Peanut butter
Rice noodles
Jarred pesto
Soy sauce
Fish sauce
Tamarind sauce
Tortillas
Tofu
Lemon/lime juice
Frozen pastas
Frozen roasted corn

Giant bag of Costco meatballs in the freezer
Veggie burgers in the freezer
Quesadillas - always have cheese, beans and tortillas, frequently have spinach

Pantry - make cous cous or quinoa (tastes better if made in chicken broth, always have bouillon on hand), dump in can of diced tomatoes, cooked sliced kielbasa, spinach (can use frozen/chopped), and sprinkle with parmesean cheese = fast dinner

Pasta, parmesan cheese, and Rao's sauce (always have at least 3 jars). Beans in a pouch, canned tuna in olive oil, tortillas (in the freezer), a few packages of Asian noodles, frozen dumplings, chicken broth, and the frozen truffle pizza from Trader Joe's. And an emergency bag of frozen vegetables.

Ramen noodles, coconut aminos, chili paste, chili crunch. I’m sure you’re way above this with your don’t do jarred sauce, but Rao’s abbarita sauce with banza noodles. I never don’t have fresh veggies though. So I’d add basil and spinach.

Tortillas, sour cream, cheese, salsa is enough to make quesadillas that everybody can enjoy. They all last a good while if they’re not opened. *bonus the ingredients can all be used for other things / consider them staples.

And, if you have extra stuff to add, all the better. Leftover chicken, green onion, guacamole, or beef, veggies.

Anonymous wrote:We have two backup emergency boxes of Kraft Mac & Cheese in the pantry at all times.

Oh yes I usually have chicken nuggets in the freezer and mac n cheese in the pantry too.

I always have spaghetti, sauce, and meatballs in the freezer.
I pretty much always have the ingredients for ziti on hand too.
I always try to keep frozen pizza in the freezer in a pinch.

We have two backup emergency boxes of Kraft Mac & Cheese in the pantry at all times.