Feeling time-poor? Money-poor? Enthusiasm-poor? Yep, yep and yep.
We know the feeling you’re juggling babies, kids, emotions, half drunk bottles of wine, the last thing you need is to be thinking about is what’s for dinner. With a well-stocked store cupboard dinner is always sorted.
Here’s the 15 store cupboard essentials that mean you will ALWAYS have dinner sussed:
1. Tins of whole peeled tomatoes
Cannot live without these for obvious reasons; curries, pasta sauces, tagine, soup the possibilities are endless…
2. Jar of anchovies
Anchovies can be divisive – personally I would just gobble them from the jar though anyone who professes to hate them can usually be tricked into enjoying them. Take The Man for example: He claims to hate them and yet can be found ooohhhinh and ahhhing over any pasta sauce or salad dressing that I secretly add chopped anchovies to. Jokes on you buddy.
3. Dried or tinned beans and pulses
They never go off and they bulk out a family dinner with minimal extra cost or effort. Huzzah.
4. Ground spices
My spice shelf/cupboard is OUT OF CONTROL but if you want to pair back to simply a spice rack then the most useful spices in my book are cumin, coriander, chilli, cinnamon, nutmeg, turmeric, paprika … I could go on and on but these ones will get you started.
5. Sugar
Even if it’s kind of being pilloried at the moment, sugar is still incredibly useful… ya know, for making things sweet.
6. Flour
Buy plain flour instead of self-raising flour as plain flour (mixed with baking powder) can do all the things self-raising flour can, but self-raising can not be used as a substitute for plain flour. HINT: Make self-raising flour with 1 cup plain flour and 1 teaspoon baking powder.
7. Dried Yeast
Pizza, bread, did we mention pizza?
8. Capers and olives
These two are flavour heavy hitters and are brilliant in salads, sauces and a dry martini.
9. Mustard
Use it in sauces, salad dressing and smeared on sandwiches.
10. Oil and Vinegar
Essential for making lettuce edible (among other things).
11. Dried herbs
Dried herbs don’t necessarily substitute for fresh but stirred through a sauce, sprinkled over home made bread or incorporated into home made meatballs or burgers, they definitely bring a flavour hit to the party.
12. Pasta/rice
Store cupboard stalwarts I think we can all agree. Sometimes I forget about what a great bang for your buck the humble grain of rice can be, use it for curries. fried rice, kedgeree, rice pudding, risotto *draw breath*
13. Tahini
Tahini is something I CANNOT live without. Tahini and apricot jam on toast is a great alternative to the traditional peanut butter and jam combo, or mix 1 teaspoon of tahini with a little crushed garlic, lemon juice, salt and water for a moreish dip or salad dressing.
14. Tomato paste
I lob tomato paste into virtually every pasta sauce I ever make. It’s also the central ingredient for my supremely lazy, no-cook, cheats pizza sauce.
15. Frozen Asian-style veg
Not strictly a store cupboard item as it does require freezing but frozen veg is an absolute winner in the kitchen. I buy frozen Asian-style veg as the mix works equally well in stir-fries and curries.
For clever hints and tips to getting the most from your ingredients check out 10 kitchen hacks to keep food fresh and save you money.
