Quick and Easy 30-Minute Pantry Meal Planning

Shopping your pantry can be both fun and economical. We are currently struggling to keep our grocery budget at $225 a month. So, my food storage area has become ground zero for planning a variety of pantry meals, without leaving the house.

Here’s a look at my tried and true method for pantry meal-planning. Watch the video to see exactly what’s in my pantry right now and how I turn those ingredients into real meals using this simple formula.

Know what you have on hand

You must begin meal planning by knowing exactly what ingredients you have on hand. Organizing your pantry is actually easier and quicker than you might think. I organize my pantry by category, just like a grocery store. Consequently, I can tell you in about five minutes exactly what I have on the shelves.

After I consult my pantry inventory list, I begin meal planning using this formula. It takes me about 30 minutes to plan an entire week’s worth of pantry meals, using this system.

The Four Pantry Meal Planning Categories

I try to combine a starch, vegetables, protein, and a sauce in as many recipes as possible. This insures that I am meeting all of our basic nutritional needs. Since some recipes don’t lend themselves well to combining all four of these benchmarks, I strive to achieve an overall balance.

• Starch
• Vegetables
• Protein
• Sauce

Starches

Starches fill you up and provide energy, since they break down to glucose in our system. In general, you should try to focus on the whole food version of starches.

For instance, brown rice, which has not been stripped of the nutrient-dense outer shell, contains more fiber than its white counterpart. Fiber allows you body to more slowly digest the sugars in a starch, helping you maintain more consistent blood sugar levels. However, white rice has a much longer and more stable shelf life.

Let’s look at oats. Whole oat groats, the entire oat kernel minus the husk, will fill you up and are an example of a whole grain. When the groat is steamed and pressed, it becomes old fashioned oats. Finally, when it is cut into small pieces, it is the quick oats version of the exact same grain.

I find it wise to keep many forms of starches on hand, dating the outside of the package to insure that I know how long it’s been on the shelf.

Here are some examples of starches that I keep in stock:

• rice
• noodles
• pasta
• oatmeal
• quinoa
• tortillas
• millet
• barley
• couscous
• bulgur wheat

Vegetables

Balancing starchy with non-starchy vegetables gives you a wider array of nutrients and also a greater variety of colors, tastes, and textures.

Non-starchy vegetables are lower in calories, while starchy vegetables provide more carbs, calories, and protein. Both are important to maintaining health.

The rule of thumb in our home is that we try to “eat the rainbow.” Our plates look colorful and contain a greater ratio of vegetables to grains.

Common pantry non-starchy vegetables include:

• green beans
• asparagus
• carrots
• tomatoes
• spinach
• green chiles
• beets
• mushrooms (although they not classed as a vegetable).

Common pantry starchy vegetables include:

• peas
• corn
• sweet potatoes
• yams
• pumpkin

Protein

Protein builds muscles, repairs cells, and balances hormones. When it comes to pantry meals, the least expensive protein is plant-based, which is generally what you will find in my pantry. Not only does plant-based protein provide a boatload of fiber (keeping you full, longer), it’s also incredibly cost effective.

If you are using traditional canned protein sources, like tuna or salmon, remember to add other ingredients to stretch it to feed more people. Yes, I speak from experience. My mama could feed six of us using a single can of salmon.

Common sources of protein found in your pantry include:

• Beans
• lentils
• garbanzo bean flour
• quinoa
• chia seeds
• nuts
• Canned tuna
• Canned Chicken
• Spam
• Canned Salmon
• Other canned meats

Sauce

The perfect sauce can begin with items from your pantry. This is the time to open your spice cabinet and explore the difference that they can make to your menus.

Simple, easy, tasty sauces can be made from:

• Peanut butter
• marinara sauce
• tahini
• barbecue sauce
• mustard
• ketchup
• salsa
• soy sauce
• hot sauce
• flavored vinegars
• extracts
• worcestershire sauce
• Cooked white beans, blended with liquid and spices

Take your dishes from a “3” to a “10”

Generate interest and add excitement to your meals with these last-minute, flavor-popping, additions.

• “Zing”
• Sweet/Sour
• Crunch

Zing

Your palate automatically gravitates to a balance of sweet with savory. A “zing” ingredient adds a tangy splash of flavor to pantry meals. Often, these are added at the last minute before serving.

Depending on how you’ve designed your meal thus far, consider adding:

• olives
• a handful of dried fruit
• roasted red peppers
• sun-dried tomatoes

Sweet and Sour

In terms of cooking, there are five basic flavor profiles: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami (savory). Each is important in its own right.

Our body associates sour food with the presence of an acid, an important precursor to the process of digestion, while sweet sensations indicate carbs, the source of energy. Scientists explain that balancing all five basic flavors not only gives our food variety, it’s important for our overall health.

Check these foods for sweet or sour flavors:

• pineapple (in natural juice)
• canned pears (in natural juice)
• lemon juice
• lime juice
• flavored vinegars

Crunch

These trimmings should add not only flavor, but also texture. A little goes a long way. Crumble, crunch, smash, and add them to the top of the dish before placing it in the oven.

• nuts
• bread crumbs
• cracker crumbs
• corn flakes
• corn or potato chips
• chow mein noodles
• French fried onions
• quinoa

On-Line Recipe Help

Here is a list of some of the most helpful websites that I have found to match recipes up with your available ingredients.

• Fridge to Table – allows you to search a huge recipe base by ingredients and dietary preference.
• All Recipes – It’s seriously hard to beat this site. Not only does it have a huge variety of recipes, they have also been extensively reviewed by real people who have tried the recipes. You’ll often find substitution and alternate suggestions in the review section.
• Tasty – This site is responsible for those really fun, short food videos that often show up in your Facebook feed.
• Forks over Knives – This website was spawned from the wildly popular documentary by the same name. It’s searchable by ingredient and offer a downloadable app. I’ve liked every single recipe I’ve ever made from the website.
• The Spruce Eats – It’s a cooking school, recipe repository, and guide to healthy eating and living all rolled into one website. It’s extensive and definitely worth a look.

Get the kids involved

Balance

The final step of the process for pantry meals is to look at your finished menu plan. Is it boring? Does it have enough color, variety, tastes, textures? No one wants to eat pasta, burgers, or rice 7 nights a week. Remember, by eating more colorful food, you insure that you have a greater variety of nutrients to fuel your body and your immune system. Have you over-planned or under-planned? This is the time that you can look at the pantry supplies, once again, and make any last minute changes before posting the weekly menu plan on your fridge.