Dinners To Make With Basic Ingredients

Whenever I write about saving money on groceries or shopping once a month, I get questions about whether I meal plan. The short answer is sort of.

If you are envisioning meal planning as an entire calendar of meals with ingredient lists to match, the answer is no. I’ve always felt like I should be this organized, but I eventually realized that they way I am doing it is working out pretty well, so there is no need to make things more complicated than they need to be.

-Evaluate my pantry at the beginning of the month to see what meals I could make with what I already have. A well-stocked pantry is typically not ever empty, even with only shopping once a month. There are always things I could make if I’m a little creative.

-Shop with a list of meals in mind. I have go-to meals, as I’m sure alot of people do. The foundation of my grocery list is always to restock ingredients for those basic meals.

-Write down an actual list of meals we could make this month, and post it on the refrigerator. This helps me remember what I planned for, and it also helps my husband with options on the nights he makes dinner (though he often comes up with something that wasn’t even on my list with the ingredients we have on hand).

-Decisions are made each day. I don’t always know how each day will go, especially with homeschooling my kids. On an easy homeschool day, I will have more time to work on dinner. On a challenging day, I will choose a quicker, easier option.

-Make use of leftovers. We often eat the same dinner two nights of the week if we made enough for leftovers (and if no one already at them at lunch).

These meal ideas are based around our family’s basic ingredient list that I shared in my article on once-a-month grocery shopping. I am including my list again here.

Basic Ingredient List

• Frozen chicken

• Frozen sausages or meatballs

• Ground beef (when we don’t have game in the freezer)

• Cheese

• Bread

• Cereal

• Oatmeal

• Rice

• Beans (canned or dry)

• Canned vegetables

• Lentils or quinoa

• Noodles

• Pasta sauces

• Broth

• Tortillas

• Frozen Vegetables

• Frozen Fruit

• *Some Fresh Produce

• Peanut Butter

• Canned jams/jellies

• Honey

• Sugar

• Flour

• Eggs

• Butter

• Olive Oil/Coconut Oil

• Vinegar

• Milk

• Sour cream

• Yogurt

• Cottage Cheese

• Nuts

• Raisins

• Craisins

• Chocolate Chips

Your basic ingredients may look a little different than mine, but hopefully this gets your wheels turning! Not everything I buy is a basic ingredient, of course, so in my meal section below, I will put an asterisk next to any items not covered in my basic ingredient list.

I will sometimes list spices, but I am not counting them as part of my basics list or a special ingredient, because I assume most of you also have a robust spice cabinet that only occasionally needs restocking. Though my basic list includes items we use for breakfast, lunches, and baked goods, I am only sharing dinner ideas here. In our house we have 4-5 basic breakfasts and 4-5 basic lunches that we repeat - most days breakfast and lunch aren’t whole separate meals that I make.

If you have something against carbs, this section might not be helpful to you, but our family loves pasta. It’s filling, it’s often a very quick meal to make, and it’s generally inexpensive.

Spaghetti - A classic that we eat at least twice a month! Ingredients: dried noodles, canned sauce, meatballs or sausage or ground beef.

Alfredo - Another quick and easy meal that we eat often. Ingredients: dried noodles, canned sauce, frozen chicken breasts.

Spaghetti Pie - A meal that feels like a cross between spaghetti and lasagna. Ingredients: dried noodles, canned sauce, ground beef, eggs, cottage cheese, parmesan cheese*.

Pesto Pasta - We make this various ways, depending on time and what is left in our pantry. Ingredients: dried noodles, jar of pesto*, bell peppers, frozen chicken breasts or frozen shrimp*, olive oil.

Chicken Noodle Soup - This soup requires special noodles, but it’s very tasty and simple. Ingredients: Grandma’s frozen egg noodles*, broth, chicken breasts, carrots, spices.

Homemade Mac and Cheese - My son loves making this, and we have it for a whole meal sometimes. Ingredients: Noodles, milk, flour, spices, onions, broth, cheese, possibly bacon*.

Creamy Tortellini Soup - This is a more special meal for us, typically, but I often have various ingredients in my pantry already. Ingredients: Broth, milk or half and half, frozen peas, frozen tortellini*, sausage or cubed ham*, spices.

Rice is a staple, and I have one favorite quinoa meal in the list as well - it’s my goal to find other meals to make with quinoa.

Sweet and Sour Chicken - This is my husband’s specialty, and though it takes a little time, it’s worth it! Ingredients: rice, frozen chicken breasts, sugar or honey, corn starch*, soy sauce*, white vinegar, frozen vegetables.

Curry - Curry always seemed intimidating to me, but it’s actually fairly simple to make. Ingredients: rice, frozen chicken breasts, broth, curry powder*, spices, canned tomatoes/tomato paste, onions, minced garlic*, fresh ginger*, fresh or frozen vegetables.

Chicken and Rice Casserole - Another meal my husband often makes. Ingredients: rice, frozen chicken breasts, broth, cheese, cream of mushroom soup*, vegetables, spices.

Barbecue Meatballs And Rice - This may sound like a weird meal, but it’s often something I make myself for lunch and occasionally for the rest of the family. Ingredients: Rice, frozen meatballs, barbecue sauce*, vegetables if desired.

Greek Quinoa Bowls - This is a more special meal for us, but it’s always a hit! Ingredients: quinoa, frozen chicken breasts, greek seasoning mix*, olive oil, sun-dried tomatoes*, greek olives*, cucumbers, tomatoes, feta cheese*, homemade tzatziki sauce (yogurt, cucumbers, minced garlic*, vinegar, mint*).

We love Mexican food in our house, and we eat some variation multiple times a month! However, there are some other legume-based meals we love to make too.

Burritos - A favorite, and can be fancier or simpler based on what you have. Ingredients: Canned refried beans or homemade refried beans (dried beans, water, bacon grease*, cheese), cheese, tortillas, green chili sauce*, sour cream, guacamole*.

Basic Tacos - Once again, a meal that can be as elaborate or simple as your budget allows. Tacos are great because you can also make so many variants depending on what you have. Ingredients: tortillas or taco shells*, ground beef, spices, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, sour cream, guacamole*.

Fajitas - I need a little more time to make fajitas than other Mexican food, but it still uses mostly basic items. Ingredients: tortillas, frozen chicken breast, spices, olive oil, cheese, green chili sauce*, sour cream, guacamole*.

Ham and Bean Soup - I made this with our leftover Christmas ham bone one year, and it’s been a family favorite since - no ham bone required unless you happen to have one handy. Ingredients: dried bean mix, diced ham*, frozen vegetable mix.

Red Lentil Stew - We came across this soup in an Instant Pot booklet, and it’s a quick and simple meal. Ingredients: broth, canned tomatoes, red lentils, red peppers, vinegar, spices, canned beans if desired.

Other meals that we have semi-regularly.

BLTs - It’s a classic! I will try to have something for a side with this, since it’s a light meal. Ingredients: Bread, lettuce, tomato, bacon*.

Barbecue Chicken Sandwiches - We cook the chicken in the crockpot, then shred it, and it’s a very easy meal. Ingredients: Frozen chicken breasts, barbecue sauce*, bread, pickles*, sometimes homemade coleslaw on the side (bagged slaw mix, mayonnaise*, vinegar, spices).

Chili - I have a very simple chili recipe that is always a hit! Ingredients: chili spice mix, canned chili beans, ground beef, canned tomatoes, canned black beans.

African Peanut Stew - We love this soup, and usually eat it with biscuits. Ingredients: Sweet potatoes, broth, tomato paste*, peanut butter, peppers, onions, ginger*, sour cream, rice.

Baked Potatoes - I guess I don’t think every dinner has to have a meat in it, because sometimes we’ll just have baked potatoes as a whole meal. Ingredients: Potatoes, cheese, sour cream, spices, butter, vegetables for the side.

Pot Roast - This one is slightly cheating, because I don’t buy roasts, we often use our game meat for this. Ingredients: deer or elk roast, barbecue sauce, worchestire sauce*, vinegar, spices, potatoes.

Potato Soup - This is a special meal that we often have on Christmas, but we also eat it multiple times every winter. Ingredients: Potatoes, cubed ham*, milk, broth, spices, potato flakes, vinegar.

Eggs and Toast - We love breakfast-for-dinner. Ingredients: Eggs, butter, bread.

Biscuits and Gravy - Another breakfast for dinner that we love. Ingredients: flour, salt, butter, country gravy mix*, sausage.

I know I’ll keep thinking of meals to add to this list, but hopefully you get the idea from this sampling. Alot of these meals are not very time consuming, and mostly use the basic ingredients that I stock my pantry with monthly.

I try to use the overlapping ingredients when making my grocery and meal lists - if I’m buying ham one month, I’ll buy enough to make multiple ham meals, for example. Certain things are always in my pantry, like bulk-size spices, and I just restock as we get low. Some months I need to buy all basic ingredient items, but often certain ingredients are semi-monthly purchases. Almost all of these meals come out to only $1-2 per person because of how I save money on groceries.