What to Make for Dinner When the Cupboard is Bare
There is an indescribable exhaustion that comes from standing in front of a nearly empty pantry after a long day when you still need to feed yourself or your family.
At that moment, a meal plan or pantry organization will not answer the question or make you feel less tired. So what do you do when you have no food and going to the store is not an option?
Stop and Breathe
Take a moment to stop, breathe, and identify the problem.
Are you really out of food, or do you have a collection of random things in the pantry and fridge and no idea how to turn them into dinner? Maybe you have food, but you’re struggling to figure out how to make it stretch. Maybe you don’t have the energy to stand over a stove after a long day. Maybe you have a picky eater in the house who won’t eat half of what you have.
And yes, it’s ok if the picky eater is you.
If you can find a few random things to work with, you’re in luck; we can work through this together.
Start with the Ideal Formula:
Protein + Healthy Carb + Fat with a Bonus fruit or veggie
Think of these as building blocks rather than rules.
Protein is needed to build muscle and keep you full.
Carbohydrates provide your body with energy. When you have the choice, higher fiber carbohydrates can provide more sustained energy.
Fat helps absorb certain nutrients and can help keep you satisfied between meals.
Fruits and veggies add fiber, vitamins, and minerals to your meals.
If you don’t have all four pieces - don’t worry. I said that was the ideal formula, not the reality.
If all you have is a can of beans and some rice, you can make that into a base meal. If you have peanut butter and oatmeal, that’s a great dinner. If you’ve got pasta, canned tomatoes, and nothing else, that can work.
The goal isn’t to make a perfect meal. The goal is to eat.
Start with what you have
What you make will depend on what you have and how willing you are to eat it. Everything listed here is meant to give ideas - not recipes you have to follow exactly. If you don’t have one of the ingredients but like the flavor combination, see if you can substitute it with something you do have. Leave it out. Change it completely. Maybe one of these combinations will give you an idea for something you didn’t think of.
These are not recipes. These are building blocks.
Rice+beans+oil+canned tomatoes (rice and beans)
Rice+canned chicken+canned veggies+oil (chicken and rice bowl)
Pasta+canned tuna+peas+mayo (tuna pasta salad)
Oatmeal+peanut butter+canned/fresh fruit (peanut butter oatmeal)
Potatoes+beans+cheese (semi-loaded potatoes)
Tortilla+beans+cheese+canned tomatoes (bean quesadilla)
Pasta+beans+tomatoes+oil (pantry pasta)
Potato flakes for thickening+canned corn undrained+canned potato+chicken fresh, frozen or canned+broth or water(potato and corn chowder)
Be Creative. Be weird.
Don’t be afraid to mix categories.
Rice doesn’t have to be paired with chicken. Beans don’t have to go with tortillas. Oatmeal doesn’t have to be sweet. Canned veggies don't have to be a side dish. You don’t have to make a ‘normal’ meal to create something special.
I’m not sure if the combinations below have names. Some of them probably have a proper recipe somewhere, and some of them probably shouldn’t. Somehow they work, though.
Canned beans blended into a sauce and served over pasta with veggies
Rice slightly mushy with canned fruit, cinnamon, and peanut butter
Mashed potatoes, canned veggies, and canned chicken
Peanut butter diluted with broth into a sauce served over ramen noodles and canned mixed veggies.
Tuna, green beans, cream of mushroom, topped with cracker crumbs and baked.
Are these fancy? No. Would I serve them at a dinner party? No – well maybe the peanut butter ramen. But I like a slight Thai inspiration. So be prepared if you come to my house.
The point is, if you are hungry and these are the only things you have, you can also have a good dinner.
But what if there really is nothing?
Not “I have food, but I’m tired of eating the same things.” Not “I have ingredients, but I don’t know what to make.”
I mean, you have looked through the pantry, the refrigerator, and the freezer, and there simply isn’t enough food to make anything.
You don’t need another recipe. You need food.
If buying groceries is a struggle, you may qualify for SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), which helps eligible households buy food. WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) provides nutritious foods and nutrition support for eligible pregnant and postpartum women, infants, and young children. There are several other federal programs to assist with food insecurity. Please visit the USDA website for more information.
Please don’t be embarrassed to ask for help. Food pantries, food banks, community meal programs, and food assistance programs exist for exactly this reason.
You don’t have to wait until your cupboard is bare. If you’re looking at what you have and wondering how you’re going to make it through the week, that’s enough reason to look for help.
There are so many places to start. Feeding America Food Finder and 211.org are a few places available in the United States. Even though these are national resources, they can help find local places near you.
You can call the USDA National Hunger Hotline 1-866-3-HUNGRY (1-866-348-6479). Live operators are available in English and Spanish, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. ET, and they help people from all across the States. I actually called them while I was researching resources, and I was connected to a live person very quickly. If you’d rather talk to someone rather than dig through the internet, this might be a good option for you.
One More Thing
If you have something to work with, start there. It doesn’t have to be fancy. It doesn’t have to look Instagram-ready. It just has to get the job done. And hopefully, it will taste good too.
Are you a planner and need a place to sketch your ideas? Click here for a printable to help organize your thoughts.
And if you don’t have enough?
Ask for help.
You deserve to have your needs met. That means eating. Go Eat!
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