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The other day a friend of mine was telling me she recently had company over and needed to make dinner for everyone that was there.

To her relief, she just happened to have everything she needed to make minestrone soup and didn’t have to leave her company to go to the store.

This got me thinking about how great it would be to have certain items on hand so I could be prepared to make dinner unexpectedly should the same situation happen to me. So I put a list together and wanted to also share it with you!

The following are five recipes and the ingredients you need to keep on hand so you are prepared to make one of them should you suddenly need to (and of course you will also then have them on hand should you unexpectedly need a dinner idea because your other dinner plans fell through for whatever reason!).

Most of these recipes do not require meat in case there isn’t time to thaw it. (Of course there are ways to thaw meat quickly and so if that is something you don’t mind doing, then there is a recipe with meat on here for you too :))

And of course, if you just happen to have any of these ingredients fresh, then by all means, use the fresh ones! But because fresh doesn’t usually last too long, there are many frozen and prepared ingredients on this list, such as jarred garlic. (But if you’re anything like us, we almost always have a big bulb of fresh garlic in our pantry.) You can also often improvise with a lot of the ingredients, based on preferences.

If you don’t care for the recipes I found for you then see how you can use your favorite recipes instead! 🙂

I’m going to start with the idea my friend gave me:

Quick Minestrone Soup

I love minestrone soup! It is packed full of vegetables and so delicious. I even have a post with a minestrone recipe for one person because my husband isn’t as big of a fan and so I will often make it for just myself.

Although there are classic recipes with specific vegetables for minestrone soup, you can easily substitute many vegetables for what you happen to already have, whether fresh or frozen.

What you need on hand:

1/4 cup olive oil
1 bag frozen chopped onions
Jar of garlic (4 cloves worth)
Frozen kale (or spinach if you prefer although I often don’t use either in my minestrone soup)
1 lb bag frozen Italian vegetables
1 14.5 oz can petite diced tomatoes in juice
1 cup of your choice of pasta
1 19 oz can cannellini beans
Frozen bread sticks or crackers for dipping and/or a side

Substitute fresh bread or rolls for the frozen bread sticks or crackers if you happen to have them.

There are so many other soups that would also work well last minute!

Easy Stir Fry Vegetables

Stir fry is another meal I love to make because of how it is packed full of vegetables. Stir fry is also more versatile than minestrone soup because almost any vegetable will work. So if you happen to have certain ones in your kitchen, you can easily use those instead of the frozen ones.

And although this is a vegetable stir fry recipe, feel free to throw in chicken or steak should you have any at at the time. I also like to switch up whether I use pasta or rice.

What you need on hand:

3 cups of frozen vegetables (you can usually find frozen vegetables specific for stir fry)
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce (we purchase Costco’s large container of soy sauce because we use it so often)
Jar of garlic (1 clove worth)
1 teaspoon ground ginger
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon corn starch
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
Noodles or rice (optional)

This recipe doesn’t call for it, but you can also have rice or pasta on hand to pour the stir fry over if you prefer.

You can also make your own stir fry sauce if you happen to have the right ingredients on hand. I love homemade stir fry sauce!

Easy Stir Fry Sauce

Items to keep on hand:

2-3 tablespoons corn starch
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
Jar of garlic (2 cloves worth)
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup cider or white vinegar
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 cups vegetable or chicken broth

Fluffy Waffles

Who doesn’t love breakfast for dinner? We recently celebrated Våffeldagen, A.K.A. International Waffle Day and had waffles for dinner. We had a blast!

Most of us tend to already have the ingredients in stock regardless of whether or not it’s intentional.

Items to keep on hand:

2 cups all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
6 tablespoons unsalted Butter
1 teaspoon vanilla Extract
syrup
frozen sausage (I’m throwing this one on!)

I also tend to keep this buttermilk powder on hand because I love buttermilk pancakes and waffles and don’t usually have actual buttermilk in my fridge.

Simple, Perfect Chili

Tip: Chili freezes well so make extra and freeze the rest for another dinner later on. It also gives the flavor even more time to meld together.

There are so many ways to make chili so be sure to find a recipe that works well for you if this one isn’t it. I purposely found one that doesn’t have you saute onions.

Items to keep on hand:

2 lbs frozen ground beef
Jar of garlic (2 cloves worth)
1 8 oz can tomato sauce
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne Pepper
1/4 cup masa harina
15 oz can kidney beans
15 oz can pinto beans
Shredded cheddar for serving (optional)
Chopped onions for serving (optional)
Tortilla chips for serving (optional)
Lime wedges for serving (optional)

I made all of the items that are for serving optional because you can easily eat this without those.

Fettuccine Alfredo

Most fettuccine Alfredo recipes call for heavy cream. I specifically found one that uses milk because most of us almost always have milk in our refrigerator. But if you happen to have heavy cream in your refrigerator, then by all means, feel free to find a recipe that calls for that if you prefer!

What to have on hand:

1 lb box of fettuccine noodles
4 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 cups milk
1/2 to 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

You will probably notice a common theme with all of these recipes is that you have to cook them.

If you don’t like to cook, are short on time, or just don’t feel like cooking, there are other options to keep on hand that doesn’t take quite as much work. Here are some ideas for you:

Spaghetti sauce and a box of spaghetti pasta
Marinara sauce and frozen ravioli
Frozen pizza
Mac & Cheese
Canned soup

There are so many more recipes that could easily be added to the above lists. Sometimes you might have to improvise a little depending on what you end up having on hand, but that just makes it all the more fun!

Do you have any recipes you are prepared to make last minute? Please share in the comments below!

If you enjoyed this post, please share 🙂

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