Our favorite meal to prep is the one where you don’t have to wonder if you have all the ingredients. It’s the meal where you’re certain that you’ll find what you need in the pantry because you habitually buy it every time you’re at the store…just in case. There are atleast six staples, that we keep on hand at all times

The six staples

Rice(basmati or jasmine) — a side dish that keeps on giving or an addition to soup or a quick casserole. Bonus: it holds up in the pantry for a long time.

Pasta — the fastest thing on this list to turn into dinner, and endlessly flexible depending on what sauce it meets.

Alfredo sauce — the creamy option, good for nights that need something a little more comforting.

Marinara sauce — the reliable one. Works on pasta, works on rice, works as a pizza sauce in a pinch.

Beans — protein, fiber, and they stretch every other ingredient on this list further.

Diced tomatoes — the base for soup, the base for sauce, the thing that makes rice and beans taste like a real meal instead of a backup plan.

Your quick & easy dinner rotation

All of these come together in thirty minutes or less — no meal plan needed and that’s the whole point of keeping a pantry stocked in this way.

With rice

1. Rice, black beans, and ground beef with diced tomatoes topped with cheese and our Better than Chipotle Guacamole— a 20-minute burrito bowl
2. Rice, beans and salsa with a fried egg on top
3. Rice bowl with alfredo sauce, roasted broccoli and rotisserie chicken
4. Fried rice using leftover rice, whatever’s in the fridge, and a scrambled egg

With pasta 5. Pasta with marinara — the reliable classic, 15 minutes start to finish 6. Pasta with alfredo sauce, steamed broccoli & rotisserie chicken 7. Baked pasta with marinara, ground beef and mozzarella, 10 minutes of prep and the oven does the rest 8. Homemade Mac & Cheese with pasta, alfredo sauce, shredded cheddar and steamed broccoli

With beans 9. Black Bean and Cheese Quesadillas 10. Black bean soup with diced tomatoes, diced pork or chicken, green verde salsa 11. Dump and Go Chili with beans, diced tomatoes and ground beef.

With diced tomatoes 12. Simple tomato soup — diced tomatoes simmered with broth, heavy cream and blended smooth 13. Shakshuka-style eggs poached right in the tomatoes 14. Diced tomatoes, ground beef and pasta for a classic goulash.

With marinara 15. Classic spaghetti, meatballas and marinara 16. English muffin pizzas with marinara, pepperoni and cheese, done in the time it takes the oven to preheat

With alfredo 17. Alfredo pasta with whatever protein and veggies you have 18. Alfredo over rice with chicken and veggie of choice

Save this list . . .

for the next night that simply the thought of dinner is exhausting. A stocked pantry, a little refrigerator/freezer grazing and thirty minutes is all you actually need.

If getting dinner on the table is the easy part and getting everyone talking once they sit down is the harder one, our printable dinner conversation cards were made for exactly that.