Not much in the pantry, fridge or freezer? Keep these five easy to adapt recipes for when you need meal ideas in a hurry.
Prep 10 mins Cook 10 minutes
Vegetable fritters are so versatile (and delicious) they can be served for breakfast, lunch or dinner! Our vegetable fritter recipe only needs eggs, vegies, flour and oil and is perfect for using up leftover vegetables.
You can serve these by themselves, as a snack, or add toppings such as avocado and Mexican salsa or tzatziki to make a more substantial meal.
Prep 15 mins Cook 10 minutes
Pizza is the ultimate recipe you can adapt to what you have on hand!!
For the base, you can use a bought one, wholemeal Lebanese bread or English muffins. Make your own with flour and yeast or use this super easy base made with only 2 ingredients: flour and yoghurt!
Spread the base with tomato paste, tomato sugo or our hidden vegie tomato sauce.
Sprinkle with any combination of vegetables you have available – onion, capsicum, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, sliced tomato, spinach, zucchini, cooked broccoli, cauliflower, pumpkin and sweet potato. Flavour with rosemary, basil, parsley or thyme.
Top with grated cheese. Once cooked, throw over some baby spinach or rocket if you have some.
Prep 10 mins Cook 15 minutes
If you have some rice in the cupboard, a few vegies and some eggs in the fridge, you have a delicious fried rice in no time!
Firstly, you need cold rice, so try to cook the rice early, spread it out on a large tray and pop it into the fridge to cool fast. Alternatively, you can use leftover rice from the night before or use precooked, packaged rice if time is an issue.
Choose any combination of fresh, frozen or canned vegetables like carrot, onion, spring onion, garlic, peas, corn kernels, capsicum, cabbage, broccoli, zucchini and bean shoots.
Use a small amount of salt-reduced soy sauce and sesame oil and sprinkle with nuts or seeds for added crunch.
Check out our easy fried rice recipe.
Prep 5 mins Cook 20 minutes 
Using vegetables, lean meat or tofu, and a splash of sauce, a stir fry is easy, nutritious, and a great way to use whatever you have available.
Stir frying is very versatile as you can use all sorts of vegetables, even vegies that are a bit tired or wilted. Vegetables for stir-frying include capsicum, zucchini, carrots, broccoli, onions, spring onions, snow peas, cabbage, spinach, asparagus, mushrooms and leafy Asian greens. You can also use frozen vegetables or canned vegetables like bamboo shoots, baby corn and water chestnuts.
Add in some lean meat, chicken or extra-firm tofu for protein. If you’d prefer to skip meat and tofu, simply add more vegetables and some nuts and seeds.
Splash in small amounts of salt-reduced sauces like soy, oyster or teriyaki.
Add flavour and crunch with a sprinkle of sesame seeds or nuts like peanuts, cashews or sliced almonds.
Serve on noodles or rice, preferably brown for added fibre. A tasty, nutritious meal can be on the table within 30 minutes.
Check out our simple vegetable stir fry and beef and broccoli stir fry recipes.
Prep 20 mins Cook 60 minutes
Always a family favourite, a bolognaise sauce can be adapted to include what you have available.
If you only have a small amount of mince, or no mince at all – pad out the recipe with extra vegetables, green or red lentils or a can of kidney beans.
Don’t have tinned tomatoes in the panty? You can substitute with tomato paste, a tomato-based simmer sauce or tomato passata.
Pump up the vegie serves by adding whatever vegies you can find, such as onion, mushrooms, celery, capsicum, carrot and zucchini and add flavour with herbs such as oregano, marjoram, basil or thyme.
Check out our vegie packed bolognaise sauce.
Having a few simple recipes up your sleeve that you can change to suit what you have in the fridge and pantry takes the stress out of getting a meal on the table quickly.
Check out our special holiday guide to keep your kids happy and healthy over the school holidays.
© Cancer Council NSW 2024 Head Office Address: 153 Dowling Street, Woolloomooloo NSW 2011. Cancer Council NSW is registered with the Australian Taxation Office as an Income Tax Exempt Charity: Charitable Fundraising Authority No. 18521.
Some images on this site have been supplied by Cancer Council Western Australia's Crunch & Sip website
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