5 easy recipes you can adapt

Running low on groceries and don’t know what to cook for dinner? Look no further!

You can whip up tasty, satisfying meals with what’s already in your pantry, fridge, or freezer. These five easy-to-adapt recipes are perfect for those ‘what’s for dinner?’ moments – quick, versatile, and packed with flavour. From crispy vegetable fritters to a hearty spaghetti bolognaise, you’ll have plenty of options to turn everyday ingredients into something delicious.

1. Versatile vegetable fritters

Prep 10 mins    Cook 10 minutes

Vegetable fritters are so versatile (and delicious) they can be served for breakfast, lunch, dinner or a hunger-busting snack!

Our vegetable fritter recipe only needs eggs, vegies, flour and oil and is perfect for using up leftover vegies or vegies that are a  bit tired or wilted. 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.

2. Pizza perfection

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, English muffins – or make your own with just two ingredients: flour and yoghurt. Spread the base with tomato paste, tomato sugo or vegie tomato sauce. Sprinkle with any combination of vegetables you have available – onion, capsicum, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, sliced tomato, zucchini or using leftovers such as pumpkin and sweet potato. Top with grated cheese. Once cooked, throw over some baby spinach or rocket if you have some.

3. Sensational savoury mince

Prep 10 mins    Cook 25 minutes

An old favourite for good reason, savoury mince makes a tasty, filling and nutritious meal that is quick and easy to make and can be adapted to include what you have available. If you only have a small amount of mince – pad out the recipe with extra vegetables, a can of lentils or a can of kidney beans.

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.

4. Fantastic fried rice

Prep 30 mins    Cook 10 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!

This recipe is great if you have leftover rice from the night before or use precooked, packaged rice if you have on hand. 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.

5. Sensational stir fry

Prep 5 mins    Cook 20 minutes

Stir frying is very versatile as you can use all sorts of vegetables, even vegies that are a bit tired or wilted.

Vegetables ideal 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 a protein source – some lean meat, chicken or extra-firm tofu.  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. Serve on noodles or rice, preferably brown for added fibre.

Check out our simple vegetable stir fry, chicken stir fry and beef and broccoli stir fry recipes.

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.