15 Staple Recipes the BA Staff Turns to When There’s Nothing in the Fridge
Resourcefulness gets a bad rap. Maybe because it sounds kinda like responsibility, which sounds kinda like boring. But during a time when groceries are not as available as we might like, we’re all being asked to make more from less. To rally the basics from the nether regions of our kitchens—that sprouting onion, random sack of rice, can of beans, and trio of eggs—and make them into meals. But don’t get it twisted: we’ve made it our mission to prove that simple ingredients can be delicious, too. So we asked our staffers which staple recipes they’re turning to when they’ve got nothing in the fridge.
Alex Lau1/15Rigatoni with Sausage, Beans, and Greens
“I've been making a variation of this pasta once a week. Sometimes it holds true to the sausage, beans, and greens lineup. When I don't have sausage I swap in bacon, tuna (sans cheese in this case), or omit the meat entirely. At a moment when I had (finally) run out of pasta, I made a sausage, greens, and beans stir fry and served it over toasted crusty bread with parm shaved on top. The next day I took that same stir fry and heated it up in a bowl of chicken stock for the fastest soup I've ever pulled together.” —Emma Wartzman, assistant editorial producer
Photo by Alex Lau, Food Styling by Sue Li, Prop Styling by Kalen Kaminski2/15Chickpea Pancakes with Kale and Fennel
“I always keep a bag of chickpea flour stashed in my pantry to whip up some socca (savory chickpea pancakes). I love their nutty, savory flavor—and I really love how they go with any produce left in my fridge. I'll top pancakes with sautéed kale, crisped chickpeas, and a drizzle of tahini, or add leftover chopped sweet potatoes directly into the batter for a little extra heft.” —Aliza Abarbanel, Healthyish assistant editor
Photograph by Travis Rainey, Prop Styling by Alexandra Massillon, Food Styling by Luciana Lamboy3/15Tuna Niçoise Salad
"Before this quarantine, the idea of a salad craving might have seemed weird. But now that most of my diet is bread, beans, and rice, I have literal dreams about fresh crunchy veggies. Enter: Tuna Nicoise Salad. The beauty of this salad is how adaptable it is: Aside from canned fish, something starchy, something pickly, and something fresh, you can skip whatever you don't have. And luckily, most of the ingredients are already in my pantry or fridge: tuna, potatoes, eggs, olives, capers, flaky salt. If I have cucumbers, that's a miracle. If I don't, I blanch frozen green beans. If I have lettuce, hallelujah! If I don't, salted Napa cabbage—I bought a big head of on my last grocery trip two weeks ago and it's still going strong. And if you literally have no vegetables left in your entire house, you can make this with beans or rice as the base instead. It's weird, yes, but that honey-lemon-dijon-olive oil dressing can make just about everything taste like the springtime we deserve." —Hilary Cadigan, associate editor
Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Frances Boswell4/15Soy-Ginger Dinner Scramble
“I’ve traded my favorite sipping tequila for shots of fresh ginger juice. Because, well, immunity and such. So I know I’ll always have a few gnarled knobs in my fridge, which add tons of peppery flavor to these oddly satisfying dinner eggs. You’ll also need mirin (but you can use any rice wine, or even try it with white wine), soy sauce, and a hefty bowl of steamed rice. It feels like I haven’t seen a cuke in years, but I added chopped up bok choy to the pan (pre-eggs) for a little verdant pop—something I could use altogether more of these days.” —Ali Francis, contributing writer
Jenny Rosenstrach, Andy Ward5/15Spanish Tortilla
“We've been making Spanish tortillas over here like nobody's business. Not only is it the perfect thing to make if you've got a stockpile of onions, potatoes, eggs, and olive oil at your disposal—those are the only ingredients, not counting salt—but it really feels like it is tailor-made for these Weird Times and it's attendant Weird Appetites. Traditionally served cold or room temp as a tapas snack, a chunk straight out of the fridge makes for a great lazy I-can't-even-think-about-washing-a-non-stick-skillet breakfast. A healthy slice with some lightly-dressed greens feels like a very civilized lunch. And you can set out cubes on a plate with a bit of garlicky mayo for dipping later on to magically transform "drinking a bit too early in the afternoon" into a very Euro-feeling apertivo hour. Bonus: While the recipe calls for quite a bit of olive oil to fry the potatoes and onions, it can be reused at least once or twice afterwards for future tortillas—we're in it for the long haul, after all.” —Amiel Stanek, editor at large
Photo by Alex Lau, Food Styling by Yekaterina Boytsova6/15Vietnamese Canh
“The major elements of this recipe are interchangeable. Don't have shrimp? Use tofu or fish! Don't have fresh greens? Use frozen spinach! It is also a lesson in broth—you don't need 10 different ingredients and hours of simmering to get to a really flavorful broth. With this recipe, ginger, onion, and a few splashes of fish sauce get the job done, and in 15 minutes or less!” —Priya Krishna, contributing writer
Alex Lau7/15Spiced Dal with Fluffy Rice and Salted Yogurt
"When I'm staring down a half-empty pantry (and bare fridge), I turn to dal. I know I can make something delicious with whatever I have to work with—yellow split peas or red lentils, coconut milk or water, a pantry full of aromatics or just a nub of ginger and a few cloves of garlic—because I can rely on my spice cabinet to do the heavy lifting when it comes to flavor. Recently, I've followed the lead of Priya Krishna's mom, Ritu, and topped each bowl with a pile of caramelized onions. It's a game changer." —A.A.
8/15Broccoli and Egg Fried Rice
"No matter what's going on in my life, I always have rice. Always. So when my pantry empties out, I turn to this fried rice formula to make the last dregs of my food supply feel more satisfying. It makes magic of simple combinations of rice, soy sauce, sugar, and eggs. Sure, there are other ingredients, but the recipe doesn't falter if you have to make substitutions. If I don't have broccoli, I'll swap in my stocks of blanched and frozen kale or frozen spinach or peas. If I'm looking for something more protein-forward, I add in firm tofu that I've cut into bite-sized cubes or ground sausage. No matter what the add-ins, I know this fried rice will never let me down." —Jesse Sparks, editorial assistant
9/15Crispy Sheet-Pan Meatballs with Salsa Verde
“I love meatballs, what can I say? I can eat them for lunch and dinner with no complaints. They are easy to make, you eat some, you freeze some, and that is it. A win-win in every way! I love this recipe because you can make both meatballs and sauce at the same time. I sub and add a few ingredients when I need to—like rolled oats instead of Panko breadcrumbs, and pickled cucumbers I made three weeks ago for capers, and I only had old cilantro and parsley for the mixed herbs. In the end the result was equally delicious, which is surprisingly reassuring thing right now.” —Gaby Melian, test kitchen manager
Photo by Chelsie Craig, Food Styling by Yekaterina Boytsova10/15Breakfast Burrito to Go
“Every household has different staples, but mine is never without tortillas and eggs. I make these steamy-wonderful breakfast burritos (special because you make an even layer of crepe-like eggs, then roll it up) when there's nothing else around. If I'm flush enough to have avocado, great, but otherwise I keep it simple with eggs and hot sauce, maybe a swipe of canned refried beans.” —Alex Beggs, senior staff writer
Photo by Emma Fishman, Food Styling by Susie Theodorou11/15Sushi Rice with Miso-Caramel Glazed Salmon
"I've made this miso-caramel glazed salmon about a million times, but these days the miso-caramel glaze has been going on all kinds of non-salmon canvases: eggplant, tofu, cauliflower, even soba noodles. It only calls for six ingredients—maple syrup, miso, soy sauce, rice vinegar, oil, and red pepper flakes—all of which you probably already have on hand. And it's super forgiving if you need to make swaps: I've subbed maple syrup for brown sugar and rice vinegar for sake or white wine." —Amanda Shapiro, Healthyish editor
Photo by Alex Lau12/15Charred Sweet Potatoes With Toum
“I’ve loved sweet potatoes forever, but I’ve developed a new fondness for them recently and always make sure to keep a few on hand. They have so much flavor on their own, you can do the smallest thing to them, and it still feels like a five-star feast: Char ‘em, and top with a lemony-garlic yogurt sauce. Smash ‘em, and scatter over some feta, lentils, and nuts. Steam ‘em and slather on some tahini butter. You can follow a recipe, or you can just throw whatever you have in the fridge at them (honey, olive oil, lime, lemon, etc. etc. etc.). They’re so flexible, they make everything taste great.” —Sasha Levine, editor bonappetit.com
Photo by Alex Lau, food styling by Sue Li, prop styling by Kalen Kaminski13/15Spiced Chickpeas and Greens Frittata
“I guess I'm really reliant on greens and beans. This is another ode to that power couple, but also an ode to the frittata, which I perhaps have made more of than anything else during this time. I will put pretty much literally anything in there. Rice, pasta, legumes, meat, cheese, scraps of veg—all fair game. With a salad on the side if I'm lucky and it's a truly delicious meal.” —E.W.
Alex Lau14/15Mixed Grain and Coconut Porridge
“Even when I don't have oats, I have oatmeal. Recently, I've taken a page from my favorite all-day cafes and leaned into alt-grain porridges, simmering whole grains like barley, quinoa, brown rice, and farro into a creamy, spoonable consistency. For toppings, I'll simmer frozen fruit into a cheater's compote, add sliced bananas, or call it a day with a dollop of jam.” —A.A.
Photo by Chelsie Craig, Food Styling by Yekaterina Boytsova15/15Hammy Chickpea Soup
“I am of the opinion that soup is basically a warm salad. (Read: A better salad.) And this hammy chickpea number has to be one of the best—and simplest. My carrot-celery stash seems to be eternal, and switching the dry chickpeas for a couple of cans got me out of hot water. I used spinach instead of kale, a random nub of Italian salami instead of ham, and then my spice rack did the rest.” —A.F.
