Cooking with what is in the cupboard: 5 habits

Published on 4 November 2026

The fridge is almost empty, but the cupboard never really is. With a few habits, what it holds is enough for a real meal, without going shopping.

1. Start with a starch

Pasta, rice, couscous, lentils, oats: the base that fills you up. Once cooked, they take on the flavour of whatever you add. Pasta with garlic and olive oil is already a dish.

2. Tins are your friends

Chopped tomatoes, chickpeas, beans, sweetcorn, tuna, sardines: a tin brings flavour or protein in a minute. Spiced roasted chickpeas, a punchy tomato sauce, a bean salad: it all starts with a tin.

3. Eggs, the last-minute answer

Omelette, scrambled eggs, a fried egg on leftover rice or vegetables: eggs turn almost anything into a meal in five minutes.

4. Spices and condiments make the dish

Cumin, paprika, curry powder, dried herbs, soy sauce, mustard, vinegar: they give a simple dish its character. The same bowl of rice and vegetables changes completely with the spice you choose.

5. The freezer, your other cupboard

Frozen vegetables, bread, a saved portion of sauce: the freezer keeps ingredients ready to use. A bag of peas or spinach rounds off a pasta dish in minutes.

A combination that almost always works

A starch + a tin or eggs + a spice + something green (fresh or frozen). With that, you have a meal.

To go faster, Verdish starts from a photo of your fridge and suggests three recipes with what you already have, taking into account the cupboard basics you keep. More on the zero-waste scan. And for fridge leftovers: the 4-step method.