What to Make With Nothing in the Fridge: 3 Fast Weeknight Dinners
The fridge is empty and dinner still has to happen. These three use the cupboard: tomato pasta, peanut noodles, and tuna with rice. If you have ground beef and truly nothing else, there is a separate page for that. If you have eggs and bread, use that page. This one is for the night the crisper is a white box. Got more in the fridge? Snap a photo and we'll pick dinner for you. Free.
Quick picks: 3 dinners with nothing in the fridge in 30 minutes or less
Fastest option: a 15-minute dinner
15 min
Peanut noodles
Total time, start to plate · One pot · serves 4 · Kid-friendly
Pasta tossed with peanut butter, soy sauce, and a little pasta water.
Ingredients
- 12 oz pasta
- 1/4 cup peanut butter
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tsp vinegar
Steps
- Boil the pasta. Save a cup of the water.
- Stir the peanut butter, soy sauce, garlic, and vinegar with a few spoons of hot pasta water until smooth.
- Toss the pasta in the sauce. Add more water if it seizes.
- Taste. It should be salty and a little sharp, not a paste.
Keeps: Fridge for 2 days. Loosen with water.
One-pan option
Peanut noodles is already one pot. There is no second pan to wash.
The other dinners
20 min
Tomato pantry pasta
Total time, start to plate · One pot · serves 4 · Kid-friendly
Dry pasta cooked in crushed tomatoes and garlic. A cupboard dinner with a red sauce, not an oil toss.
Ingredients
- 8 oz pasta
- 1 1/2 cups crushed tomatoes
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 tsp salt
Steps
- Stir the garlic into a pot with a little oil for 30 seconds.
- Add the crushed tomatoes, water, salt, and dry pasta.
- Simmer, stirring so the pasta doesn't stick, until the noodles are tender.
- Taste. A can of tomatoes is sharp until the salt is right. Rest 3 minutes.
Keeps: Fridge for 3 days. It thickens. Add a splash of water.
20 min
Tuna and rice from the pantry
Total time, start to plate · One pot · serves 4 · Kid-friendly
Raw rice cooked in one pot, canned tuna stirred in at the end so it doesn't turn to dust.
Ingredients
- 1 cup rice
- 1 can tuna
- 1 3/4 cups water
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp salt
Steps
- Put the rice, water, and salt in a pot. Cover and cook 15 minutes.
- Rest 3 minutes. Fluff it.
- Drain the tuna and fold it in with the soy sauce. The tuna only needs to warm.
- Taste. Canned tuna is salty or it isn't, depending on the brand. Add soy sauce slowly.
Keeps: Fridge for 1 day.
Make it with leftovers
There aren't leftovers if the fridge is empty. Tomorrow, the pasta and the peanut noodles reheat with a splash of water. Cooked rice, if a container turns up, replaces the raw rice in the tuna pot.
Pantry staples you'll need
- Pasta
- Olive oil
- Garlic
- Salt
- Peanut butter
- Soy sauce
- Rice
- Canned tuna
No peanut butter: make the garlic pasta. No tuna: rice and a fried egg if an egg appears. No pasta: the tuna rice. If you find ground beef, switch to the ground beef pantry page.
Picky-eater and healthy tweaks
Tomato pasta with the chili left out. Peanut noodles are a maybe, sauce on the side. Tuna is the card most likely to get a no, so don't lead with it if you already know.
Pantry dinner can still be a plate. Garlic pasta plus a carrot if one exists. Peanut noodles are richer. Tuna and rice is the protein. No calorie math on this page.
Have something else in the fridge?
Got more in the fridge? Snap a photo and we'll pick dinner for you. Free.
Snap your fridgeRelated dinners
Questions
What can I make when I have nothing in the fridge?
Tomato pantry pasta in 20 minutes, peanut noodles in 15, or tuna and rice in 20. All three come from the cupboard.
What can I make with ground beef when I have nothing else?
Use the ground beef and pantry staples page: tomato rice, a quesadilla, or a bean skillet. This page is for when you don't have the beef either.
What's a lazy dinner from the pantry?
Peanut noodles in 15 minutes. Tomato pantry pasta if you want a red sauce. Both are one pot and neither needs a fresh vegetable.
Can I make it in one pan?
Yes. The pasta finishes in one pot, the peanut noodles in one pot, and the tuna rice in one pot. No sheet pan required.
What if I find eggs or bread?
Switch to eggs and bread, or eggs and rice if there is rice. Those are better than forcing tuna on a household that has eggs.
How do I make a pantry dinner kid-friendly?
Tomato pasta with the chili left out, or peanut sauce on the side. Skip the tuna if you already know the answer will be no.