How to Make Dinner with 5 ingredients or less

From old Mother Hubbard to lazy uni students everywhere, the curse of the empty cupboard is a scary proposition indeed. But before you panic and order pizza, check out these quick and easy meals for how to make dinner with 5 ingredients or less. Just because you haven’t nipped to the farmer’s market doesn’t mean you can’t still eat well!

If You’ve Got

Eggs
Mushrooms, frozen peas, asparagus, green beans or tomatoes past their prime (any veg will do really)
Olives
Cheese
Onion

You’ve got Frittata!

Frittata is delicious and simple to make, and the only ingredients really required are eggs and cheese.

Simply fry up any raw veg in a pan, allow to cool slightly and then stir through whisked eggs. Add grated cheese and pour into an oven proof pan and cook in an oven for 15 minutes at 180°C. Voila – dinner is served!

If you’ve got

200g spaghetti, spaghettini (which is finer), or any long pasta
A large pinch of dried crushed chilli
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
3 tablespoons of parsley, chopped
4 tablespoons of olive oil.

You’ve got Spaghetti aglio e olio!

Nigel Slater recommends cooking the pasta is water that is as salty as seawater and draining only lightly so that the spaghetti retains some starchy water (this will help the other ingredients adhere to the pasta evenly).

The rest of the ingredients should be added to a pan over a low heat and cooked until the garlic is “pale gold”. Once that’s done, all that’s left to do is toss the spaghetti in the warm oil mixture and dig in!

If you’ve got

Leftover roasted potatoes or sweet potatoes
Tinned tuna or salmon
Soy sauce
Old Bread

You’ve got Fish Cakes!

To make fish cakes, first take that stale bread and pulse in a food processor. Voila, you’ve got breadcrumbs! Now all that’s left to do is mash up the cold roasted potatoes and combine with tinned tuna or salmon, a little soy sauce the breadcrumbs and form into patties. You could also coat the outside of the cakes in extra breadcrumbs for a crispy finish. Heat some olive oil in a pan on a medium high heat and cook until golden brown on both sides. Serve with those dodgy salad leaves that only had another day left in them and a squeeze of lemon.

Quick and Easy meals with only 5 ingredients. You’re welcome.