20 Store-Cupboard Dinners You Can Make in 20 Minutes
When you walk through the door at 6.30pm and the takeaway app is calling, the difference between ordering and cooking is usually time, not money. A Deliveroo for a family of four is £30–£40. A store-cupboard dinner made from tins, packets, and dried staples is £2–£4 a portion — and it can be on the plate in the time it takes the delivery rider to find your house.
This is a list of twenty dinners that use ingredients you can keep in the cupboard for months. Most of them are built around tinned tomatoes, pasta, rice, beans, and tinned fish — the staples that surplus food retailers like us sell 30–70% cheaper than the supermarkets. None require fresh meat, none need more than 20 minutes, and none need a recipe you have to follow to the letter.
Why Store-Cupboard Cooking Wins
Three reasons this list matters more than it used to.
- It's cheap. Tinned and dried staples are the lowest-cost-per-meal foods you can buy. A tin of chopped tomatoes at surplus prices is around 20p. The same weight of fresh tomatoes is £1.20.
- It's fast. Twenty minutes is faster than any delivery, faster than most one-pot "fresh" recipes once you've prepped the veg, and faster than you can reasonably face cooking after a full day.
- It cuts waste. Tinned and dried foods don't go off in the back of the fridge. You buy them once, keep them for months, and use them when you need them.
The 20 Dinners
1. Tuna Pasta Bake
Pasta, tinned tuna, tinned tomatoes, half an onion, cheese on top. Cook the pasta, drain, fold through the tuna and tomatoes, top with cheese, grill for 4 minutes. Total: 15 minutes.
2. Chickpea & Tomato Curry
Onion, garlic (or powder), curry powder, tinned chickpeas, tinned tomatoes. Soften the onion, add spices, add chickpeas and tomatoes, simmer 10 minutes. Serve with rice. Total: 20 minutes.
3. Bean Chilli
Tinned kidney beans, tinned tomatoes, chilli powder, tinned sweetcorn. Heat through, season hard, serve with rice or wraps. Total: 15 minutes.
4. Spaghetti Aglio e Olio
Spaghetti, garlic (or garlic powder), olive oil, dried chilli flakes, salt. Cook the pasta, warm the oil with garlic and chilli, toss. Total: 12 minutes.
5. Lentil Soup
Red lentils, stock cube, tinned tomatoes, carrot if you have one. Simmer everything for 15 minutes, blend if you like. Total: 18 minutes.
6. Baked Beans on Toast with a Twist
Baked beans, bread, plus a grated carrot or a handful of frozen sweetcorn stirred through. Cheese on top if you have it. Total: 8 minutes.
7. Tuna & Sweetcorn Wraps
Tinned tuna, tinned sweetcorn, mayonnaise, wraps. Mix, fold, eat. Total: 5 minutes.
8. Chickpea Pasta
Pasta, tinned chickpeas, tinned tomatoes, garlic, olive oil. Cook pasta, drain, toss through the warmed chickpeas and tomatoes. Total: 15 minutes.
9. Egg Fried Rice
Cold cooked rice (or microwave pouch), 2 eggs, frozen peas, soy sauce. Scramble the eggs, add rice and peas, fry hot. Total: 10 minutes.
10. Tomato & Bean Stew
Tinned cannellini beans, tinned tomatoes, garlic, dried herbs. Simmer 10 minutes, serve with bread. Total: 15 minutes.
11. Sardines on Toast
Tinned sardines, toast, lemon if you have it, black pepper. Total: 6 minutes.
12. Macaroni Cheese (Shortcut)
Pasta, milk, flour, butter, cheese. Make a quick roux, stir in milk and cheese, fold through cooked pasta. Total: 18 minutes.
13. Bean & Tomato Quesadilla
Tinned beans, tinned tomatoes, cheese, wraps. Fold, fry in a dry pan 2 minutes each side. Total: 10 minutes.
14. Tomato Soup (From a Tin, Upgraded)
Tinned tomato soup, a spoon of pesto or sundried tomato paste, a splash of milk. Warm through, serve with toast. Total: 8 minutes.
15. Tuna & Bean Salad
Tinned tuna, tinned beans, tinned sweetcorn, olive oil, vinegar. Drain, mix, dress. Total: 5 minutes.
16. Veggie Bolognese
Pasta, tinned tomatoes, tinned lentils, dried herbs, onion. Cook pasta, simmer sauce10 minutes, combine. Total: 18 minutes.
17. Cheese & Bean Jacket Potato
Jacket potato (microwave 8 minutes), baked beans, grated cheese. Total: 12 minutes.
18. Sweetcorn Chowder
Tinned sweetcorn, tinned potatoes (or leftover boiled), stock cube, milk. Simmer 10 minutes, lightly blend. Total: 15 minutes.
19. Chickpea & Tuna Salad
Tinned chickpeas, tinned tuna, red onion, olive oil, lemon. Drain, mix, dress. Total: 5 minutes.
20. Peanut Noodles
Dried noodles, peanut butter, soy sauce, lime if you have it, frozen veg. Cook noodles, toss with a quick sauce of warm peanut butter and soy. Total: 12 minutes.
The Core Store-Cupboard Shopping List
If you want to be able to make any of the twenty above at any time, keep these in the cupboard. Everything here is something we sell at surplus prices, and most of it is safe to keep well past its best before date.
| Category | Items |
|---|---|
| Carbs | Dried pasta, dried rice, dried noodles, wraps, bread (freeze it), oats, jacket potatoes |
| Tinned veg | Chopped tomatoes, kidney beans, chickpeas, cannellini beans, sweetcorn, baked beans |
| Tinned fish | Tuna, sardines, mackerel |
| Tinned meals | Tomato soup, lentil soup |
| Dried proteins | Red lentils, dried beans (if you'll soak them) |
| Fats & flavour | Olive oil, mayonnaise, stock cubes, dried herbs, curry powder, chilli flakes, soy sauce, peanut butter |
| Dairy (fridge) | Milk, cheese, eggs |
Stock this list once and you've got a fortnight's worth of dinners sitting in your kitchen at any given moment.
Three Rules That Make This Work
1. Season harder than you think. Tinned and dried foods taste blander than fresh, so they need more salt, more acid (lemon or vinegar), and more dried herbs than a recipe suggests. The number one reason people think store-cupboard cooking is dull is underseasoning.
2. Heat the pan before the food. A hot pan seals flavour into tinned ingredients. A cold pan makes them taste flat. Two minutes of preheating with oil transforms a15-minute dinner.
3. Buy the staples from surplus food retailers. Tinned tomatoes, pasta, rice, beans, tinned fish, and stock cubes are exactly the categories where surplus food shops save 40–60% off supermarket prices. A £30 weekly shop for store-cupboard staples at supermarket prices is £15–£18 from a surplus source — and it's the same food.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are tinned foods as nutritious as fresh?
In most cases, yes — and for some nutrients, more so. Tinned tomatoes contain more available lycopene than fresh. Tinned beans and pulses retain their protein and fibre. Tinned fish retains its omega-3. The trade-off is a small loss of vitamin C in some tinned vegetables, easily replaced with a piece of fresh fruit.
Can you cook healthy meals from tinned food?
Yes. The meals above are typically high in fibre (from beans and lentils), low in saturated fat (no fresh meat), and naturally low in added sugar. The thing to watch is salt — tinned foods can be salty, so taste before adding extra.
How long do store-cupboard staples last past their best before date?
Most dried and tinned staples keep for 1–2 years past their best before date, provided the packaging is intact. Best before dates are about quality, not safety — the food is still safe to eat, though flavour may decline slightly.
Is store-cupboard cooking cheaper than fresh cooking?
Substantially. Tinned tomatoes, dried pasta, dried rice, tinned beans, and tinned fish cost 50–80% less per meal than the equivalent fresh ingredients, and they generate almost no food waste.
Can I freeze these dinners?
Most of them freeze well. The exception is anything with cooked pasta or potatoes — these go mushy on defrost. Cooked rice freezes well, but always cool it quickly and reheat it piping hot.
What's the cheapest store-cupboard meal?
Baked beans on toast — around 40p a portion from surplus food prices, around 60p from supermarket value ranges. Egg fried rice and tinned tomato pasta are close behind.
All prices and timings are based on typical UK surplus food retailer rates and average home cooking times as of July 2026. Stock your cupboard once and you'll always be 20 minutes away from dinner.