Need Ideas for Dinner?

A CHARTFUL OF ONE-LINERS -- helpful when you know what you have in your pantry and not sure what meal you can make with it

To create a one-liner (one-dish meal), simply select items from each column and combine them in the quantities you estimate you’ll need for the number of hungry mouths you’ll be feeding. Use your imagination and taste preferences to decide which ingredients will be most pleasing. (There are over 769,824 possible combinations on this page!)

MEAT OR MEAT SUBSTITUTES
Fresh meat (could be leftover roast, round steak, etc.)
Canned meats (luncheon meat, chicken, turkey, beef, etc.)
Smoked fish
Canned fish (clams, tuna, salmon, sardines)
Jerky (beef, fowl, venison, etc.)
Hard salami, summer sausage, pepperoni
TVP in beef, chicken or ham flavor
Bacon or Spam
Freeze-dried ham, chicken, beef, shrimp, etc.

PASTA, GRAINS, & OTHER BASES
Noodles (egg, spinach, whole wheat)
Macaroni (egg, whole wheat)
Dried potatoes (instant mashed, diced, shredded, sliced)
Rice (quick brown or white, or parboiled)
Bulgur (parboiled cracked wheat)
Oriental instant noodles
Boxed mixes (i.e. macaroni & cheese, Rice-a-Roni, etc.)
Hamburger Helper or similar one-pot mixes

VEGETABLES
Freeze-dried (many kinds available)
Home-dried (almost anything’s possible)
Commercially dried (onions, mushrooms, sweet pepper flakes, celery flakes, mixed vegetable flakes, etc.)
Fresh vegetables
Frozen vegetables

SAUCES
Cheese sauce
Sour cream sauce
Stroganoff sauce
Spaghetti sauce
Powdered soup mixes of many kinds
Gravy mixes
Teriyaki sauce
Curry sauce
Sweet-and-sour sauce
Canned soups (cream of chicken, cream of mushroom, cream of celery, golden mushroom, etc.)

SEASONINGS
Salt, pepper
Dried herbs
Bouillon (cubes or powder)
Paprika
Garlic (minced, powdered)
Dried chives
Curry powder
Onion salt
Celery salt
Garlic salt
Lawry’s seasoning salt
Greek seasoning salt
Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning mix

TOPPINGS & ADDITIONS
Sunflower seeds
Nuts (chopped, slivered)
Shredded coconut
Cheese (grated, cubed, sliced)
Margarine or butter
Sesame seeds
Wheat germ
Roasted soybeans
Bacon bits
French fried onions
Chow mien noodles
Croutons or bread crumbs