34 pantry recipes

Pantry pasta puttanesca: quick tuna, anchovy, and olive pasta in low-fat tomato sauce. Low-fat, 20-minute weeknight dinner built entirely from pantry staples. Neapolitan attitude, no trip to the store.

Light and fluffy classic French pastry, to make cream puffs, eclairs sweets and savory dishes too. A timeless classic pastry recipe everyone should be familiar with.

Chicken turnovers made with crescent roll dough, filled with sauteed chicken, shallots, garlic, and herbs. Four golden pastry triangles ready in 45 minutes.

Panfried quail browns the little birds in butter with thyme and ham, then deglazes the pan with fresh white grape juice. A classic French country preparation for game lovers.

Russian pastries (pirozhki) with a tender cream cheese dough wrapped around savory ground beef, sour cream, dill, and chopped egg. Make-ahead friendly and freezer-stable for up to a month.

Hamburger pastry hand pies stuffed with seasoned ground beef, onions, vegetables, cheese, and ketchup, all wrapped in a flaky pie crust. A classic American-style meat turnover for lunchboxes, potlucks, or weeknight dinners.

Pan-fried brook trout dusted in flour and cooked in butter until golden, served with a lemon-chive butter sauce. A simple, classic preparation for whole fresh-caught trout.

Puff pastry patty shells (vol-au-vent cases) with golden flaky walls and a hollow center for creamy fillings. Two-ingredient pastry cases that bake sky-high from frozen rounds.

Italian chicken pastry bites with crescent roll dough wrapped around garlic chicken, spaghetti sauce, and mozzarella. Golden, flaky, and ready in 40 minutes.

Pan-fried cod or snapper coated in grated Parmesan cheese with a lemon-Worcestershire kick, finished in the oven. A crispy, golden fish dinner ready in 35 minutes.

Georgian cheese pastries (khachapuri-style) with a three-cheese filling of Muenster, cheddar, and Parmesan with fresh mint, chives, and parsley in a buttery homemade pastry shell.

Three-ingredient chicken pastry bites using crescent roll dough, cooked chicken, and pizza sauce. Quick, kid-friendly finger food that bakes up golden and flaky.

Chicken Florentine wrapped in flaky puff pastry: browned chicken breast layered with Dijon and nutmeg-spiced spinach, then baked golden in individual parcels. An elegant chicken Wellington-style main.

Chicken breast wrapped in garlic-rubbed crescent roll dough and baked golden, then drizzled with a tangy brown sugar mustard sauce. An easy weeknight take on chicken en croute.

Had some puff pastry on hand from the holiday baking, and made this apple strudel. It was great, the puff pastry certainly delivered a much richer result than phyllo pastry that I normally use. No leftover, we ate it all!

Golden half-moon pastries stuffed with garlicky leeks and a hint of chili, crimped into little crescents and fried until they shatter. Afghan street food that's vegetarian, crunchy, and completely addictive.