What to cook with what you have

Start with what needs using first

Before you think about recipes, look at what's closest to going off: the bag of spinach that's starting to wilt, the last two eggs, cooked rice from yesterday, the half onion wrapped in the door. Build the meal around those. This one habit does more to cut food waste than any shopping app, because it changes the question from "what do I fancy?" to "what can this become?"

Think in building blocks, not recipes

Nearly every meal anywhere in the world is a combination of a few roles:

• A base: rice, pasta, bread, potatoes, noodles, flatbreads, sadza, couscous or oats.
• A protein: eggs, beans, lentils, chicken, fish, tofu, mince, paneer or yoghurt.
• Vegetables: fresh, frozen or tinned, whatever you have.
• Flavour: onion, garlic, spices, stock, soy sauce, tomato paste, chilli, citrus or herbs.

If you have one thing from each row, you almost certainly have a meal. Leftover rice, two eggs, a carrot and soy sauce make fried rice. Tinned tomatoes, a tin of beans, an onion and spices make a stew to eat with bread. Stale bread, cheese and a few vegetables make a bake.

Keep a small, flexible store cupboard

You don't need a huge pantry, just a few long-lasting staples that turn odds and ends into dinner: a dried grain, a tin of tomatoes, a tin of beans or chickpeas, an oil, salt, two or three spices you actually like, and something sharp such as vinegar or lemon. With these on hand, a lonely courgette or a handful of mushrooms becomes useful instead of headed for the bin.

Cook once, eat twice

When you do cook, make a bit extra on purpose. Roast vegetables become tomorrow's wrap filling. A pot of beans becomes soup, then a topping for toast. Planned leftovers mean fewer trips to the shop and fewer impulse buys, which is where a lot of money quietly goes.

How Mealkly helps

Mealkly is built around this idea. In the app's By Ingredient search you type in what's in your fridge and cupboards, and Mealkly suggests recipes that use them, showing what you already have and what you'd still need. You can then choose to Cook Now for something tonight or switch to Meal Prep to plan several days at once. Anything you're missing can go straight onto your grocery list, so you only buy what the recipe actually needs.

Recipes show estimated calories and macros per portion, so you can keep an eye on what you eat without weighing everything. And because Mealkly includes recipes shared by its community, you'll find ideas from kitchens all over the world, not only the dishes you already know.

A quick checklist for tonight

1. Pick the one or two ingredients that need using first.
2. Add a base and a protein from what you already have.
3. Choose a flavour direction: spiced, garlicky, tomatoey, soy-based or creamy.
4. Cook a little extra and decide now what tomorrow's leftovers become.

Do that a few times a week and you'll throw away less, spend less, and get far more confident at improvising, whichever country your kitchen is in.