Welcome to Pantry Bliss: Cook what you have

A container of leftover chicken, half a lemon and some cooked quinoa could be dinner. The harder part is remembering they’re there before you buy something else or make spaghetti again.

Check the back of the fridge before you plan tonight’s meal. The quinoa behind the milk may settle it.

What Pantry Bliss does

Pantry Bliss is an iPhone and iPad app that keeps track of the food in your kitchen. Add groceries with a receipt or barcode scan, check expiration dates and plan meals around what’s there. When someone ticks milk off the shared shopping list, it’s added to the pantry, so everyone at home can see what’s been bought.

The AI recipe generator suggests recipes from what you have, starting with whatever needs using first. Tell it what you like, or ask for a vegan or gluten-free idea. You can also import a recipe from a link or cookbook photo and have the steps read aloud while your hands are busy.

Recipes from what you have

Give the generator a few soft tomatoes, a can of white beans and the heel of a loaf. Ask for a skillet dinner: tomatoes cooked down with the beans, then spooned over toast. If you’re cooking for someone who doesn’t eat dairy, say so in the request.

Read the method before you start, and ask for a change if it calls for something you don’t have. Leftover beans go at the front of the fridge, where tomorrow’s dinner will find them.

On the blog

Start with the Pantry Bliss Method if you keep buying food you already own. Its advice on arranging the pantry is useful when a can of beans keeps disappearing behind the cereal. You’ll also find guides to getting a good sear, the five mother sauces, pantry containers and shelf organization, plus meal-planning advice, ingredient guides and dinner collections with seasonal and AI-created recipes.

Start with dinner

1. Check the fridge for what needs using. Pull out that half bag of spinach.
2. Give it to the AI recipe generator and ask for a skillet dinner with the spinach and the eggs you already have.
3. Keep the recipe and shopping list on your iPhone or iPad. Add bread to the shared list if you need it; at dinner, spoon the spinach and eggs onto toast.