25 Meals You Can Make With 7 Ingredients or Less

We've all been there; You need to get a meal on the table but you open the refrigerator and realize it's looking a little bare. Before heading to the store for an impromptu grocery run, consider what's possible with few ingredients. We have plenty of filling recipes that take advantage of pantry staples — and keep the ingredient list short. Most of these call for salt, pepper and some sort of cooking oil but, after that, all you need is 7 ingredients (or less!) to make them.

One of our go-tos? These salmon fillets that are packed with the perfect amount of sweet-and-smoky flavor thanks to two basics: brown sugar and chile powder. Serve them with a simple green salad or whatever frozen veggies you have on hand for an easy and satisfying weeknight meal.

This simple preparation is perfect for a weeknight — just shake and bake. All you have to do to make it a meal cook your favorite frozen veggie to serve alongside.

This take on a classic Italian-American recipe is super easy to make. Slightly reducing the cream and adding a hefty dose of cheese means you don't have to use flour to thicken the sauce.

Turkey burgers are totally transformed with just a few, simple ingredients. Ellie stuffs the patties with roasted red peppers and shredded mozzarella so that every bite has tons of flavor. Grab a bag of oven fries from your freezer and you’ve got dinner!

This easy meal has it all: savory sausage and mushrooms, filling pasta and a nice pop of color from green peas. Top simply with freshly grated cheese for a simple meal you’ll make again and again.

These protein-packed fajitas cleverly use a foil-lined baking sheet and broiler to make a quick and healthy weeknight meal with easy clean up.

This tortellini pasta salad makes a perfect vegetarian meal, but you could easily add cooked chicken if you wanted to bulk it up – and you would still use less than 7 ingredients!

These shortcut bagels call for just two ingredients and take less than an hour to come together — no yeast or rising time required, thanks to the use of self-rising flour.

Store-bought tortellini are the star of this quick and creamy weeknight meal. They simmer in their own sauce, making this a one-skillet meal with easy cleanup.

This quick scampi is perfect over pasta or by itself with fresh-squeezed lemon. It serves 2 as a main course but is easy to double if you're feeding a family.

A hearty meal of roasted root veggies and Brussles sprouts and juicy Italian sausages – with only one pan to clean up? We’re adding this one to our weekly dinner rotation!

When you want to create a flavorful meal with fewer ingredients, Italian sausage is always a great choice. Here, it’s removed from its casing and broken up into small pieces as it cooks – guaranteeing that every bite of pasta is equally satisfying.

Ina’s classic fried chicken proves that the simplest recipes are often the best. It comes together with barely any ingredients and tastes great. Aside from the salt and pepper for seasoning and the oil for cooking, you only need three ingredients: buttermilk, flour and chicken.

We love multi-purpose kitchen gadgets that make life easier, so that's why the Instant Pot is one of our go-tos for quick meals. Especially this creamy kid-friendly mac and cheese, which cooks up in no time. And after it's been gobbled up, you'll only have one pot to clean!

Ree’s super-quick recipe uses a few shortcuts (like store-bought teriyaki sauce and microwave jasmine rice) to put a complete meal on the table with just a handful of ingredients.

Ree makes a complete meal (flavorful pork chops, hearty potatoes and good-for-you green beans) on one sheet pan in just 35 minutes. Best of all, she only uses 7 ingredients — plus a little olive oil and freshly cracked pepper — to do it.

Steam fresh clams in a tomato-and-wine broth with spicy serrano chile for a simple meal with incredible flavor. Be sure to serve with crust bread — it’s perfect for soaking up all the leftover juices.

You probably have all these ingredients on hand! And, no, store-bought mix isn't one of them.

Paprika comes in a few different varieties (sweet, smoked and hot) so make sure you follow Trisha’s lead in this recipe. The smokiness is perfect for roasted chicken. Roast some potatoes or throw together a simple green salad and you’ve got a meal.

Ellie takes advantage of two super-flavorful ingredients to make this simple-yet-satisfying dish: jarred roasted red peppers and salty feta cheese.

Ellie glazes pork chops with a blend of maple, orange and chipotle peppers for the perfect balance of flavor. Add a side of veggies and some cooked rice to these char-grilled chops for an easy, family-friendly meal.

Not only does this recipe get dinner on the table with just 5 ingredients (plus salt and pepper) but it relies on pantry staples: pasta, canned tuna and crushed red pepper flakes. If you don’t have the fresh mint skip it, or try a different take using fresh basil or even arugula, instead.

This recipe has hundreds of 5-star reviews and it’s easy to see why. Chicken and potatoes a nice boost of flavor from just a few other ingredients (like red pepper flakes, garlic and rosemary) and cook together for a complete meal in just 40 minutes.

This casserole is super satisfying and creamy and uses a great trick to cut out extra butter and oil: Instead of making the traditional roux with butter, the cream sauce is thickened with a little flour.