Berry Overnight Oats
Cold and creamy, gone purple from berries that bleed overnight and sweetened by dates that soften as they soak. Stir it together at night; it's spoonable by morning.
Contains peanut
A pantry system · v0.4 · Evidence-first
Minimum
Viable Pantry.
It's probably lentils.1
Stock the pantry once. Cook from it indefinitely. We sifted millions of real recipes and every nutrition dataset we could find — and kept only the staples worth owning.
Methodology v0.4 · every change logged
§01 · Closed-set cooking Recipes, from only
Recipes, from only
what's on the shelf.
Red Lentil Dal
Creamy and warming. Coconut and red lentils melt into something that tastes slow-cooked.
White Bean & Broccoli Soup
Half the pot blended smooth turns it silky and creamy with no cream, then a squeeze of lemon lifts the whole green bowl. Cozy and on the table in under half an hour.
Aaron Chow Breakfast
The breakfast half of Aaron Chow — the two recipes that inspired Minimum Viable Pantry itself, named for their author, who spent 7+ years tuning them toward near-complete nutrition. A creamy, warm bowl of oats, berries, seeds, and nuts, unsweetened and finished with a spoon of peanut butter. Paired with the savory half, it's a week's worth of variety in two meals.
Contains tree nut · peanut
Aaron Chow Lunch
The savory half of Aaron Chow — the two recipes that inspired Minimum Viable Pantry itself, named for their author, who spent 7+ years refining it into a nearly complete meal in one bowl. A thick, boldly spiced one-pot stew of over a dozen vegetables, grains, and legumes, brightened with lime and vinegar. Paired with the breakfast half, it's a week's worth of variety in two meals.
Blueberry-Walnut Baked Oatmeal
Soft, cakey oat squares with jammy blueberries, toasted walnuts, and warm cinnamon. Bake a pan on Sunday and grab a square on the way out the door all week.
Contains tree nut
31 recipes · every ingredient links back to its pantry entry Browse recipes →
§02 · The System Stock once.
Stock once.
Cook indefinitely.
Step 01
Evaluate everything.
We counted 198,899 distinct ingredient names across 2.2 million real recipes, then scored the contenders against 8 published research datasets — nutrient density, satiety, cost, shelf life. The receipts are on every card.
Step 02
Keep one small pantry.
75 staples made it. Each earns a distinct job — cheap enough to cook from daily, healthy by premise, and durable enough to stock ahead. The list is curated by judgment, backed by the data, and every change is logged.
Step 03
Cook closed-set.
Every recipe is buildable from the pantry alone — dried, canned, or frozen. If a dish would need something else, it doesn't get published. No surprise shopping trips, ever.
§03 · What this is
Most food advice is vibes. This is a spreadsheet. Every ingredient here earned its slot. Every recipe uses only what made the cut. Every health claim points to a source you can read.
Stock it once.
Print the shopping list. One trip, one afternoon, one small miracle of spreadsheet-driven self-sufficiency.