The doorbell rings. It’s a long lost friend or relative. You’re happy to see them, but in the back of your mind you are wondering what you can offer them to eat.
Can you quickly prepare and serve a good meal to last minute guests? Yes you can. First, make a plan. Second, stock up on some frozen and pantry items. Third, have two or three go-to meals that can be made with specific items that you have purchased for this reason. Then you can relax and always be ready for drop in company.
Method 1: Plan Several Go-to Meals
While raising teenagers, we often had drop in guests who were always happy to be offered something good to eat. I developed several plans that used things that I always kept stocked in the kitchen or pantry.
Everyone has different likes and dislikes. What is a normal menu to one person might be very unusual to another. For example, someone who is vegetarian might be familiar with hummus and tofu and other vegetarian staples, while another person may never have tried them.
While we can’t please everyone all the time, I found that for me at least, I could make at least three meals that most people generally liked, with the items I had stocked for this purpose.
My first meal for drop in guests is chicken lettuce wraps. We eat salad pretty much every day. Two or three heads of lettuce is a staple item on my grocery list every week. I also always have a large bag of chicken breasts in the freezer. I have a chest freezer, so I can always have an extra bag of chicken at all times.
I also keep a bottle of teriyaki sauce and a small bottle of sweet chili sauce in the refrigerator. We eat stir fry and similar things quite often, so I always stock up on them.
Now, if someone was to show up and it was lunch or dinnertime, I would take out some frozen chicken and put it in a large ziplock bag. I would set it in the sink in warm water for a few minutes while I got out the other ingredients.
I would pull some lettuce leaves off the head of lettuce and wash and dry them. Then when the chicken was just partly thawed, enough that I could cut it into big chunks, I would cut it up and put the chunks into the food processor.
Next, I would process the chicken chunks for just long enough that they began to look like roughly ground hamburger. Then I would fry the chicken in a large frying pan until it was no longer pink, and add some teriyaki sauce and a few dashes of sweet chili sauce.
If I happened to have some rice noodles, I would have cooked those while the chicken was thawing. They are not necessary, but add a lot of texture to the lettuce wraps.
Lettuce Wraps Items to Keep on Hand:
- lettuce
- frozen chicken breasts or thighs
- bottled teriyaki sauce
- bottled sweet chili sauce
- package of rice noodles
My second meal for drop in guests is nachos. I always keep an extra bag of tortilla chips in the pantry, and rotate them with new bags as they get used up.
I keep Velveeta cheese in the refrigerator. I don’t use it much in regular cooking, but it keeps for a long time when stored properly, and easily makes cheese sauce in a pinch.
With chips and cheese, you can put almost anything on nachos. Leftover roast beef or ground beef, leftover chicken, a can of chili, canned chicken or canned roast beef, olives, canned tomatoes, even BBQ sauce is surprisingly good on chips with some cheese sauce.
Nachos Items to Keep on Hand:
- tortilla chips
- Velveeta cheese, or a jar of cheese sauce, or real shredded cheese
- canned chicken or roast beef
- canned black beans
- any other items you have than can go on nachos- use your creativity!
My third favorite drop in meal is fish tacos. Corn tortillas keep very well in the freezer. They thaw out quickly, and are almost as good as fresh when lightly fried in a pan. I also keep frozen breaded fish in the freezer. A good fish taco sauce can be made quickly with some chili powder mixed into some sour cream. Even ranch dressing will work for these tacos. And of course, I always have lettuce.
Fish Tacos Items to Keep on Hand
- corn tortillas
- frozen fish fillets, frozen shrimp, or a good quality bag of frozen fish sticks
- lettuce or cabbage
- sour cream, greek yogurt, or ranch dressing
- chili powder or taco seasoning
I have served these three emergency meals to drop in guests many times, and people always seem happy to have something yummy to eat. There’s nothing wrong with getting a frozen pizza out for guests, but sometimes it’s nice to have something that’s a little more fresh tasting! The trick is to plan ahead and be prepared.
Method 2: Google Your Available Ingredients
If you don’t have any items dedicated for guest meals stocked up, the next best thing is to do a search on what you do have. There is something that can be made out of almost any group of ingredients.
There are many sites and apps that can give search results from a list of ingredients, but Google is the biggest and best of all. It’s a great resource for last minute meals, even when there is no last minute company to feed.
For example, if I have frozen green beans, rice, and ham, I can make so many things! Just type the word recipe, then add your list of ingredients separated by commas and get ready for some great last minute ideas.
Method 3: Everything Can Go Into the Soup
If all else fails, make soup. Keep some cans or packages of broth in your pantry. Or those little bouillon cubes and some water. Almost anything else that you have in the house can be put into soup. Leftover meats and/or vegetables, cans of beans, rice, potatoes, pasta, coconut milk, tortillas, and many more things. Spaghetti sauce and some frozen meatballs along with some veggies and water makes a fantastic soup.
We could actually live on not much more than soup and bread, and almost never have the same soup twice. With soup, add toast, if all there is is sliced bread, or fry up some tortilla strips for a topping.
I hope this has given you some ideas and reduced the stress you might feel when company drops in!
Related Questions
How to make guests feel welcome overnight? Make sure there are enough blankets and pillows. Clear stuff off the tables or dressers so they have room to put their glasses and phones. Put some packaged snacks and a bottle of water in their room.
What snacks should I have on hand for guests? Crackers and cheese. Individual tubs of hummus or guacamole and chips. Mixed nuts. Veggie chips. Individually wrapped chocolates. Let them know where the snacks are kept and that they are expected to help themselves anytime.