Use this dinner hash recipe to use up excess produce & meat!

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Living on a single income with 4 kiddos and a bunch of animals can make a family’s budget pretty tight. Our kids eat a ton so by the end of the month our pantry looks a little bare. No matter how much or how little we have we never go without a good meal.

Creativity is key in a household like ours. I used to feel bad when I would have to mix and match leftover pantry items for family meals, but dinner hash recipes have turned out to be my family’s favorite!

Bottom of the Pantry Dinner Hash Recipe

My go-to recipe when we have reached the bottom of the pantry is a dinner hash that is inspired by a meal that my mom made during my childhood.

The dinner hash that I grew up with consisted of canned green beans, diced potatoes, and sliced hot dogs. We called it “goulash”. Sounds odd, but it was my absolute favorite meal. I have adapted this nostalgic recipe to fit my family’s taste preferences, but it is still extremely simple and customizable.

*Many of my veggies came from Misfit’s Market. You can read more about MM at the bottom of this post.

Dinner Hash Ingredients:

Use this ingredient list as a guideline for your dinner hash because my pantry leftovers might be a bit different than yours. These veggies can be substituted with different fresh varieties or even with canned or frozen vegetables. Just be sure that you keep the potatoes or you will lose the “hash”.

*Feeds a family of 6.

4-5 medium potatoes
1 clove garlic
1 Eggplant
2 Chicken Breasts
1 Bell Pepper
1 White Onion
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Salt & Pepper

Dinner Hash Recipe Directions:

1. Wash

Wash all of the vegetables thoroughly.

2. Prep Veggies

Dice the onion, bell pepper, potatoes, eggplant.

3. Prep Garlic

Peel and crush the garlic clove.

4. Salt Eggplant

Place the diced eggplant in a colander over a bowl or the sink and sprinkle a generous amount salt across the top. Let this sit for 30 minutes to an hour. If you don’t have time for this step, you can skip it, but the eggplant might end up a little more bitter and soggy.

5. Rinse Eggplant

Rinse the salt off of the eggplant.

6. Prepare the meat

I used chicken breasts for this dinner hash recipe. I placed the chicken in a cast iron skillet, drizzled olive oil over the top, and sprinkled it with salt & pepper. The chicken baked in the oven at 400 degrees F for 30 minutes. Set the cooked meat to the side.

7. Prepare Potatoes

Prepare the potatoes in a cast iron skillet with lard (or oil of your choice) until they are cooked through and browned.

Move the potatoes to a large oven-safe serving dish and set aside. You can also keep the potatoes in the skillet if you have another one to use for cooking the other ingredients.

8. Saute

Saute the garlic in olive oil until fragrant. Add the onions and bell peppers.

Continue cooking until the onions are translucent. Add the mushrooms & eggplant and cook through. Season the veggies with salt & pepper.

9. Layer

Move the onions, peppers, eggplant and mushrooms on top of the potatoes in the oven-safe serving dish. Add the chicken (or other meat). Sprinkle the cheese on top.

10. Bake

Pop the entire dish into the pre-heated oven at about 350 degrees F for 5 minutes to melt the cheese.

11. Enjoy!

This dinner hash recipe isn’t fancy, but it is so simple and it will keep your tummy full until you hit the grocery store again!

If you like to meal plan to avoid scrounging in the pantry (I try my best, but life happens) then you should try out the meal planning sheets in my Household Management Notebook!

Bottom of the Pantry Dinner Hash

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Ingredients

4-5 medium potatoes
1 clove garlic
1 Eggplant
1 Bell Pepper
1 White Onion
2 Chicken Breasts (or other meat options like ground beef, sausage, or even hot dogs)
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Salt & Pepper to taste

Instructions

Wash all of the vegetables thoroughly.
Dice the onion, bell pepper, potatoes, eggplant. Peel and crush the garlic clove.
Place the diced eggplant in a colander over a bowl or the sink and sprinkle a generous amount salt across the top. Let this sit for 30 minutes to an hour. If you don't have time for this step, you can skip it, but the eggplant might end up a little more bitter and soggy.
Rinse the salt off of the eggplant.
Prepare the meat. I used chicken breasts for this recipe. I placed the chicken in a cast iron skillet, drizzled olive oil over the top, and sprinkled it with salt & pepper. The chicken baked in the oven at 400 degrees F for 30 minutes. Set the cooked meat to the side.
Prepare the potatoes in a cast iron skillet with lard (or oil of your choice) until they are cooked through and browned.
Move the potatoes to a large oven-safe serving dish and set aside. You can also keep the potatoes in the skillet if you have another one to use for cooking the other ingredients.
Saute the garlic in olive oil until fragrant. Add the onions and bell peppers.
Season with salt & pepper.
Continue cooking until the onions are translucent.
Add the mushrooms & eggplant and cook through.
Move the onions, peppers, eggplant and mushrooms on top of the potatoes in the oven-safe serving dish.
Add the chicken (or other meat).
Sprinkle the cheese on top.
Pop the entire dish into the pre-heated oven at about 350 degrees F for 5 minutes to melt the cheese. Enjoy!

What is Misfit’s Market?

Misfit’s Market is an amazing service that allows you to purchase imperfect produce at a discount to save you money and to save the produce from going to waste.

You can purchase the large “Madness” box (18-22 pounds) or the smaller “Mischief” box (10-13 pounds). Each box is full of fresh, organic, mixed fruits and vegetaibles that might have a couple of imperfections, but are perfectly fine to consume.

This is what I received in my Madness box in December:

How to Make a Simple Dinner Hash Recipe

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