Ideas for meal planning: the 2-ingredient rule for variety without chaos

You know that moment. You open the fridge, stare into the abyss of semi-wilted greens, a half-used can of coconut milk, and a single, judgmental lemon. You had great ideas for meal planning. Your follow-through? More... interpretive.

This guide is for the people trying to eat well, waste less, and not cry into a leftover tortilla. It introduces a deceptively simple idea: the 2-ingredient rule, a flexible framework to help you add variety to your meals without overbuying or burning out. It keeps food interesting without filling your fridge with guilt. And it pairs beautifully with the OH, a potato! app, which makes it all surprisingly effortless.

what is the 2-ingredient rule?

It’s the opposite of the "40-tab recipe search spiral." The 2-ingredient rule means you plan each meal around just two things you already have. That’s it. Then, you fill in the rest with pantry basics or a small grocery top-up. It flips the usual planning approach on its head:

• Instead of starting with what do I want to eat?

• You start with what do I need to use up?

The 2-ingredient rule keeps your meals:

• Grounded in what’s in your kitchen

• Flexible enough for real-life appetite shifts

• Satisfying because you still get variety

Let’s say you have mushrooms and feta. Boom. That could become a warm grain bowl, a flatbread pizza, or a creamy pasta. You don’t have to know yet. Just start there. Two ingredients. One direction.

why does this help with ideas for meal planning?

Because you’re not pulling recipes out of thin air. You’re pulling them out of your fridge. And that changes everything.

Meal planning is often pitched as a way to feel in control. But it can become another perfectionist trap: batch-cooking 7 identical meals or building elaborate spreadsheets. That works for, like, 4 people on TikTok. The rest of us need a simpler rhythm.

According to the REFRESH Horizon 2020 study, meal planning is the #1 most effective way to reduce household food waste. But only 37% of Europeans do it consistently. Why? Because most meal planning tools are:

• Designed for weight loss or macros, not your lifestyle

• Focused on new recipes imports instead of ingredients you already own

• Too rigid to survive schedule changes or leftovers

That’s where the 2-ingredient rule shines. It doesn’t ask you to plan every bite. Just to start with what you’ve got. And OH, a potato! makes that incredibly easy.

how to use the 2-ingredient rule (with a little help from a potato)

1. Scan your fridge or pantry Snap a pic using the OH, a potato! fridge scanner. It extracts your ingredients, even from chaotic shelves. No typing. No judgment.

2. Pick 2 ingredients to use up Think: what’s most urgent? What’s lonely and overlooked? What do you actually feel like eating?

3. Get recipe ideas instantly The app serves you recipes based on your two picks, prioritizing what’s at risk of going bad. You can also browse for new flavors without starting from scratch.

4. Build your week, not your stress Use those pairs to sketch out a few meals. Want to plan more? Go for it. Want to stop at Tuesday? That’s fine too.

5. Only buy what connects the dots OH, a potato! generates a smart grocery list that adds just the missing links. No overbuying. No rotting herbs.

what does this look like in real life?

Let’s say it’s Sunday. You scan your fridge and see:

• Broccoli (looking at you sideways)

• Ricotta (used once, then forgotten)

• Half a lemon

• Cooked quinoa

• Eggs

• A bunch of cilantro

You pick broccoli + ricotta.

The app suggests:

• Broccoli-ricotta frittata

• Baked stuffed broccoli shells

• Ricotta toast with roasted broccoli and lemon zest

You pick the frittata. The app adds missing items (maybe onion and chili flakes) to your grocery list. You add lemon-cilantro potatoes to use up your sides. Boom, that’s one dinner done. Repeat this rhythm a few times and you’ve got a low-stress week meal planning built around what’s already in your home.

And because the app tracks freshness and reminds you of what’s left, your unused ingredients get another chance later in the week.

how it helps fight waste and burnout

According to the UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024, households toss about 131 kg of food per person every year. That’s basically one in every five grocery bags heading straight to the bin.

And the culprit? Often, it’s variety overload. You buy for 5 different meals, but life happens. A date pops up. You work late. Your mood says toast-for-dinner. Suddenly, Tuesday’s Thai curry dies a quiet death in the back of your fridge.

The 2-ingredient rule avoids this in two ways:

• It anchors variety in overlap, not novelty. You’re not buying 15 different herbs. You’re remixing 2-3 across the week.

• It adjusts with your week. If plans shift, just pick a new pair from what you still have. The app helps reroute, so you don’t default to takeout.

how to mix structure + spontaneity

The goal isn’t perfect planning. It’s less waste and more ease. So use the 2-ingredient rule like a rhythm, not a religion. Here are some ways to play:

how to keep your potato happy (and your streak alive)

OH, a potato! rewards consistency, not perfection. Every time you plan your meals for the week, you grow your weird little potato tamagotchi. It’s low-stakes but weirdly satisfying.

The more you use up what you have, the more your plan evolves. The app learns your taste, predicts what you’ll actually cook, and helps you recover from abandoned plans (looking at you, midweek slump).

By the end of the month, your potato is thriving, your waste is down, and your wallet is slightly less terrified of adulthood.

try it for your next plan

Before your next shop, open your fridge. Pick two ingredients. Then open the app and see where it leads you. You might get:

• New dinner ideas quick

• Creative recipe ideas lunch

• A smarter recipe weekly planner

Whatever you find, it’ll be built around what you actually have. Not some fantasy of flawless food prep. Real life, real food, real wins.

glossary

2-ingredient rule: A meal planning method where each meal starts with two ingredients you already own.

Fridge scanner: A feature in OH, a potato! that lets you take photos of your fridge or pantry to generate a list of usable ingredients.

Smart grocery list: A dynamically generated shopping list that only includes missing items for your chosen recipes.

Meal planning: The process of deciding meals in advance to reduce waste, save money, and avoid daily decision fatigue.

Food waste: Edible food that is discarded or left to spoil at the household level.

Variety overload: The trap of planning too many different meals, leading to leftover ingredients that spoil.