What can I make with just eggs and cheese?

You want dinner sorted fast, with no second trip to the shop. All you've got is eggs and cheese, and you're not sure where to start. The good news is that these two ingredients are the foundation of dozens of genuinely satisfying meals, and you probably have more lurking in your cupboard than you think.

The challenge with searching for recipes online is that they can't see what else you've already got. A recipe might call for eggs, cheese and five other things you don't have, or it ignores the half-used jar of pesto or that lonely pepper in the fridge. That's where a decision engine like Ask the Kitchen makes the difference: it looks at everything you actually have right now, including what's about to go off, and tells you what to cook tonight.

Simple dinner ideas with eggs and cheese

A classic omelette is the obvious starting point, but it's far more interesting if you've got anything at all to fold through it. Leftover cooked veg, a handful of herbs, even a spoonful of chutney or relish can turn it into a proper meal. The eggs set around the cheese, and you've got something hot and filling in minutes.

Scrambled eggs with cheese stirred through at the end becomes something more substantial if you can pile it onto toast or wrap it in a tortilla. If you've got any kind of bread, you're halfway to a cheese toastie with a fried egg on top, which is far more dinner-like than it sounds. The yolk running into the crisp, melted cheese makes it feel like a treat rather than a fallback.

A frittata is just an omelette that you don't fold, and it works brilliantly if you have any bits of veg, cooked pasta, or even crisps you want to use up. Beat the eggs, stir in the cheese and whatever else you find, then cook it slowly until it sets. You can finish it under the grill if you have one, or just let it cook through on the hob.

If you've got any kind of pasta, even a small amount, you can make a simple carbonara-style dish using beaten eggs and grated cheese to coat the hot pasta. The residual heat cooks the eggs into a creamy sauce without needing cream or butter, though a bit of pasta water helps it come together.

For something a bit different, an egg fried rice works if you have any leftover rice in the fridge. Fry the rice with a little oil if you have it, push it to the side, scramble the eggs, then mix everything together with the cheese grated over at the end. It's savoury, filling, and uses up rice that might otherwise go to waste.

Let your kitchen do the thinking

The real point is that eggs and cheese are incredibly versatile, but the best dinner tonight depends entirely on what else is sitting in your fridge, freezer or cupboard. A recipe site gives you one fixed idea. Ask the Kitchen looks at your whole kitchen, spots what needs using, and tells you what to make right now. No guesswork, no extra shopping, nothing wasted.

More dinners from what you've got

• What Can I Make With Eggs And Potatoes?
• What Can I Make With Eggs And Bread?