Two Pantry Ingredients That Make Weeknight Cooking More Interesting

If your weeknight meals are starting to feel repetitive, sometimes one new ingredient is enough to shake things up.

These two pantry staples — one from Sichuan cooking and one from India — add a lot of flavor without requiring much effort. A spoonful can turn simple vegetables, tofu, chicken, or rice into something that tastes completely different.

1. Doubanjiang

Doubanjiang is a fermented chili bean paste from Sichuan cuisine. It is salty, savory, slightly spicy, and deeply flavorful.

A little goes a long way. Cook a spoonful in oil with garlic and ginger, and it becomes the base for an easy stir-fry, braised vegetables, or tofu dish.

Meera Sodha’s Sichuan-style braised eggplant with tofu is a good place to start. The doubanjiang gives the whole dish its rich, savory flavor.

You can also use it with mushrooms, green beans, cabbage, or even mixed into noodles.

If you buy a jar, look for one labeled “Pixian” doubanjiang, which is traditionally fermented and tends to have the best flavor.

2. Sonari masala

Sonari masala is an Indian spice blend with warm, aromatic flavors.

According to this Serious Eats overview of sonari masala, it is traditionally used with meat, fish, vegetables, and tofu.

What makes it useful is that it combines several spices into one blend, so you do not have to think as much about seasoning. Instead of reaching for cumin, coriander, turmeric, and other spices separately, you can use one spoonful of sonari masala.

Try it with roasted vegetables, lentils, chicken, or mixed into yogurt for a marinade.

How to Start Using Them

You do not need to completely change how you cook.

Try adding doubanjiang to a vegetable stir-fry or tofu dish. Use sonari masala on roasted sweet potatoes or chicken thighs.

The goal is not to make weeknight cooking more complicated. It is to have a few ingredients on hand that make simple meals taste more interesting.