Prep ahead

One sauce, five dinners

A meal planning system for using one sauce across bowls, noodles, eggs, fish, soup, and vegetables without everything tasting identical.

Use the system

Steps

Make one flexible sauce with salt, fat, aromatics, and acid held back until serving.
Use it heavy on one meal, light as a finish on another, and diluted into soup or dressing later.
Change the base so the week does not feel repetitive.
Change the bright thing: cucumber one night, lime another, herbs later.
Keep one meal sauce-free until serving so leftovers stay fresh.

Examples

Scallion oil over chicken bowls.
Scallion oil loosened into noodle sauce.
Scallion oil as an egg and rice finish.