Favorite meal with minimal cooking

rbfdac

I don't have a lot of time to cook, so I eat a lot of "quick to make" things (i.e overnight oats for breakfast, spinach salad with beans for lunch, frozen veggie burgers with cheese, vegetables and hummus, and fresh fruit for dinner). The microwave is my friend.

When looking at the "what's for dinner" posts and whatnot, I see a whole lot of baked chicken, soups, casseroles, eggs and bacon for breakfast, etc.--- delicious, but I don't have the time to cook like that.

To preface, without the intention of sounding rude, I am not asking for suggestions or tips about how I can incorporate more cooking in to my daily routine or any feedback about the types of food I choose to eat. I am merely interested in what your favorite quick, easy meal is.

So, what's your favorite meal (breakfast, lunch and/or dinner) that involves minimal cooking and time?

ana3067

- omelet
- protein pancakes
- baked oatmeal (made the night before, takes about an hour to bake or less and maybe 30 minutes to prep at most)
- any simple baked protein (fish, poultry, red meat, doesn't matter)
- hamburgers (meat + onions + oil on the pan)

Otherwise dedicate once a week (which I'm sure you can do) to cooking in bulk and freeze what you won't eat quickly.

KylaDenay

Why not try out more slow cooker meals. You can put them in the crock pot before bed and have it ready in the morning for you to take to work. Or put it in before work, have it ready when you get home and then leftovers for lunch the next day.

JenSD6

You can do a lot with a crockpot that's pretty minimal for prep time, and it's ready to serve when you get home. Or do most of the prep the night before and just toss it together in the morning. There are all sorts of freezer-bag recipes out there on places like Pinterest, as well. Spend a day assembling a bunch, then pull them out of the freezer as needed.

Yesterday I made a whole chicken that took literally only five minutes to pull together before work, and the crockpot did the rest. Can't get any faster or easier.

A staple in our house is to quickly pan fry a fish filet or salmon steak and steam vegetables in the microwave. Scrambled eggs and toast is even faster.

jamilynn_8890

Rotisserie chicken and those frozen vegetables that come in steam packets

SueInAz

The crock pot is definitely the busy person's friend. I also like to make a stir fry using a lean protein, frozen asian veggies and soy sauce, granulated onion and garlic. I start the rice first, brown the protein, throw in the veggies and let it cook until everything is hot. The rice needs no attention once you set it to simmer until it's done 15 minutes later.

SnuggleSmacks

rbfdac wrote: »

I don't have a lot of time to cook, so I eat a lot of "quick to make" things (i.e overnight oats for breakfast, spinach salad with beans for lunch, frozen veggie burgers with cheese, vegetables and hummus, and fresh fruit for dinner). The microwave is my friend.

When looking at the "what's for dinner" posts and whatnot, I see a whole lot of baked chicken, soups, casseroles, eggs and bacon for breakfast, etc.--- delicious, but I don't have the time to cook like that.

To preface, without the intention of sounding rude, I am not asking for suggestions or tips about how I can incorporate more cooking in to my daily routine or any feedback about the types of food I choose to eat. I am merely interested in what your favorite quick, easy meal is.

So, what's your favorite meal (breakfast, lunch and/or dinner) that involves minimal cooking and time?

This sounds more complicated than it is, but Mediterranean spaghetti topped with shrimp scampi is heavenly.

1 T butter
1/2 cup white wine or wine vinegar
1/2 cup stock or broth
garlic to taste (I use about a 1 1/2 - 2 T, at minimum)
1 lb shrimp
pinch of salt and pepper


2 servings spaghetti
1 T olive oil
1 small can tomatoes (something chunky, or use fresh if you have time for chopping. You don't want the spaghetti covered, like with marinara...you just want some color)
1 handful fresh basil chopped
1 cup feta cheese (optional, but I like it)

Melt butter in medium hot pan, throw in shrimp and cook for about 3 minutes til they begin to curl and pink, throw in garlic for a minute, then add the rest. When shrimp is done, scoop it out into a bowl and turn heat to high to reduce the liquids by half (about 10 minutes).

Meanwhile, cook your spaghetti and drain, add the rest of the spaghetti ingredients, and when your scampi liquid is nicely reduced, throw the shrimp and liquid on the spaghetti and toss.

It is heavenly! For two VERY large servings, this is about 650 cals and 50 grams protein. You can reduce this by leaving out feta, or reducing olive oil or butter (please don't leave out the butter altogether as it makes a HUGE difference in taste!)

As long as your shrimp are defrosted and your water is set to boil when you start, you can finish the whole thing in 15 minutes.

SnuggleSmacks

Slow cooker burritos:

Chicken or pork (1-3 lbs)
Jar of really good salsa (don't buy crappy stuff, get something really flavorful) If you're using a lot of meat, get two jars.

Combine in a slow cooker/Crockpot and cook on low overnight.

The next day, shred quickly with two forks, put a nice scoop on a tortilla with whatever fixin's you want, and you have tasty, healthy burritos.

spingirl605

I am with you OP!! There is only 1 or 2 nights a week where I actually make a recipe of some sort. the rest of the week I'm scrambling to find easy, fast meals. I don't even have time to prep my crockpot in the morning. Here are some things I like to eat that are super fast:
High liner flame flavor fish filets with microwaved frozen vegetables
I'll fry a piece of pork or chicken or sausage and throw in some vegetables in the same pan with salt and pepper, sometimes lemon juice.
I eat subway a couple times a week...I know it doesn't count, I didn't make it.
Throw a jar of spaghetti sauce in the microwave and cook up some noodles
to list a few...

SnuggleSmacks

Rotisserie chicken is awesome for quick meals. You can carve it up and eat it with a veggie, or pull the meat and toss with a salad, pasta, rice, sandwich, tortilla, whatever.

Morningstar Farms has lots of veggie burgers that are quite tasty, like roasted garlic chickpea or spicy black bean.

Bagged freezer meals that you cook for 10 minutes in a skillet are often fairly low in calories (although still high in sodium). Chili's now makes them, and this one is especially tasty for 300 cals per serving:




And this is good at 450 cals:

Need2Exerc1se

Stir fry, though if don't buy the veggies already sliced, there is a bit of food prep. But still, it takes about 20 total to slice and stir fry some meat and veggies. About 10 if buy pre-liced vegetables, and the possible combinations are endless.

Grilled fish and sauteed greens or asparagus or any other quick cooking vegetable takes 10-15 min.

Adding some instant rice to either meal would not increase total cooking time.

Smaller frozen fish can go straight from the freezer to oven and will be done in 15-20 min. Roast some thinly sliced zucchini, cabbage and/or carrots at the same time.

Pandapotato

I really like café steamers (chicken marinera is my favorite), and the prepackaged "café bowl' salads at Safeway--- and they just added little wrap bowls! Two small tortillas and yummy spicy sauce. So those are good for lunches!

LOVE the steamer bags of vegetables too, that can go in the microwave. And the little brown rice cups or bags that can be microwaved. Then all you need is you protein.

rbfdac

I suppose I should have added that I am a pescatarian! I didn't figure I would get so many responses including meat, haha. I love all of these recommendations, though. They definitely require more effort than I normally give, but it doesn't seem like it takes too much more time. I can always replace the meat with faux stuff.

On that note- does anybody have any favorite vegetarian/pescatarian quick meals that they love?

wamydia

I live alone and so I've made an art form out of quick, easy meals. I love to cook, but a lot of times when I get home from work I just don't feel like putting the effort in. Some of my go-to's:

- I buy the Tyson refrigerated chicken Fajita strips, brown them in a skillet with olive oil (which takes about 5 minutes) and slap them on a tortilla with whatever I have around that sounds good, like sour cream, guacamole, peppers, etc. I also do this with ground beef (with some taco seasoning added), although it takes a few minutes longer to cook.
- Baked tilapia. I usually season it with lemon pepper (premade from the spice aisle) and put it in a foil packet with a little butter. About 20-25 minutes at 350 in the oven and it's done.
- Scrambled eggs and half an English muffin with honey or cream cheese is great for weekday breakfast. It only take about 5 minutes to scramble eggs. Sometimes I have this for dinner even if I'm feeling lazy.
- Spaghetti. Boil noodles. Throw some store bought sauce in pan over medium heat and add onion powder, garlic powder, oregano, and basil to taste. Let it cook down until the noodles are done (12 minutes) and the extra spices make it actually pretty good for a store bought sauce.
- Ranch pork chops. Take a boneless pork chop and coat it with dry hidden valley ranch dip mix. Bake it at 400 for about 25-30 minutes.
- Ranch burger. Add dry hidden valley ranch mix to some ground beef and fry it up. I usually put a little A1 or blue cheese dressing on it. Sometimes I don't even bother with a bun.
- Salsa pork chop or chicken. Put whichever you like in a skillet and let it cook a little on both sides. After about 10 minutes, drain off any fat and add 1/4C of salsa on top. Let it cook down until the salsa isn't runny anymore and the meat is done through. Usually this take less than 20 minutes total.
- Greek chicken w/ rice pilaf. Cut up a chicken breast and roll the pieces around in greek spices (I usually mix together some thyme, oregano, garlic powder, dried minced onion, etc) and brown in a skillet with some olive oil over medium heat. When it's done, add some feta cheese and put it over some rice pilaf. I make the rice pilaf by buying the uncle ben's rice pilaf in a bag that only takes two minutes or so in the microwave. It's pretty high in sodium, but I only eat this once in a while so I don't worry about it. Takes about 20 minutes from prep to eating.
- "Pretend" Chinese food. Cut up chicken or pork into cubes and brown in a skillet over medium heat with canola or peanut oil. While you're doing that, throw a bag of steamer veggies in the microwave. When both are done, put it all on the skillet together and add some sauce (I usually get sweet & sour or general Tzoa's from the store) and leave it on the heat until the sauce is hot. For the rice, you can also get the uncle ben's microwave rice that takes about two minutes if you don't feel like messing with a rice cooker. Takes about 20 minutes from prep to eating.

Also, if you have more time on the weekends it's always great to make soup, chili, or whatever and then freeze it in single serving containers. That way you can just pull one out to thaw if you need a last minute lunch or feel a lazy spell coming on.

Kekekylene

I eat protein cereal for dinner on most days which is probably the easiest thing there is lol, I also pre-make meatballs and have them for breakfast every day, I pre-made a months worth so I just take out one bag per week from the freezer. I also pre-make cauliflower mash and a bunch of rice. I hard boil a bunch of eggs and my lunches are two eggs and mix in some mayo and pepper and I have egg salad sandwiches. Then the rest of my days are baby carrots, yogurts, nuts, etc. I HATE cooking lol My macros are for the most part pretty spot on. Feel free to check out my diary, my days are pretty simple. Just ignore today as I thought I had nuts at work but I didn't so now I am over in carbs from having to buy a granola bar at the vending machine lol

martinel2099

Citris lime chicken
1/4 cup of Orange Juice
Juice from 1-2 limes
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 Teaspoon red pepper
1/4 cup of fresh cilantro (dried is fine)
Salt+Pepper to taste

Mix in a bowl, add the mixture with two chicken breasts into a plastic zip-lock bag and sit in the fridge for at least 4 hours.

Fry in a skillet and cover while cooking, then nom nom. Super easy to make, anyone can do it. takes about 20-30 minutes to cook in the skillet.

47Jacqueline

Any frozen dinner. Any grilled meat and a steamed veggie.

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9000FeetHigh

Steamed Mussels in Wine & Garlic Sauce! We served it over linguine. Mmmmm, and the mussels steam in just about 4 minutes. Just discovered I like shellfish, so this will be a repeat meal for us.

AgentRomanova

Baked Pesto and Mozzarella Chicken:

4 Chicken breasts
1 Mozzrella ball
2 - 3 tbsp Green pesto

Spread 1 tbsp pesto on the bottom of an oven proof dish.
Lay chicken breasts on top.
Spread 1 - 2 tbsp pesto over chicken.
Cover dish with tin foil and bake in oven at 200 degrees Celcius for 20 - 25 minutes.
Slice cheese up.
Remove tin foil and place the cheese evenly over the chicken.
Return to oven (uncovered) and cook for another 10 minutes until the cheese melts and starts to go brown.

You easily double up this recipe for plenty of leftovers. I serve it with green beans and cous cous, but it goes great with a salad.

Vanilla_Lattes

Boil eggs up to a week in advance. I love boiled eggs. Pop a sweet potato in the microwave while u get ready and eat as is. Get tortillas and put whatever u want in the, quick heat in microwave..

chadya07

various sandwiches or toasted seed bread with cream cheese and either smoked fish or prosciutto with tomatoes and capers.

Need2Exerc1se

rbfdac wrote: »

I suppose I should have added that I am a pescatarian! I didn't figure I would get so many responses including meat, haha. I love all of these recommendations, though. They definitely require more effort than I normally give, but it doesn't seem like it takes too much more time. I can always replace the meat with faux stuff.

On that note- does anybody have any favorite vegetarian/pescatarian quick meals that they love?

Broccoli is great stir fried with shrimp, peanuts and/or tofu. Shrimp or egg fried rice.
Baked, poached or grilled fish is so quick and simple to cook. Even the thicker steak like fish only take a few minutes, since they are best served medium to rare.
Omelets and frittatas are also super quick and easy.
Hummus, baba ganoush or tofu sandwich wraps (just add leafy greens and whatever other vegetables you like).
Silken tofu mixed with fresh herbs also makes a great sandwich spread or veggie dip that takes about 2 min to make.
Crumble firm tofu into store bought marinara/pasta sauce and serve over pasta or squash.
Stuff pasta shells with a mix tofu, fresh herbs, spinach and fresh mozzarella and top with marinara.

seltzermint555

Some of the stuff you named is my favorite, actually!

But another quickie household staple is frozen vegetable dumplings (Assi Vege) from the Asian supermarket along with baby bok choy. So delicious...chop 1-2 heads of baby bok choy and toss in a little water (like 1/4") with 7-10 little dumplings in a microwave safe container. Keep the lid slightly open. Heat 3 min. Steamed to perfection.

I usually mix up some sesame oil, rice vinegar, honey & soy sauce (sesame seeds optional) in a container to use for several times. It's really good with just a little poured into the bowl on top of the dumplings & veggies, and the mixture lasts fine in the fridge for a week to two weeks.

Stormy_Monday

I don't have a ton of time to cook either, but I love chicken . . . so I'll usually cook a few breast at a time (enough for two to three days) and keep it in the fridge.

My favorite quick meal is baked chicken, sauteed peppers and onions, avocado, plain Greek yogurt and salsa. I'll eat it plain or in a wrap, depending on my carb macros. I have cravings for Mexican food all the time, and this does the trick !

AllOutof_Bubblegum

I'm not sure if this counts in your book as "minimal" cooking, but I LOVE my cheesy chicken rice casserole. It's so easy, and the only real cooking is the rice, which, if you have a $15 rice cooker, is really no cooking for you at all.

Cooked white rice (about 4 cups)
1 can cream of chicken soup
1-2 cans chicken packed in water
however much shredded cheese you like, whatever kind
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix all together while rice is still hot, and enjoy the hot, gooey, comforting mess. It's so good.

I sometimes swap out the canned chicken for canned tuna, and the can of cream of chicken for cream of mushroom. It results in a different tasting dish, but just as delicious and easy.

KylaDenay

Easy caprese calzones - Store brought pizza dough. Mozzerella cheese, tomatoes and basil. Bake and dip in your favorite jar marinara sauce and side salad.

Easy eggplant parm - Slice an eggplant. Top with sauce and mozzarella cheese. Bake and serve with pasta or side veggie steamers.

Quinoa burrito - Cook a pot of quinoa (literally just put it in the pot, wait for it to boil and leave it alone). Then stuff a burrito with quinoa, black beans, corn, salsa, cheese, and avocado.

Grilled cheese and soup - Add all of your favorite veggies with some cheese for a lovely grilled cheese sandwich with a side of soup.

These are all easy with minimal prep and minimal cooking.

NewMeSM75

I personally love frozen tilapia. Sea Best is my favorite. I put in foil pack with slices of lemon and seasonings. Serve with pasta or rice. Maybe steamed vegetables. I preferably like orzo pasta with broccoli added when pasta is close to done. I find it good with the lemon fish.

Also, another favorite is eggplant parmesan. I slice eggplant or zucchini. Roast in oven with little olive oil and seasoning. At end, add a marinara sauce and cheese.

Wonton cups are also great. Put wonton wrappers in muffin tin, fill with different veggies and cheese. Mexican is good. Fill with corn, black beans, etc. Top with cheese. Serve with salsa and sour cream.

Just some ideas.

Velum_cado

I have very little time in the evenings Monday - Friday, so on Saturday and Sunday I tend to make meals that create a few nights of leftovers, then fill in the gaps with regular quick meals.

The one that I do most often when I don't have leftovers available is a bit of meat (whatever I have that I feel like - chicken breast, fish fillet, or pork loin steak usually), microwave rice, and frozen vegetables. I'll also keep frozen pizzas on hand for when I really want to put in minimal effort.

sullus

Baked haddock. almost zero effort/prep and can be on the table in under 20 minutes

2 lbs haddock - have your fishmonger skin it.
- 1 c bread crumbs
- 1/2 stick butter

Preheat oven to 425 - 450
melt butter and mix with bread crumbs
lay fish in pan, cover with bread crumbs
put in preheated oven for 15 minutes, 18 mins max.

Tallawah_

Tuna pasta salad

Boil some Fusili pasta for 10 minutes, drain, add tuna, sweetcorn, your preferred mayo and mix. Sprinkle some cheese on top and eat. Love it!

If it takes more than 15 mins your doing it wrong!