Inexpensive, quick, and easy = does it exist?

Fish fillets. Super easy for a beginner.

Add seasoning, wrap in foil, bake 180C/350F for 20 min. Or pan fry skin side down until nearly done (you'll see it turn opaque as it cooks), flip and cook briefly to finish, serve. Or put on a bit of greased foil and steam in a steamer for about 10 min. Add whatever seasonings, flavourings, herbs etc you like.

Fish is very quick to cook and very easy to see when it's done - when cooked, it is opaque and flakes easily with a fork. Cook til it is just done, don't overdo it.

Eggs also tick all your boxes and you can cook them in all sorts of ways.

There are a lot of pasta toppings that can be made in the 10 min it takes the pasta itself to cook.

Also, my answer to the above is "lots of things", because once you have practiced basic cooking skills you find that many, many dishes become easy and fast that would have seemed overwhelming when you were new to it. It takes time to build up experience but it is very, very worth it.

Pasta is very easy to do, as of course are things like sandwiches and wraps. I'll often buy some deli meats and cheeses, some veggies, and some tortillas for wraps. Assembly time is pretty quick.

Another idea is to do a food that you can prepare ahead of time (e.g. on the weekend) and then actually finish cooking during the week. Marinated food is a great example of food that not only can be prepped in advance, but should be prepped in advance. A lot of things can tolerate a few days in the fridge before cooking, though.

If you have a slow cooker, you can make a lot of things like soups, stews, or curries and let most of the work happen while you're working. Many of those are really actually pretty basic - just "cut things up and add to pot". It's worth watching some videos on proper knife skills so you don't add any pieces of your fingers to the meal (and/or just get a kevlar glove), but as long as you cut slowly and carefully you can pretty much chop anything safely.

Tonight I made a tray of meatballs while a potato was nuked in the microwave.

It is cheap, easy, and takes just over thirty minutes. The spare meatballs went in to the freezer for an even cheaper and easier meal another day.

I used soy sauce and BBQ sauce instead of Worcestershire sauce, added half a shredded carrot, and subbed potato flakes because I have it around. A very forgiving recipe.

https://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/easy-meatballs/2959910f-1b27-438a-9085-d40b1950db20

Cauliflower cous cous, sweetcorn, capers and chicken or prawns!!

Also, burgers are incredibly easy. All you need is minced beef, salt and pepper. There are all sorts of different schools of thought on how you go about assembling these ingredients (Google it), but it's rarely complicated. I would not add fillers or egg - that's for meatballs. Burgers are just meat.

You'll get a far better burger for your money if you make it yourself compared to buying it. Frozen burgers use lower-grade higher-fat meat than what the same money will buy unmade, and that means they shrink when you cook them, and that means you were sold a pup. Buy decent meat instead and make your own.

Have you thought about meal prepping, so your food is already prepared when you get home. Or use a slow cooker and your food will be done when you get home. Make enough in the slow cooker to have left overs. Easy.

Check out budgetbytes.com almost all of her recipes are quick, easy, cheap and delicious. I LOVE the oatmeal bakes.

Eggs are cheap and easy.

laura_wigman wrote: »

I'm not the greatest cook; when I get home from work during the week the last thing I want to do is prepare a meal.
I need your help!
Can anyone share a favourite dish that is simple and quick to make?
Thanks ☺️

I'm generally willing to spend maybe 5 minutes on the task of feeding myself on a miscellaneous day, so I batch cook stuff in advance in some sacrifical block of time that won't need more than the microwave at time of eating. (I also typically eat dinner before leaving work to head to the gym/run/cycling group, then a snack on the way to dancing. I don't normally eat at home until a light supper post-dancing at 10:30pm-ish).

Soup.
Rice & beans (pref. with extra veggies).
-- Can be made in giant batches and individual servings microwaved as needed. Both are largely idiot proof.
--(for rice & beans, easiest for me has been rice in rice cooker, beans in pressure cooker, additional veggies & seasonings in caldera/large pot. Stir the rice and beans into the other stuff in pot when they're done.
-- Soup is just chopping random stuff and throwing into pot. Don't forget beans (fiber=filling) and a protein source (see "miscellaneous meat pieces" below).

Salad + miscellaneous meat pieces
- Pre-chop, wash as much lettuce as will fit in salad spinner (these are worth it if you love salad), so it will be on hand for at least a few salads.
- "miscellaneous meat pieces": Can cook up entire batch of ground beef/turkey, chicken, etc, then chop into pieces and freeze. Or carve and chop up a ready-made rotisserie chicken (loss leader item at many stores so cheaper than a full raw chicken). Chunk of pre-cooked ham (Price rite has lean quarters pretty inexpensive). Microwave single servings as needed.

Miscellaneous frozen veggies + miscellaneous meat pieces.
--(self explanatory). add pepper/garlic/onion/balsamic vinegar/etc to flavor. Can oven roast also with olive oil and add bread crumbs if desired.

Rotisserie chicken, steamed vegetables and salad.