Go-to Quick, Non-Ready-To-Eat Meals

[ninjabot]

A big can of Bush's Baked Beans (Country style) and Hillshire Farms Kielbasa sausage. Beans and Franks. Prolly super unhealthy but damned if it doesn't taste good.

Cubed steak with gravy and rice.

Hot dogs or burgers and homemade fries.

Rice and broccoli with cheese and chicken (got this idea from a Marie Calendar tv dinner lol)

Salmon patties (canned salmon, onion, bread crumbs, egg, mixed up and shaped into patties and then sautee) are quick and easy. I'm sure there are more appetizing recipes for them though.

 

[tsmoreau]

Stuffed pita, either with falafel proper or ground meat.

1) Fine dice a large tomato, half a red onion and maybe a half dozen to ten or so brussel sprouts. Put the diced material in a tupperware with some salt and pepper. Shake to combine.

2) Slice in half a pita bread. Toss those mothers in the broiler.

3) If you want falafel, go back to step one and add: "Mix water into falafel mix and make into balls" if you want ground meat, cook it up in a pan with some oil salt and pepper, if you want falafel, cook 'em with just oil.

4) Flip the pita halves.

5) Finish cooking your meat/falafel.

6) Yank pita halves. Slather the insides in sour cream and hummus. Fill the "round edges" with your veggie mix.

7) Add meat/falafel.

8) Add more veggies/sour cream/hummus to your taste.

9) Eat.

This has become my go-to recently, since after chopping the veggies you can keep the extra on hand for a few days (it mixes with avocado amazingly too), and then doing the pita heating and meat cooking takes like 5-10 minutes, max. Keep some sour cream and hummus around and bam. Had it last night. In fact, I still have some of the veggie mix and some ground turkey left...

 

[Hecht]

frozen pizzas

Click to shrink...

didn't read OP lol

 

[Deleted member 42]

didn't read OP lol

Click to shrink...

oh I did
get more pizzas

 

[Richiek]

budgetbytes.com

I just made Salsa Chicken Meal Prep Bowls from the site.

 

[Alucrid]

saute some garlic with olive oil, throw in some cherry tomatoes, cook until they soften and you can smoosh them easily, cook until they form a sauce, add in some basil, salt and pepper, then finish with some pasta in the same pan. takes like 10-15 minutes

all the rest of my family gives me shit for liking hunts spaghetti sauce, but it's by far my favorite. I like it specifically because it's kind of shitty, if that makes sense? Like i know prego and all those other kinds have actual real chunks of tomato inside, and I know hunts is more like a can of tomato sauce than spaghetti sauce. But goddamn it's my favorite spaghetti sauce, been having it since I was a kid.

Click to shrink...

if you're buying hunts or prego you all have bad taste

 

[Deleted member 42]

I'm subscribing to this thread since I'll have a lot more time on my hands soon for cooking

 

[Fat4all]

meatballs are p versatile, and you can make a lot of them and use them in a lot of different things

 

[UltraMagnanimous]

Basically any kind of stir fry (with or without noodles).

Sure you may spend 5 minutes cutting and chopping, but it cooks in less than 10.

Plus homemade Chinese food is 100% 1000% better than take away.

 

[RetroMG]

Do you have an Instant pot? If so, I love this recipe for a quick meal.

https://www.plainchicken.com/2018/03/instant-pot-crack-chicken-pasta.html?m=1

The only part that takes a while is cutting the chicken breasts into chunks, but even that mostly only takes time because WifeMG insists that they be really small pieces. (I usually cut them up doing the weekend and refrigerate or freeze them until I'm ready to go.)

Edit: The recipe says it cooks for 4 minutes. It lies, as many IP recipes do. It's 4 minutes once it gets to pressure, which means 20 minutes or so in total. Still not bad, though.

 

[B4mv]

budgetbytes.com

I just made Salsa Chicken Meal Prep Bowls from the site.

Click to shrink...

I loveee budgetbytes. Cabbage Soup is one of my favorites

 

[Vinnie20]

Frozen pre cut fries, meat or fish thrown in air fryer, come back in 15 minutes.

 

[Hecht]

I'm not buying the rolls, I'm buying the buns:

they're the size of a hamburger bun:

They're not sliders

Click to shrink...

I'll be honest I have never seen these

 

[Zackat]

Sheet pan dinners are my new fav. Just get your favorite veggies and protein, season em up, and roast it all in the oven on a foiled covered sheet pan.Easy clean up and it's delicious. If you precut the veggies it takes maybe 25 minutes to throw it together and cook @400 F. I do a lot of my meal prepping for the week on one day so I always have veggies ready to go.

 

[ZackieChan]

My go-to is basically what you've got in the OP, but with chicken breast or pork. easy peasy, nutritioneasy.

 

[nemoral]

You can do a super-easy chicken simmer. Toss a little olive oil in a medium-high pan, sear some chicken(thighs for flavor, breasts for health), three minutes on each side. While that's going, cut up an onion. Remove the chicken onto a plate. Toss in the onions. Cook for five or six minutes, until translucent. Sprinkle a tablespoon or two of seasoning on the onions. It can be anything you like. I have a harissa powder and ras el nout and garam masala and curry powder and a bunch of other stuff on hand just for this. One the onions and the powder are getting all sticky on the bottom of the pan and making a nice fondant, dump a 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes in. Let it come to a boil while stirring, drop it to a simmer, put the chicken back in, cover it and let it simmer for ten or so minutes, checking the temp of the chicken every so often. When the chicken reaches 165, you have delicious saucy chicken that goes well with rice or quinoa or couscous.

And you can vary this up in a ton of ways. Add peppers, change up spices, cook some other veg in the same sauce, etc.

 

[nded]

Not particularly fast, but hobo dinners are super easy and getting the kids involved in picking ingredients and wrapping up the packets could be a fun way to introduce them to cooking.

 

[meph]

Most fish are cooked absurdly quickly and can be put together with minimal fuss, but for children I would lean more heavily on salmon:

- Miso marinated salmon: use equal parts miso and mirin, and a third-to-half part of sugar. Mix well. You need enough to cover the salmon. Refrigerate for anywhere from an hour to overnight. The original recipe calls for sake (and black cod) but it's definitely skippable. Sear it on a pan and finish it in the oven to the desired doneness.

- An even simpler salmon: cook simply with salt in a pan + oven. Then dress it with store-bought ponzu and plenty of very thinly sliced onion (through a mandoline).

Serve either with rice, which you can additionally punch up with some furikake.

 

[Heynongman!]

gotta leave the rice to dry out in the fridge for a day or so after cooking before you fry it for the good stuff tho

Click to shrink...

Nah, that's how you end up with sticky clumps and it's a big ol pain in the ass. Fresh rice is easier to work with and will always produce a better final product. Learned that the "leftover trick" is borderline pointless from a Japanese chef.

 

[Jintor]

Nah, that's how you end up with sticky clumps and it's a big ol pain in the ass. Fresh rice is easier to work with and will always produce a better final product. Learned that the "leftover trick" is borderline pointless from a Japanese chef.

Click to shrink...

Huh I gotta field test this one

 

[Deleted member 1589]

Nah, that's how you end up with sticky clumps and it's a big ol pain in the ass. Fresh rice is easier to work with and will always produce a better final product. Learned that the "leftover trick" is borderline pointless from a Japanese chef.

Click to shrink...

I'm not a chef.

Chances are I'll fucked up fried rice with freshly cooked ones because balancing how moist the rice is will be a problem.

Fridged rice makes it easier.

Also how the hell did you end up with sticky clumps with fridged rice. Did you not stir it to separate it while it's cooling?

 

[TheCthultist]

Salad of some kind or sandwiches. Sometimes chop the sandwich meat up and just throw it into the salad if there's no bread or rolls around...

 

[Deadly Cyclone]

Pasta with anything.
Bake veggies and tofu on a sheet pan tossed in olive oil.

 

[Deleted member 28461]

I like to make pita pizzas when I'm feeling lazy. I feel like they're pretty self explanatory. It also gives me and my lady a chance to goof around while we make our individual pizzas. Would probably be fun with the kids.

 

[Deleted member 12790]

I'll be honest I have never seen these

Click to shrink...

Every place ive bought them from, they are right next to the hamburger buns. The packaging looks super similar to the rolls tho.

 

[DJ_Lae]

You can whip up a soup pretty quick.

Red lentil is my go-to - some chopped carrot/celery/onion, garlic, four cups of chicken broth, a heaping cup of red lentils, simmer covered for 20 minutes.

Canned beans, rice or pasta, a box of broth, and random chopped veggies also works well too. And I always keep a few frozen blocks of chopped spinach because it makes a great (and cheap) add-in for pretty much any soup.

 

[Heynongman!]

Chances are I'll fucked up fried rice with freshly cooked ones because balancing how moist the rice is will be a problem

Click to shrink...

Therein lies the myth. Rice cooked fresh will have less of a chance of building up moisture outside of the kernels, the moisture turns to steam quickly as you fluff it since it's still nice and hot. While it is true that fresh rice will be more moist, the moisture is inside which has no effect on the frying. Chilled rice will have sticky clumps that are harder to work with as it gets dry and becomes stale.

Aside from the tip I received, there's also this Food Lab article about it, they still recommend spreading the rice to allow evaporation, but I find it's not necessary at all if you're going straight from rice cooker to high heat pan. Haven't tried their "fanned rice" method personally. All in all, cook it however you're most comfortable with, but it's worth a try with fresh rice.

 

[GodofWine]

Sitting here making food for the kids....

Click to shrink...

Since I do that every night too (literally walk in, untuck dress shirt and cook)...let see...If I cant make it in 20 minutes, its not on my week night list.

1. Tacos / Soft Tacos / Tostadas - have thawed ground meat/turkey, throw in pan, get it browning, add a can of black beans (drained), season etc. While its browning, put some shredded cheese in a small bowl, lettuce (I use pre cut broccoli slaw) in a bowl, get a few sauces / salsas, and boom, dinner. Toast the shells / tostadas in something for a few minutes (or warm up flour soft shells - I like them slightly toasted right on the stove burner).

2. Fish - Rice - Veg - again, some thawed fish, into a pan, rice into a rice maker (actually rice first, fish takes 5 - 8 minutes), veg of choice. Keep some asian sauces around (Korean BBq / Kung Pao / Tom tom etc), toss a little sauce in with fish as its almost done. Boom...asian fish

3. Pasta - Get that pot on a high heat for water, slice some sausage / meatballs in half (speeds it up), and brown them, then dump jar of sauce (I add small can of diced tomatos and some spinach too , sneaking in veg). 20 Minutes is possible

4. Turkey Burgers w/ Pierogies and a little salad (Costco has salmon burgers that are really good too)

5. Some frozen breaded chicken tenderloins, chop some potatos, pop in air fryer / toaster over, 20 minutes or so, bag of peas. not bad.

6. Philly cheese steak (if you have a place that sells thinly slice meat). Meatball sandwhich night is good too.

Stir fry anything in one of those asian sauces, with a squirt of siracha - asian noodles cook in like 4 minutes (sometimes less.) Dump A on B.

I literally play "Chopped" every night

(and breakfast for dinner is awesome)

 

[fick]

Quesadillas. Takes like 5 min start to end. Delicious. Cheap. And you can just add whatever you want in the middle.

 

[Hasseigaku]

I like making fried rice with leftover rice, a little soy sauce, some salt and an egg. Better with yesterday's rice but still works with freshly made rice IMO.

This is very much a thing that not everyone likes but instead of making pasta and a sauce, make some pasta and then warm a pan and use some olive oil, chopped garlic, red pepper flakes and salt for a minute then mix the pasta in. It's wonderful.

 

[Deleted member 17658]

Whole wheat Rotinni
Ground Turkey (seasoned)
Diced tomatoes and tomato paste

Easy Turkey and noodle dish.

 

[mm04]

Chorizo and eggs.

 

[excelsiorlef]

12 grain bread slice, swiss cheese slice, deli turkey slice, swiss cheese, deli turkey slice, 12 grain bread slice....

 

[fick]

Also pasta, oil, cheese, pepper, salt. Add garlic if you want. I can't think of the name and it's packed up right now, but there's a cookbook my wife and I have been using for the past few months, and it's all about single dish, relatively quick and healthy meals. Some recipes are longer. But I'd say we've been really happy with 80% of them so far.

Ok just found it Skinnytaste One and Done: 140 No-Fuss Dinners for Your Instant Pot®, Slow Cooker, Air Fryer, Sheet Pan, Skillet, Dutch Oven, and More https://www.amazon.com/dp/1524762156/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_3YOMCb6BH1SSA

 

[healbite-maritima]

I like to buy or make sauces, dust cubed chicken breast and fry in canola oil, pour sauce in last minute as it's cooking to stick to chicken (or extra firm tofu) and it's good to go. Pair with veggies and rice as desired.

For pasta, I like to chop spinach and have it cook into a tomato based sauce.

For salads, just a fruit vinaigrette, peel a mandarin orange and put the slices on the greens, and top with chow mein noodles. All my fav go-tos that I can make quickly for dinner or lunches

 

[OnkelC]

made an impromptu delish dish tonight:
1 can of chopped tomatoes
1 small can of sliced mushrooms
1 small can of artichoke hearts
A few slices of coked ham

cut ham into stripes, fry everything in a hot skillet, season with salt, black pepper, garlic, oregano and tabasco, done.
I put a bit of chese on top and grilled it afterwards for extra impact.

 

[fick]

made an impromptu delish dish tonight:
1 can of chopped tomatoes
1 small can of sliced mushrooms
1 small can of artichoke hearts
A few slices of coked ham

cut ham into stripes, fry everything in a hot skillet, season with salt, black pepper, garlic, oregano and tabasco, done.
I put a bit of chese on top and grilled it afterwards for extra impact.

Click to shrink...

Sounds good except for the tomatoes and mushrooms and artichokes.

 

[OnkelC]

your insults are as bland as your taste.

 

[Deception]

My easy go-to's are:
Baked chicken with egg noodles coated in cream of mushroom soup and mozzarella cheese.

1. Season and bake chicken at 400F for 30 minutes.
2. Boil noodles
3. Warm up soup in pot
4. Once noodles are done, add soup to noodles.
5. Drain pan. Spread noodles on top of chicken with mozzarella cheese on top of the noodles and bake until cheese is golden brown.
   

Bacon and chicken strip grilled cheese with Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce and Louisana Hot Sauce

1. Fry Chicken stripes and bacon
2. Butter bread and place one slice of mozzarella and one slice of cheddar
3. Add chicken stripes and crumbled bacon on one slice
4. Pour a health amount of BBQ sauce and Hot sauce over the chicken and bacon
5. Combine like normal grilled cheese and done

 

[Souzetsu]

Do you have an Instant pot? If so, I love this recipe for a quick meal.

https://www.plainchicken.com/2018/03/instant-pot-crack-chicken-pasta.html?m=1

The only part that takes a while is cutting the chicken breasts into chunks, but even that mostly only takes time because WifeMG insists that they be really small pieces. (I usually cut them up doing the weekend and refrigerate or freeze them until I'm ready to go.)

Edit: The recipe says it cooks for 4 minutes. It lies, as many IP recipes do. It's 4 minutes once it gets to pressure, which means 20 minutes or so in total. Still not bad, though.

Click to shrink...

This looks really good. I'll try it this week!

 

[DavidDesu]

Make pasta and drain, add a tin of tuna, grind in some pepper, sprinkle over plenty of paprika, add any other random herbs you want, skoosh in a big dollop of mayonnaise (I use lighter, not full full fat), mix it together and sprinkle on some cheese.

Could also add frozen peas to the pasta at the end or some sweetcorn once it's cooked. Simple, filling, easy, does the trick.

 

[Dali]

Shrimp fettuccine alfredo. This can take as little as 10 minutes depending on the ingredient you use. You could make it from scratch with parmesan, butter, heavy cream, seasoning (garlic, cayenne, black pepper, oregano, salt), and uncooked shrimp, but you want the quick way. Use precooked shrimp, and bottle of store bought alfredo sauce. All you're going to be doing is heating up the shrimp then add the sauce and continue to bring it to heat. Cook the fettuccine noodles to desired firmness.