Post written by Sherri Kruger. Follow me on Twitter.
I’m not a big fan of fast food. It’s expensive, never tastes as good as home made and most of the time it’s rather unhealthy.
But what do you do if you’re family is busy most nights of the week? Or you just feel like a quick meal without spending a whole lot of time in front of the stove? What if I told you you could have a quick, tasty meal on the table in 5 minutes and with only 5 ingredients?
Next time you’re running short on time try one of these easy 5 minute meals.
The best things about these recipes: they are quick to put together, use ingredients you likely have in your kitchen right now and they are very adaptable.
Veggie Stir-fry
1 Tbsp Curry paste
1 Tin Coconut milk
1 Head of broccoli (cut into small pieces)
2 Carrots (grated)
1 pkg Snow peas
- In a large frying pan over medium/high heat mix curry paste and coconut milk and cook until hot, but not boiling.
- Add broccoli and carrots. Stir, and cover for 3 minutes.
- Add snow peas, cover and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
- Serve over pre-cooked rice or rice noodles.
Note: You can add more ingredients to suit your taste. Squeeze in some lime juice and add a Tbsp of sugar or toss in some left over chicken or beef.
Macaroni salad
3 Cups precooked macaroni noodles
1 Tin tuna
Sun dried tomatoes, cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes (choose to suit your taste or to what you have on hand)
3 Tbsp mayonnaise
2 Tbsp Italian herbs
- In a large bowl, mix macaroni, tuna, tomatoes, mayonnaise and herbs.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
Note: This salad is good on its own or served with garlic toast. Yum!
The B.L.T.C.
2 Slices of bread (toasted)
Lettuce
Tomato
Cheddar cheese
2 slices of bacon (cooked)
- Cook the bacon either in the microwave or on the stove.
- Toast the bread and assemble the sandwich in the order of the ingredients above.
Note: For a bit of tang add some mayonnaise. To simplify this even further try a toasted cheese and tomato sandwich with fresh cracked pepper and a bit of salt.
Salad extraordinaire
1 head of iceberg lettuce
1 Tomato
1 Cucumber
1 Cup of cooked chicken
1/2 Cup of cashew nuts
- Chop lettuce, tomato and cucumber and toss in a large bowl. Add 1 cup of cooked chicken and top with cashew nuts.
Note: This is a light, easy and healthy dinner. Top with your favorite salad dressing or a mixture of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. A few other toppings to try; cheddar cheese (cubed), raisins, and dried cranberries.
Tuna wraps
1 Whole wheat wrap (tortilla)
2 Tbsp Cream cheese
1 Tin tuna
3 Tbsp Relish
1 Green onion
- Spread 2 tbsp of cream cheese on the whole wheat wrap.
- In a separate bowl mix together tuna, relish and green onion.
- Spread some of the tuna mixture on the tortilla.
- Roll it into a tube and slice approximately every 1.5 inches.
Note: This may sound like a rather bizarre combination of ingredients but it’s actually really good. These wraps make a good snack and go well on a plate with sliced cheddar cheese and grapes.
These are some of the quick and easy meals we fall back on in our house. I’m always looking for new food ideas and would love to hear from you. Please share some of your quick and easy meal ideas in the comments.
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Man, I tell you what, I am *all over* that stir-fry recipe. I cook a curry recipe, but it takes quite a bit longer to prepare. This is similar, but is perfect for those times when I don’t have the full 30 minutes or so.
As a vegetarian I’ll stick with just the veggies, though! ;-)
Love these ideas.
Some of mine (after a quick read-through I realize they only work for people who like cheese):
Quick bean melt: Toast 1-2 slices bread (for one person). Heap on baked beans and then a few slices of cheese. Microwave until cheese melts.
Cheesy ginger noodles: Use a package of instant noodles that have ginger as a spice and prepare in microwave according to instructions. When you add the spice packet also add a bunch of ginger (I use a tablespoon or so for one pack). When the noodles are ready (no water left) add a bunch of sliced cheese and let it melt over the noodles (mix cheese with noodles – use a lot of cheese). Add a diced tomato and/or other veggies. For a family use several packs of noodles and prepare on stove – it’s probably quicker.
The same as above can be done with your favorite pack of flavored couscous – add cheese and veggies after preparing and you have a nice meal.
Breakfast (or lunch or dinner) bagel: Toast a bagel and while it is toasting mix an egg in a round container about the size of the bagel. Microwave until egg is solid. Layer on toasted bagel: ham, egg and cheese, then top with other bagel half. Microwave until cheese melts.
Have a go on this one:
1 can red beans
1 can sweet corn
1 cup sour cream / creamcheese or something like this
1 bag of Taccos preferably with spices (the triangular kind)
Wash the red beans and put in a pan in medium heat, drain the corn and add into the pan. With a fork mash most of the beans and corn. Blend in cream.
Serve with taccos and dip them in.
I always cook extras of staple foods like rice, pasta or potatoes, so I can create a meal in minutes the following day. Another great ‘fast food’ meal is soup – just throw in whatever leftovers you have into a blender and heat it through. Lunchtime soup today was potato, carrot, broccoli and some leftover cooked red lentils. With a bit of soy sauce it tasted delicious!
These sound great! The B.L.T.C sounds pretty good for breakfast right now. I will share these with my wife and try one of them this week.
It really is tough to have a home-cooked meal with all of the time demands we all deal with as modern families. Unfortunately, when we eat at home, we often resort to pretty unhealthy (but quick!) food for the kids…chicken nuggets, mac & cheese, fries, etc. Obviously, we need to improve this for health reasons.
Unhealthy food aside, we do try to eat together at home most nights because we value that time to be together as a family and talk about our day. We have committed to continue this even as the kids get older and busier.
I am always looking for quick, easy, good, inexpensive meals to make for my family. Thanks for sharing these, I will definitely give them a try!
It’s too early for this. Dinner is hours away but I want to have one of these meals now.
Thank you all for your comments so far. I’m happy to hear some of you will give these a try.
@ Aslaug – I love the breakfast bagel idea. I love bagels but they’re usually just toasted with marg. :)
@ Viola – Thank you for this awesome recipe I’m going to try it this holiday season.
@ Mrs Green – I love the soup idea!
Now I am hungry lol. I love all the recipe ideas; curry *nods heads* yummy! Tuna Melts are my 5 minute meal staple!
Other than the tuna wraps, we make a variation of the other items. Always without meat. Wife and I enjoy BLTs. I like Litelife Smart Bacon (vegan) and the wife enjoys Morningstar veggie bacon.
I enjoy the occasional peanut butter and banana sandwich. It has three ingredients and takes three minutes to make.
Definitely have to try the veggie stir fry. Just added that to my list of veggie recipes.
Awesome post!
A few favorite fast meals:
- Grilled cheese & tomato soup
- Fried egg sandwiches – bagel, cheese, ham, egg.
- Black bean tacos – simply get out the shells, spoon in the beans, top with cheese and microwave… then add lettuce and salsa.
Ooooh, I love these ideas and I absolutely adore MrsGreen’s suggestion to soup-ify everything! Stew-ifying is great too (ground beef, 2 chopped tomatoes, 2 cups corn, 4 tablespoons ground cumin, beans, cheese = taco soup), mmmm! Thanks for the tips!
always on the lookout for simple healthy meals. thanks
I make something similar to your macaroni salad but use drained canned white beans instead of the pasta.
Here is our favorite quick meal:
I or 2 jars of Patak’s curry sauce (whatever flavor suits; my son loves the Korma – most supermarkets carry this or you can buy these online too. I throw in some water after emptying the sauce into the pan and mix it with the leftovers in the jar and add this to the sauce. The sauce is a little thick and I hate to leave anything in the jar!
Couple of chicken breasts (number will depend on how many you have around the table)
Rice (white or brown)
Plain yoghurt
Cubed cucumber
Papadum (popped in the microwave) or two or some Nan
Fry up the chicken till cooked (usually doesn’t take long)
Add the sauce and simmer for 15 minutes
Serve with cooked rice and accompaniments
Delicious and a snap to make. I guess you could substitute the chicken for vegies too.
My quick hearty veg dish consists of throwing together beans, corn and any other leftover vegetable, topping with a tomato salsa. The trick is the tomato salsa.
Just sautee some onion and garlic, throw in a can of stewed tomatoes, a teaspoon of tomato paste, salt & pepper to taste (I use a bit of stock), reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.
Serve with Tabasco for adults, and without for the kids.
Great post – and thanks to all the commenters for the easy recipes!
Easy, fast and simple is extremely important these days. But man you got to lose the iceberg lettuce. It’s all water. Not that water is bad, but not as good as some simple substitutes. Get romaine lettuce or better yet, if your kids will tolerate it, spinach.
Great stuff!
No pictures?
Chilli Bean Soup (less than 5 ingredients if you omit the salsa but this makes it good enough for a dinner party!)
Heat 2 tins of kidney beans in chilli sauce with 2 tins of tomatoes and 2 chopped onions. Cook until soft then blend. Top with a spoonful of fromage frais or creme fraiche.
For the salsa chop a tomato, avocado, red onion and and handful of coriander and add to the soup.
Simple, yummy and healthy.
Love this. I make a curry stir-fry almost exactly the same but I add tofu cubes, and it’s delicious. Great job Sherri!
great tips love your blog and your ideas
Here’s one of my favs:
5 sweet Italian sausages
2 cans of diced tomatoes
2 cans of great northern beans
Salt and pepper if you need it
Brown sausages and slice up, add tomatoes and beans, simmer.
The best!
These are good recipes! I am going to save this page!
I found a box of powdered coconut recently; mixed with some water, that makes a great substitute for tinned coconut in a curry sauce — same result but with a lot less packaging, and it’s much cheaper.
Funny, that recipe is exactly what I ate this evening, except I cheated and used frozen veg. Even quicker!
Here’s a delicious, fast recipe for Penne alla Vodka that uses just 4 ingredients–not counting spices! Best of all, this pasta tastes as rich and satisfying as the slow-simmered version:
FAST (Flash Almost Scratch) Penne alla Vodka
1 28-ounce can or jar of good quality chunky marinara
1/4 cup vodka
1/4-1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/2 teaspoon oregano (optional)
2 tablespoon Demerara or other sugar (optional)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup Parmesan
* Put on water for pasta–penne or other.
* In a separate pan, simmer marinara, vodka, red pepper, oregano and sugar.
* Cook pasta.
*When pasta is almost done, add cream and Parmesan cheese to marinara,
*Drain pasta, pour back in pot and pour sauce over pasta, tossing to coat.
Sorry it’s not vegan, Leo!
I think you can’t beat an omelet for a fast health and tasty meal. You can add whatever you have to hand to make it even tastier – try cheese, mushrooms, potatoes or garlic. I like to make an asian-style omelet by adding a bit of fish sauce, coriander and chopped tomato to the beaten eggs. Aroy mah kah! It means very delicious in Thia:)
Baked eggs
1 Cup chopped veggies per person (generally carrots, frozen peas and a tomato or two around here. Broccoli is good, too)
1 can chickpeas if you’re REALLY hungry.
1 Egg per person
Grated parmesan cheese
Arrange the veggies at the bottom of individual oven-proof dishes. Add chickpeas. Crack eggs on top, and top with parmesan and cracked pepper. Cook in the oven until eggs are set (around 15 minutes)
I cannot wait to try some of these. I know you can’t go wrong with blt!
My personal favorite.
2 tomatoes – diced
6 green onions – diced (go a bit into the green that is yummy flavor)
handful of fresh cilantro – chopped
put in bowl squeeze fresh 1/2 lime and a touch of s@p
homemade fresh salsa.
one avacodo
mashed up with the other have of lime and a touch of salt.
perfect foundation for a Mexican wrap.
Pushing the five ingredients but…
add chicken and/or black or pinto beans and/or rice
and/or cheese and/or sour cream
Add all or one. Doesn’t matter. It is simply yummy.
wrap it up in a tortilla and enjoy.
Yes! I love this post Leo – I was looking for 3-4 easy dishes that I will never postpone because they’re too easy to make, and here you have them ;-)
Wow you guys these are all fabulous suggestions! I think we may have to start a ZFH cookbook of quick and easy meal ideas :)
@ Jack Purdue – I was wondering if anyone was going to call me out on the iceberg lettuce :) I know it’s not the best but it is what I usually have in the fridge. You are right though that baby spinach and romaine taste a lot better.
@ Joel Drapper – I usually make these meals when I’m in a hurry so there’s little time to be taking pictures ;)
I am going to have to share this page with my daughter. These look wonderful. Thanks for sharing.
Another quick healthy meal that can easily be adapted to however many people you have is bean tacos. I use a can of spicy vegetarian chili instead of just beans. So the five ingredients (in order of assembly) are the taco shells, spicy vegetarian chili (I like Amy’s), grated cheese, chopped onion, and chopped lettuce.
Delicious suggestions here! Like Mrs Green, I also make a lot of soups and stews as they are quick, easy and warming on a cold day. If I’m really pushed for time then pasta with pesto is a favourite and I often add something like green beans or broccoli so that I’m eating some vegetables with it too.
Enjoyed the recipes