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Food/Recipes

Your favourite 15 minute(ish) meals?

19 replies

DorisDays · 14/09/2018 16:35

I'm experiencing very full on days at the moment and am finding standing at the cooker for nearly an hour at the end of it a bit too much. All my recipes seem to take ages! I love cooking and like doing it from scratch but just wondering what your favourite quick-to-cook dinners are? Tia!

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kateandme · 14/09/2018 17:41

pasta.always pasta.cook your peas or broccoli in with it.cheese sauce.jar of dolmio.add some bacon,sprinkle in some tomatos or peppers or garlic butter.endless possibilities.
chicken stock poaches in ten mins.go on from there.have it with a jacket in sauce.etc.
cook a chicken or piece of meat the night before.then tomorrow you just need to decide what yo uwant to do with it.
cook roast chicken in the evening for the next day.you can then have it with something or make a meal out of it.
salmon in the microwave in ten.
salmon and noodle foil parcels.
is it just standing at the cooker.or time.if you want to just bung stuff in a dish and leave it then there are loads of one pot oven dishes.sove it all in the dish put in the oven and leave to cook.
traybakes.
quesadilla

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DorisDays · 14/09/2018 19:58

Thanks guys! Happy to bung in a pot and leave but by the time I get around to cooking it's already pretty late. Ideally I'd knock something decent up quickly. Have definitely been over-relying on pasta this week!

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n0ne · 14/09/2018 20:16

Two rice dishes - I use quick cook brown rice which takes 8 minutes (and do the absorption method so no wasting time draining and rinsing).

Kedgeree - boil rice and some eggs, one per head. When the eggs are hard-boiled, remove and chuck some frozen peas in the same water, just boil till they float. In the meantime, skin and flake a pack of smoked mackerel. Peel and roughly chop the eggs. Mix everything together, voila.

Chinese-ish style rice - I invented this one last night and everyone wolfed it down. Boil rice. In a wok fry onions, mushrooms, shredded Chinese cabbage, peppers. I added a tin of tuna - I know, not Chinese but tastes good and doesn't add to the cooking time. Season with soy sauce, sesame oil and lime juice, I would have used ginger too if I'd had it. Beat a couple of eggs in a bowl, make a well in the middle of the wok mixture, pour in eggs and kind of scramble, then mix into the other ingredients. Add your now-boiled rice, combine everything, stir fry for a couple of minutes, done.

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foodiemama26 · 14/09/2018 20:45

www.bbc.com/food/recipes/one_pot_chorizo_and_15611

Chicken breast, pepers, onions and mushrooms pan fried with cajun spices. Served with either salad leaves, wraps or on top of nachos and melted cheese.

Greek salad wraps/pittas.

Prawn stir fry.

Tray bake...can prep everything the night before and just throw in when you get home and if you cut things small enough it doesn’t take too long. I use the time to do other stuff while it cooks.

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whatareyoueatingNOW · 14/09/2018 20:48

Omelette- my personal favourite is a leek and feta omelette

Quesadilla- mash a can of butter beans with some grated cheese and chopped roasted red pepper, and spread the mash/ paste onto a tortilla and fry. (I think this is originally an Anna jones recipe)

Sweet potato cook in the microwave in five minutes- not as good as roast, but quick and easy, just stuff with spinach and salsa/ whatever you like

Fish is fast- so a fillet of sea bass with a salad, or with a tin of canelini beans fried with chopped garlic, parsley and lemon until hot through

Bean burgers- mash a tin of beans with some finely chopped onion and herbs / seasoning- shape into burgers and grill. Put in a bun with salad
(I rely a lot on tins of beans for fast meals/ salads/ mash/ sides- it's a lot faster and arguably healthier than potato)

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Taffeta · 14/09/2018 20:50

Any stir fry

Chop up protein eg chicken strips

Buy stir fry veg pack

Buy sauce or I make my own takes 2 mins

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catsofa · 14/09/2018 21:14

Every 4 weeks or so I slow roast big trays of chopped peppers, tomatoes, aubergines, courgettes, garlic and whatever else I have. Gas mark 4, stir it during TV ad breaks.

Put it in small tupperware boxes before bed, and into the freezer in the morning.
Then when I need a quick meal:

Microwave it to put on pasta with cheese, or on gnocchi which is quicker than pasta

Fry chunks of chicken in spices then add the roasted veg then stir into cous cous

Stick it in a blender then spread it on toast, make a kind of pizza with cheese too

Serve it as The Veg when I've got protein and carbs for a meal but no fresh veg cos I haven't been shopping for ages.

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BetterEatCheese · 14/09/2018 21:19

Love Quesedilas - so quick and can serve when some salad or avocado

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theboxofdelights · 14/09/2018 21:28

Stir fry, soup, fish, lentil curry (some take longer than 15 minutes to cook but only five to prep). Baked potatoes, bannisters farm in the frozen section are good (I do cook them in fhe oven though).

I often cook double the quantity I need and freeze.

Half a chicken and marinate with lemon rosemary and garlic in a roasting bag (I freeze the other half prepped the same). Stick it in the oven and serve with new potatoes and veg, again takes longer in the oven but only five mins prep.

I think pasta is a good choice but I don’t like pasta much, only eat it a few times a year.

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bluetrampolines · 14/09/2018 21:30

Vegetarian haggis in a wrap with chutney.

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INeedNewShoes · 14/09/2018 21:33

Stir fry with rice or noodles

Spaghetti carbonara

Omelette and a big salad

Steak and salad

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Chrisinthemorning · 14/09/2018 21:37

On one of my long days we always have jacket potato, fish (baked in foil in oven) and veg.
I always do a slow cooker meal every week and cook double and freeze, that’s 2 more meals sorted. Chilli/curry/ chicken and chorizo stew/ campfire stew all with microwave rice. Lamb tagine with couscous. Various pasta sauces, just need to boil some pasta.
We often cook something like lasagne/ pasta bake/ cottage pie on a Sunday and it tends to do Monday as well, just heated up.

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Pixie2015 · 14/09/2018 21:42

Our speedy weeknight meals :
-Packet of fresh tortellini boiled for 5 mins with a spinkle of cheese

  • battered chicken in oven with wraps and Mexican dips
  • slow cooker chilli with micro rice
  • pizza / salad
  • pie and ready made mash
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DorisDays · 15/09/2018 07:03

Great suggestions, thank you

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flugelhorn81 · 15/09/2018 07:09

Ok not 15 mins but there's a great quesadilla I think on BBC which is sweet potato, feta and chorizo. It's delicious and you could bake the sweet potato ahead of time. I use mozzarella.

Other ideas are this prawn and chilli spaghetti we sometimes make - I think the recipe is originally off the Telegraph online, but it's really quick and you can use the prawns from frozen.

Also not 15 mins but quiche is quite quick and easy if you buy the pastry.

So not really what you asked for but these are simple and fairly quick ideas!

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DorisDays · 15/09/2018 07:15

Ooh the quesadillas look yum!

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lastqueenofscotland · 15/09/2018 11:59

Stir fries
Fajitas
Mushrooms and avocado on toast
Pasta with sauce and veg
Fried hallumi with peas and asparagus
Soup and bread
Wraps/pitta with hummous and falafel.

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AsleepAllDay · 15/09/2018 12:22

I really like the pre-seasoned salmon fillets from Tesco, M&S etc (like hot salmon, lemon and pepper etc)

Put one in the frying pan, can make a quick sauce (with cream, garlic, cheese or anything else you might fancy if that's too rich

Throw in some broccoli or whichever veg and season or with spices

Very yum and can make a few meals, if those fillets are not good value or you have more to feed than can buy regular salmon fillets and put them in a marinade overnight

Takes about 15 minutes all up and you can swap for other fish or chicken breast or steak

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