Meal ideas without a kitchen...

[Stressedoutaboutinlaws]

Currently in the process of getting our kitchen done up, so have a big empty room stripped back to the plaster.

What can i make for dinner that isnt a week eating pot noodles, but that can be done without an oven/hob/grill??

I have access to a toaster, a kettle and a microwave (have set up a mini-kitchen in the living room) and the fridge is also in the living room.

Need some inspiration on how to get through this, its not going to be finished for at least a week and a half...

I think I would invest in one of those single ring induction hobs to be honest. It'll make it much easier.
I currently have no oven but I don't think I could do it without a hob

Can you borrow/buy a slow cooker? If so you can have curry, casserole, chilli etc. That’s what I did when our kitchen was being done.

Or Google microwave cooking? There's plenty of ideas.

microwave pouches of rice, tinned chilli/tagine (i would go for veggie though!)
beans on toast
jacket potatoes done in microwave (not as nice but needs must
Steam pouches of veg that you put in microwave

takeaway!

Definitely try and get your hands on a slow cooker, and see if you can borrow one of those air fryers too as they are handy for chips, fishfingers and anything else frozen. When our kitchen was being done, I used the slow cooker A LOT and we also are a lot of those fresh boxed soups with toast/garlic bread slices.

Also as pps have said, beans, jacket spuds, micro rice. Get thee to Iceland and see what microwaveables you can score.

Find a Cook and eat their microwave meals, so much nicer (and expensive) than anything else but worth it given you’re under such stress! It worked for us (bu can’t face another one after 4 months of Cook food)

Use the kettle to make bulgar wheat - pour boiling water on it and cover. You can then use this as a base for some lovely salads such as tabbouleh.

Sainsbury's have some really nice tinned meals (curry, chilli etc) that are cheap and tasty and not packed with salt or sugar. I had to overcome a mental barrier to try them but they've become a regular part,of our meal rotation. Try with microwaved baked sweet potatoes; micro rice; pouches of grains and pulses etc.

I definitely second suggestions above for a slow cooker and air fryer, we used these when we didn't have a kitchen also used a microwave steamer for veggies

How many are you cooking for?

Microwave pouches are brilliant. Pouch of micro rice takes 2 minutes. There are some good pouches of sauce which are usually labelled pasta sauce but put half a pouchful in a pyrex bowl with a tin of baby mushrooms, possibly half a tin of black beans, a handful of fresh babyleaf spinach and you have an excellent stew to serve with the rice.

There's a good Jaime Oliver pouch of Smoky Chilli which you can expand if you wish adding other bits and bobs, again serving with rice.

You can do things like burgers and nuggets in the toaster - get some toaster pockets - probably safest to stick to veggie versions, microwave a bit to defrost if cooking from frozen and let them have at least 3 toaster cycles .

You can do mashed potato in the microwave

You can boil eggs in the kettle, but be careful when putting them in as you don't want them to crack in there.

BBQ

Microwave ready meals
pre-cooked chicken,with microwave rice and peas
fresh soups - mircowave, with bread and cheese

Google Indian or Thai microwave recipes for ideas re: curries etc. It’s quite common to just have a microwave in some Asian rentals - but that doesn’t stop people from cooking from scratch

Another vote for getting a slow cooker

It depends on how many you are cooking for. If it was just me I'd be tempted to live on toast and cereal for a short while but if there are other people then a slow cooker casserole with crusty bread.

[https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/collection/microwave]

Do you have a health grill? We did things like steak with microwaved new potatoes and veg, the odd panini, microwave meals, I quite like Iceland's takeaway curries. But to be honest we had mainly takeaway or went to the local Carvery

We did this for seven months. Granted we had a table top oven for 5 till it gave up the ghost.

• ready made meatballs with tomato sauce heated in the micro with micro rice and salad

• micro meals. Kids love macaroni cheese. I think they miss the stuff!

• cartons of soup

• cooked chicken with salad and rice

• dolmio do pasta pouches (like rice)

• M&S do a nice tinned curry

• mayflower curry sauce can be made up in the micro. Add veg and cooked chicken.

Basically lots of pouches!

The pre baked baked potatoes are actually quite nice.

The slow cooker idea is a good one but you also have to factor in food prep space and any washing up. We didn't have a sink on the ground floor!

I hardly use my range oven anymore, preferring my remoska. It really does cook things exactly as an oven would do but small and uses minimal energy
Can you stretch to a remoska? You can then cook as normal

Just had out kitchen redone and I used our instant pot to do risotto, stews lots of different things as we had no hob, oven or microwave. Either instant pot or slow cooker are really useful.

Thecatisboss (sorry to derail OP) but this has been suggested as a Christmas present to me from parents. Is it worth it in your opinion? I really don't enjoy my slow cooker

Risottos work surprisingly well in a microwave, or try this jambalaya recipe www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1243/microwave-jambalaya

Oh and you can cook bacon in the microwave too, cover with kitchen towel and microwave for around a minute. Scrambled eggs and beans, breakfast sorted!

There's not much you can't cook in a microwave.

Rice and pasta no problem. Start with boiling water (from the kettle is easiest) then in a microwave-safe bowl and full power for the same length of time it'd take on the hob.

Any sauces are likewise easy, as long as it's just a jar or a blended mix. (No fancy rouxs and stuff).

Meat cooks fine it just doesn't really brown. No problem if it's going in a Bolognese. Cooking time might be trial and error.

You can get all sorts of plastic microwave cookware. Not worth going overboard just for a week but some things might be nice. Bacon can come up nicely. A rice/pasta cooker is a lot easier to use than a pyrex bowl. And a good pair of oven gloves is a must.

With a big family you might have trouble cooking everyone's food at once. Might have to do kids first then adults or something.

I spent a year cooking for two with nothing but a microwave, and hardly a pot noodle or ready meal in sight. Even did a great lasagna (which I now forgot the recipe for).

A plug in hob and maybe invest in a slow cooker

Rice noodles, pre-cooked chicken or prawns, finely sliced pak choi, beansprouts - cover in boiling water from the kettle and half a chinese-y stock cube. Microwave for 1-2 minutes til all heated through and the noodles are soft.

Did me for about a month while parents were having kitchen re-done!