Quickest meals to get on the plate

[namechangedforthecraic]

I'm looking for the holy grail of family meals - plates of food (not necessarily recipes just combinations of things that go together) that are next to instant to make, fairly wholesome, kids will eat, can be scaled up to feed a horde! Looking for things that cook themselves in the oven or slow cooker with no need for chopping or prepping or standing over a pan. Or ready made things that throw together in a pleasing way!

Current meal plan since start of term still leaves me feeling like I'm spending too long in the kitchen - too many other demands in our busy house - and I feel run ragged by the time meal time is over!

Chickpea and halloumi stew - Halloumi can sit in the fridge for ages, and there's always a tin of chickpeas knocking around.

Grilled halloumi served with wraps, salad, yoghurt and cheddar cheese

Beetroot and goat's cheese salad - open bag of spinach, add chopped goat's cheese and chopped pre-cooked beetroot, plus some walnuts

Black bean and sweetcorn salad - use tinned sweetcorn and then you don't need to cook it. Serve w wraps and yoghurt.

Bacon and olive pasta - fry bacon for a few minutes, add fresh tomatoes and chopped olives, ready when the pasta is done.

Those are the truly instant recipes I use. Would recommend The Quick Roasting Tin book if you have a bit more time available.

It's worth buying a mini chopper or something similar to cut down prep time.

The base us boiled pasta with some butter on, mix in some ham/ chicken/sausage/Frankfurtets / salami / tuna.
Then add some veg, my kids love tinned sweetcorn but you can add anything they like!

This is one of my favourite quick meals, so tasty. I would add mushrooms if it was just me but dc hate them.
www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/creamy-courgette-bacon-pasta

Also reccomend cooking extra and freezing. I often make a big ragu when dc are at school, use a portion for spaghetti bolognese that evening- added bonus of 15minute meal. Then freeze the other two portions for use later means another 2 15minute meals. I prefer to do it in one of my days off in the week rather than using a Saturday when we could be out and about all day.

I hated my slow cooker because everything gets the slow cooker taste. Instant Pot is way better!

I was thinking of doing the Jamie Oliver fish pie using grated carrot, fridge fish pie mix, frozen spinach, grated cheese and frozen mash on top, are you telling me this could work?

I can confirm it did!

I've written these all out as a list so I can meal plan from it. There's a good month's worth here. Looking forward to starting it and can almost feel the stress melting away 😂

My compromise for jacket potatoes is 10 mins in microwave, 20 mins oven and they're almost as good as 2hr jackets.

Asda sell prepped butternut squash - that's an easy mid week risotto.

Slow cooked pork leg or shoulder, cut the fat off, smother in chipotle, any citrus juice, Tom purée, salt and pepper. If you don’t have chipotle just use anything else spicy from the cupboard.Makes a huge amount to have quickly with oven chips or rice & salad. I have an air fryer too which has saved my life in terms of getting stuff on the table within minutes.

This takes 10 minutes.
Put pasta in microwave to cook
Meanwhile open a tin of tuna, chop some salad veg (I use tomatoes or courgette and a little raw onion). Top the pasta with these, add a sprinkle of Tabasco sauce. Finish topping with grated cheese.
The only problem is that the dish gets cold quickly because of the cold ingredients. I tackle this by warming the plates/dishes in advance.
This is my quickest meal, and also my favourite for tastiness.

My kids love sausage and beans on toast with either fried/poached egg or cheese on top. 5-10 minutes max for 5 of us.

I also buy jars of Thai curry paste. Mix it with coconut milk and chopped frozen proper's and heat until simmering. Boil spaghettis , pasta or noodles. Drain and add to the Thai mix. You can also add chicken or even use ready made noodles for mega speed. 20 minutes max.

Carbonara. Boil spaghetti. Drain. In a jug mix 4 eggs, 100ml of double cream and some grated hard Italian cheese like padano. Fry bacon of cuts until cooked and starting to brown. Then add in spaghetti and poor over the mixed egg liquid . Toss over a gentle heat until coated . You could also add garden peas. Serve. 10-20 minutes max.

Campfire Stew

We like the pinch of nom version. It's a "chuck it all in the slow cooker and leave for 6 hours" dinner made with gammon, baked beans, kidney beans, tinned tomatoes, onions, pepper and seasoning. You have to chop the onion and pepper but it can be rough so prep time is about 10 minutes.

Cherry tomato pasta. Chuck 2 punnets of cherry toms into a frying pan with a couple of cloves of crushed garlic and some salt. Sautee for a few minutes, reduce the heat and put a lid on. Cook for about ten minutes. Meanwhile, cook pasta. Drain pasta. Crush tomatoes with a masher and stir through hot pasta. Chuck in some basil leaves and serve. Bosh recipe.

Bean and chorizo chilli. (BBC Good Food)
Cheats roasted red pepper rice. (Tesco recipe)
Rotisserie chicken, salad, crust bread
Fish finger sandwiches
Toasties and salad
Stir fry
Steak and onion subs
Eggy rice. Fry 2 onions and some garlic till soft. Chuck in 2 packets of micro rice and stir for 3 or 4 minutes until rice is for. Add 4 beaten eggs and cook, stirring, until the eggs are set. Season With salt and pepper.

Baked gnocchi. Mix a pack of gnocchi with a tray of Mediterranean roasting veg and bake for the requisite amount of time.