What's your 'bung it in the oven' no effort dinner?

[racinghare]

I asked for dinner advice yday and got so may lovely suggestions, so I'm back for more lol. Something quick and easy bung it in the oven no effort- what's your go to? Mine is usually a chicken, carrots and potato all cooked together and then add stock at the end to turn into a gravy. That's too much effort today though!

Food of the gods www.highlaneoatcakes.co.uk/

We have specialist standalone oatcake shops. You queue up to get them freshly made from the griddle.

Ditto!

Cheats fish pie sounds lovely.

Baked potatoes and beans is our go to.

Friday night special is sesame noodles and baked gyoza (from frozen). Super fast and really tasty.

Peanut butter or sesame past, soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, rice wine vinegar, garlic, ginger. Pour over cooked noodles. We make enough for.lunch the next day. I prefer it hot, DH likes it room temp. Cooked chicken and broccoli if you can be bothered.

@Floydthebarber

[quote StellaAndCrow]Thank you for the carbonara recipe Flloyd. It has just occurred to me that I could make carbonara without bacon - maybe with mushrooms instead? I'm not veggie, I'm just afraid of bacon chewy bits :)

I put mushrooms in sometimes but cook them separately and stir them in at the end otherwise it all goes a bit grey.[/quote]I make it using peas instead of bacon quite often. Tis lovely

I think I'm going to make some of these with my DD - some of these are perfect student recipes - love this thread OP

Carbonara-with pre-cooked bacon, microwave cheese sauce and fresh spaghetti and stick some broccoli in the steamer!

Very old school but super easy and yummy and pretty cheap.
Slice potatoes thin as you can and lay in a casserole dish. Dice some bacon and sprinkle that on top. Slice some onions and lay them on the bacon. Add another layer of the sliced raw potatoes.
Separately fry off some diced chuck steak in butter (after sprinkling with flour and salt and pepper. )
Put the beef on top of the onions. . Pour over water until just covered. Cover with tinfoil and cook on low for 2 hours . Serve with peas. So yummy.

A meal for two from Sainsbury/Waitrose or M&S.

I have got away with putting two or three or more "finest type" lasagne in a white dish, pricking the top with a fork, spooning over 4/5 tablespoons of red wine, sprinking with cheddar and grated mozzarella and adding a diagonal line of sliced tomatoes, under which I insert a few basil leaves before taking to the table. Sorts out a supper for 6-8 very quickly! Bag of leaves or three in a huge bowl with halved cherry toms and a bit of wine and vinegar with lashings of garlic bread on the side.

See, this is like a 75% max effort dinner for me! People have very different views of what effort is 😁

"See, this is like a 75% max effort dinner for me! People have very different views of what effort is 😁"

Yeah, but when Jamie Oliver came out with his 20-minute meals I was amazed that was supposed to be easy. A meal that takes 3 times as much to prepare than to eat is not for me.

Absolutely agree

I don't mind cooking, but even I thought that was rather elaborate for a supposed 'super easy' meal. Sounds quite expensive too with two types of meat.

... and what makes the 'gravy' tasty? It's just water with seasoning unless I've misread it.

Sausage casserole - cook sausages in the oven in a casserole dish, once browned and almost cooked add thinly sliced onions, carrots and mushroom pour over tinned tomatoes, little bit of stock and Worcestershire sauce and cook for another 30 mins or so.

That’s another that would be me making an effort!

No-one's mentioned pizzas on ready-made bread yet (especially if you already have the oven on) - our favourite is 'puddle pizzas' on a soft tortilla: just spread with jar pizza sauce, add toppings of your choice, and cook in a hot oven for 5 mins (we have pizza stones which give a good cook) - crispy at the edges, gooey in the middle.
you can do the same with pitta breads, even replicate those 'Findus French Bread Pizzas' beloved in my childhood!

We have a few that are quick to make or minimal effort and then cook in the oven for a while.

Bill Granger's Pasta with mushroom and Parma ham. I have adapted the recipe slightly quantity wise to serve 3 adults.
Slice half a punnet of mushrooms and fry in a good knob of butter in a wok / deep frying pan. Once they've coloured a bit chop up 3 slices of parma ham with a scissors and add to the pan, season with lots of black pepper.
At the same time cook a put of spaghetti / linguini.
Once the parma ham has had a minute or two add in grated (I use my zester) garlic, 2 cloves and stir briefly to cook but don't let it burn. Then add in 100mls chicken stock and bring to the boil, add in 100mls fresh cream and check seasoning. Let this simmer away until the pasta is ready.
Once the pasta is cooked use tongs to transfer to the pan and toss in the sauce,
Serve in bowls with lots of grated parmesan and more black pepper, green salad from a bag and garlic bread if you feel like it. It's all prepped and cooked in less than 15 mins. And it is delicious!
Also we get two nights dinners out of 1 punnet of mushrooms, 1 pack of parma ham and 1 small carton of cream which is really good going!

Bill Granger's Oven baked Chicken and aparagus risotto. I use left over roast chicken, assemble it all and bung into the oven for 30mins, adding the fresh asparagus only for the last few minutes

BBC Good Food chicken and chorizo tray bake - cut large rooster / maris piper potatoes into wedges and add to a large baking tray, add in skinless chicken breasts (or thighs), sliced up cooking chorizo (we love the Aldi one), 2 red onions sliced into wedged, scatter fresh or dried rosemary, season with salt and pepper, drizzle with olive oil and back for about an hour, basting once with the now chorizo infused oil. Serve with green salad from a bag

Asian Salmon Parcels. Place salmon darnes onto a foil parcel and add in grated fresh ginger, red chili flakes, slivers of red pepper, chopped spring onion, tons of fresh coriander and a dash of soy sauce. Tightly parcel up and bung into the oven in a dish / tray.
Meanwhile I usually steam new potatoes and for last couple of minutes add in a bag of sugar snaps. Potatoes and salmon will be cooked at the same time - all done in under 30mins and very tasty

Mushroom omelette with grilled herbed tomatoes, served with salad and crusty bread

creamy tomato chicken pasta: fry a diced red onion in olive oil till softened, add in diced chicken breast and season well, then add a small jar / pack of passata and a half carton of cream. Let it simmer for 20mins while you cook pasta, I often cook small broccoli florets in with the pasts. Throw in some fresh basil and serve over the pasta & broccoli with loads of grated parmesan and more back pepper. Garlic bread and salad optional

Just to add - the meals I added above are some effort but they're quick and relatively nutritious and make me feel like we'e not just eating junk.

REAL no effort, bung it in the oven stuff for us would be - supermarket pizza, ready meals from M&S, frozen breaded fish / chicken with oven chips and peas

I am fond of oven chips and fried eggs every so often too! With lots of salt and vinegar and occasionally beans on the side

Tonight I have put some jerk paste onto a couple of turkey steaks, put a bag of mixed Mediterranean veg in a tray with them and we'll have it with part baked crusty baguettes cooked at the same time... to soak up the juices. Less than 2 minutes work. Can be ignored in oven whilst cooking.