Genuinely 5 min involvement meals and recipes

[Combusting]

Enormous juggle between two FT adults and 2 smalls. Tell me you genuinely truly 5 mins prep/involvement meals - I’m a creative imaginative cook so can work with quick ideas.

Have got : air fryer, instant pot, slow cooker, oven, grill, hob microwave and am after dinners which require NO MORE than 5 mins involvement from me.

I know lots of recipes use words like just “throw/chuck” and yet are long though! What do you serve up which does not need you beyond 5 mins?

No allergies and no fussy eaters, all omnivores!

Oh 5 mins prep / attention is tight

Tuna pasta bake
Cook pasta
Stir in tin of tuna and frozen veg and top with grated cheese and pop in oven

Goats cheese pasta
Chop onion and garlic and fry if you can bear it
Add tin tomatoes and spoon of sugar and leave to cook for a while ; add frozen veggies to bulk out
Stir in a dash of chill and melt goats cheese

Oh and cook the pasta !

Batch cooked stuff from the freezer, heated up in the microwave.

Fresh stuffed pasta and a tub of sauce

Gnocchi with sage and butter.
Cook gnocchi in boiling water - 3 mins max. Meanwhile roughly chop some sage leaves, melt some butter in a pan and sauté them briefly. Drain gnocchi and add to the pan for a minute. Parmesan and pepper optional, to taste.

3 minutes : raw pasta, pasta sauce or passata, raw mince- season then Cover with foil and bake.

Whilst your eating that meal use the warm oven to bake potatoes for the next night. You can slice them as chips Or whatever you like. The already cooked potatoes are ready for what you want to do with them.

Another idea : raw rice and raw chicken thighs - in stock - season in oven.

I've been doing these for years and also getting a head start on food the day before .

At the weekend make a sauce you can use for everything -
Add a whole peeled onion ( no need to chop) / passata / seasoning / any old Tomatoes or left over red wine - simmer and that's it.

Air fryer salmon fillets (15 minutes from frozen, salt and pepper, I don’t turn) or steak 6 minutes and a bag of microwave broccoli.

@Sgtmajormummy that's a new one for me ! Do you need to marinade steak or as it is ?

Pea and mint salad.
Cook some petit pois from frozen, drain. Crumble over some feta or goats cheese, squeeze about half a lemon and add a glugg of olive oil. Add chopped fresh mint to taste.

5 minutes is very tight to actually prepare anything in terms of following a recipe. Chopping vegetables always seems to take me an age! I'd go for a mixture of ready made bits you're just heating up or chucking in the oven and a few simple main elements of meals that can be supplemented with pre-prepared sides.

Quiche popped in the oven, bag of salad and wedges.

Jacket potato with tuna Mayo and salad.

Salmon baked in the air fryer on a bed of asparagus served with microwave new potatoes/quinoa/rice/mash.

Oven baked risotto served with green veg.

You can do slow cooker stews or casseroles really quickly if you use bags frozen veg & frozen cut meat.

Salmon fillets, chopped garlic, squeeze of lemon salt and pepper on a baking tray with cherry tomatoes, frozen green beans and anchovie. Cover it all in olive oil - bake for 15 mins. Serve with couscous (takes seconds)

Chicken thighs, soy sauce, honey, lemon in oven for 35 mins. Cook rice and steam some veg on top.

Can't do 5 mins but 12 - cook penne pasta, when cooked, stir through green pesto, sun blush tomatoes, feta crumbled, olives and if can be bothered fry some slices of choizo while the pasta cooks and add that chopped - tasty!

Aldi do bags of frozen mixes for fajitas and paella. Genuinely just throw it in a pan to cook for 5-10min and done.

The paella mix is fine on its own, the fajitas add some tin tomatoes/puree to it for actual fajitas or have it with pasta.

Buy a bag of ready cooked frozen chicken. Buy some packets of microwave rice(I particularly like the various "fancy" rice and grain mixes). Cook the chicken in a pan with any veggies you want (fresh or frozen) add the rice a few minutes at the end and sorted.

Hearty mixed salad of various tinned veg etc -
Combine chickpeas, tuna, olives, pickled gherkins, a semi-hard boiled egg, maybe asparagus from a glass… then mix and add a vinaigrette (olive oil, balsamic vinegar, mustard, salt - sometimes I add lemon juice and/or a bit of honey)

Fake fried rice. Microwave rice. Then put it in a bowl with chopped ham, cooked chicken, sweet corn, peas , any leftovers you have. Splash of soy sauce and sesame oil. Genuinely 5
minutes from key in the door to food on the table.

We are in the same boat and eat like this most of the time.

Smoked mackerel fillets cold with a green salad (from a bag)
Ditto hot smoked salmon
Beans on toast
Mezze plate of falafel, roasted peppers from jar, hummus, olives etc
Cold quiche and salad
Minute steaks with bags of microwave veg (Birds Eye steam fresh are good)
Fried egg with cold ham and a tomato salad
Ham, pineapple and a slice of cheese on toast and grilled
Slow cooker chilli con carne (just chuck in mince, pre chopped onion, kidney beans and seasoning pack) - eat with microwave rice

Batch cooking at weekends and making double what you need when you do have time (eg we always make enough stir fry to heat up the leftovers the next day).

One day I'll dust off the Ottolenghi books again but for now needs must!

@doubleshotcappuccino
My Cosori airfryer has a dedicated button for steak. I just put salt and pepper on a 2cm thick steak and was astounded at the results. I’m sure marinading would give an added dimension and a minute less if you prefer medium.

@Sgtmajormummy thanks ! I'm going to have a go - would be amazing to be able to so this so keen to try !

Truly five mins? It takes longer to bring a pot of water to the boil and if you’re going to do that + 11 mins to cook your pasta you have enough time for a sauce.

Truly 5 mins is microwaving something you cooked at the weekend and opening a bagged salad; scrambled eggs and toast; dishing up something you put in the slow cooker before you left for work; etc.

Chicken breast fillets and a bag of frozen peppers, fry with fajita seasoning, serve in wraps with soured cream/guacamole/heated cheese.
Prepared/frozen and tinned veg are your very best friends for quick cooking.

Chicken thighs, jar of 5 spice mix, honey, soya sauce, bung thighs in dish, sprinkle with 5 spice, squeeze of honey, shake of soya sauce. Chuck in oven, 15 mins later add frozen sweet peppers. Then serve with nuked egg fried rice.

Cheese on toast

Time to make gnocchi ??
And also OP wants a full meal, not a side dish.

That's a side dish

Invest some time in batch cooking, then e.g. a ragu can become bolognese, lasagne, moussaka, shepherds' pie etc