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Meals with no kitchen?!

29 replies

Clarabellawilliamson · 14/06/2025 22:27

We are having building work done and will be losing our kitchen for a while. We will have a makeshift area with microwave and airfryer. Help me with meal inspiration! Minimal washing up (as it will be in the bath!)

I think there will be lots of microwave rice pouches….

OP posts:
Butterflywings84 · 14/06/2025 22:31

Jacket potatoes
chicken breasts with salad and chips
falafel and halloumi with cous cous salad
fish and chips with mushy peas
hunters chicken and wedges

MargaretMarigold · 14/06/2025 22:44

I used a slow cooker a lot when we had builders. Just needed crusty bread then or similar with casseroles.

nannyl · 14/06/2025 22:47

get a slow cooker and add chilli / bolognese / stew / curry / casserole / pulled pork / whole chicken / rice pudding to your meals.

TheLadyIsAVamp · 14/06/2025 23:04

When we were in a similar situation we bought a 2 ring hotplate from Amazon for about £20, gifted it to the food bank once work was completed. I know it's not ideal washing up wise, but we just bought a cheap basin to use in the bath. It basically meant we could do all our usual meals, I think the only one we couldn't do was lasagne as our air fryer wasn't big enough and I'm not sold on slow cooker lasagne after many failures.

Nevertrustacop · 14/06/2025 23:21

Beans on toast, baked potatoes, soup, ready salads and cheese/sardines/ham/tuna... Microwave ready meals, scotch eggs, pasties, rustlers burgers, sausage and chips, boiled eggs in kettle, pot noodles,

Tiredofwhataboutery · 15/06/2025 06:02

Flavoured cous Cous is good just put. In a bowl and cover with hot water, leave for five minutes. Serve with stuff on sticks chicken skewers, lamb kebabs etc. I like Aldis they cook well in the air fryer.

sashh · 15/06/2025 06:31

If you don't already have them then have a look at getting a slow cooker and a steamer. In a steamer you can put meat / fish wrapped in foil parcels, add potatoes and veg and you have a complete meal.

To cut down on washing up buy slow cooker liners.

Do some one dish meals in the slow cooker.

Chicken pieces or thighs, a tin of condensed mushroom soup, sliced mushrooms and green beans or leeks. Put in the slow cooker and leave. serve with potatoes or rice.

I live alone so it is far too much for me so I put the leftovers in a foil container and add a pastry lid - this goes in the freezer for a later meal.

You can roast a joint or a chicken in a slow cooker, just put it in, put the lid on and turn on. You can add seasoning or herbs if you like.

Have a look at shopping from Iceland, they do a load of things with instructions for the air fryer.

Do you have a toaster? Get some toastie bags for things like ham and cheese sandwiches. You can cook potato waffles in a toaster too.

Stuffed peppers work well in a microwave.

A PP has said cous cous, you can also make bulger wheat by just adding water.

You can 'boil' eggs in an air fryer. You can also cook them in the microwave, butter a ramekin, break an egg into the ramakin, PIERCE THE YOLK, you can add seasoning or a drop of cream or even a bit of grated cheese.

Consider buying paper plates to eat anything messy.

You can get a collapsible washing up bowl to save space in the bathroom.

suki1964 · 15/06/2025 06:33

Go get paper plates and disposable cutlery , save the back washing up :)

Air fryers weren't a thing when we had our kitchen done last time , I managed with a slow cooker ( buy liners ) a microwave and a George Forman, toaster and loads of pre prepped salads and veg

Air fryer is a game changer as you can cook just about everything in one of those , mine fits a chicken one side and roasties the other

GammonAndEgg · 15/06/2025 06:40

We did slow cooker and individual pouches of frozen veg.

VegQueen · 15/06/2025 06:41

I had the same thing last year, we also didn’t have great space to eat or cook in and were washing up in bathroom sink (no bath) so didn’t think it would work that well with a burner or slow cooker.

Some meals we did…
Steamed potatoes and peas in the microwave and fish fingers cooked in air fryer (or a different protein)
Instant noodles with air fried version of stir fry veg and pre marinated tofu/tempeh (again could do meat instead)
Jacket potatoes with beans
Sandwich/salad for dinner and get a hot meal at lunch at work

Bags of salad are useful to add veg with no prep, chopping etc required. Also get great condiments to add to everything to make it more exciting.

We batch cooked a lot of meals in the weeks before the work started so we had plenty in the freezer! Definitely do that NOW

Clarabellawilliamson · 15/06/2025 09:26

Thanks everyone! Some good ideas here- I will def invest in some liners to save on washing up!

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MrsMoastyToasty · 15/06/2025 09:28

All of the above...plus go to the pub for dinner.

BeepBoopBop · 15/06/2025 10:27

I would recommend an Instant Pot - such a versatile piece of kit. I have two now and three friends who have seen mine have bought one and two of their relatives have bought one after their recommendations. Get the one with the air fryer lid and it will cover all your cooking needs. My range cooker is basically a big cupboard now as I never use it for cooking.

booksforever · 15/06/2025 14:22

I suggest melamine plates, much easier to wash and nicer to eat off than paper.

BiddyPopthe2nd · 15/06/2025 14:48

Plan on using paper plates for the duration.

Get a cheap plastic basin to to the washing up in - hopefully you can do it at standing height on a countertop and just spill it in to the bath/toilet - but it will be useful even in the bath to reduce water use.

Microwave rice pouches to avoid cooking in a pot.

Have you a BBQ in the garden to use? You can cook meat but also chunks of meat/veggies on skewers, veggies wrapped in tin foil parcels, or use the kind of tin foil containers from the takeaway/freezer storage to cook/heat “wet” things in.

Can you make things like lasagna or sauces for rice/pasta dishes in advance and freeze them? Lasagne works well in air fryer, sauces reheat well in microwave.

couscous only needs seasoning and a bowl of boiling water to cook. No pot on a stove.

summer also means salads. Could do a rotisserie chicken from the deli with salad and a loaf of crusty bread, with leftovers for sandwiches or heated in a jar of shop bought sauce. And occasional takeaways for the duration are something we wrote into our planning and budget while we did a big Reno (it was pre-air fryer days but…while it wandered around the room a fair bit..we had a working cooker for most of the work, and the sink also moved around but remained functional, just about.)

CMOTDibbler · 15/06/2025 15:12

We had this, and a single ring induction hob was a life saver - just being able to do some fresh pasta/ gnocchi mixed things up.
Disposable air fryer liners made things easier.
Idahoan instant mash is way nicer than you'd think

WorriedRelative · 15/06/2025 15:46

I set up a table with microwave, toaster, slow cooker and kettle (it was before airfryers, but definitely include an airfryer) and was able to eat pretty normally.

Slow cooker curry with microwave rice, slow cooker stew with bread, slow cooker chilli. With an airfryer you can do most things you would normally oven or grill. The only things you will struggle with are hob top meals like pasta carbonara or omelet and oven dishes too big for your airfryer like pizza or shepherd's pie.

WorriedRelative · 15/06/2025 15:52

Frozen mash is good and only takes about 2mins in the microwave, put it with slow cooker stew or airfryer sausages.

Microwave rice is useful and tastes OK. Jacket potatoes started in the microwave and finished in the airfryer are bloody brilliant.

Have a Google for slow cooker recipes as you can use them for more than you think, not just stews and similar.

motherofawhirlwind · 15/06/2025 16:16

Welcome to my world, except no air fryer and plus the toaster.... We've been having:
Ready meals - Asda sausage and mash, beef hotpot with dumplings plus steam veg. Gym Kitchen Korean beef chilli plus sour cream, guac and tortilla chips. Asda Teriyaki Chicken plus Itsu goyza and curries and naan in toaster.
Pies - Pukka do microwave ones, plus waffles in the toaster and steam veg
Picky plates / sushi / pasta salad pots / Tiffany Plates whilst it's been hotter
Cous Cous (flavoured ones) plus cold chicken and salad
Shin Noodles plus goyza

I baked about 100 potatoes before the oven came out. Wrap in foil, freeze and then reheat from frozen in the microwave.

We've had to move upstairs and do still have the dishwasher but fridge is downstairs and that's the most annoying thing!

HeddaGarbled · 15/06/2025 16:19

As the weather is so nice, I’d just be having a lot of salads. When I had my kitchen done, I mostly microwaved ready-meals.

MikeRafone · 15/06/2025 16:20

Taming twin slow cooker dump bags prepared in the freezer, chuck one in the slow cooker every morning. Then rinse under tap and another dump bag the next day - it’s just bowls and cutlery to wash

you could easily prep 21 dump bags to last you 3 weeks

Anzena · 15/06/2025 16:42

It's all basic stuff isn't it. Once you have a micro and an air fryer you won't starve! If the works will be long term, I would invest in a one or two ring plug in hob.

So you have kettle, micro, air fryer, hob. That's everything you have already I'd say.

Good luck with the works, it is an awful pain, but will be worth it in the end.

Clarabellawilliamson · 16/06/2025 21:10

It’s not so much the cooking, it’s the washing up that’s going to be the killer!

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