Your easiest, tastiest meals

@kgy0001 My tastiest meal is burrito bowls. It's more like 20 minutes but still quick. Chip one onion and one pepper. Saute. Add ground meat and saute till cooked. Add spices (I use chili powder, cayenne, taco spice) Add canned corn, canned diced tomatoes, canned black beans, canned jalapenos (could do fresh too or other canned peppers). Add rice, and water or broth to cook rice. Summer till rice is cooked. It's about 15 minutes of active cooking and 25 of simmering the rice.

Edit: I missed the broken arm part, I'm sorry. Just omit the chopping it will still taste good. Amp the spices.
 
@jth5 Thank you both. I can cut a little but for all of the reasons above (including arm) will try with frozen veg. Frozen diced onions: I'm guessing these aren't a watery mess if they sell them, will try!!
 
@jth5 Yes! I do this myself if my veggies are going to go bad if I don’t use them soon. Chop them up and freeze. Carrots, onions, peppers, etc.. Chopping is the worst, so if the chopping is done, I’m much more likely to cook.
 
@kgy0001 Do you have a Trader Joe’s nearby? Their freezer meals save my life. I just have a ton of options in the freezer, and then the majority of them involve dumping the stuff in a pan and cooking it for like 10 minutes.

The lists and the multiple ingredients and the chopping… I know I should do it more often to make real meals but it is just too much a lot of the time.
 
@kram1005 YES. TJs has saved my lunch life (buying fresh was an expensive hassle). I will think harder about how to do TJs for dinner. They have a frozen spanakopita and tiropita that I like and could put in the oven next to some precut veg as others have suggested. Thanks
 
@kgy0001 You are so much fancier than I am. We get microwavable readymade proteins, a pasta roni, and a bag of frozen veggies. Sometimes even that i too much and we have bagged salad and ravioli with jarred sauce or pesto. And this was BEFORE I had shoulder surgery in November.

Fanciest stuff I make is baked chicken but it takes way too long, these kids are hungry as soon as we get in the door.
 
@kgy0001 These are all crockpot meals for proteins. We generally eat them with rice as a *insert theme* bowl.

Pulled pork - Pork butt (also called shoulder or picnic roast) and taco seasoning. I have a blend I make myself but a packet works just fine. Toss the roast in, sprinkle the packet on top, set to low and go to work. When you get home you just need to shred it. I use it for taco bowls and with the leftovers we make pulled pork sandwiches.

BBQ shredded chicken - boneless skinless chicken thighs and BBQ sauce. Put thighs in the crockpot, cover each one with a generous amount of BBQ sauce, set to low and it's ready when you get home. Downside is if it's over 6 hours, the chicken can be a little dry but it's not quite so bad with the chicken thighs. Serve as sandwiches or rice bowls

Salsa chicken - boneless skinless chicken thighs, jar of your favorite salsa. Dump in the crock pot, cook on low. Shred the chicken and serve with whatever carb you prefer or salad.

If you have a rice cooker with a delay start setting, you can get the rice and water in there and have it start cooking while you're on the way home. Or get the premade packs of rice.

Beetroot Pasta Sauce - hands down my favorite pasta sauce. I don't serve it with dill and feta but it's still delicious. Also reheats well and makes your pasta pink. Though my lazy hack is I used roasted garlic olive oil and sambal olek instead of adding garlic and a fresh chili. You can also use tabasco or sriracha.

The beetroot sauce came from Time to Eat with Nadiya on Netflix and she has quite a few quick cooking meals/hacks on the show.

I got off track for a while and getting back to it, but I find it's easier to cook if I make a meal plan on the weekend. So I know what I need to get out and prep the night before/morning of to streamline dinner. You can also make larger batches to freeze half (or more) for nights when you're too busy/tired/blah to put something together. Do as much prep on the weekends as you can as well.
 
@jwcunningham0930 I came to recommend similar recipes but for the instant pot!

For op: many crock pot/instant pot recipes can be translated to the instant pot/crock pot if you happen to have one or the other.
 
@cmfsd OK, so I'll be getting my instapot out of the cabinet above the microwave. It was an xmas gift years ago that I looked at and didn't have the wherewithal to figure out, but I hear you all. Thanks.
 
@kgy0001 This is my favorite easy meal: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1020670-pressure-cooker-salsa-verde-chicken
You could throw this into the instant pot in the morning, fridge the pot until you get home and then set it to work. Basically all you have to do at night is shred the chicken with two forks when it’s cooked.

Serve with rice (TJs frozen brown rice works well here) or corn tortillas, flour tortillas, etc. I like to do a can of black beans with the TJ’s frozen elote mix as well, which is a little extra work but only requires straining/rinsing the beans, opening the package, and occasional stirring for about 5-10 minutes (depending on how broken down you like your beans).
 
@montycantsin This sounds really good.... thank you. the fact that 50000000 NYT readers recommend it makes me take heart, and the almost no chopping part is encouraging. Will make this.
 
@kgy0001 Rice, fried egg, bag frozen veggies. If you make your rice the day before and leave it in the fridge, then you can make fried rice, but if not, then it's great fresh and hot too.

Basically any soup. You can buy precut veggies or even frozen. Chili and beef stew are even pretty simple and quick, especially if you don't care about it being fancy.

Pasta. We like the Rana ravioli, which takes 4 minutes to cook. Slap some sauce on it and call it a day.

Quesadillas. Need I say more? Premade guac and pico make it easier, and you can buy bags of frozen chicken breast strips. But I use dino nuggets half the time, because the kids will eat it
 
@renea Rice and egg is a fantastic breakfast! Instant rice, equal parts water to rice, five minutes in the micro to cook another five to rest, make eggs however you want, mix together, viola!

You can also make the rice day or more before, toss it in a skillet (like you said) with some butter and scrambled it with eggs, toss in a tortilla and it out the door :)
 
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