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What are your go to fast but tasty meals? Is there prep you do on weekends to make meals faster?
I was inspired by another post to think about this question. I am far from the only person who values good tasting good quality meals but is also pressed for time. What do you do? What do you make? How do you prep?
Thanks for any insight.
Pasta, say 15 minutes. Boil it, put it in a dish, throw in balsamico pesto, some tuna (canned), done. For extra point, add a bit of parmiggiano cheese. 500g of pasta, one pesto balsamico, 160g can of tuna (around 110g of tuna), just a bit of cheese (say30-40g).
Rice (kinda risotto), say 30 minutes. Put a bit of butter in a pan, throw in some ham (sliced and then cut to small pieces, say 0,5x1cm), reat it a bit. Throw in red pepper cut to quarters and finely sliced, let it get soft. In the meantime boil the rice. Put boiled rice into the pan, mix thoroughly. Add soy sauce and salt and ground pepper (seasoning) to your liking. If you want, you can throw some grated cheese on top of it on your plate. Aroind 400-500g of rice, one red pepper, 200g of ham.
I've added some more as replies to this comment.
EDIT: All my portions are for family with two kids 5&10. There are some leftovers, usually (dinner for kids or one adult). Or I cook just for myself and have lunch, dinner and next day lunch. Some of the meals are not that good when microwaved, much better frehly cooked. Still edible, no problems.
I have found that a couple of anchovies really add to the salt and umami flavor of Bolognese.
If we make fish pasta, we more frequently use sardines or clams than tuna.
Fried rice is a good idea. Not including the egg saves mess and clean up time.
The rice isn't actually fried. Just mix it together. I use basmati rice which doesn't stick together.
Anchovies work really well. I also like using red miso sometimes instead for another unique umami flavor in any tomato sauce.
Haha. This, of course, actually tastes fine. But it's a bit of a meme among some people where I live, and where I suspect Pavouk lives as well.
Whenever someone seems to only pretend to be a good cook and in general pretend to know how to take care of the house, acts as a good housewife while being obviously incompetent etc., people sometimes joke that the only recipe they know is pasta with tuna. Because it's pretty much the lowest effort cheap dish above things like fried eggs, wiener sausages, microwaved food etc., and it's not traditionally Czech, so it almost seems like someone made an effort to cook something different.
Both of these foods scream "lazy/busy Czech family" to me. All it's missing is spaghetti with grated cheese and ketchup.
But, no hate really, nice that someone represents my home country. I, of course, used to eat most of those things as a kid (tuna with pasta I think only became a thing later on). And it was a good motivation to start learning to cook on my own and try things that are not that, haha.
An actual answer to the question:
My favorite is coconut milk curry. The "trick" is to take whatever store bought curry paste (they're all good, with differing levels of spiciness), very shortly fry it in a small pan or pot on a bit of oil (makes it slightly softer, mixes more easily) and add a can of thick coconut milk (there are some kinds with more water, meant for drinking, that's less practical). After a bit of mixing you have a finished creamy sauce to add on whatever, usually fried meat and/or vegetables and rice. Frying, boiling rice and mixing the coconut milk can all be done in parallel, so it really is fast, and it tastes great.
Very little prep but longer cooking time: buffalo style chicken legs/drumsticks. I think I normally just use salt and pepper to season the meat and then throw it in the oven. In parallel I mix the buffalo sauce, which is just butter, some hot sauce (Sriracha usually), pressed garlic and a bit of vinegar, let it heat up and mix on the stove, done.
Similarly, my favorite side dish is baked vegetables. Cutting the vegetables into small enough pieces is relatively quick, but baking takes a while, about an hour I'd say. I only add salt and pepper, but a significant amount of oil is needed, otherwise the vegetables can become soggy. Tomatoes, various onions, peppers, garlic, zucchini, sweet potatoes and I'm sure others work well. You can add bacon cut into small pieces. And you can also just throw in some small sausages or a camembert and it's suddenly a full meal.
With that same prep, try roasting the veggies by moving the oven rack up and turning in the broiler. So good and usually takes about half the time.
Of course I'm Czech and this is lazy meal :-D I have eaten spaghetti with cheese and ketchup through all my childhood!
I can cook better things that this, but since the question was about fast and tasty meals, these really hit it, even though they are low effort :-) I've no problem doing lasagna or tikka masala, but it needs much more time (at least when it's me who is cooking it). I can also do some meat (steaks, burgers), some are even faster than pasta but also costier, so you don't do them that often. When I don't have much time those low effort meals are good to go for.
Add a generous amount of peanut butter, correct the taste with some sugar and vinegar, and you got a lazy but super tasty Satay sauce. It's thicker in texture than the base sauce thanks to the peanut butter, and it's a sure crowd pleaser whenever I make it.
Alternative is to mix the cooked pasta with pesto and small cooked shrimp.
I'm not much into fish or other things living in water. Tuna and salmon are rare exceptions :-) But I can see shrimp being used by soneone who likes it.
Champignon (kinda) risotto, 30 minutes. Start by cutting champignons, depending on size - 5cm diameter = 6-10 pieces, bigger ones = less and then start boiling rice (say 400-500g). In the meantime put champignons on butter in a pan, let them get soft, don't really fry them. After some time (5-10 minutes?), add cream (you know, the more fatty milk) around 200-400g (or ml; milliliters) depending on how creamy or dry you want the final thing to be. Let the cream boil out a bit. When he rice is done, just mix it and add aalt and ground pepper to your liking.
Pasta, different one (with dried tomatoes). Say 15-20 minutes depending on your skill with knife. Boil pasta. In the meantime, cut tomatoes to say 0,5-1cm pieces. Put tomatoes with canned tuna in a pot and heat it up (not really boil or rest), you may add some olive oil. When thepasta is done, mix together. Once again, you can out in some parmiggiano cheese for extra flavor. I'm doing 500g pasta + 160g can of tuna (weight of tuna being around 110g) and around 100-150g of dried tomatoes.
Gnocchi woth ham and gree beans, 30 minutes. If the gnochi is bought from supermarket (in a plastic bag or plastic... box?), you very likely don't need to boil it - may be different around the world. Put around 50g of butter in a pan, cut sliced ham to pieces around 0,5-1cm, rest it a bit in the butter. Then put green beans cut to say 5cm in length in the pan and continue resting. Add butter if you feel like it needs it. You can also add sliced/cut leek. When you are satisfied with softness of beans and leek, add gnocchi (I don't boil it, straight in the pan) and also add butter. Rest it to your liking. When on plate, you can add grated cheese. I don't use any seasoning as the ham, beans and leek makes it tasty enough for me.
Crepes, Jacques Pepin style. A third cup of flour, a half cup of milk, an egg, a dash of salt, sugar depending on whether you're doing savory or sweet. Cooks in seconds in seasoned cast-iron, fold some cheese or spinach or jam or whatever into the middle according to taste.
I know that people's ideas of fast meals will vary, but if I want to eat a hot dish that doesn't take too long and has less clean up I typically do one-pan pasta. It's fairly versatile in terms of adding different veggies, and depending on how picky you are in terms of texture you can just throw them all together right at the get go. The linked recipe typically makes about 2-3 servings for my appetite, but I bet it could be scaled up for more.
I haven't gotten good about doing a lot of meal prep for a week. My partner does not like having leftovers, so it usually falls on me to finish them all.
I did something similar when camping. Put it all in a bag (with smaller pasta) and froze it, it turned out incredible.
Oh wow I never thought about that as prep for camping! I'm planning on doing some two-night backpacking camps in the near future and figuring out food has been a point of contention.
if you wanna go super easy, any One Pot Rice Cooker meal could work!
https://thefoodietakesflight.com/rice-cooker-meal/
Stir fry is always my go to personally, usually chicken, broccoli and rice, but also I've been trying out meatless meals with tofu as well.
If you want a cross between the two, Solha El-Waylly has a chicken and rice recipe that's more prep time and passive cooking: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PsJilIaFio
Lots of good recipes and ideas here. Im a taco man personally, when i find a big chunk of beef on sale like a top sirloin roast or something i braise it on sunday and sometimes make corn tortillas or buy flour ones. Then over the next few days i just switch up with pico de gallo, picked onion/radish and queso fresco, quick cucumber salad, cilantro mayo and an egg, etc. whatever toppings you like on a taco, just rotate until you get through the meat.
Additionally you can just eat it with some rice and veg of choice with additional sauce from the braise.
I dont do it often cause it is legit a week of tacos. I should probably expand into pork/al pastor as well.
Similarly I like to do instant pot carnitas. Chunk up pork butt, marinate as desired, sear in cast iron and 45 minutes in the instant pot. The key part is to then shred and stick it under the broiler for added crispness. I’ll sometimes ladle on some of the juices/marinade from the instant pot when under the broiler too.
This is one of the best meat dishes to reheat IMO because all the fat makes it re-crisp up to almost like freshly cooked.
It’s cheap and versatile. That and some good Mexican style blackbeans (also done in the instant pot) make for a good week of meals.
I make big batches of things like slow cooked meat sauce over the weekend and portion them into single dinner servings and freeze. I just rewarm the sauce in a pan in about the time it takes pasta to cook. One batch of meat sauce can last like 3-6 months of meals if we are doing weekly or biweekly dinners with it.
There are lots of meal types that I do this for. We have a big deep freeze in our basement that I keep stocked with things like pasta sauces, meatloaves, pre-portioned and marinated meats, soups, quiches, things like shepherd's pie filling.
I also have a menu board that I post for my family with the week's meals and they can sign up so I know how many portions to make and I can plan ahead which meals are fast (15-20m prep) on nights I know I will be tired or have less time, and nights where I can put more time into a meal (30-1h). Planning this way also lets me put meals that generate leftovers early in the week so I can use them for lunches for my husband or myself.
There are also certain meals where I do mixes of scratch items and store items that let me cut down effort to still make great meals. A Costco rotisserie chicken paired with scratch mashed potatoes or stuffing, gravy, roasted veg, frozen dinner rolls, cream corn, stewed green beans, salad is something that can give the impression of a huge amount of effort when really I can throw that together in about 30min depending on the starch side or veg sides.
What kind of containers do you use for this? One of my failures to freezer meal plan is that I either end up with a frozen chunk in a Ziploc bag that takes forever to thaw or a reusable–ish container that I can't get the frozen chunk out of.
I find that sandwich size ziploc bags work the best for things like soup or pasta sauce in small servings. One bag filled fully is enough for 4 pasta servings or 1 soup serving (I used this for lunches).
The most important thing when it comes to dealing with the thaw issue is freezing them flat as possible so that they have even thawing. What I do is after filling I place all bags laying on their size on a sheet pan and place in the freezer like that so they are all little card decks basically. After that it is super easy to stack them and store more tightly. They won't freeze into wonky shapes and get stuck together and thaw fast (either in fridge from morning to evening when needed), on the counter in a couple hours, or de-frost setting in microwave for a couple min.
Meat or non liquid things that I want to really store I do in vacuum seal bags, but once again freezing as flat as possible for better thawing.
Thank you for the detailed info. This gives me hope for myself.
I got some big ice cube trays that are rectangular shaped. You can freeze food in something like that, then store them all in the same bag or container. They stack and you don't have to peel or melt the bag off.
When I go to the butcher shop (which is by no means an expensive boutique place, just a place where they sell meat) I usually get 4 or 5 kilos of good quality meat that is also affordable.
I portion them into thick steaks and store them in the freezer. Before going to sleep I take about 1/2 a kilo and put it in the fridge. 45 minutes before a meal I put in the counter to finish defrosting. After that, I do it in the pan with salt and pepper - - rare if I get it right, medium rare if I mess up. I get frozen broccoli in warm water for 45 seconds and it's done (it's precooked). Maybe I'm cooking some potatoes in between. If there are beans and rice leftovers in the fridge I'll throw them in the mix with farofa on the side.
That doesn't sound fast but I do everything at once so it's reasonably quick for me.
Thanks Lou,
Steak is very expensive here. However if you have a large freezer, you can have a whole pig butchered for you, or a quarter of beef. We do that so we pay one price per pound for all cuts.
Hey boxer ;)
If you can't get good bovine meat pig will definitely do! It's not my favorite but it's by no means bad! I imagine a whole pig could feed a family for quite some time, that sounds like a great deal.
The essential bit is to have a central protein around which you construct your meal.
Brocoli is my current obsession as it is delicious with salt and olive oil and it seems to go well with everything. I prefer the fresh one as it is more resistant to the bite, but they only have it frozen at the nearby grocery store. It's good enough and way more practical anyway.
Find a protein and add some broccoli, potatoes, and leftovers. Just make sure to not overcook the broccoli as it gets mushy very fast.
How much space does a quarter cow take in your freezer? Or I suppose, how large is your freezer? We've considered doing this as well but are afraid our freezer isn't big enough. We have a 144L chest freezer and I feel like maaaaybe if we emptied it, we could fit most of the cuts there and put the rest in the fridge/freezer combo in the kitchen.
A quarter beef or a whole pig take about the same amount of space.
We have a five ft high upright freezer in the garage. Putting an order of meat in fills it up.
The beef packs up pretty small. Half of it is ground beef.
Pressure cooker chili: vegan ground beef, canned beans, diced onion (only ingredient requiring prep), cumin, garlic powder, salt, pepper, chili powder (or make your own in the blender with cheap but good dried peppers), cinnamon, cocoa powder. Optionally serve over macaroni with more raw onion, cheese, and kidney beans to call it a Cinci 5-way. Not a fast cook due to pressure cooker but a low effort satisfying meal.
Soba: buckwheat noodles are better for you than typical pasta. Toss with soy sauce and top with diced green onion. Works great as a base for mixing with more vegetables and/or tofu but filling by itself. Super quick to prep; cooks fast on the stove placed in enough room temp water to cover the noodles.
If you don't mind colder food, tofu sliced thin and dipped in a sauce of soy, xiaoxing (sp?) vinegar, and sesame oil, and granulated garlic with optional green onions. Chinese-style tofu dumplings.
Baked potatoes cooked in a thin layer of oil to make crunchier skins. Serve with a side salad or just have extra potatoes. Satisfying. Not the most nutritious but easy in a pinch and easy to make leftovers.
Steamed fresh veg as a side: asapargus, broccoli, cauliflower, diced turnips (surprisingly good). There's a tiny bit of prep but putting water in a pot and a simple metal basket to hold the vegetables and you have excellent veg fast. Steaming is better for you than boiling, you get more texture, and the cook is far far faster.
50% of our quick and easy meals are:
Another 40% are:
And the remaining 10%:
Overnight oats, tasty is subjective but it works for us! Serving two people:
2/3 cup rolled oats, 2 tbsp flaxseed, 1 tbsp chia seeds. Put it in a small mason jar. Fill up the jar with low fat oat milk to about 275 mL which is about 9 fl. oz. That's it!
Next day add bananas or berries if we're feeling fancy
Alternatively, this same recipe cooks pretty fast on the stove. You just described my go-to breakfast at home!
That worked really well for me in the past. I just poured that into a bowl and heated it in the microwave for a minute during winter.
My gut was a bit sensitive to it in the end and I had to drop it.
I'm never quite satisfied by a meal that is just one item, so my most common fast easy dinner is to microwave some veggies and then toss them in a sauce, and I'll eat it with a pressure cooked sweet potato (which does take a long time to cook, but takes zero effort and provides a very creamy result) or a piece of my homemade bread, toasted.
I do weekend meal prep, but that's usually just making a week's worth of salads ahead of time, so sometimes it's just a matter of washing and chopping some lettuce. I usually have it with a homemade dressing which is about five ingredients put in a blender, and marinated tofu which is just a block that has been cut into cubes and put into a container that I pour some soy sauce into.
In the past I would have also mealprepped some overnight oats but I have become extra lazy and have just been eating cerial.
Recently started cooking with a wok, and discovered the grocery down the street stocks pea shoots daily… so that.
If we don’t count prep work, short rib ragu and various other pasta bases live in my freezer. Extremely quick to cook a pasta dish if you have the prep done.
I've got a 7 ingredient marinade i use for spicy pork bulgogi which is fuckin' bangin':
Take 1kg (~2lbs) of pork shoulder and slice it up (not paper thin. I got for about 1/8 - 1/4 inch thick). If you want to do beef instead, whatever the cheapest you can get is the go-to for me. I don't like the idea of wasting a nice ribeye cut. Something like spare ribs, or already diced stew meat, something like that. You want a fatty/marbled cut because that fat rendering during the cooking is going to help thicken the sauce.
Slice a large white or yellow onion.
Mix the pork and onion in the marinade (get your hands in there. It's fun). Then let it sit for 30 minutes.
Optionally, while waiting you can wash your rice and let it soak... Or really do whatever you want for your rice. But the TL;DR is you don't have to even think about rice prep until after the meat starts marinating.
After the half hour is up, put a Dutch oven or large pasta pot on low-med heat and dump the meat in. After 5 or so min you should see liquid start pooling in the bottom. Once you see that you can raise the temp up to medium high or so. Then, just let it cook down until the liquid has reduced to a nice thick sauce that isn't pooling quickly. Takes maybe a half hour depending how how full your pot is. Just give it a stir every couple minutes but it's mostly AFK cooking.
The reason you start the pot on low-med is you don't want to sear the meat. There's tons of sugar in the marinade and if you get it hot enough to sear you'll burn the sugar which will taste nasty (not caramelized. just burnt). Once there's enough water released from the marinade and meat you don't have to worry about it getting over boiling temperature.
You can start cooking your rice at the same time as the meat. They'll be ready at pretty much the same time.
Once you're happy with it the sauce thickness, kill the heat. Now if you want you can add 3 or 4 handfuls of spring onion cut into 5cm (2 inch) pieces. Stir them in then let them wilt for ~2 minutes. Once you're ready to serve, do a nice drizzle of toasted sesame oil in and give it a toss. Plate on top of rice, and add toasted sesame seeds on top.
This became my girlfriend and my favorite dish during lockdown.
Start to finish is 90 minutes. But you don't have to do it all at once. It takes like 10-15 minutes to do the marinade and slice the meat, onion, and garlic. So it's easy enough to just do at the tail end of lunch if you're working from home and just throw it in the fridge. When it's dinner time, you just pull it out and throw it on the stove. Dinner in 30 minutes. Or after it has marinated 30 min, portion it out and throw it in the freezer. Or after you finish cooking it, portion it out and throw it in the freezer. Seriously easy to make a bunch at once and store however you want.
I figured out a recipe that is easy, cheap, and astonishingly delicious: baby bok choy!
Take a pot and fill it half way with water. Set it to start boiling. Add a couple spoonfuls of Better Than Bouillon, a drizzle of sesame or avocado oil, and optionally any dried herbs and spices that you like. Grab some baby bok choy, cut them into quarters, wash them thoroughly, then put the quarters into the pot for ten minutes tops. Feel free to add a brick of ramen noodles (optional). Serve and eat like soup.
It is incredibly tasty and filling. Even my toddlers love it.
Fried rice.
Onion, garlic, whatever other aromatics or tough veg in a large pan or wok with oil or butter. Sautee. If you're adding raw meat cook that here also, but not all the way because we aren't done.
Add soft or precooked veg, like frozen peas or corn or whatever is in fridge that you've been meaning to eat.
Add day-old rice. I like mine with soy sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil, chili oil, and I play around with spices. Salt, pepper, sesame seeds, make it your way.
Add pre-cooked meat or something like shrimp that cooks really fast. This is also where I clear a spot to scramble an egg or two and mix that in. Final taste test, plate up with some green onion or sriracha.
It's a great fridge-clearing meal, reheats well, easy to pack in healthy greens and legumes and such, and comes together in less than 20 minutes.
I usually meal prep on the weekend and make two sets of meals lasting 4-5 days each. I need different meals for lunch and dinner to break up the monotony. Since I go out to eat a couple times per week, I don’t want too many meals hanging out in the freezer. The meals depend on whatever is on sale at the grocery store. I’ll usually pull up the app or website and make a list before I go. If I need inspiration, I’ll check out some food bloggers Averie Cooks, Budget Bytes, and Skinnytaste. I'm not on a strict diet; I just look for simple and fresh recipes that keep well.
Meal prep isn't for everyone, though. You might have to adjust cook times for reheating depending on your tastes. Freezing can be trickier because most veggies with high water content (spinach, tomato, celery, onion, cucumber, etc.) don't hold up well. I know people who prefer to cook small batch fresh meals every day, or make a fresh meal with leftovers for a couple of days. Other people covered pasta, noodles, rice, stir fry, protein + side, soup, chili, quiche, shepherd's pie, and salad. These are all excellent ideas that can be made fresh or meal prepped for the week.
I’ve also made Tex Mex and Mediterranean inspired quinoa or rice bowls. After cooking and seasoning the rice, you’re pretty much chopping ingredients and throwing them on top. I’ve also had success making a 9x13 pan of enchilada casserole. After buying pre-cooked chicken, I was just layering ingredients and baking it in the oven to melt the cheese. You can also doctor up storebought frozen food! I usually check the label to make sure the sodium isn't through the roof. I once cooked down two tubs of mushrooms and covered the entire surface of a frozen cheese pizza. It looked disturbing, but tasted alright. 😂 I should have broiled the pizza first because the layer of ice on top of the cheese made it watery. Yesterday, I boiled frozen Chinese pork dumplings while sauteeing broccoli. It was quick and tasty. My dip was just vinegar and soy sauce, but sometimes I add sesame oil or chili crisp.
Budgetbytes.com has really great recipes. I do oven fajitas for company and make my tortillas.
It's easy to have one dish with veggies and chicken and one just veggies to accommodate vegan and vegetarian diets.
I'm a big fan of soups/stews, and they tend to freeze well so I try to make extra and freeze for "emergency" meals. Bit surprised there havent been more soup reccos.
Some heartier faves with really easy prep that cook quickly:
-Black bean and sweet potato soup, with onions, bell peppers, and corn. finely dice the onion and sweet potato and only blend half the soup for a chunkier texture, or blend it all. Flavour with eg, ancho (or chili powder), cumin, smoked paprika, garlic, cayenne.
-Butternut squash soup: I like to add red lentils to add more substance. I usually go for an herby sage/ginger style.
-Veggie red lentil dal
-French lentil and chard soup: similar to this recipe, though I often omit the sausage and spice with italian-sausage spices like fennel, paprika, thyme, etc.
-Caldo verde (portuguese potato, collard, and sausage soup) is awesome, but I avoid freezing soups with potato in them.
-Sarson ka saag (mustard greens/spinach dish): came across this looking for ways to use all the mustard greens I grew.
I do a lot of pressure cooker meals during the week. Most have a small amount of prep work and some you don't even have to sear the meat before cooking (my pressure cooker has a sauté function, so even that is easy). Lots of soups and stews. Family favorites are:
Chicken Lemon and Rice Soup - boneless chicken breasts, chopped onions/celery/carrots, minced garlic, lemon juice, chicken broth, rice, and herbs all thrown into the pot together and cooked up in about 20 minutes. Take the chicken breasts out at the end and shred - throw back in pot and stir.
Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole - basically what it sounds like, with onions, cheese, and spices. About 15 minutes cook time.
Also, anything I can throw on a sheet pan and cook in the oven for 30-45 minutes. Usually a mixture of vegetables, potatoes, and some type of protein tossed with oil and spices.
Salads are also easy, but take a bit more prep. I usually add a meat (chicken, salmon, bacon, etc) and fresh fruits or cheeses.
Baked chicken and potatoes. It takes about 5 minutes of your time and an hour in the oven. I usually throw it together during my last meeting of the day. It requires a larger pyrex and that's about it.
Preheat over to 375F. For chicken, I buy legs or thighs, usually with skin on and bone in. Pour a healthy glug of olive oil into the pyrex, usually a few table spoons, and throw in the chicken. I usually wipe each across the pyrex on each side to coat with olive oil. Throw away the package and wash your hands, you're done touching chicken. Next throw some potatoes in the microwave for a few minutes, a minute per potato for big guys and 30s per potato for small ones. You don't want them to get squishy, just a little soft to the touch. Throw them in the pyrex. Grab salt, black pepper, thyme, garlic powder, onion powder, maybe even a little ginger powder, sprinkle across everything. The oven chimes that it has reached 375F, chuck the pyrex in. Walk away until the beautiful scent of crisping chicken starts to waft through the house (~ an hour). Pull it out and dive in.
I usually make 4 legs for my partner and I so I can have a few the next day for lunch. With the left overs I usually cut it off the bone, dice it, and throw it in a cast iron for some make shift taco meat. Otherwise throw it in the toaster over for flavor that is just as good on day 2.
Most of my lunches are breakfast burritos in some form. At the core, it's "scramble a couple of eggs and put them in a tortilla" which takes only a few minutes. However, there's so much you can do to make them better:
I cook it, it typically takes about 7 minutes to get everything ready to eat, it's delicious, and relatively healthy depending on your dietary needs (ie. you don't have to watch cholesterol).
I also often make chilli in the pressure cooker / slow cooker, where I take most of the unconsumed produce and put it into a pot with tomatoes and spices and usually ground beef. It's pretty simple to make something that tastes pretty great and can last you several meals.
I also typically make one dinner per week that is mostly just putting something frozen in the oven. Chicken fingers and fries, or a pot pie, or a pre-made lasagna. This is a bit of work because you have to actually find a brand that you like, and sometimes it can be a bit disastrous - one time I got a tourtiere that had bison in it and I am horrifically allergic to that and it was not noted. But in general we have a very low effort meal once per week, and as a kick in the pants, it's often the kids' favourite.
In the summer, I'll often prep a big container of quinoa or something similar and then make salads from the premade quinoa for a very fast and easy snack / meal.
Honestly? Fast and tasty is frozen pizza lol there are a lot of tasty options that I stock up on when they're on sale for the lazy nights where I would probably just go out and get fast food instead of cooking.
Otherwise...nothing feels quick to me if I have to actually cook. Meal prep or just cooking large portions for leftovers helps but actually planning out a week of meals ahead of time just feels awful to me. I prefer to figure it out based on what I have for lunch plus snacks. If I don't account for those, I'll definitely eat too much, and if I plan lunch and dinner, I'll feel trapped anytime something unexpected arises.
I legitimately don't understand how people who don't exercise regularly eat three meals a day and stay at a healthy weight. That said, I don't have any trouble meeting my dietary goals with my lifestyle.
Homemade pizza.
I use a no knead dough and 11" cast iron skillet. I usually have dough in the fridge since it lasts 5 days.
Preheat oven to 500(most people probably need 450, my oven just sucks). While oven is preheating, spray the pan, quickly fold the dough a few times and place in center. Spray dough it with oil and set pan by vent so it's the warmest spot.
Once preheated, spread dough out. I use jarred marinara, parmesan that I make sure to sprinkle liberally on all edges, top with cheese and desired toppings. Cook for 21 minutes.
Surprised there is no top level mention of pork tenderloin yet. Obviously not accessible to some for dietary, religious, and other reasons but its a favorite in my household. It's also relatively cheap compare to other proteins, at least in my local market
Ill often use the time this dish is cooking to make a starch, chop raw vegetables or both.
Pork tenderloin can also be marinated and roasted this way. Marinades are a field I haven't explored much beyond pre-bottled stuff but there are many options out there
This protein is also excellent on the barbecue if you're cooking outside
* There's a lot of argument about the ideal internal temp for pork tenderloin. Most of the recommendations Ive seen range from 145-160ºF / 63-71ºC. 150º is my households preference