The best home-cooked meals are easy to make, filled with flavor, and made with ingredients that are already in the house.
Cooking your own meals is a great way to stay healthy, which is why so many of us have made home cooking our new 2023 resolution.
To help you on your journey, we have 5 easy and tasty meal ideas to help you get started.
Mustard Stuffed Chicken
Intense flavor. Accessible ingredients. Easy method.
This recipe has all three.
A mustard-stuffed chicken is an easy main dish that can be paired with oven chips, mashed potato, or just a salad.
You’ll need mozzarella, cheddar cheese, stone ground mustard, chicken breasts, and smoked streaky bacon.
Put your oven on 400 degrees Fahrenheit (200 celsius), and wait for it to get warm. While you’re waiting, mix the mustard and cheese together for a saucy mixture.
Cut a slit down the side of the chicken, so it can open up like a book. Then stuff the mustard mixture into the cut. Close the chicken up, and then wrap the bacon strips around the breast to help keep it closed.
Cook the chicken for around 25 minutes and hey presto – you have a tasty meal with little to no effort!
Chorizo And Mozzarella Gnocchi Bake
This next recipe is a little more complex. Don’t let the gnocchi or chorizo fool you though, as they are the only ingredients you’ll need that might not exist in your home already.
The other ingredients are:
- Oil
- Onion
- Garlic
- 2 Tins of Chopped Tomatoes
- Sugar
- Mozzarella
To make this meal, simply heat a pan and throw in the onion, garlic, and chorizo. Leave it for 5 minutes, then add in your tomatoes and sugar.
Once simmering, add in the gnocchi and stir for around 8 minutes. Stir in a handful of mozzarella, and then pour the mixture into a baking dish. Now place some more mozzarella on the surface, and put it under the grill to melt the cheese.
Once the mozzarella has turned golden, your bake is done!
Chicken Curry
The method for this curry is simple, so don’t let the ingredients list scare you!
You’ll need:
- Oil
- Onion
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Chicken Thighs
- Tikka Paste
- A Tin of Chopped Tomatoes
To start this meal, you need to cook the onion for 8 minutes and then chuck the garlic and ginger into the pan until you can smell their aroma
Next, add in your chopped chicken thighs and start cooking them for around 5 minutes. Add in your paste, tomatoes, and some water if you’re worried about the meat sticking to your pan.
Let it boil for 30 minutes – this will help the curry thicken.
When the time’s up, your meal is ready! Service it with rice or naan.
Classic Lasagne
Lasagna is a recipe filled with history and flavor. Once you learn the method you won’t need to eat a boring meal ever again.
You’ll need:
- Ground Beef
- Lasagne Sheets
- Bechamel Sauce
- Tomato Sauce
Yes, you could make the sauces yourself, and if you’re feeling adventurous add some bacon to the beef. However, we are starting simply.
Brown off your beef in a pan and once cooked add in your tomato sauce. Place a layer of the beef mixture into a dish. Then add a layer of lasagne sheets. At this point, you can either add a layer of bechamel sauce or go back to the beef mixture and start the layering process again.
Make sure to finish with a layer of bechamel sauce on top. Once prepared. Put the dish into the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit (200 celsius), and cook for 30 minutes.
Veggie Chili
Our last recipe is a vegan option. You’ll only need a mixed packet of oven vegetables, a tin of kidney beans, chopped tomatoes, and some rice.
Put the oven on a heat of 400 degrees Fahrenheit (200 celsius), and as it’s heating up, tip the veggies into a casserole dish. And then cook for 15 to 20 minutes.
When they are hot, pour on your drained kidney beans and tomatoes, and chuck them back into the oven.
While it’s cooking for another 15 minutes, start making your rice.
Once everything is ready, mix it together for a veggie chili meal.
Summary
Each of the meals above is easy. Each uses simple ingredients which you can find in any grocery store.
Bookmark this page so that when you want to cook but don’t know what to make, we can inspire you.