14 really, really easy recipes
for when you simply *cannot* (but... you must)
This is the recipe roundup you’ve all been waiting for!
I just went through three years of past WTC recipes and pulled out my favorite SUPER EASY recipes. Like, the easiest of the easy. Most of these require little or no chopping, and are really lovely little dump / stir / cook situations.
If you cook dinner for your family every single night of the week, and you’d like to share that load, this is a great email to forward to the non-cook of the family! Let them pick one recipe that they can totally own by themselves.
Yesterday I shared a detailed, totally TMI guide to being the best newborn dad/partner ever on my podcast, So Into That that people are really identifying with and sharing like crazy.
*the* guide to being the best newborn dad ever
Click here to find a PDF handbook on how to be the best newborn partner ever, plus an accompanying podcast!
The guide inspired this roundup: these are all meals that can be cooked with very little effort during those sleepy, bleary newborn days. Any partner can cook these, no matter their skill level, while mama rests!
14 really, really easy recipes from the What to Cook archives
My friend Amy is a SAHM with three kids under 5 and she makes this soup all the time, which should tell you all you need to know about how easy it is. She loves it, and she’s always telling me that I need to remind y’all about it. So here it is. Make this soup, because Amy says so.
The easiest, tastiest enchiladas of all time. They have a cult following — this recipe is several years old and this recipe is still in heavy rotation in many WTC homes.
So simple, so good. If you’re feeling really lazy you don’t have to cut the potatoes in half, but I do prefer them cut.
I developed this one in honor of my friend Nellie, who has the palette of a four-year-old boy and can hardly boil a pot of water. It is very, very easy, and a total crowd-pleaser with kids, adults, and adults who eat like kids.
Buy pre-sliced cabbage to make this one extra easy!
Cauliflower rice, snap peas, and miso-glazed salmon all cook on one sheet-pan. Healthy and delightful.
Frozen fries make up half of this meal! That is high on the easy spectrum. Also, I’ll allow you to use jarred minced garlic instead of chopping it all. Just this once.
Many stores carry pre-chopped butternut squash and cauliflower florets which removes chopping from the recipe entirely. Instead of making the brown butter sage vinaigrette, you can just serve this with store-bought pesto for dipping.
Grab pre-sliced mushrooms and Brussels at the store, if you can find them! If you don’t like either Brussels or mushrooms, you can double up on the one that you do like. Or, check the riffs section for lots of other sheet-pan gnocchi combos.
Doesn’t get much easier than this. Although, you could skip up crisping the tacos and just scoop the meat into warm tortillas if you’re pressed for time.
Don’t be freaked out by the canned clams, I promise it’s SO GOOD!
Use a store-bought sesame-ginger salad dressing to make things easier — I love the Kewpie brand one from Costco, or the Makoto brand one that I can find at most grocers.
30-minute pork and kimchi CYOA bowls
This week is a CYOA (aka Choose Your Own Adventure) meal. Because the components of this recipe can become lettuce wraps, a bowl, a salad, or, ya know, deconstructed, absolutely-not-touching piles of individual ingredients if you’re feeding picky monster children.
Throw meat, kimchi, and some sauces in a skillet. Cook. Chop up some carrots, cucumbers, lettuce, whatever. Throw a bag of frozen rice in the microwave. Build your own bowls. Yum.
We all love this chicken so, so much. If you’re not in the mood for a salad or sandwich, just make the chicken and serve it with absolutely any veggie. It works with pretty much anything.
Don’t forget the street tacos. They are in our rotation once a week!
We do a simplified version of the tempura crunch bowls at least once a week. I use TJs Salmon Rub and Bachan’s Bbq sauce, add the sesame and panko topping, cook rice in our instant pot, and make the salad. We have a newborn and a 2 year old and I can get dinner on the table with maybe 10 min of hands on work? Magic.