The time spent at home kept most of us in the kitchen for longer, perhaps longer than we would have liked. Even if you discovered hidden culinary talents during this pandemic, it is always good to have quick, tasty meals at hand that you can always rely on.

If you are juggling a multitude of household activities, work, meetings, there is quite a small chance that you will have time for complicated recipes, to prepare food every day, and to constantly have fresh and varied ingredients at hand.

Planning saves us in this case too! Even if it seems incredible, you can spend just a few minutes a day in the kitchen and eat healthily, diversely and deliciously.

Below, we present several meal preparation techniques, how to organize your shopping list, simple and easy recipes for every meal of the day, and other useful information.

Plan your meals and make your time in the kitchen more efficient

The first step toward efficient planning is regularly stocking up on healthy, quality ingredients. This will help you have a balanced and responsible diet, stop making impulse purchases, but most importantly, save many hours for your favorite activities, away from the kitchen.

What to always have in your pantry and refrigerator

  • Leafy green vegetables for quick salads (baby spinach, arugula, salad mixes)
  • Eggs
  • Butter
  • Meat (chicken, turkey, fish or anything else you prefer)
  • Potatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes and root vegetables that keep well over time
  • Onions and garlic
  • Canned foods (tuna, diced tomatoes, beans, etc.)
  • Frozen vegetables
  • Grains (oat flakes, quinoa, couscous, etc.)
  • Your favorite dairy products
  • Spices and aromatic herbs to add flavor to your dishes

One shopping trip per week is enough to have all these products at hand. Add your favorite, somewhat more perishable fruits and vegetables to the list as well, which you can prepare in advance. Once cooked, they last longer.

To avoid unhealthy food choices, in addition to the above, you can also add sugar-free protein bars, fresh cottage cheese, marinated fish or hummus to your list, for a quick snack or when you want to satisfy your hunger but don’t have time to cook.

How to prepare food simply and quickly

You can cook for the entire week in a single day, such as Sunday, or on 2 consecutive evenings after work.

You can prepare your food in three simple ways:

  1. Cook large quantities of food and keep them in the freezer or refrigerator, depending on how perishable they are. For example, you can make a large pot of soup, several seasoned and aromatic chicken breasts in the oven, a tray of frittata made in the oven from 10-12 eggs, cooked rice, a tray of muffins for a sweet snack, etc.
  2. Prepare individual portions. Use divided containers for each meal, in which you can combine a portion of meat, for example, with sautéed vegetables and a handful of rice or a small, fresh salad. This way, you have all your meals prepared in containers, ready to take with you or heat up quickly.
  3. If you prefer to always cook fresh, prepare only the ingredients in advance. For example, you can prepare the sauces, boil several eggs, chop the onion and the rest of the vegetables, which you can quickly add to the pan along with whatever you want to cook that day.

You can try each option to discover what works best for you. In any case, an important benefit is that you will also save a lot of money, without wasting food. If, however, you are left with leftovers in the refrigerator that are about to spoil, you can quickly prepare a pizza or a frittata.

Diversify your dishes to avoid monotony

For people who want to eat something different every time and have everything prepared fresh, this may seem less appealing. However, if the goal is to reduce the time spent in the kitchen and cook simple and tasty dishes, this is the best option.

There are numerous dishes that can be prepared quickly, freezing preserves their taste very well, and if you want something different every time, you can easily change their flavor with special dressings, spices or herbs. Add different vegetables to your side dish every day, or delicious salads to which you can add whatever you like best.

Of course, you always have the option of cooking complex, special dishes, into which you can put a lot of passion and attention, but simple food can also be extremely tasty.

Now that we’ve established what to always have at hand, how to prepare quick meals and diversify them, let’s also look at a few suggestions for easy recipes that you can use whenever you have no inspiration.

Easy meal recipes

If you feel that cooking is difficult and that not everyone can do it, it means that you have not yet discovered the right recipes for making simple and tasty meals.

Below, we leave you with a few recipes for dishes that are very easy to prepare, and the quantities can be decreased or increased, depending on the number of people you are cooking for or how many days you want them to last.

Breakfast ideas

  1. Vegetable and bacon frittata - you need 6 eggs, 100g of bacon, your favorite vegetables and cheese. Mix the eggs in a bowl with salt and pepper to taste, adding the cheese as well, while you sauté the bacon in a little butter until crispy. Add your favorite vegetables to the pan as well — tomatoes, mushrooms, baby spinach, zucchini or peppers — and cook them for 2-3 minutes. Put everything, together with the eggs, in a baking tray and leave it at 190C for 15-20 minutes. If you want it to be even easier to prepare, you can mix everything directly in the tray.
  2. Granola with nuts and fruit - you need oat flakes, milk, walnuts, almonds, raisins and fruit. This recipe is very complicated: put all the ingredients in a container, with enough milk to cover everything (the oats will absorb a lot of milk), and serve whenever you want, cold or heated. On top, add berries, strawberries, bananas or candied fruit, whatever you prefer.
  3. Creamy hummus - to prepare a very delicious and creamy hummus, boil the canned chickpeas for another 10-15 minutes, together with a packet of baking powder, a trick from Israeli cuisine that makes the hummus fluffier. Rinse it under cold running water, then blend it in a food processor with the juice of one lemon, 2 garlic cloves, half a cup of tahini, salt, cumin, a teaspoon of olive oil and very cold water (another trick from chefs), enough to reach the desired consistency. For more flavor, you can also add chopped sun-dried tomatoes or roasted pepper. You can eat it plain, with crackers or with vegetable sticks (peppers, cucumbers, carrots, etc.)

In the same category as hummus, you can make various cheese spreads, guacamole, tzatziki, homemade pâté and many other spreads, which take only a few minutes to prepare and last for many days in the refrigerator.

Quick dinner ideas

  1. Baked cod with tomatoes and potatoes - line a baking tray with parchment paper and add the potatoes to the preheated oven at 200C. After 15 minutes, add the cherry tomatoes and cod as well, drizzling them lightly with olive oil and seasoning to taste. Leave them in the oven for another 10-12 minutes.
  2. Indian-style cauliflower with chicken. Sauté a medium onion, finely chopped, garlic, grated ginger and the cauliflower florets in a pan for a few minutes, until the cauliflower softens slightly. Add the chicken (breast or boneless thighs), cut into cubes and mixed with your favorite Indian spices (curry, garam masala, cardamom, paprika, etc.), and stir until lightly browned. Add a cup of diced tomatoes and tomato paste, and leave everything on the heat for another 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. You can also cook rice at the same time, to serve alongside this tasty and easy-to-make dish.
  3. Salads - They may not necessarily be considered cooking, but they are the most convenient option for a nutritious and quick dinner. Mix baby spinach or your favorite leafy green mix with your favorite vegetables, chicken or salmon. Other delicious options include combinations of nuts, goat cheese or Gorgonzola, and pears or grapes. Tuna and corn salad is another good choice, or a salad with vegetables and grilled halloumi. For a special flavor, prepare a tasty dressing from Dijon mustard, olive oil, crushed garlic and lemon juice, or a fresher one made from yogurt, lemon juice, honey and finely chopped dill.

As you can see, you can prepare meals quickly and easily even from fresh ingredients, in salads, but also in the oven, in a pan, on the grill or boiled, as soup or cream soup.

Preparing food can be fun, and only by experimenting as much as possible in the kitchen will you discover new flavors, become better organized and, over time, learn exactly what and how to cook for healthy meals with minimal effort.