If you’re looking for quick and simple meals, you’ve come to the right place! Whether you wanna make breakfast, dinner or dessert, things don’t have to be complicated. Simple meals are the way to go if you want to whip up something quick with ingredients you can find at home!
For some of us, cooking at home may be intimidating. As a result, we turn to deliveries and take-outs for our meals. As someone whose cooking ability is limited to instant noodles and fried eggs, I usually dabble in simple recipes. Not only do these recipes usually use less ingredients, most of the time they are also foolproof.
If you’d like to cook something for yourself but don’t have loads of ingredients, check these recipes out!
Cauliflower Rice
For those of you who want to cut down on carbs, why not give cauliflower rice a go!
Ingredients:
- Cauliflower
Steps:
- Wash the cauliflower
- Remove the stems and leaves
- Grate the cauliflower OR use a grater attachment in a food processor to make the cauliflower rice
- Sauté the rice in a pan with some oil
- Add seasonings of choice (salt, pepper, soy sauce, etc..)
- Cover the pan with a lid and allow the rice to steam for 5 minutes
Recipe from Minimalist Baker.
Fried Rice
The easiest solution for having leftover rice. Just cook it together with some eggs and you’ve got a new meal.
Ingredients:
- 1 Bowl of rice (cold, leftover rice is best)
- 2 Eggs
- Onion / Spring onion
- Soy Sauce / Oyster sauce
If you’re feeling fancy, add some of these ingredients
- Garlic
- Frozen shrimp
- Spam / ham / hot dog
Steps:
- Slice the onion / spring onion / garlic
- Crack the eggs into a bowl
- Mix the rice with the eggs
- Pour some oil on a pan and sauté the onions / garlic
- When fragrant, add the rice into the pan
- At this point, you can add any additional ingredients you would like
- Add about 1 table spoon of soy sauce / oyster sauce
- Continue mixing and cooking everything in the pan
Recipe from One Meal A Day on Youtube.
Banana Pancakes
The best way to have fruits for breakfast! They’re really simple to make and are great if you’re cutting down on gluten.
Ingredients:
- 2 Ripe bananas
- 2 Eggs
- 1/2 Teaspoon of baking powder
Steps:
- Slice the bananas
- Place the banana coins in a bowl and add the eggs and baking powder
- Mash the ingredients together until the eggs are combined well with the bananas (you can use a fork or potato masher)
- Heat a non-stick pan with butter / oil
- Pour about 2 tablespoons of the batter on the pan
- Cook over low heat until the bottom has firmed (for about 1 minute)
- Flip the pancake and cook the other side
- Top the pancake stack with butter or syrup
Recipe from TheCooknShare on YouTube.
Aglio e Olio
This might be one of the simplest pasta dishes you will ever make. Feel free to mix up your protein of choice!
Ingredients:
- Pasta noodles
- Olive oil
- Garlic
- Chilli flakes / chilli pepper
- Prawns (deveined) / bacon / ham
You might also want to use:
- Parsley
- Cheese
Steps:
- Thinly slice the garlic
- Chop up the parsley and grate the cheese (if you’re using them)
- Boil the pasta in salt water (according the the instructions on the package)
- Fry your protein of choice on a hot pan and drain the oil on a paper towel
- Pour the olive oil (2-3 tablespoons for the sauce) in the pan and fry the garlic
- Turn off the heat once the garlic starts to brown
- Drain and add pasta into the pan
- Mix all ingredients together
Recipe from supercoolben on YouTube.
Chocolate Mug Cake
Dessert in a cup … yes please! This recipe is a great treat to have after a long day.
Ingredients:
- 1 Egg
- Hot chocolate mix / 3-in-1 Milo mix
Additional toppings for your cake:
- Nutella
- Peanut butter
- Chocolate chips
Steps:
- Crack the egg in a microwaveable mug
- Add the chocolate drink mix and whisk it together until smooth
- Add a spoon of your topping of choice (optional) and mix together
- Microwave the mixture for a minute
Recipe from Axceleration on YouTube.
Butter Cookies
3 ingredients but a little tedious. They’re worth it though! Take it as an arm workout for the snacks you’re about to bake.
Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature (approximately 170g)
- 1/2 cup fine sugar
- 2 1/4 cups of all purpose flour
Steps:
- Beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy
- Add in the flour and continue to mix
- When the mixture becomes crumbly, place it on a clean flat surface and knead it by hand
- When the dough starts to form, shape it into a long rectangular prism
- Sprinkle some sugar on a piece of wax / baking paper and roll the dough in it
- Wrap the dough in cling wrap and refrigerate it for at least 30 minutes to firm
- Remove the dough from the refrigerator and slice the dough to 1cm thick squares
- Bake in the oven at 180ºc for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Recipe from Joyceyvonna.
Who knew you’d be able to cook up something so good with such few ingredients. Going to the kitchen, you may find a whole bunch of ingredients but have no clue on how to use them. Just remember to take baby steps and slowly start experimenting with what you have! You might just find your new favourite spice or sauce in the process. We hope these recipes are able to keep your tummies happy!
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Writer: @furdoors
Lifeguide.sg 