I love cooking from scratch as much as the next person, but on a busy weeknight the last thing I want to do is take out every kitchen gadget that I own.
So here’s a list of recipes that are quick and easy, require very few ingredients, many of which you probably already have in your pantry, and best of all, they’ll keep you from reaching for that delivery app.
1) Shrimp Couscous
Some shrimp sauteed with lemon, olive oil, and garlic served over a quick couscous. Shrimp is great because whether you have fresh or frozen, it cooks super quickly. In less than five minutes you have a fresh protein ready to go. I myself prefer fresh shrimp, as frozen shrimp can hold too much water when thawed and release some of that into your dish, making the flavors a bit muddy. So if you do go frozen, that’s fine, just make sure that you drain it really well and pat it dry.
When I saute the shrimp, I would finish this off with some fresh parsley if I have it. It would make a huge difference with little effort. If I were to do the couscous, I could even do quinoa if I was gluten-free. Quinoa is higher in protein, just as simple to cook, and adds a little nutritional boost to the dish. A lot of people don’t realize that couscous is actually a pasta and not a grain. This dinner comes together super quick and has a lot of fresh flavors without a lot of effort.
2) Egg Fried Rice
This recipe is great because you can use a lot of leftovers you may already have in your refrigerator. Leftover rice is actually preferred in this recipe because it has a drier consistency, so your final product won’t be as sticky. It’ll be more of an authentic fried rice flavor that you’re probably looking for.
Scramble a couple of eggs and toss your rice in. For frozen veggies, you have options. Peas are great, or finely diced carrots. If you have frozen edamame, even better. Finish that with some soy sauce and sesame oil. If you have fresh green onion and sesame seeds, that will really elevate the dish to the next level without much more effort. This is takeout vibes without a takeout price, and you’re getting a fresh homemade meal.
3) Chicken Caesar Wraps
I would probably make a dish like this when I really didn’t want to turn on the oven. The components are simple, tortilla, rotisserie chicken, lettuce, parmesan, but the ingredients that you choose will really be what makes the difference in this dish. Choosing a high quality restaurant style tortilla, freshly grated parmesan, and your favorite Caesar dressing really gives the vibe of something that you picked up from the deli.
If I were to eat this, I would serve it with my favorite potato chips or some oven baked french fries. Feel free to use frozen if you feel like turning on the oven, which I normally don’t.
4) Quesadillas with Black Beans
This dish doesn’t require much. Tortilla, black beans, cheese, your favorite seasonings. This is quick and simple. The trick with a quesadilla that has a crispy exterior and a warm, cohesive, melty inside is to not rush the heat. This will still take you less than 15 minutes start to finish, but make sure you go low and slow so you don’t burn the outside of the tortilla before your fillings are done melting together.
Canned black beans are great here with some taco seasoning. If you have leftover chicken, steak, pork, even scrambled eggs for a breakfast quesadilla, those would all do well here. The toppings are really where you can go a little bit crazy. You can do a smashed avocado. Sour cream, plain Greek yogurt, salsa, diced tomato, it’s really up to you. Putting your tortilla in with that cheese and fillings is just so comforting in a way that other foods really aren’t.
5) Miso Noodle Soup
This is a great, warm, comforting, quick dinner. I personally keep miso paste in my refrigerator for Asian inspired dishes, but when you need something comforting without a whole lot of effort, you can combine that miso with some hot broth, and then the add-ins are really where you can go crazy.
If you have tofu, throw some of that in. If you have some shredded chicken, that would be great. Some mushrooms, bean sprouts, or a soft boiled egg would add protein and richness. If you want to add noodles, you definitely can, but me personally, I prefer to simmer some frozen store-bought dumplings or wontons to give the dish some more substance and protein. It’s still comforting enough for me to want to make it.
6) Pesto Tortellini
This is refrigerated or frozen tortellini with some pesto and cherry tomatoes. This is a quick dish. I personally prefer frozen tortellini. I think it tastes fresher and the cheese doesn’t take on that stale quality.
Halved cherry tomatoes would be delicious here. I would add in some fresh greens if I had them, mixed greens or arugula, and finishing it off with a drizzle of balsamic glaze and some grated parmesan will honestly make this dish taste like it came from a restaurant.
7) Tuna Melt Toasts
You have your toast, cheese, canned tuna, mayonnaise, and seasonings of your choice. For me, what takes a tuna melt from school lunch to adult dinner is adding in some little touches to add freshness and sharpness to the dish. Adding some diced onion and celery adds a nice crunch and makes you feel like you’re getting a vegetable in there.
This is a great dish to use whatever cheese you have in your refrigerator. Some leftover cheddar, gruyere, Swiss, even American can be oddly comforting in this scenario. Mix your tuna together with your mayonnaise, spices, and veggies if you choose to use them, spread that on your toast, top with your cheese, and stick it under the broiler for just a couple of minutes. Keep your eye on it so your toast does not burn, and you’re done. That’s dinner.
8) Chickpea Salad Bowls
This is a great, fresh, quick Mediterranean inspired dish that doesn’t take a whole lot of work. You basically have some chickpeas tossed with chopped cucumber, red onion, feta, and an olive oil and lemon juice. This would be even better with some kalamata olives. If you had them on hand, that would add some punchiness and a little bit of oomph to the dish.
If you have leftover grilled chicken, that would be phenomenal in here to add some protein and substance. If you don’t, what I like to do is make sure I keep a rotisserie chicken on hand throughout the week for quick meals like this. If you are sensitive to onion when you’re cutting it, you can soak it in cold water to take some of the bite off, but I recommend keeping it in the dish because it will give a lot of flavor.
9) Taco Skillet
I make this all the time on nights when I want flavor, not a lot of work. It’s even better than any burrito bowl or skillet that you could buy from a fast casual restaurant. You have your ground turkey or beef, and you’re going to cook that down in a pan with some taco seasoning. Siete makes a great one that doesn’t have a lot of mystery ingredients, and the key is to make sure you add a touch of water to that beef and seasoning when it’s done cooking to create your sauce.
You could use tortillas, but me personally, I like to make some rice in the rice cooker, very quick, very simple, and then I like to add whatever toppings my heart desires. Grated cheese, shredded lettuce, sour cream, Greek yogurt, salsa if I have it, hot sauce, and bonus points if you have an avocado in the refrigerator that you can throw on top.
10) Caprese Omelet
This is a quick omelet with a couple of eggs, mozzarella cheese, and tomato slices. I always have eggs in my refrigerator. They’re quick, simple, and crowd-pleasing. My entire family likes them. Whisk your eggs, and whisk some cottage cheese into those eggs to bump up the protein content and make them just a little bit creamier.
In your omelet, you can put that mozzarella and tomato slices. Me personally, I don’t like the moisture that tomato slices give, so I would use some sun-dried tomatoes chopped up finely to give it richness and savory flavor. You could use some basil if you have it, but I don’t think this dish needs it. I would top this with some salt and pepper, add buttered toast, and you’re good to go. I’d be a happy camper if I had this.
11) Salmon Dinner
Salmon’s great because it’s super high in protein and healthy fats, and it’s extremely versatile. My favorite way to do it is skin side down in the air fryer, coating the fish in just a touch of olive oil. Seasoning well makes a big difference. You don’t have to be super conservative with the seasoning. Salmon really needs the flavor profile that you’re wanting to add to it. I like brown sugar, black pepper, sea salt, smoked paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder. That’s my personal favorite.
I think a lot of people don’t like salmon because they’ve had it overcooked, and it’s not good when it’s overcooked. So be conservative with the cooking time. You can always add more time, but once it’s overdone, it’s overdone, and it’s not all that tasty. You’re going for an internal temp of about 135. For your average salmon filet, you’re looking at 10 to 12 minutes, but again, it’s going to vary greatly, so just keep a close eye on it.
On the side, you can do brown rice, bagged salad, roasted veggies, or some pasta. There are so many things that you can put with it. If you want to keep it super simple, my favorite thing to do is steam a sweet potato in the microwave. Poke some holes in it with a knife, wrap it in a damp paper towel, and microwave it for seven to nine minutes. Serve that with some butter, and do some lemon and garlic butter on your salmon when it comes out. Super simple, not a lot of effort, really fresh.
12) Soba Noodles
Soba noodles are great because they cook fairly quickly. Cook those according to the package directions, and then for the dressing, a quick peanut sauce with soy sauce, lime, a splash of rice vinegar (a little bit goes a long way), and some honey. I like to throw in some sriracha or gochujang if you have it, and some hot water to thin it out. If you have coconut milk, that is a phenomenal stand-in for the water to loosen the sauce. It gives the sauce much more body, richness, and indulgence.
Once that’s done, you can put it with shredded carrots, cucumbers, any crunchy vegetable you have. I really love to put fresh mango that is thinly sliced into this dish. It sounds strange, but it adds another level of flavor. If you have leftover protein, I really like to do some chicken. I’ve done shrimp and tofu. You really can go a lot of different directions with this, but top it with some sesame seeds. This is a dish that is super duper satisfying and easier than it sounds.
13) Gnocchi Skillet
This is gnocchi sauteed with sliced sausage, and you can use shelf-stable refrigerated gnocchi. For a dish like this, I would not recommend using frozen gnocchi, as it may break down a bit and become sticky from the moisture when you go to saute it. I much prefer refrigerated gnocchi.
When you saute your sausage, make sure that you are using a pork sausage. Chicken sausage has a great flavor, but it won’t give off the fat that the gnocchi needs to crisp up. If you have some spinach, that’s fantastic. Frozen peas, if you add those in about five minutes before the cooking time is done, would be very yummy in this dish. If you have fresh parmesan, romano, or parmigiano-reggiano, grate some over the top. And if you really like spice, crushed red pepper flakes would finish off this dish really well.
This is the perfect dish for when you want something a little indulgent. It’s probably something I’d make on a Friday night. It comes together fairly quickly and you really don’t need all that many ingredients. Just watch your temperature on the pan. When you take the sausage out, be sure to turn the heat down, because the gnocchi is going to burn much easier than the sausage would. I would take it down to a medium low before you add in that pasta.
14) Avocado Toast
You have toast with mashed avocado and smoked salmon. If you have a really good sourdough bread, that would be really great in this dish. Take some sourdough and mash your avocado with salt and pepper at a minimum. If you want to add some acidity, you could do lemon. If you want to add spice, you could add in some crushed red pepper or hot sauce.
For some protein, you could do smoked salmon. Me personally, I like to do a runny egg on top and some salt and pepper as well. I like to go a little seasoning heavy. The avocado is very rich and it needs something to cut through. If you have everything bagel seasoning, you can top it with that. There are a lot of different options. This is super simple and doesn’t take a whole lot.
15) Tomato Soup
You have jarred marinara with a splash of cream and tortellini. This is something super simple. What marinara you use is what’s going to make the difference here. In a dish like this, I would spring for a Rao’s marinara or something of a higher grade, because it’s really going to be the base of flavor for your soup.
If you put in a splash of cream, fantastic. If you’re dairy-free, full fat coconut cream instead of dairy cream can do the same thing. As long as you simmer it together, you can add in some tortellini, or mini ravioli would be really delicious in here. And it’s just cute, mini ravioli is cute. You can thin it out with some water. I personally would top this with some parmesan and eat it with some fresh Italian bread.
16) Chicken Stir-Fry
This is stir fried vegetables and chicken with teriyaki sauce. There’s a lot of versatility in this dish. I personally would go for pre-cut vegetables if I was doing a weeknight dinner and I wanted to keep it quick. Fresh or frozen will work here. Fresh tends to cook better in a stir fry, but frozen is usually frozen at peak nutritional value and peak freshness, and it tends to be less expensive. So if that’s all you have access to, you could go with that.
Thinly sliced chicken is great here, but shrimp, tofu, steak, even ground beef could work in a dish like this. That’s what I mean when I say it’s versatile. You can put in your favorite teriyaki sauce. The grocery store has some really great ones that to me taste even better than homemade. If your stir fry is a little bit watery upon cooking, you can make a slurry of one tablespoon of cornstarch and two tablespoons of water. Pour that into your pan and let it simmer until the sauce coats the back of a spoon. That will thicken the dish right up and get kind of that glossy result you’re looking for.
If there’s a little bit too much moisture in the dish, I’d serve it with jasmine rice. I love my rice cooker. You can set your rice and forget it, or they sell great microwavable steamed rice as well. I would top this with some sriracha, sesame seeds, and sliced green onion. Doesn’t get much better than that.
17) Vegetarian Skillet
You have halloumi cheese browned with some warm garlic chickpeas. Halloumi cheese is an absolutely fantastic vegetarian option. It’s very satisfying and filling. When you go to brown your cheese, I would recommend using some good olive oil. Halloumi is going to take on the flavor of whatever you cook it in, so using a generic vegetable oil isn’t going to lend a whole lot of flavor, and this dish doesn’t have a lot of ingredients, so the ingredients you do use are going to make a difference.
You can warm those chickpeas with garlic and lemon. If you have parsley or dill, that would be great. This would also be delicious with a touch of Greek yogurt and sliced cucumber to make kind of a meze plate situation.
18) Hummus Plate
This is something that I would typically prepare if I literally just want to come in the door, throw some things together, and call it dinner. My favorite thing to do is get some hummus from my favorite Greek restaurant and keep it on hand for nights like this. Cucumbers, tomatoes, olives, pita, those are all fantastic ideas.
I like to top my hummus with a drizzle of olive oil and some feta cheese, or even better, marinated feta. You can find that in the prepared food section at your grocery store. That really takes it to the next level and feels like a grown-up meal without any effort at all. And if I have some leftover grilled chicken breast, I may serve that on the side to amp up the protein content. Either way, lots of nutritional value, no effort, dinner’s done.
19) Spicy Noodles
We have some stir-fried garlic, chili flakes, cooked noodles, and soy sauce. There are a lot of different ways that you could go with this. When I do it, I like to cook off either some ground pork or ground beef, and then I like to toss the cooked noodles in some of that grease from the meat and some garlic. Fresh ginger, chili flakes, or chili paste is even better.
The soy sauce will add richness. Dark soy sauce gives an even better flavor if you have access to that. And I also like to top that with a runny egg. Make sure you don’t overcook the egg, because that runny yolk seeps into the noodles and adds a saucy umami quality. This is a really satisfying dish with great depth of flavor. Top it with some chopped peanuts to really kick it up a notch.
20) Ravioli Dinner
This is refrigerated ravioli pan fried with brown butter and sage. If I were to make something like this, I would probably make it as written, but I would get some pancetta or bacon. I’m more likely to have bacon in my refrigerator, and I would render some of that bacon in the pan with a little bit of butter until I get that brown color. Then I would saute that ravioli with that bacon butter concoction.
Add in your black pepper and sage. Watch the heat closely, because that sage can go from toasted to burnt really quick, and then it will just lend a really bitter, unpleasant flavor to the dish. I would not add lemon to this, I think it would give it a weird acidic flavor. Just keep your eye on that sage. Top with some grated romano. Absolutely delicious and quick. You could even serve it with some fresh bread if you have it. That’s what I would do.
21) Chicken Flatbreads
You have a pre-made flatbread with barbecue sauce, chicken, red onions, and cheese. This is a super simple, straightforward dish. You really could go many different ways with it. Some pre-cooked chicken sausage instead of the shredded chicken would be really fun. You could use up any leftover vegetables you might have in your refrigerator, chopped up bell peppers, roasted red peppers, some spinach, mushrooms you may have lying around. Put it under the broiler until it just gets nice and toasty.
This is simple and comforting, and you could go many different directions with it. Instead of barbecue sauce, you could even go with some jarred alfredo sauce and do a chicken alfredo pizza. That’s something that I would do. This is super easy.
22) Pita Pizzas
This is a great dish for when you are really jonesing for pizza. You’re not trying to order takeout, and you’re not trying to put a whole lot of effort into making your own dough and everything like that. So we’re looking at pita bread, some toppings, tomato sauce, fresh tomatoes, cheese. I would put your pita bread in the oven for two or three minutes before you add your toppings, just to make sure that it gets a little bit toasty and doesn’t get soggy when you go to add your desired toppings.
I would do a really good jarred pizza sauce, fresh mozzarella, sausage, pepperoni, feta, olives, tomatoes. Really, it’s whatever your little heart desires. Put it in the oven for 10 minutes. That’s it, you’re done. If I were to do it, I would serve a simple side salad. Again, it’s a great way to use up ingredients, and it takes less than 20 minutes.
23) Steak Salad
You have thinly sliced steak, greens, and dressing. If you have leftover steak, this would be great here, but steak always goes quick in my house. You could do a sirloin. I really like a strip steak on a salad. I think the extra fat from the strip steak really gives good flavor to the salad base, especially when the steak is the main event of the salad.
You can do a mixed green. A chopped romaine is really nice. Some frisee gives a really good peppery bite to the salad. Tomato, and I really like red onion in a steak salad. For the dressing, you want to base that on the sturdiness of your greens. What I mean by that is if you’re going with a more delicate mixed green or frisee salad, I would go with a balsamic, a vinegar-based dressing. If you are jonesing for a creamier dressing, a Caesar or a blue cheese, you’re going to want to save that for your hardier lettuces, because it can really withstand the bulk of the steak and dressing. So a romaine, an iceberg, something like that.
But there really are a lot of options. My personal favorite is thinly sliced strip steak, mixed greens, frisee, goat cheese, some dried cranberries, and a balsamic vinaigrette. Thinly sliced red onion, cracked black pepper. Done. Beautiful.
24) Cottage Cheese Bowl
This may sound strange off the bat. This is cottage cheese, cucumber, and oil. I have done this before. If you don’t like the texture of cottage cheese, it does have 14 grams of protein per half cup, so it’s really hard to beat that. You can blend it, which gives it a much better flavor and much better consistency if you’re put off by cottage cheese like I am.
I have done this with some sweet baby tomatoes chopped up, thinly sliced English cucumber or baby cucumbers, some very finely diced shallot, olive oil, salt, and pepper. If you have balsamic glaze on you, that takes the dish from a 5 to a 10. I like to eat this with some seeded crackers for some crunch and substance. It’s very delicious and very satisfying. Just make sure that you make use of your salt and pepper. If I had fresh herbs, I would probably throw those on there too.
I would even do this potentially in a sweet route. You could do your cottage cheese with some blueberries, cinnamon, and granola. You could throw a drizzle of melted almond butter on there. So if you’re wanting some type of dinner that tastes sweet and indulgent, but you still want to make sure that you feel full and satisfied without a sugar crash, think of it like a grownup yogurt bowl.
25) Coconut Curry
This is a meal that can pack a lot of flavor. You need coconut milk and jarred curry paste, and the rest is really up to you. You can do some experimentation and research to figure out what curry paste you like the best. You have red curry paste, green curry paste, and yellow curry paste, all lending different flavor profiles. My personal favorite is red. You combine the curry paste and the coconut milk.
After you cook off your chosen protein, I prefer a skirt steak or chicken, add some bell pepper, onion, broccoli, and even, plot twist, eggplant is very good in this. If you can find Chinese eggplant, even better. After you cook all that down, throw your sauce on there. You must serve this over rice. It is absolutely delicious with some chili oil. It is fabulous. You may not need to ever order Thai takeout again. It comes together very quickly.
26) Bolognese Pasta
A true bolognese takes forever to cook and is a project in its own right. But if you are craving the vibes without the investment, you’re going to make this dish. This is jarred marinara simmered with just a little bit of milk. If you want to chop some garlic and onion, saute that off before you add your jarred marinara.
What’s going to make this taste like you cooked it all day is a splash of red wine, preferably a good one that you would drink. Cook that down a little bit, let it simmer, pour in your marinara, and let all the flavors come together. At the end, put in a splash of full fat heavy cream and some grated parmesan. I would beg you to try to tell the difference between that and a homemade bolognese, especially on a weeknight.
Put it over a nice hearty pasta shape. I think a fettuccine would do great here. You’d want a pasta shape that can hold the heft of the sauce. You want to do this with a ground beef or a ground pork or a combination of both. I would not do a ground chicken here, it would probably be too dry and mealy, but otherwise that would be absolutely fabulous.
27) Breakfast For Dinner
We have some scrambled eggs with fried cherry tomatoes and a side of toast. I make breakfast for dinner when I do not want to make absolutely anything else. The key with scrambled eggs is that faster is not better, and you really want to take your time with it. You want to give the eggs time to come together without getting that nasty overdone brownness on the outside.
I like to do this with a side of sauteed chicken sausage. I will saute my chicken sausage in the pan, take it out, turn the heat down on the pan, and then scramble my eggs nice and slow. Make sure that you do some butter and jam on the toast to give it that real breakfast, nostalgic diner feel. This is comforting, satisfying, and super quick. I mean, we’re talking five minutes.
28) Lettuce wraps
These are much less complicated than they look. You basically have some ground pork cooked down with some veggies and eaten in lettuce leaves. You can use pork in this dish, or ground beef, ground chicken, even ground turkey would be great. You have a lot of protein options.
The aromatics are really what’s going to set this dish off, so make sure that your ginger and garlic are fresh. Soy sauce brings a lot of flavor, but don’t go too heavy on it or it’s going to be extremely salty. Shredded carrots, chopped water chestnuts, and fresh bean sprouts would be great in this. Finely diced celery and onion. You could really bulk this dish up and give it a lot of flavor. You can spoon it into lettuce leaves, or me personally, I just like to cook it over rice and do like an egg roll in a bowl vibe.
My favorite way to finish this off is with a little bit of mayonnaise mixed with sriracha, thinned out with just a little bit of water, drizzled over the top. It brings richness and body to the dish, and a little bit of spice makes it feel a little bit more like something you get in a restaurant.
29) Cacio E Pepe
This is something that looks super impressive, but is actually very simple. You have your pasta tossed with black pepper, grated parmesan, and some pasta water. The pasta water is doing much of the heavy lifting. So you cook your pasta, and when it’s just about done, ladle some of that starchy pasta water into a mug and set it aside.
After you drain your pasta, turn the heat down a little bit. You don’t want to start searing your pasta or it’s going to start to get starchy and sticky, and you’re going to have burnt spots. So you really want to work fast. Turn the heat down and keep that pasta moving with that starchy water and that grated cheese. The grated cheese is really going to be a measure-with-your-heart situation. You’re going to add cheese and pasta water and keep it moving. Add your black pepper, and when you get the consistency of sauce that you desire, that’s when it’s done.
So like I said, it looks complicated, but really it’s just about knowing when your sauce is the way that you like it. You could even serve this to guests and I think that they would be impressed. Top it with a little bit more parmesan. It is supremely satisfying.
30) Beans And Greens
We have canned beans sauteed in olive oil with garlic and chili flakes. You really have a lot of leeway on what type of green you’d like to use in here. Because the ingredients are basic, I would pick a green with a little bit of bite. If you want to take it up even more, broccoli rabe would give this dish a very nice bitterness that is cut by the chili flakes and the garlic. So when you saute your beans and greens, you’re just going to have to give that broccoli rabe a little bit more time.
I like this with grated parmesan on top, and I love this with toasted ciabatta bread. If you rub that toasted ciabatta bread with the cut side of a clove of garlic, it’s going to give it even more flavor. This dish is very, very good. Don’t be too heavy handed with the broth or you’ll end up with a watery dish. You really don’t need a whole lot, just enough to keep the beans from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
31) Rice Bowl
This is some rice, sauteed vegetables, and a fried egg. This dish is great because it’s super simple. If you have microwavable rice, you could even do brown rice if you want some extra fiber and some extra nutritional punch. You really can use whatever vegetables you like. I think broccoli and snow peas would really lend themselves well here, and maybe some red bell peppers for color.
If you fry that egg, make sure that you give it a soft yolk. It would really give some sauciness to the rice. Some gochujang, sesame oil, and soy sauce would be great here. I would really recommend some sliced grilled chicken. Super simple dish.
32) BLT Sandwiches
This is bacon, lettuce, tomato on toasted bread. My favorite way to cook bacon is to take a sheet pan. Preheat your oven to around 375. Make sure you line that sheet pan with parchment or grease it well, then lay out all your bacon. It’s a super simple way, just keep your eye on it when it’s in the oven. It takes about 15 minutes, but it’s super crispy, perfect bacon every time. And you don’t have to get your arms burnt by popping grease on the stove. It’s much easier, and cleanup is much simpler.
Put that on some very nice toasted bread with, for me, a nice layer of mayonnaise, Dijon mustard, cracked black pepper, some nice juicy beefsteak tomato, lettuce, and that crispy bacon. If you really want to escalate it a little, you could add some fresh avocado. You can’t really ask for much more than that. I would definitely serve that with some chips. Super satisfying.
33) Pesto Chicken
This is chicken warmed with pesto and cream served with pasta. I would not personally recommend making this dish with cream cheese and added water. I don’t think that would come together well. The pesto you choose will make all the difference here. I would pick something from the refrigerated deli section at your supermarket. It will give you a much better flavor than a canned pesto, and it lasts a while in the refrigerator, so you don’t have to worry about using it right away.
You could use leftover chicken, or you could cook off some fresh chicken while you make your pasta. Then the sauce comes together, super simple, pesto and cream mixed together. Maybe add a little bit of red chili flakes if you like that, and toss with the warm pasta. This is also a spot where some of that starchy pasta water may come in handy. If your sauce starts to get gluey when you add in that pasta and the cream, you can loosen it up with a little bit of that pasta water.
34) Grilled Cheese Sandwich
You have some butter, cheese, sliced tomatoes, and bread. This is the kind of dish that really can be as simple or as complicated as you want. If you’re absolutely trying to put in no effort, there’s something so comforting about white bread with American cheese, and you can go that route.
And if you’re wanting something that feels a lot like a sandwich and you have lots of odds and ends of various cheeses in your deli drawer like I do, then you can grate those up, layer them on, make sure that you butter your bread well, and go low and slow with the cooking. You want your cheese to have time to melt, and you don’t want to burn the outside of the bread, so keep a close eye on that. I love this with chicken noodle soup or tomato soup. You really don’t need much else with that.
