3 Ingredient Dinner Recipes for When You’re Too Tired or Busy
Preparing dinner can be exhausting, especially if you have to do it every night. This can be especially difficult if you’re trying to reduce food waste and don’t want to buy specialty ingredients that you’ll only use once.
To make things easier, here are six recipes that require only three ingredients to make a complete meal. There are also ways to change them, depending on your preferences and what you have. Just note that the three-ingredient “rule” doesn’t include staples like olive oil, salt, and pepper.
How to make three-ingredient macaroni and cheese
If you love macaroni and cheese, you can make a three-ingredient dish using just macaroni, milk, and shredded cheddar cheese. In this recipe from the Tasty website, you boil the pasta in milk for ten minutes, then remove it from the heat and add grated cheddar cheese. As one of the commentators notes, you need to be very careful and keep an eye on the pan at all times so that the milk does not burn. You can check out the recipe here .
How to make Tomato Cheese Toast
In this recipe from EatGood4Life, you put provolone cheese and tomato slices on bread and toast for 6-7 minutes. The cheese becomes melted and slightly crunchy, while the tomatoes create a contrast in flavor and texture. Add black pepper on top to soften the taste, and you’re ready for an easy and quick meal. As the author points out, it can be made gluten-free by using gluten-free bread. You can check out the recipe here .
How to cook teriyaki chicken
This recipe from Tasty combines soy sauce and brown sugar to make teriyaki sauce. To make this dish, you’ll fry chicken thighs in a pan and add soy sauce and brown sugar, then cook them until the sauce turns into a thick glaze. You can check out the recipe here .
How to make mushroom gnocchi
This recipe from The Kitchn website combines sliced mushrooms, shallots, dumplings, olive oil, salt and pepper, which you then bake on a baking sheet at 400°F for 15-20 minutes. The combination is fresh and tender at the same time. As one commenter points out, it’s important to use a baking sheet large enough for you to spread out. And depending on the brand of gnocchi you use, it could be vegan. You can check out the recipe here .
How to cook Pork Chops Dijon
This recipe from Taste of Home calls for mixing Dijon mustard with breadcrumbs, which are then used to coat pork chops. After that, you bake the pork chops at 375°F until they’re done. Based on the feedback from the commentators, you can play around with the type of mustard and breadcrumbs you use. This combination can also work with chicken fillets. You can check out the recipe here .
How to make cacho e pepe
Classics are classics for a reason. In the case of cacio e pepe, all you need to make this dish is pasta, pecorino romano cheese, and grated black pepper. This recipe from The Kitchn suggests making a smooth pasta with pecorino romano cheese and ground black pepper. After that, toss the pasta with the cooked pasta, adding a small amount of the remaining pasta water. You can check out the recipe here .