We get it. We all have busy lives, and rarely do they afford us the time to make our family dinner. Luckily, there is another way and it’s the one-pot meal way.
The one-pot meal’s ability to get all of tonight’s dinner ingredients together in the one pot to cook should not be understated.
What’s more, depending on the kind of dish you are making, often you can leave the dish to it while you get on with other things, like putting your feet up!
This article has pulled together the most delicious one-pot meal recipes in existence. From classics like beef stroganoff and Texas Roadhouse Chili to exotic offerings like jambalaya and every recipe in between, it is safe to say that you and your family will be eating well tonight.
1. One-Pot Chicken Burrito Bowl
We’re just going to throw it out there – burrito bowls are perfect, and this one-pot chicken offering does the name proud.
Succulent chunks of chicken get cozy with black beans, Mexican-style rice, shredded Monterey Jack, onion, diced tomato, and a bunch of spices that can only be described as “wow”.
Top with freshly diced tomatoes, homemade guacamole, green onions, and sour cream for a fresh and fiery one-pot Mexican night that the whole family can enjoy.
2. One-Pot Chicken And Mushroom Orzo
There are certain food pairings that work better than others – chicken and mushroom are one such pairing. This one-pot meal idea is designed to feed a family of four with ease.
One of the cool things about the dish is that even the uncooked pasta gets whacked into the same dish.
This is a classic case of staggering the cooking times of each ingredient and will keep your dish-washing pile minimal. The heavy cream will soak up all of the lovely juices and flavors of the chicken and mushroom.
3. One-Pot Beef Stroganoff
Beef stroganoff may have routes in Italian cooking, but it is very much an All-American dish of the last century.
One-pot beef strog is the kind of dinner that the troops will be pleased with just as much as you. This dish that hits closer to home than most will always be there for those times when you want a comforting meal that you know and trust.
Ground beef, egg noodles, cremini mushrooms, white wine, beef stock, and parsley get seasoned to the nines with spices and its all just very delicious.
One-pot beef strog is also a great one to make bulk of and store in the freezer for rainy days.
4. One-Pot Taco Spaghetti
This dish isn’t fancy fusion food that you would pay astronomical prices for in some trendy inner-city restaurant, this is one-pot taco spaghetti.
Taking the flavors of Mexico and marrying them together with beef and spaghetti sounds too good to be true doesn’t it?
What if we told you that the whole thing, from prep to service, takes just 30 minutes of your time and can feed your family without a worry about it? Yep, this recipe really can do all of that.
5. One-Pot Honey Garlic Chicken
Served over a bed of white, fluffy rice, these honey-garlic chicken breasts are an easy family, and then some.
Okay, so the rice will have to be cooked in a separate pot, there is no way around that. However, the one-pot dream remains intact for this sweet and sticky honey garlic chicken.
Another 30-minute wonder recipe that uses everyday ingredients in the most delectable fashion possible.
6. One-Pot Pad Thai
Getting takeout from your favorite local Thai haunt is always an enjoyable night in. However, putting together a one-pot Pad Thai at home is guaranteed to save you money, and it’s still pretty dang easy!
Rice noodles are stir-fried with all-time ingredients like shrimp, egg, Thai-style vegetables, and peanuts, and doused in a sweet and salty fish sauce.
Garnish with fresh cilantro, and serve with a wedge of lime to take you and your tastebuds straight to Thailand.
7. One-Pot Japanese Sukiyaki
If you are looking for a gourmet one-pot dinner idea to impress your guests, look no further than this authentic Japanese Sukiyaki.
Seared marbled beef is displayed in an elegant way alongside an assortment of typical Japanese ingredients.
Shiitake mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, udon noodles, shirtaki noodles are just a few of these fresh and delectable ingredients.
Dripping in a traditional Sukiyaki sauce of sake, mirin, soy, and sugar – your family won’t know what hit them! Of course, this style of dish isn’t an easy mid-week dinner idea.
This recipe should be brought out when the in-laws are coming over for dinner and you want to pull out all the stops.
8. One-Pot Texas Roadhouse Chili
Texas Roadhouse chili is an institution down in the south, and this replica recipe does a mighty fine job of serving it to the people.
Four pounds of beef chuck are browned off then covered in a powerful display of seasoning and spice.
Heavy hitters like smoked paprika, cumin seeds, chili powder, brown sugar, Italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes are all present at the roll call. Give in to your temptations and let this Texan classic into your home and life.
9. One-Pot Jambalaya
Jambalaya is a traditional dish of Western African cooking that is not typically cooked up in one pot.
This recipe has make your night a whole lot brighter by giving you the keys to Jambalaya without the excessive washing up. That’s right, bringing it all together in the one pot is what this Jambalaya recipe is all about.
A lineup of impactful spices lifts up the spicy sauce, rice, and tomatoes and serves you the easiest, most delicious Jambalaya you ever did try.
10. One-Pot Teriyaki Chicken Bowl
If you like the idea of Japanese for dinner tonight but consider Sukiyaki far-too involved, let this Teriyaki Chicken Bowl to its best to you.
Taking just five minutes to prepare, and 25 to cook, you will be getting all the accolades and praise from your family for doing not very much.
The sneaky time-saving trick of this recipe is to go ahead and store buy your teriyaki sauce. Don’t think about it, just do it, and lap up that praise.
11. One-Pot American Goulash
Though goulash is originally a Hungarian classic, there is no denying our love for it here in the U.S.
The big difference between the two varieties is that hungarian goulash is more stewy while American goulash has less liquid and more goodness.
Ground beef, macaroni pasta, and tomatoes are spiced and cooked together in the same pot for a quick and easy family-feeder. If you’ve got fussy kids to feed, leave out the paprika and they will be gobbling the whole bowl down.
12. One-Pot Tomato Basil Pasta
This tomato and basil pasta dish is a simple and healthy dinner idea that will still fill you up. Suitable for vegans and vegetarians, it is pleasantly dairy, nut, egg, and soy free.
High in fiber and low in calories, this recipe proves that you can still enjoy a plate of pasta and stay trim and healthy.
Six cups of baby kale or baby spinach give the dish a vibrant shade of green, while the no-salt diced tomatoes and chicken (or “no chicken” broth) give the dish legs.
13. One-Pot Lemon Asparagus Pasta With Shrimp
Keeping with the light and easy theme is this one-pot lemon and asparagus pasta recipe. Penne pasta is cooked up with a zesty selection of flavors that will give your tastebuds a memorable punch.
If you want to keep the dish vegan, simply leave the cooked shrimp and feta cheese of the shopping list. If you want to go all out, get that feta and crumble too-much of it over the dish to finish.
14. Chicken Enchilada Skillet Casserole
Simplify your life and night by cooking your chicken enchiladas in one skillet and calling it a casserole.
Doing away with the need to fill and roll corn tortillas is a brilliant idea that saves you hassle and time. Charr green bell pepper, red bell pepper, onion, chopped grape tomato, and baby spinach in a cast-iron skillet for a seriously-scorched depth of delectable flavor.
15. Loaded Black Bean Nacho Soup
Give this black bean soup recipe a little flair with your favorite nacho toppings.
Loaded with diced avocado, crumbled cotija cheese, halved grape tomatoes, and shredded cabbage, there is no mistaking this Mexican-inspired black bean soup from the next soup down the line.
Flavored with lime juice, and smoked paprika, and served with baked (not fried) corn tortilla chips for a fresh and healthy final bang.
16. Skillet Pork Chops With Peas, Carrots & Pearl Onions
When pork chop night gets called, people start licking their lips. This super simple one-skillet pork chop recipe is full of the brimming edge of classic ingredients that will get the elderly and young alike excited.
The recipe recommends bone-in pork chops to enhance the dish’s flavor, but, if you’re cooking for the kiddies, boneless is okay too. Peas, carrots, pearl onions, it’s all old-fashioned and it’s all good.
17. One-Pot Mac & Cheese With Cauliflower & Brussels Sprouts
There are very few meals that make the mind reminisce more than the fabled mac and cheese. While this recipe is a jazzed-up, adult version of everyone’s favorite childhood classic, it still hits the heart very heard.
Cauliflower and brussel sprouts feature heavily in this recipe, adding both a more complex flavor profile and some color.
18. One-Pot Sticky Salmon
Making the gourmet into a quick-fire dinner idea is what this one-pot sticky salmon recipe is going to do for all you dare to make it.
With an evident dedication for having the salmon ready to eat in less then twenty minutes, it doesn’t take much to fall in love with this recipe.
When you know its flavored with fennel seeds, maple syrup, and fresh navel orange juice, you start to get sucked in hook, line, and sinker.
19. One-Pot Massaman Beef Curry
One pot and thirty minutes is all you need to whip up this hearty Massaman beef curry. Massaman is a creamy fusion of Thai and Indian-style cooking that, if you’ve never tried, is a serious heater.
Rump steak is featured alongside butternut pumpking, eggplant, and green beans to offer a fulfilling meal for all.
Take the easy road to glory by fetching some ready-to-go Massaman curry paste from the store, and you will be sitting down to eat without breaking a sweat.
20. One-Pot Chicken And Pumpkin Penne
Another one-pot pasta dish that has a delightfully healthy streak going on. Peas, sliced-thin zucchini strips, pumpkin pieces, and chicken chunks, there are a lot of colorful components to this dish that each tastes as good as it looks.
If you needed any other convincing, the recipe comes with a five-minute prep time, and can be plated up and down on the table in less than thirty.
21. Chicken Stroganoff
There is something to be said about a recipe that delivers you dinner in one pot, in thirty minutes, and this chicken stroganoff does, in fact, do just that.
It’s almost as if thirty minutes is the yardstick by which all quick dinner ideas should be measured, and this recipe passes with flying colors.
Tender chicken breast, potent cremini mushrooms, and extra-wide egg noodles are the three pillars of this dish that, unsurprisingly, goes big on the flavor game.
22. Vegetables And Gravy
If you are looking for a quick dinner idea that is also frugal by nature, vegetables and gravy has got you.
When money is tight and you still want to eat well turn to this recipe for a comfort-focused veggie dinner that still tastes oh-so good.
Store-bought frozen veggies, vegetable broth, and russet potatoes come together with dried herbs like thyme and sage for a hearty meal that is deserving of some crusty white loaf.
23. Slow Cooker Cabbage And Sausage
The slow cooker counts as a pot right? This slow cooker cabbage and sausage recipe is a hearty classic that your grandparents will find refuge in.
Though it will take four hours for your slow cooker to perfect this glorious concoction, on your end, you’re looking at 15 minutes tops.
In just 15 minutes you can convincingly have the few ingredients chopped and in the pot, allowing you to sit back, relax, and watch the world go by.
24. One-Pot Cheeseburger Pasta
Chompin down on a cheeseburger is a beautiful thing. Slurping up a creamy pasta is also a beautiful thing.
When you have the foresight to fuse these two naughty icons together, that’s where the magic happens.
Hot dog relish, shredded cheddar, beef broth, onion, and garlic give this dish a comfortable familiarity that is hard to come by.
Prepped in 10 minutes, cooked in 20, this is another 30-minute meal that does its best to give you a big and cheesy grin, (pun intended).
25. Easy Minestrone Soup
Everyone needs a solid minestrone recipe in their repertoire, and this easy one will do. When the Fall shows its bitter side, families across America don’t just turn to soup, they turn to minestrone soup.
If you’re vegetarian, even better, because minestrone is a veggie-heavy affair. Celery, sweet potato, russet potato, fennel, turnip, kale, spinach, butternut squash, and peas have been called up to the pot and its a celebration of fiber and health.
26. Unstuffed Bell Peppers
If you enjoy a stuffed bell pepper but don’t enjoy the awkward-to-eat nature of them, let the unstuffed variety sweep you off your feet.
Bringing everything that you love about stuffed bell pepper into the one pan for convenience is such a crazy idea that it just might work. It takes just 15 minutes to put this mighty meal together and a further 45 to cook it.
Feeding a family of six is no mean feat and this recipe puts its feeding ability where its bell peppers are.
27. Crunchy Chicken Ramen Stir Fry
Crunchy chicken ramen stir fry? Sign us up and throw away the key! Ramen and stir-fry are not two dish names that you would normally see buddied up together, but boy-oh-boy does it work.
Also, who doesn’t love their chicken when it’s crunchy? The whole thing just seems to feel and sit right. Done in one pot with a speedy fashion, it’s same to say that this quirky recipe is a keeper.
Conclusion
So there you have it. 27 of the most delicious one-pot meals to feed your family tonight.
Whether you are a veggie, vegan, or proud carnivore, we hope there were a few recipes within this list that got you excited to get in the kitchen and grab that pot.
Frequently Asked Questions
The benefits of a one-pot meal are a many, but the biggest has got to be ease. The one-pot’s ability to cook every ingredient under the same pot lid will save you time, washing up, and effort.
What one-pot meals also do is keep it simple so less haphazard mistakes are made. Instead of having to cook your sauce in one pot, your protein in the other, and the carb in the next, you can stay focused on one pot, and one pot only.
The other benefit of a one-pot meal is that they are easy to replicate. Once you have cooked a one-pot recipe once, you will have a good chance of cooking it again without needing to scour back over the method.
Why is this case? Because simplifying a dish down to the one pot allows you to make sense of what you need to cook and achieve.
If there is one thing that one-pot meals are, its cheap. Of course, you can go out and source the most expensive cut of meat, organic vegetables and artisan sauce to make a one pot and it will be expensive. But, that is missing the point.
One-pot meals are meant to be just as cheap as they are easy. They are meant to be the perfect mid-week meal that allows working parents to knock up dinner without a worry (financial or otherwise) about it.
27 Delicious One-Pot Meals To Feed The Family
Discover these 27 easy-as-pie one-pot meal recipes to feed your family tonight.
Ingredients
Directions
- Pick a recipe from the list above
- Click the recipe name and visit the website
- Collect the ingredients and cook the food
- Enjoy – don’t forget to leave a review
Recipe Video
Cooking is great for your mental, physical, and emotional health. What’s the worst that could happen? Find a recipe that you like the sound of and cook it along with me. You might even unlock a new passion!
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