The first thing I do when picking a recipe to make is count the ingredients. I don’t like to spend more time prepping the meal then cooking it. I’m sure you know what I mean!
So what is your favorite recipe that is just 6 ingredients or less?
Mine would be my bar-b-q meatloaf.
1 lb 93/7 ground beef or ground turkey
1/2 cup of bbq sauce
1/4 cup of chopped onion
1 egg
1/4 cup of bread crumbs
Mix the above ingredients together and put into a loaf pan. Top with extra bbq sauce. Bake at 375 for 25 – 30 minutes. I usually bake mine until the edges are brown.
I also usually serve with instant mashed potatoes and green beans.
Baked Chicken
About a pound of boneless skinless chicken breast (not frozen),
A can of spinach,
Cajun seasoning blend,
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Butter (a stick or two)
Grease the bottom of a 9×9 baking dish either with a little butter or oil, just enough that the chicken does not stick. Arrange the chicken in the dish, top with melted butter and Cajun seasoning. Pour the can of spinach over the top of everything, keeping enough of the liquid from the can that the chicken is nearly covered. Generously season the top of the spinach with onion and garlic powders. For a healthier dish, use more of the spinach juice than butter. For softer fall-apart chicken, use more butter to the ratio.
Bake 350 for 1 – 1/5 hours (depends on the thickness of the meat).
Makes about 3 chicken breasts. Is easily doubled. Add salt if desired.
or Broiled Fish
Fish filets – Talapia, Trout, or similar (not frozen)
butter
blackened seasoning
lemon or lemon juice
quartered or whole artichoke hearts
After placing the filets on the broiling pan, sprinkle with blackened seasoning. Arrange artichoke around filets. Drizzle with melted butter. Top with lemon juice. Broil 7-10 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish.
Serve with asparagus. Quick, easy, and restaurant quality flavor. Perfect for unexpected guests, especially since frozen fish thaws quickly.
One of my easy favorites that always seems to impress guests is a Pepperocini Roast in the crockpot! It’s sooo simple.
You can use any cut of beef roast or a pork loin.
Put the meat in the crockpot.
Empty a packet of dry Zesty Italian seasoning (you might try the regular instead of zesty if you want less of a “kick”)
2 jars of Pepperocini peppers -usually available near the jars of olives and pickles in the grocery store. I would advise just getting the regular and not the spicy or extra hot!
Cook in crockpot for 5-7 hours.
I usually serve with baked potatoes or sweet potatoes, green beans and cauliflower.
Chicken and Rice
2 boneless chicken breasts (cooked)
1 package of boil in bag rice
1 can of cream of mushroom soup
1/2 can of milk
Boil chicken (I suppose you can use canned chicken). Cut into small pieces. In a sprayed (or greased) casserole dish, add uncooked rice, can of soup, half can of milk, and chicken. Mix together. Bake for 30-45 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Quick, easy, and we NEVER have left-overs! (I usually have to double the recipe because my family loves it so much!)
I make Salbury Steak
Cube Steaks
1 Can French onion Soup
1 Tablespoon flour
and a few dashed Woreshires Sauce
Mix Soup, Flour and Sauce pour over steaks bake at 450 for 30 min or un-till steaks are done. I usually have mashed potatoes with it.
Turkey Sausage Stir Fry
Turkey Sausage (or Hillshire Smoked Sausage)
1 bell pepper sliced
1 onion chopped
package of chopped fresh mushrooms
1 cup of cooked rice
Soy sauce for topping ( optional)
Cook rice. Saute sausage, onion, bell pepper, and mushrooms in a skillet or wok with a teaspoon of olive oil until slightly browned and the juices have flavored the vegetables. Carrots are a nice addition to the veggies too. That would make it 7 ingredients. :)
Serve over rice. ( Sprinkle with the soy sauce if you wish.)
I serve with fresh bread ( Pillsbury refrigerated loaf you bake).
My family loves this meal! It’s easy and it looks like you went to a lot of trouble. But you didn’t. :)
Baked Ziti
1 box ziti noodles cooked
1 jar spaghetti sauce
16 oz mozzarella cheese
1 stick butter
Layer
Ziti, cheese, sauce, ziti, cheese, sauce, top with pats of butter
bake at 350 for 30 minutes
Taco soup
ground beef
can of tomatoes
can of beans
can of corn
taco seasoning packet
can of beef broth
Brown meat in a frying pan and drain. Mix with the rest of the ingredients in a crock pot for a couple of hours. Can serve with chips and cheese if you have them. If you don’t have ground beef, use any cooked meat you want.
Last night we had this awesome chicken dish from one of my Once a Month Cooking cookbooks:
You mix 1 packet of onion soup mix with 1 can of cranberry sauce and then pour it over chicken breasts in a greased baking pan.
Cook at 375 for 30 mins covered with foil, then uncover and cook 15 mins more.
It tastes awesome and my family loves this with stuffing.
3 ingredients and tastes gourmet!
chicken
froz. broccoli
can of cream of chicken soup
stuffing
cheese
(if soup is too thick add a little milk)
Cook all and layer in baking dish – stuffing, chicken, broccoli, soup and cheese. Bake on 350 until warm and bubbly (20ish mins.). This is a great way to use up leftover chicken and veggies (I’ve also made it with whatever veggies we had on hand). DELICIOUS!
mini pizzas (great for appetizers)
phillsbury bisquits
marinara sauce (or any sauce you have on hand)
mozzarella cheese
fresh basil
(and any toppings of interest)
I usually freeze the bisquits when I buy them. I cut them in half so instead of 8 bisquits I get 16 and just make little pizzas. I usually make these when I have a get together. Everyone loves them. (you can also use english muffins, bagels or mini bagels)
My kids like to make this recipe!
2 of our favorites:
CHICKEN STROGANOFF
3 or 4 chicken breasts
1 16-oz containter sour cream
1 pkg Lipton Onion Soup mix
1 can Campbell’s mushroom soup
Mix the sour cream and soup mixes together in a bowl. Place chicken breasts in crockpot and top with soup/sour cream mixture. Spread it around the chicken. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. Shred chicken, mix back into sauce mix remaining in crock pot. Serve over rice or egg noodles.
SHREDDED PORK
1 small pork roast
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 large can El Pato brand salsa sauce (large yellow can with red lettering)
Mix sauce and taco seasoning, then pour over pork roast in crock pot. Cook on low 8-10 hours. Shred pork, then mix back into sauce in crock pot. Serve in tortillas with sour cream, guacamole, or whatever sounds good.
*This is a little spicy, so not necessarily the best for little kids, but my husband and I love it and it freezes beautifully!
One of our favorite easy meals is chicken and gravy.
1 lb chicken breasts
1-2 can(s) cream of chicken
I season the chicken with garlic salt, thyme, and black pepper but really whatever mix of herbs you like would work
Just put chicken in baking dish, season, cover with cream of chicken and cook at 350 for about an hour. So easy and yummy!
My brother likes Chile Colorado
beef cubed (I honestly just get what’s on sale)
can of corn
can of diced tomatoes with chiles
cut up potatoes (we do medium sized chunks, but you can do the larger of smaller depending on taste)
enchillada sauce or salsa (whatever we have)
Cook on low in crock till meat is tender, or bake in oven, covered, till tender.
We usually serve with warm tortillas
Tofu and that Indian Entree that they sell at Trader Joe’s is one of our favs. I serve it with tandoori naan and wild rice.
So I feel like I need to follow this up with another weight watchers favorite. The good ole soda cake.
Use one package dry cake mix with one can of soda. Dry out different flavors. I do yellow cake with sprite, you can do lemon cake with sprite, orange cake with orange soda, chocolate cake with pepsi, you get the drift.
Just mix the two ingredients and bake according to time and temp on the box. Add nothing else but dry mix and soda.
Another favorite of mine on the same idea is a box of spice mix with a can of pumpkin. NOTHING else! I do it in a bundt pan and sprinkle the top with some powdered sugar (or make a cream cheese frosting if you don’t want it completely healthy)
You can also do chocolate cake mix with pumpkin – you get a subtle pumpkin flavor and this really nice, dense texture. I make mine into muffins (which come out more like cupcakes). SO good.
Thanks, I’m going to have to try this one. What I love about the pumpkin recipe is the cake is so dense and moist. I would have never thought to try it with chocolate!
Is this the small can of pumpkin? Sounds yummy!
This originally came from a friend’s mom at weight watchers. Not sure what it’s called but basically you need:
1 small jar french dressing
1 can cranberry sauce
1 package onion soup mix
boneless skinless chicken breasts
OK so I know these ingredients sound really weird. But it is so good. Mix all ingredients except chicken. Dredge chicken and put in baking dish. Dump the mix on top and bake for 40 minutes or so I think on 350. These come out so tender and juicy.
easiest cookie recepie ever: one cup peanut butter, one cup sugar, one egg.
great 4 ingrediant recepie:1 lb. ricatoni noodles ( could actually be any kind, 1 large jar spaghetti or pizza sauce, 8 oz. shredded mozzerella cheese, and large pack of pepperonis. Just make noodles and kinda dump everything else in and allow cheese to melt. We had this last night. Great way to use all those pastas if you got them free at Safeway. I had over 20 boxes!
Yum. That recipe sounds very good. My favorite – potato soup.
Melt some butter, add 1 tbsp flour. Saute some onions. Add 1 container chicken broth. Add pototoes. Once potatoes are soft, add a little milk to make it creamy. You can also add some cornstarch or additional flour to thicken it.
mine was tonites dinner
beef cubes 2 lbs
canned tomatoes 2
onions 2 chopped
minced garlic(to taste we love garlic)
salt pepper
oregeno
30 minutes in the pressure cooker(15 if you remember to thaw the meat first)
serve over noodles
Saturday night, I made easy calzones. I used pillsbury biscuits from the can, pressed them flat and stuffed them with chicken, cheese, garlic, and spinach. My children are very picky so I also made a few cheese pizzas. Very simple and fewer than 6 ingredients!
I’m making poppyseed chicken tonight
Mix:
cooked, cubed chicken
2 cans cream of chicken
16 oz. sour cream
Melt 3/4 stick of butter and combine with a roll of crushed Ritz crackers. (add 1 T poppyseed if you would like, but my kids don’t)
But that on top of chicken mixture.
350 for 35 minutes.
Eat on angel hair pasta.
I LOVE this recipe I serve it with white or brown rice
I usually buy 6-10 corned beef briskets this time of year. I love just adding to the crock pot:
1 brisket
1 lb chopped carrots
1-2lbs chopped potatoes
1 sliced onion
1/2 coarsely chopped cabbage
enough water to cover
hi for 4-5 hrs or low for 7 hrs.
I love your blog. Thank you!! I DO have a recipe to share though. Here is is…
We call it Ranch Chicken
1/3 cups of crushed corn flakes
1/4 cup parmasean cheese (fresh or the crumbs in the can)
1 pkg of Ranch dressing
4 chicken breasts
Preheat oven to 350. Combine mix (all the dry ingredients). Spray chicken with Pam or whatever you us and roll the chicken in the “mix” of crumbs. Bake 25-35 minutes.
This is super easy and really really yummy. If you are a Weight Watcher and watch your points, we estimate it to be about 3 points per chicken breast.
I got the recipe from the Weight Watchers community board years ago.
Thanks! Cheryl
I’m not really sure what a package of ranch dressing is – is this a dry mix?
But I wanted to share that I do this same thing (minus the ranch dressing) with pieces of fish. It’s called “mommy’s homemade fish sticks” in our house. My k ids love it. I do one batch plain for them and then I will usually add some cajun seasoning to the batch for the adults.
I don’t think my kids would eat a gorton’s fishstick after eating these.
I’m putting this on my list for this week. I think I’ll use chicken tenders for my kids. Sounds great!!
Jen the Ranch dressing is a dry mix found in the salad dressing isle. We use Hidden Valley buttermilk packets and I can never go back to bottled ranch again. It is SUPER easy to make and soooo good.
Jen, not sure if you’ll even see this post, but what is a good fish to use for these “fish sticks”? I’m not good with making seafood, but I’d like to learn because my daughter will eat these if I make them. :o)
I’ve had this recipe made with Sun Chips crumbs! SOOO GOOD!
Mini Beef Wellingtons
puff pastry, shallots, baby bella mushrooms, olive oil and filet
basically, brown meat, make a filling with the shallots, shrooms and olive oil, fill puff pastry squares, bake. makes yummy appetizers. was a today show recipe in Dec.
Quick Chicken Pot Pie
no roll pie crust
Tyson cooked diced chicken
1 can drained mix vegetables
1 can cream of chicken soup
Mix chicken, veggies, and soup. Pour into pie dish lined with crust. Place other crust on top and pinch seams together. Make holes on the top with a fork. Bake 375 for 35-40 minutes.
(This is one my five year old likes to make.)
Pulled BBQ Pork or Chicken
Place approx 2lb or so of Pork or 2 frozen boneless skinless chicken breast in crockpot. Cover w/ water and cook on high for 4 to 5 hours. Remove from pot (I like to clean any sludge off), shred and place back in clean pot. Cover w/ favorite bbq sauce and warm to desired temp.
Chicken Quesadillas
1 jar salsa
3-4 chicken breasts
1 package tortillas
margarine/butter
shredded cheese (4 cheese mexican is my fav!)
Toss the chicken (frozen or thawed) into the crockpot and add jar of salsa. Cook on low 6-10 hours. Shred chicken while still in crockpot and stir mixture. In a frying pan, place a small amount of margarine and place tortilla on top. Sprinkle shredded cheese in the middle and a couple of spoonfuls of chicken mixture. When tortilla begins to gets crisp, fold tortilla in half and continue cooking until on each side until it is a nice shade of golden brown. Serve with sour cream on the side.
Yum!
Mine isn’t dinner but a really easy yummy dessert.
2 big cans of peaches (drain most of the juice out)
1 box of yellow cake mix
2 cubes of magarine (I usually only use 1 1/2)
Dump peaches in 9×13 dish with some of the juice then put the yellow cake mix on top of the peaches and slice magarine on top of mix so it is all over the top of it.
Bake in oven at 350 for 45 minutes or until top is golden brown.
I also sometimes add fresh blueberries or raspberries to this with the peaches.
We call this “Dump Cake”! It is also good with cans of cherries and chocolate cake!
My husband calls these “Yummers” but it is basically hamburger in a crescent roll
1. Brown 1/2 pkg of ground beef (or use a whole pkg if you have 2 cans or want some extra ground beef).
2. Preheat oven to temp on crescent roll pkg.
3. Drain and then add shredded cheese to mixture.
4. Use 2 crescent roll triangles to make a square on a sheet pan (1 pkg =4 squares). Add a spoonful or 2 of ground beef/cheese mixture to each square.
5. Top with 1/4 a slice of a cheese single or more shredded cheese.
6. Fold edges of cresent roll into middle so you have formed a “hot pocket”. You shouldn’t see any of the meat/cheese mixture.
7. Cook in oven according to crescent roll directions. I think 375 for 11 to 13 min.
i have one
slow cooker salsa pork
bonless pork roast
jar of salsa
cook on low for 8 to 10 hours or to your liking
shredd with 2 forks and either putin bun or tortilla
can add as many toppings as you want just like a taco
That’s the same one I was gonna say! lol, it’s a good crowd pleaser too – we serve it a parties and everyone thinks it’s delish!
Ooh!!! I just purchased a magazine (they say it’s a book) with 5 ingredients or less. Here’s one that I want to do:
Mexican Chili and Corn Chips
1 lb. ground beef
14 3/4 – 16 oz. can cream style corn, drained (how do you do that?)
1/2 c. chunky picante sauce
16 oz. can pinto or black bean, drained
half pkg of 1.25 oz. envelop taco seasoning mix
Corn Chips
1. Brown ground beef. Drain.
2. Combine all ingredients (except chips) in slow cooker
3. Cover and cook on low 4 hours
4. Serve over corn chips.
Optional: Top with shredded cheese, chopped ripe olives, sour cream and/or salsa.
Tammy-
The recipe sounds awesome and healthy…except for the creamed corn. Do your family and your health a favor and skip ANYTHING that has the word “creamed” in it….unless you like loads of butter and heavy whipping cream, and the cholesterol that go along with them. You can easily substitute frozen corn, which is less expensive and healthier anyway! It will thaw out while it’s in the slow cooker, letting out the moisture that the creamed corn would have brought to the dish.
I’m SO sorry, Denise! I looked BELOW your post and saw Tammy’s name… OOOPS! :-)
Oh, one more thing about the quesadillas: You can use whole wheat tortillas for a healthier alternative.
I’m not a good source of recipes, as my husband is the cook in the house, but one of our favorite “quick and easy” meals is quesadillas. He puts a store-bought corn tortilla in a cast iron skillet, lets it heat up a bit, adds a half-slice of cheese (pepper jack for him; a different cheese every week for me), folds the tortilla in half, lets it heat up properly on both sides, and plops it into a plate to serve. Then, at the table, we add whatever we have on hand that day – salsa, chopped onions, avocado, sour cream, etc. We don’t eat meat anymore, but if you do, some shredded chicken would probably be good in these. The only downside is that we have to stick close to the stove for this meal, so each quesadilla can be prepared and eaten fresh.
This recipe sounds great! We’ll have to try it!
Kielbasa and Potatoes
One package of Kielbasa (I like Hillshire Farms Turkey Kielbasa)
3-4 large potatoes, peeled and sliced
Small onion, sliced or chopped
Chicken broth or water, small amount in the pot, to steam the potatoes and keep them from burning
Salt and Pepper to taste
Put all ingredients into a large skillet, and cover. Stir occasionally to keep the potatoes from burning, and add more broth or water as needed, just to steam the potatoes until cooked. The sausage flavors the potatoes and it’s just yummy! Great leftovers, too!
I have eaten that since I was little and now make it for my kids! It is sooo good. You can also make a stoup with canned cheddar cheese soup, potatoes, kelbasa, corn & milk. 5 ingredients ttl! 6th ingredient would probably be crackers.
1 pita (per person) pan fried in olive oil
topped with grilled onions, shredded cheese, ground beef, shredded lettuce & sour cream (or tomatoes for a 7th ingredient!)
2 small jrs preserves
1 packet onion soup mix
4-6 chicken breast
mix in slow cooker cook for 4-6 hrs on low (use turkey or pork) serve over noodles or rice
Amy, What kind of preserves do you use?