Any ideas for easy meals I can cook from scratch, allowing for my limited cookery skills?

Question

I have always relied upon packet mixes, jars of sauces etc, but have recently taken to DIY cooking from all raw ingredients, and boy has it tasted better and we all know what we are eating.

What's your favourite 'easy' meal?

Getting some great answers, keep them coming!

Answer 1

Pot roast is easy, its great family dish for a weekend when you have time to do this slowly or you can pop it in a slow cooker and you have a nice hot meal to come home to after work - especially nice in winter. All you need to do is:

Brown a joint of beef in a casserole dish (brisket or silverside is especially good for this), remove from dish and empty out fat, put joint back in and add about half an inch to an inch of liquid - this can be either beef stock, red wine, water anything you like and add a couple of cloves of chopped garlic and salt and pepper then add your favourite veg - spuds, carrotts, onions, swede, parsnips absolutely anything you want and then pop it in the oven on gas mark one and forget about it for 3 - 5 hours. When done, take out meat and veg and keep warm, reduce sauce on stove top and add a little butter and flour that has beed mixed together to thicken the gravy. Its like a one pot roast dinner! Yummy!

Answer 2

Go to the store and get a pack of "jasmine flavored" rice.
It cooks easily in a microwave.
It tastes great and the individual rice grains stick together.
Lovely. Just cannot mess that up.
Get a tin of curried veg and some portions of chicken.
Fry the chicken any old way in a frying pan with some cooking oil.
Do the rice in the mean time. Usually takes about 25 minutes.
Now combine curried veg and chicken and serve on a bed of rice.

Answer 3

I don't know how many your cooking for so this serves 4

1 lb lean mince steak
2 onions chopped
1/2 pint passata
2-3 chilli's diced
3-4 garlic crushed
2 beef stock cubes
2 red peppers chopped
1 tsp oregano
14oz can tomatoes
salt and pepper to taste

1/2 pint skimmed milk
3 tsp cornflour

4 tortillas
low fat cheddar

Dry fry mince and drain. Cook onions in little water till soft. Add all other ingredients from top list and simmer till cooked.
Spoon mixture into tortillas and place in oven proof dish and place remaining mix on top.
Warm milk and stir in cornflour too thicken and pour over tortillas and grate cheese over.
Place in oven 200c, 400F, gas-6 for 20-25 minutes.
Serve with salad or fresh veg.
Kids love it

Answer 4

Beefburgers. Minced beef, chopped onions, a few chopped tomatoes, anything else you fancy chucking into it like chopped garlic/ginger/herbs/oxo cube/dash of Worcester. You can cook the onions first if you like....or not...and I usually add some dry sage & onion stuffing mix if it gets a bit sloppy. An egg (or 2) to bind it all together. Make into burgers and dust with flour so they aren't too sticky. Put in the fridge for a while to set...and then fry or grill as needed.

Answer 5

It has to be Spag Bol, because you can make Chilli Con Carne from the left overs, just add chilli powder and red kidney beans and you just cook some rice (preferably Basmati) and you have a different meal.. Very cheap option, but get really good steak mince, after all, you only get what you pay for...

Answer 6

Toad in the hole. Serves 4. 100g (4oz) plain flour, half tsp salt, 1 egg, 200ml (7fl oz) milk, 75ml (3fl oz) water, 1 tsp french mustard, 2tbsp vegetable oil, 2 onions, sliced,450g (1lb) sausages. Preparation. 1 preheat oven on 220C/425F/gas7. Sift flour and salt into a bowl. Make a well in the center and add the egg. Gradually add the milk, water and mustard. Beat until smooth. 2. Put half the oil ina a frying pan and add onion. Fry for 5 mins until golden. Remove and set aside. 3.meanwhile put a small roasting tin or ovenproof dish in the oven with the remaining oil. Put sausages in a frying pan and fry for 4-5mins until brown. 4 put the onion in the roasting tin and top with sausages. 5 Pour over batter and bake for 50 mins, or until batter has risen and turned golden. Serve immediatley

Answer 7

macaroni cheese.

50g/2oz butter
25g/1oz flour
570ml/1 pint milk
175g/6oz pasta

Heat the butter, add the flour. This makes a roux. Heat the milk and add it slowly to the roux. Use a whisk to add in the milk, keep stirring and dont let it go lumpy. (if it does use a blender....) Add cheese (6oz) and let it melt in. You could add a wee bit of mustard too (teaspoon)

Mix this to cooked pasta.

The good thing about this meal is you can add what you want. Onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, ham, bacon, chicken...anything you like.

Its lovely and homecooked, and once you get the hang of it, it takes about 15/20 mins to make!

Answer 8

Thai beef salad. Dead easy to make - make up a salad of rocket leaves, sliced red onion, halved cherry tomatoes and sliced cucumber.

Fry a piece of steak to your liking and leave to rest for 5 mins.

Make up a salad dressing by combining 2 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp fish sauce, some garlic, coriander, chilli and the juice of a lemon. Add some palm sugar or honey and taste until it has the right combination of sweet and sour.

Now, thinly slice your steak. Toss the salad dressing through the salad with the sliced meat.

Its delicious! You can substitute chicken for the beef if you prefer.

Answer 9

Spagehetti carbonara. Fry some smoked bacon that has been cut into small pieces. set aside.
In a bowl, crack open a couple of raw eggs, 150ml of double cream, add lots of black cracked pepper, give it a quick stir to mix in. set aside.
Cook up some spagehetti.
When ready, drain, immediately put back into the pan, add the egg mixture the bacon bits and grate in lots of parmesan cheese. Give it a stir, add salt to taste and its ready! (The hot pasta cooks the egg mixture).

Answer 10

Spag Bol
Shepherds Pie
Soup/stew
sausage casserole etc