Getting dinner on the table is often the last thing you want to do at the end of a long day. Even if you enjoy cooking, you don’t always have the energy to spend an hour in the kitchen. However, if you don’t make something, you can end up relying on processed and prepared foods that are (usually) not as nutritional as they could be. Fortunately, there are ways to quickly rustle up a healthy dinner. Some of them require a little bit of forward-thinking, but they can save you a lot of time when all that you really want to do, is relax.
Prepare Everything in Advance
Being organized is often the key to having dinner ready quickly. It can be so time-consuming to have to chop vegetables or do other tasks just to get to the actual cooking stage. If you can get some things ready in advance, you’ll save a lot of time. One of the best ways to do this is to marinate your ingredients overnight or during the day.
For example, there’s a really tasty recipe for lemon chicken marinade on this recipe blog that exemplifies this. When it’s time to cook, use your preferred cooking method. If you trust your slow cooker or pressure cooker, then you won’t even need to watch it while it cooks. This brings us to our next tip.
Use a Slow Cooker
Slow cookers or crock pots can be a godsend to people who are looking for a delicious meal with little effort. Simply pop all of your ingredients in the slow cooker in the morning, and it will be ready at dinner time. Some recipes do require a little bit of cooking before you toss the ingredients into the pot, but most allow you to put the ingredients in, turn the cooker on, and walk away. You can cook so many things in a slow cooker, and it can also be a great way to use cheaper cuts of meat. The slow cooking tenderizes the meat over time and you won’t even be able to tell that it was a cost-effective option.
Batch Cook or Meal Prep
Being able to just take a meal out of the fridge or freezer makes everything a lot easier. You could have dinner on the table in a few minutes if you only have to reheat it, and not cook it from scratch. Of course, to do this, you need to have the meals made in the first place. Batch cooking or meal prepping when you have time will ensure you can stock up on meals. Then you can just grab one when you need it.
Find Super Quick Recipes
If you don’t mind a little bit of cooking but don’t want to spend all evening in the kitchen, there are plenty of quick recipes you can use. Some will take as little as 10 or 20 minutes to make, leaving you with plenty of free time. From one-pot pasta meals to dishes like quesadillas or packed nachos, all it takes is a tiny bit of chopping, grating, or dicing and you’ll be eating in less than 30 minutes. Making use of leftovers can often save you a lot of time (and money!), too.
Get dinner on the table faster with these tips so you get more free time to yourself or with family, and more time to eat.
Related:
Easy Desserts To Make And Share
