Cooking One Pot Meals for Your Family

Cooking one pot meals, whether for a family or a single person, makes getting dinner on the table easy. You can also make one pot meals in advance and store in the refrigerator or freezer. When you need a quick lunch or dinner, you take out what you need and heat it.

Consider cooking one pot meals. You could make a full dinner course or keep it simple with soups, stews, and casseroles.

If you think it’s too hard, maybe you should take another look. You see, cooking one pot meals saves you time and money, not to mention stress.

Cooking One Pot Meals Saves Time

Cooking one pot meals save time and money. That’s the whole point of one pot meals. You’re not cooking an elaborate 9-course dinner. You’re cooking a simple yet healthy and delicious meal.

Generally, a one pot meal will only take 30 to 45 minutes from preparation to the dinner table. One of the biggest benefits of cooking one pot meals is they are easy to prepare. Put in your ingredients and let your pot do its job.

Cooking One Pot Meals Saves Money

An added benefit is you know you are eating a healthy meal since you choose the ingredients. Since you are making the decisions, you control how much you spend on the ingredients you need. You can look for items you routinely need when they are on sale in your grocery store or supermarket.

When you control what you cook, you’ll get the protein, vitamins, and other nutrients your body needs. Take beef stew, for example. It is rich with carrots, potatoes, and other veggies.

Cooking One Pot Meals Reduces Stress

If you’re not harried when cooking dinner, you’ll be a lot less stressed out. When you’re cooking your meals at home you take control of your nutrition.

For example, people who are short of vitamin B12 or D3 tend to have more body pain and stress issues. Having a good healthy meal helps you feel better because you’re getting enough vitamins.

One Pot Meals are Healthy and Delicious

Most one pot meals consist of all food groups or at least most of them. Of course, it depends on you. You either follow a recipe you think you and your family will enjoy or you make a meal from scratch.

You can complete your one pot meal by adding a simple green salad. Keep a large green salad in your fridge to add to a one pot meal to boost nutrition.

One Pot Meal Cooking Tips

Your goal is to get a healthy dinner on the table as quickly as possible. Here are some tips to help you succeed with one pot cooking.

Always Shop with a Plan

Plan your meals, generally a week, in advance then shop for the ingredients you’ll need. Be sure to make a list so you don’t leave anything out; don’t rely on your memory.

Also, grocery shopping from a list is how you save money.

When you have everything you need for the week you won’t have to run out to the store to get something last-minute. You won’t have the opportunity to change your mind and decide to pick up some fast food instead; at least we hope not.

Use the Right Cooking Appliances for Your One Pot Meals

To cook your one pot meals, you need to have the right equipment and appliances. Cooking soups, stews, and casseroles, for example, are pretty straight forward.

You can use a Dutch oven, pressure cooker, slow cooker, or the ever-useful, stockpot. Always keep in mind what you use to cook is just as important as what you cook.

Any one of these appliances are great for cooking one pot meals, but you do need to know how to use them.

Do Your Prep First

When cooking a one pot meal, there is little room for error if you want a meal everyone will enjoy. Skipping ingredients or forgetting steps happen due to poor planning.

Get organized and prep everything first. Clean, chop, peel, measure, etc. the ingredients you’ll be using in your meal. When you do, you’ll find that cooking is more relaxed.

This makes for a pleasant experience and your meal will taste much better. And you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing it was a job well done without any stress.

Have the Tools You’ll Need on Hand

Other tools you need are a good cutting knife and at least 2 cutting boards; one for meat and one for produce. And don’t forget your measuring utensils; one for liquids and one for solids.

Also helpful is having an immersion blender to use when making your soups smooth. It’s convenient to use and you avoid using a blender.

You should also have on hand strainers, bowls, and dishes. Have these available to use when you prep your food and ingredients, if needed.

Again, planning is half the battle.

Cook a few one pot meals for your family. They may enjoy them a lot more than the fast food or frozen dinners they’ve become accustomed to. And, you can be sure the one pot meals you prepare will be a lot healthier.

Good luck with your one pot meals!