25 Minimalistic Meals: 5 Ingredients or Less
Not everyone can keep a lot of different ingredients in the cupboards. And not everyone loves to spend a lot of time whipping up complex meals.
For that reason, I’ve complied a list of 25 5 ingredient recipes (or less) to inspire your creativity, and enable you to enjoy simple, and easy meals at home for the whole family.
It’s not for everyone perhaps, but if you sometimes struggle to come up with a varied weekly menu for your family, or if you just want to keep your cooking simple, these healthy 5 ingredient meals could provide the perfect option for you.
5 ingredient meals by Fish, Poultry, Red Meat, Pork, and Vegetarian.
Important: Flour, water, oil, butter, salt, and pepper are not included in the 5 ingredients (or less) ingredient count.
Fish
Flickr: ciordia
#1 Lemon Baked Fish
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 20-30 minutes
Servings: 3
3 Ingredients:
- 1 pound frozen fish fillets of your choice
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- Salt and pepper
- Fresh dill
Method:
- Oil a baking dish, and arrange fish in a single layer. Season with a little salt and pepper.
- Add a few drops of olive oil, and pour the lemon juice over. Scatter dill on top for flavour.
- Bake the fish at 350°F (180°C) for 20 to 30 minutes.
- Serve with juices from the pan.
#2 Indoor-Grilled Salmon
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Servings: 4
1 Ingredient:
- Four 5-ounce salmon fillets (about 1-inch thick), skin-on
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method:
- Bring the salmon to room temperature 20 minutes before grilling.
- Preheat the oven to 450°F (230°C). Set a large cast-iron grill pan over low heat and pre-heat for 1 minute.
- Meanwhile, brush the salmon lightly with the oil, and season with salt and pepper.
- Raise the heat under the grill pan to medium-high. Place the salmon, skin-side up on the grill, at an angle across the ridges of the pan. Cook until the fish has distinctive grill marks, about 3 minutes. Cook 2 minutes more. Turn the salmon over, and transfer the grill pan to the oven. Continue cooking the fish in the oven for 2 to 3 minutes for pink inside, 5 minutes for medium, and 7 minutes for well done.
- Remove the fish from the pan, and let rest for 2 minutes, to finish cooking.
#3 Fish Cakes
Serve with steamed veggies, or a tossed salad.
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Servings: 4
4 Ingredients:
- 425g tin of tuna
- 1 large sweet potato, mashed with a little milk and olive based spread
- 1 tablespoon sweet chili sauce
- Breadcrumbs (enough to be able to shape the fish into cakes)
Method:
- Put sweet potato in a pot of boiling water and cook until tender. Mash with a little milk. Drain tuna well and add to mashed sweet potato.
- Add in the chopped onion and sweet chili sauce. Mix together well.
- Add enough breadcrumbs to make patties. Season with salt and pepper. Mold the mixture into patties.
- Heat around 2 teaspoons of oil in frying pan and cook the fish cakes for 5 -7 minutes, turning only once, until hot and golden.
#4 Lemony Tuna and Orzo Salad
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 10 minutes
Servings: 2
5 Ingredients:
- 2 cups orzo pasta
- 2 (5 ounce) pouches herb and garlic marinated chunk tuna, drained
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- 2 cucumbers, peeled and chopped
- 1 cup creamy lemon salad dressing – substitute mayo for a low fat version
Method:
- Cook orzo according to package directions; drain well.
- Combine with remaining ingredients in large bowl and toss gently to coat.
- Cover and refrigerate for 3-4 hours before serving.
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25 Comments
Lauren
03.05.2008
Hey Mel this is a great list of recipes. I can’t wait to get stuck into some of them.
Cheers.
Tanya
03.05.2008
Great job. I have some similar recipes and I look forward to trying some of these.
Family Nutritionist
03.06.2008
There are some great ideas here. Also, don’t forget meatloaf. You can do it in 5 ingredients if you like it plain, 6 if you want to add a seasoning (italian seasoning, curry powder, chili powder, or chipotle peppers, for example).
Is your “kumara” my “sweet potato”? In the US’s New England, fishcakes were traditionally made from leftover salt cod (bacala) and mashed potato. This is an interesting variation.
ruth
03.06.2008
absolutely adore these recipes! can’t wait to try them. and share them!!!!!!!
Melanie
03.06.2008
Hi guys,
Thank you all for commenting!
Lauren – I hope you enjoy!
Tanya – Your site looks great, I’ll check out your recipes too.
Family Nutritionist – I’ve actually never tried meatloaf, can you recommend a recipe? Yes, the kumara is sweet potato, or is it also called yam in the USA?
Ruth – you can let me know if you do try any of them out!
Rebecca
03.07.2008
YumOLA! I can hardly wait to try some of these, especially that berry chicken. Thanks for sharing.
ruth
03.13.2008
hi mel, well I tried the chicken pesto parcels. Wonderful! similar to another dish I make stufing my chicken with mozerella and beef tonatoes and fresh basil leaves. so it was good having another variation.
Melanie
03.13.2008
Hi Rebecca,
Glad you found the recipes useful, I thought the berry chicken sounded great too.
Hi Ruth,
So the pesto parcels went well..that’s great news. Yes, I’ve had your stuffed chicken dish too, it’s delicious!
BTW, thanks for the rice recipe, I’ve definitely had it once before, and it’s great. I’ll let you know how it goes. Thank you!
Family Nutritionist
04.05.2008
Melanie,
I missed your response to my comment.
I’ve posted my favorite meatloaf recipe at Perfect Chipotle Meatloaf.
Family Nutritionist
04.05.2008
In the US, “yam” and “sweet potato” can be confusing. The sweet potato is not a yam, but for some reason the red or orange sweet potatoes are called yams, especially in the South Maybe they taste something like real yams (which I’ve never had). So sometimes they are called “yam sweet potatoes”. And sometimes yams are called “yams (not sweet potatoes)”. But real yams are uncommon, except in groceries with lots of customers from the Caribbean.
And the pale, whitish variety of sweet potatoes are always called sweet potatoes, but who eats them? Sweet potato pie, mashed sweet potatoes, sweet potato french fries, and are made with the orange sweet potatoes. Candied yams are made with the orange sweet potatoes, too.
Melanie
04.08.2008
Hi Family Nutritionist,
Thanks for linking to your meatloaf recipe. Since replying to your initial, I’ve had meatloaf at a friends house. It was great, and not at all what I had expected.
Also, thanks for clearing up the extremely confusing “yam” issue!
Jesse
05.18.2008
Love this compilation…amazing,fish cakes using sweet potato,a totally new idea for me.Thanks for sharing
Jesse’s last blog post..‘ Love Thyself.. ‘
Melanie
05.19.2008
Hi Jesse,
Thanks for commenting. I’m glad you found some new ideas here, that’s great!
Barry
01.14.2009
Melanie,
This is great and just what my readers are looking for.
Thanks,
Barry (Solo-Dad)
Melanie
01.15.2009
Hey Barry,
I’m glad the post was useful to you. Let me know if any of the recipes are particularly good!!
Karyn
06.06.2009
THANKS so much for these recipes!! What a wonderful and EASY idea – and healthy! I am not big on beef, but will use probably 75% or the recipes posted here!
Thanks again,
Karyn
Melanie
06.06.2009
Hi Karyn,
I’m so glad you found this post useful, hope the meals are a success!
Deborah Porter
08.26.2009
Thanks for the great Veggies recipes. Always looking for some.
.-= Deborah Porter´s last blog .. =-.
Melanie
08.27.2009
Hey Deborah,
I hope they are helpful. What’s the best veggie recipe/s you’ve found?
Daleen
04.30.2010
Thanks Melanie for the list of recipes cant wait to try them
Melanie
05.03.2010
You’re welcome!
Glucose Meters
12.19.2010
Wow, that looks absolutely delicious! Great post, you did such a nice job presenting the pictures too…I am definitely going to have to try that recipe this weekend! Thanks!
Melanie
12.23.2010
Hi,
Thank you. I hope the recipes turned out well for you
Micah
02.23.2011
your recipes look very good and i thing im gonna try them all in the later days to they look GOOD
Melanie
02.23.2011
Let us know how you get on
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