5 Ingredients or Less, Quick and Easy Dishes

I love EASY dishes for dinner. I don’t like to go for dishes that call for pages of ingredients. Simple. That’s what this Mama wants. With 3 littles running around and needing me I just don’t have time for elaborate meals (and even with all the coffee I rarely have the energy for that). If you have the energy for it, go for it Mama! Budgeting is also key so the fewer ingredients, the less I have to purchase. Sure you can spend a ton of money on food that has less than 5 ingredients so choose wisely.

My first favorite is my salsa chicken. I use 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (can be fresh or frozen) and a jar of salsa. I prefer to get the big size salsa use about half of it. I often order the 64 oz bottle of Pace when I’m not going to the big warehouse stores. I use half of that 64 oz bottle but you could use more or less to suit your taste. I really love to get the Pace Picante Sauce and this is the mondo size I like to get when I go the warehouse stores or order it on Amazon. You can find this one at Amazon via the affiliate link. I will earn a small commission from the sale at no additional cost to you. You have your chicken and you have your salsa. Now you need tortillas or tacos shells, cheese, and sour cream. That’s all you HAVE to have for salsa chicken tacos! I usually cook mine in the Instant Pot. You will put your chicken in the pot and cover with the salsa. Now I hit the poultry button (after I have made sure the lid is in place and the pressure valve is closed) and go about my business until the timer goes off. When the timer goes off I do a quick release and when all the pressure is released, open the pot, take my chicken out, and shred my chicken. The chicken is ready to go on the tortillas and top with cheese and sour cream! You could use more toppings if you want. I haven’t tried the salsa chicken on top of Doritos, but I imagine they would be tasty atop Doritos as well! That’s IT! Before the Instant Pot I would cook up my salsa chicken in the Slow Cooker. I always use a liner in my slow cooker for easier clean up. I don’t use any different ingredients in the slow cooker. You could add a little water if you wanted just to ensure there is enough liquid, but because I use frozen chicken as it thaws there is added water. I cook my chicken 6 or more hours on low in the slow cooker. You can always brown your chicken if you aren’t comfortable with cooking it from raw. As a side note, the Instant Pot model above has a saute function so you could brown your chicken in the pot and still only have the one dish that is dirty for your chicken!

Next is my beef roast. I purchase my roast and a bottle of soy sauce. I have rosemary, minced garlic, and bay leaves on hand most of the time, but if you don’t have those you will want to get them. You could add in a vegetable if you wanted, but I don’t do that with this roast. You can cook this one in the Instant Pot as well, but I really like mine cooked in the slow cooker. I put my 4 lb roast in the lined slow cooker, sprinkle on the rosemary, add 1 tablespoon of minced garlic, 1 tablespoon of dried rosemary, 3 bay leaves, 1 cup of soy sauce, and 6 cups of water. Okay so technically this one has 6 ingredients, but I don’t count water as an ingredient. I prefer my roast when cooked on low for 10 hours. It could be cooked on high for 4-6 hours if you forget to put it in early enough for a 10 hour cook. It doesn’t come out nearly as tender, but it can still be done. We usually make this beef roast into…TACOS! Seems like we make everything into tacos! I always have cheese on hand so I shred my roast, throw it on tortillas, top with cheese and serve. It is also tasty with sour cream. With my gestational diabetes, I throw mine over a bed of salad or just eat it in a bowl topped with cheese and plain greek yogurt. If you do tortillas it would be tasty with a side of cilantro lime rice! Serve with whatever vegetable your family likes.

I’ve mentioned our family likes tacos (as evidenced by the above recipes that both include serving on tortillas) so that leads me to my next dish: tacos. I use 2 lbs of ground turkey, taco seasoning, and I like to throw in some diced onion and diced green bell pepper, but you don’t have to add that in if your family doesn’t like onion and/or bell peppers. I did a post on my tacos here https://messymamalife.com/simple-and-delicious-tacos/. Check it out! I do typically make my own taco seasoning due to flavor tastes in my family, but you could use a packet seasoning. We like to have the tacos over Nacho Cheese Doritos, top with cheese and sour cream (or plain greek yogurt) and I also like to add a little spicy taco sauce to mine! The meat can be served over salad though to make a taco salad instead! I frequently cook up these tacos and freeze them for a later date. Taco Tuesday anyone?

Moving from tacos…I like to do meatball sandwiches! I purchase frozen, gluten free meatballs and either spaghetti sauce or marinara sauce. I cook these in the Instant Pot. Open up your meatballs (gluten free meatballs have fewer meatballs so I use 2 bags), top with your jar of spaghetti or marinara sauce (I like Rao’s marinara sauce because it is lower in carbs-something I have to watch due to gestational diabetes), add 1 cup of water. Now put the lid on your Instant Pot, make sure the pressure valve is closed and set to high pressure for 10 minutes and go. You will let it naturally pressure release. That’s all you have to have. I like to sneak in some veggies so I usually use chopped onion and green bell peppers. Don’t tell anyone, but I cheat and but the recipe starter seasoning blend of veggies with onions, bell peppers, celery, and cilantro! I add those in on top of the marinara sauce before sealing! Once they are done you serve them over bread (or on a sub), top with cheese, and yum! You can serve with a side salad or other veggie. I put ours on top of 1 slice of bread and top with cheese. If we have leftover meatballs I use those the next night to make spaghetti and meatballs! I don’t usually need to add anymore sauce to our spaghetti, but if you feel like there isn’t enough sauce, feel free to add more! We usually do have leftover meatballs so this usually makes 2 meals for our family!

These 4 dishes can be made into freezer meals so all you have to do is pull them out of the deep freeze and go! That’s what I usually do. The only thing I do differently when making freezer meals: I don’t add the water to the bag. You certainly could except for the roast. Trust me. Six cups of water added to a freezer bag is a set up for disaster. I’ve tried it. Just don’t do it! When I make the meatballs into a freezer meal, I throw the meatballs, sauce, and onions/bell peppers into the freezer bag and freeze. I mentioned I cook up my taco meat for the tacos and freeze it. Remember, if you are heating anything up, let it cool before putting it in your freezer or you will end up with a ton of condensation which will then turn into a ton of water when thawed. I like to cool mine in the fridge first then move to the freezer

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