Life
19 Easy 3-Ingredient Recipes That You'll Actually Want To Eat
by Megan Grant
Some people love nothing more than spending hours in the kitchen, perfecting their bearnaise sauce, accomplishing the perfect souffleé that never collapses, and slow-cooking their steak in red wine with garlic in preparation for the ultimate beef wellington. Then there's the rest of us. If you're no Gordon Ramsay in the kitchen, then I've got the 19 best three-ingredient recipes for you to try when your tummy's a-rumbling but all you know how to cook is cereal.
Cooking is one of those skills that as adults, we all need a basic understanding of. We need it to survive, grow stronger, and stay healthy. This would explain why it was never something they taught us in school.
Even if you enjoy cooking — which, BTW, offers its own emotional benefits — Father Time doesn't always allow for it. Look at breakfast. By the time you get up after hitting your snooze button 14 times, shave one leg and then stop caring, and put on a bra before flinging it off and deciding on a hoodie, you don't have much time left to whip up a balanced meal.
Whether you're constantly on the go, you hate cooking, or you just don't know WTF you're doing, these 19 three-ingredient recipes might be for you.
1
Grilled Cheese
You bet your fanny grilled cheese takes the number one spot on this list. It's gooey, it's delicious, and I can confirm from personal experience it makes an excellent dinner six out of seven nights a week when you're broke and can't afford anything else. #winning
Some people like to swap out the butter for mayo. This writer can't comment on that, but mayo and I are on good terms, so feel free to proceed.
2
Poutine
Why wouldn't fries be smothered in gravy and cheese? My whole life is smothered in gravy and cheese. And don't even start with the, "But but but cheese curds are CURDLED MILK!" I don't care and the Canadians don't care, and they were onto something brilliant when they came up with poutine, so step off.
3
Breakfast Bagel Sandwich
Sex is nice and all, but have you ever had an egg where the whites are solid but the yolk is still runny? This is what I think about when I'm laying awake at night.
4
Classic PB&J
Don't disrespect the classics. This is an oldie but a goodie. And look! There are so many different types of jams and jellies to try. If I'm feeling feisty, I'll use apple butter instead. I can be rebellious like that, sometimes.
5
PB&B
No food ever stuck to the roof of your mouth like a peanut butter and banana sandwich, but the good news is you'll know where to find the leftovers.
6
Caprese
Fine, so it doesn't have any olive oil or a fine balsamic reduction drizzled on top, but when you tell your friends you had "caprese" for lunch, you're going to sound super fancy even though the only mozzarella you could find was string cheese.
7
Flavorful Chicken
Throw the ingredients in some foil, wrap it up, and toss it in the oven. Boom — you have a meal fit for royalty. You seriously can't mess this up, unless you leave it in too long and it starts burning and then I had to run downstairs and open up all the windows to let the smoke out before the fire department showed up.
8
Lamb And Rice
Cooking with spinach is funny. You could use the whole bag and it'll still shrivel up into the tiniest, saddest pile of leaves you've ever seen. Anywho, the jasmine rice will tickle your taste buds.
9
Fish Dinner
Salmon is as versatile chicken is and it's really hard to screw it up. But if you'd like to screw it up, leave it in the oven 10 minutes too long and it'll come out with the texture of leather. You're welcome.
10
Dutch Baby
Dutch baby pancake. German pancake. Dutch puff. Bismarck. The bread thingie that goes by a million different names is a mysteriously fluffy, crispy breakfast dish that rivals pancakes and waffles. Google it and tell me how beautiful it is. Go on.
11
Alfredo Sauce
Okay, fine. This is just a recipe for sauce. But I argue it's perfectly acceptable to eat Alfredo straight up. Fight me.
13
Fairy Bread
Nutritious? No. Filling? Not really. But hot damn does it photograph well for Instagram. Plus, sprinkles.
14
Chicken With A Kick
Insider tip: combine the chicken and salsa in a crockpot and let it cook all day while you're miserable at work. Come home to an amazing dinner and a house that smells like the inside of Chipotle.
15
BLT Sandwich
It's the most iconic three-ingredient meal of them all! Yes, fine, it's technically four ingredients when you count the bread. Let's not split hairs here. We're talking about bacon. Have some respect.
16
Peanut Butter Oatmeal
I used to make this *all* the time. I would sprinkle a few oats in a freshly opened jar of peanut butter and then eat the entire thing. This is how you prepare it, right?
17
Simple Pizza
It's just like the pizza pies they serve on the cobblestone streets of Italy, except not even remotely close.
18
Nachos
The juxtaposition of the crispy chip and the melted cheese is rather exciting. Dinner has never been this easy.
19
Crepes
Make them sweet. Make them savory. Make an entire batch and don't share it with your friends. If you love dessert, try spreading Nutella on it and adding some fruit. For something more breakfast-y, add eggs and sausage or bacon. Your life will never be the same.
