14 Easy Dinner Recipes With 5 Ingredients or Less
Less prep, less assembly, and more time relaxing at the dinner table.
Simply Recipes / Ciara Kehoe
If your time or energy level dictates the need for dinners that come together in a few steps using a few ingredients, you've come to the right place. There have never been so many excellent options for time-saving packaged sauces, high-quality frozen seafood, or other similar grocery shelf shortcuts.
My own go-to meals with minimal ingredients are often simple pasta that leans on pantry staples. You'll find a few below, plus meals with shrimp, ground meat, chicken, and more. (Psst: In this definition, oil, salt, pepper, and water are all freebie ingredients that don't count as part of the five.)
Warm Caprese Pasta
Simply Recipes / Photo by Fred Hardy II / Food Styling by Ana Kelly / Prop Styling by Shell Royster
This fresh-tasting pasta brings sunny vibes any night of the year. It leans on cherry tomatoes that you cook quickly in a skillet until they're slouchy. Mozzarella pearls add richness. No knife prep is needed!
Get Recipe: Caprese Pasta
Easy Chorizo Sloppy Joes
Simply Recipes / Photo by Fred Hardy II / Food Styling by Ana Kelly / Prop Styling by Shell Royster
A package of enchilada sauce plus spicy Mexican chorizo compose the filling, while avocado slices and crushed Fritos make this take on a Sloppy Joe even more fun.
Get Recipe: Chorizo Sloppy Joes
Taco Turkey Bowls
Simply Recipes / Photo by Fred Hardy II / Food Styling by Ana Kelly / Prop Styling by Shell Royster
Taco-seasoned ground turkey, pre-cooked rice, and crumbled queso fresco give you a hot meal in less time than it would take to run to your local burrito joint.
Get Recipe: Turkey Taco Bowls
Creamy Pasta With Zucchini
Simply Recipes / Grace Elkus
Whipped cottage cheese is the backbone of this creamy but light pasta that's brightened with lemon juice and zest. The dry pasta cooks in the skillet, so there's only one pan to wash up.
Get Recipe: This 5-Ingredient Pasta Is My Favorite Way To Use up Extra Zucchini
Buffalo Chicken Dip Quesadillas
Simply Recipes / Photo by Fred Hardy II / Food Styling by Ana Kelly / Prop Styling by Shell Royster
Rotisserie chicken and Buffalo sauce meet for a quesadilla version of the popular party dip.
Get Recipe: This 20-Minute Dinner Tastes Like Your Favorite Dip
Jennifer Garner's 5-Ingredient Pasta
Simply Recipes / Wanda Abraham
This foodie celebrity's pasta is worth checking out. It's a brown butter and sage linguine that her character made on the show The Last Thing He Told Me. Do you need to be familiar with the series to bother with the recipe? Nope. We can vouch that this pasta stands on its own.
Get Recipe: Jennifer Garner’s Easy 5-Ingredient Pasta Is the Most Luxurious Weeknight Dinner
Skillet Shrimp With Corn and Pancetta
Simply Recipes / Photo by Fred Hardy II / Food Styling by Ana Kelly / Prop Styling by Shell Royster
Corn is hearty enough to make this skillet dinner a one-pan meal, but you could also serve it over couscous.
Get Recipe: Creamy Skillet Shrimp with Corn, Pancetta, and Tomatoes
Easy Pasta Bake
Simply Recipes / Sara Haas
You can't go wrong with pasta, sauce, ground beef, cheese, and cottage cheese with mozzarella on top. This is one of those low-effort, high-payoff recipes that everyone in the family requests again and again.
Get Recipe: The Budget-Friendly 5-Ingredient Pasta Bake My Family Asks Me For All the Time
Sheet Pan Salmon Teriyaki
Simply Recipes / Photo by Fred Hardy II / Food Styling by Ana Kelly / Prop Styling by Shell Royster
Let's hear it for the sheet pan dinner! Bottled teriyaki is the key to everything coming together so quickly.
Get Recipe: Sheet Pan Salmon Teriyaki
Linguine With Tuna and Capers
Simply Recipes / Photo by Fred Hardy II / Food Styling by Ana Kelly / Prop Styling by Shell Royster
Briny capers and tuna packed in olive oil offer so much flavor is such small packages.
Get Recipe: Linguine With Tuna and Capers
Creamy Skillet Gnocchi With Bacon and Peas
Simply Recipes / Photo by Fred Hardy II / Food Styling by Ana Kelly / Prop Styling by Shell Royster
Boursin, that mild spreadable cheese, makes an excellent sauce for gnocchi. It all cooks right in the skillet.
Get Recipe: Creamy Skillet Gnocchi With Bacon and Peas
Pesto Shrimp With Cherry Tomatoes
Simply Recipes / Coco Morante
Any kind of pesto—basil, kale, or cilantro—would work here.
Get Recipe: Pesto Shrimp with Cherry Tomatoes
Skillet Cacio e Pepe Tortellini
Simply Recipes / Ciara Kehoe
Either cheese or meat tortellini fits the bill in this easy dinner that's flecked with wilted baby greens.
Get Recipe: Skillet Cacio e Pepe Tortellini With Wilted Greens
Trader Joe’s Meatball and Tortellini Pesto Soup Recipe
Simply Recipes / Laurel Randolph
Our recipe editor Laurel Randolph grabs all of the things she needs for this quick and filling soup at her local Trader Joe's. "My husband goes ga-ga for this soup and it feels fancy enough that I wouldn’t hesitate to serve it to guests," she says.
Get Recipe: The Easy 5-Ingredient Trader Joe’s Dinner My Husband Goes Ga-Ga For
Read the original article on Simply Recipes.
