Last Updated on October 30, 2018
There are some nights when the idea of cooking dinner and then slaving over a pile of post-meal dishes just seems impossible. This mostly happens on Mondays for us, but no day is truly safe.
But there is a solution to the nightly litany of pots and pans: One pan recipes. It doesn’t matter what kind of pan; be they sheet pans, skillets, Dutch ovens, or even crockpots, we promise you will only have to clean one dish after preparing these meals.
Limiting your meals to one pan doesn’t mean sacrificing flavor, either. We’ve got saffron-infused chicken and Spanish rice, and braised chuck roast with red wine and mushrooms. These easy, one pan meals deliver big, bold flavors.
Sheet Pan Chipotle Eye Round Roast
This sheet pan chipotle eye round roast is ideal for meal prep; it makes six servings with minimal dishes. Eye round roast, an economical and lean cut of beef, takes well to a brown sugar (or coconut sugar), ground chipotle, paprika, and cumin spice rub.
The eye round joins a mélange of Brussels sprouts, onions, and waxy potatoes to roast in the oven. What results is a complete, one-pan meal to feed a large family or eat throughout the week.
One Pan Healthy Sausage and Veggies
Do you have ten minutes? Then you can prep this one pan healthy sausage and veggies recipe.
With a garlic-parmesan herb blend, this sheet pan dinner includes red potatoes, green beans, broccoli, bell peppers, and sausage, but you can really use any vegetable or variety of sausage you’d like. It’s a “kitchen sink” kind of dinner.
If you want to break the single dish rule, you can also serve this meal atop a bed of quinoa or rice, and garnish with tons of parsley and freshly grated parmesan cheese for maximum effect.
One Pan Smoky Ribeye with Sweet Potato Hash
Sometimes, you need a meal you can whip up in 20 minutes flat with barely any dishes. Instead of firing up a grilled cheese again, try this one pan smoky ribeye with sweet potato hash instead.
Ribeye cooks up quick with a 5-minute sear, then another 5 to 10 minutes in the oven. Alongside the ribeye is a sweet potato hash that is as autumnal as it gets, complete with shaved Brussels sprouts, cashews, dried cranberries, garlic, and feta cheese.
The seasoning blend on the ribeye really makes the dish, so don’t skimp on the smoked salt — find it at a specialty grocer, online, or, if you’re lucky, on the spice aisle of your favorite grocery store.
One Pot Chicken and Spanish Rice
While one pot chicken and Spanish rice sounds like a dish you slave over, this recipe actually comes together in 40 minutes total.
Saffron-infused chicken and rice simmers in a fragrant tomato broth, then gets topped with tangy green olives and fresh cilantro. Yeah, it’s a restaurant quality meal made with one pot and 40 minutes in your kitchen.
The greatest part of this meal is that it’s highly customizable: You can opt for long grain brown rice over white, just up your cooking time. You can use any variety of boneless, skinless chicken, so use what you have on hand. You can even cook this up in the Instant Pot if you’d like—after all, what’s an Instant Pot but a single, programmable pot.
Chicken and Black Bean Soup
Soups are the ultimate one-pot meal, and this chicken and black bean soup is no exception. Simply sauté your seasoned veggies and chicken, then add black beans, diced tomatoes, honey, and stock. Simmer for one hour and you have a nourishing, southwestern meal.
The spice blend of garlic, thyme, bay leaf, paprika, cumin, and chipotle powder really impart flavors of the southwest, while honey adds a touch of sweetness.
Top the whole thing off with a dollop of plain Greek yogurt and avocado slices for a dose of creamy protein and healthy fat.
Braised Chuck Roast with Red Wine and Mushrooms
Braises are excellent one-pot dishes, so give this braised chuck roast with red wine and mushrooms a try. This chuck roast braises low and slow for four hours in a red wine-based sauce, which imparts intense flavor.
The roast is accompanied by baby potatoes and baby Bella mushrooms, making for a hearty, umami-laden meal. Thyme, garlic, tomato paste, and onion all do their part to deliver even more flavor to the braise.
Beefy Blonde Stew
This hearty beefy blonde stew upends the traditional beef stew paradigm by subbing in white wine for red wine. While we can’t quite label any beef stew as “light,” the flavor is a bit more delicate. Nevertheless, this stew will leave you well-fed for days.
Not only do hunks of beef add heft, but so do root veggies like parsnips, turnips, celery root, and carrots. There’s tons of flavor from leeks, fennel, garlic, celery, and, of course, white wine.
Hearty Beef and Wild Rice Soup
One pot soup strikes again with this meaty recipe for hearty beef and wild rice soup. Combine steak tips, wild rice, diced tomatoes, green beans, carrots, celery, and onion with some beef broth and you have an easy, delicious meal.
The seasonings are simple, with fresh thyme and bay leaf doing the heavy lifting. Don’t forget plenty of salt and pepper!
