You'll love the complex flavors in these simple and delicious meals.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t always want to make a complicated dinner. Recipes with too many ingredients usually require an extra trip to the grocery store to pick up one thing or another. In my search for fast and fresh dinner recipes with 10 ingredients or fewer, I had a realization. Sometimes simple is best! These recipes really allow the flavors to shine since they don’t have a laundry list of ingredients to hide behind.
Recipes with 10 ingredients or fewer tend to be more straightforward and easier to follow. They also use fewer resources and are cheaper to make. Additionally, with fewer ingredients, there are fewer chances for mistakes or wrong measurements.
Recipes With 10 or Fewer Ingredients
Whether you prefer Mediterranean or Southern-style cooking or simply enjoy a tasty meal laden with veggies, it is possible to prepare an appealing meal with fewer than ten ingredients. It’s all about thinking smarter, not harder, and working with what you already have in your cupboard, with a few fresh vegetables and legumes thrown in for good measure.
With the right ingredients, you can create a delicious meal that is both healthy and delicious. You can even make a delicious vegan meal with fewer than ten ingredients. With a little creativity and planning, you can create a tasty and affordable meal with fewer than ten ingredients.
You’ll save yourself a ton of time by not chopping a dozen different vegetables, but you’ll still get all your nutrients with these fast and fresh dinner recipes. And, since most of these recipes use the slow cooker, the Instant Pot, or are ready in 30 minutes or fewer, you won’t have to spend all night cooking. Dinner will be ready to eat when you are! So skip the take-out or overly processed frozen meals and whip up one of these incredible dinner recipes
1. Slow Cooker Pineapple Chicken
The only thing better than fast and fresh dinner recipes that have 10 ingredients or fewer? A recipe that uses the slow cooker! This dinner is not only easy to throw together, but it’s hands-off since it cooks in your crock-pot. And, since this recipe clocks in at 9 ingredients, we have an extra one to spare so you can serve it over rice or quinoa.
Get the recipe: Slow Cooker Pineapple Chicken
2. Restaurant-Style Chicken Fried Rice
Once you realize it only takes 8 common ingredients to make chicken fried rice, you may never order take-out again! Our skinny version of fried rice uses healthy brown rice and frozen vegetables, so you’ll always have them on hand. The other great thing about this recipe? Once the rice is cooked, it only takes 15 minutes of cook time until this dish is ready to plate.
Get the recipe: Restaurant-Style Chicken Fried Rice
3. Clean Eating Chicken Salad
I love having chicken salad around because it makes a quick-and-easy topping for lunch or dinner. Whether you’re rolling it in a whole-wheat wrap or eating it on a bed of greens, it always makes a quick and satisfying meal. Our healthy version of a classic chicken salad uses Greek yogurt instead of mayo, so you’ll get all the creamy goodness without the excess fat.
Get the recipe: Clean Eating Chicken Salad
4. Mediterranean Couscous Cakes
This recipe is a quick and easy way to use up leftover couscous (or, a good excuse to start cooking up this North African grain). These cakes are reminiscent of crab cakes, except they’re significantly less expensive and filled with nutrient-dense ingredients, like spinach. And, they only take 10 minutes to cook!
Get the recipe: Mediterranean Couscous Cakes
5. Southwest Chicken Casserole with Black Beans Recipe
Not including the optional green onion garnish, this flavorful casserole has exactly 10 ingredients. Casseroles are a perfect way to transform fresh ingredients into a filling meal. This meal takes little to no prep time and totally qualifies as a one-pan meal, so it will be as easy to clean up as it is to cook.
Get the recipe: Southwest Chicken Casserole with Black Beans Recipe
6. 5-Ingredient Instant Pot Mac and Cheese
This is one of my favorite fast and fresh dinner recipes. It has only five required ingredients, and you can make it in the Instant Pot, so it’s ready after only 5 minutes of pressurized cook time. This is the perfect recipe to make when you’re looking for a skinny version of a comfort classic.
Get the recipe: 5-Ingredient Instant Pot Mac and Cheese
7. One-Skillet Chicken and Broccoli Dinner
There’s almost nothing I love more than a one-pan dinner. It makes it so much easier to commit to cooking dinner when I know that clean-up won’t take so long. This one-skillet meal combines some of my favorite Asian flavors without any extra sodium or MSG.
Get the recipe: One-Skillet Chicken and Broccoli Dinner
8. Slow Cooker Enchiladas
It’s hard to say no to a meal that looks this pretty. Then, add in the fact that it’s easy to make (thanks to the hands-off slow cooker) and healthy for you. That makes these slow cooker enchiladas pretty irresistible! If you happen to have leftovers (which, I never do), this dish also freezes exceptionally well.
Get the recipe: Slow Cooker Enchiladas
9. Baked Lemon Salmon and Asparagus Foil Pack
Foil packs aren’t just for camping – you can bake them inside in the oven, too. There’s little cleanup afterwards (other than tossing those pieces of aluminum foil, of course). A foil pack is a great way to cook salmon because it traps all the moisture and flavor inside. When you open them up, you’ll fall in love at first smell.
Get the recipe: Baked Lemon Salmon and Asparagus Foil Pack
10. Easy Vegan Eggplant Parmesan Over Quinoa
We love transforming comfort classics into healthful alternatives, and this completely plant-based eggplant parmesan is one of our favorites. It’s amazing that 10 ingredients can create flavors this complex, but it totally works. I may never make the classic Italian dish again after eating this skinny version.
Get the recipe: Easy Vegan Eggplant Parmesan Over Quinoa
11. Healthier Olive Garden Garlic Rosemary Chicken Recipe
Who needs to go out to a restaurant when you can make food this delicious at home? This copycat recipe almost tastes better than the original, but without all the excess fat and salt. So stay home, don’t fill up on bread, and cook an easy, from-scratch dinner instead.
Get the recipe: Healthier Olive Garden Garlic Rosemary Chicken Recipe
12. Homemade Roasted Tomato Soup
Many soup recipes have a laundry list of ingredients. I just made a soup that used almost every dried herb on my rack! This homemade roasted tomato soup uses a secret technique to infuse an insane amount of flavor into the broth without increasing the ingredient list. By roasting your tomatoes, you create an incredible amount of depth while still keeping everything nice and simple.
Get the recipe: Homemade Roasted Tomato Soup
Enjoyed reading this post? Check out more:
- Foil Baked Chicken and Broccoli
- Baked-to-Perfection Salmon Foil Packet with Mushroom & Garlic Recipe
- BBQ Chicken Foil Packets
- One-Pack Shrimp Bake
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