In the hustle and bustle of homesteading life and chores, there is often little time leftover for elaborate meals.
This is why I’ve become obsessed with finding ways to cook healthy meals that don’t require me to be toiling in the kitchen for hours.
One of my least favorite things is to get knee-deep into a complicated recipe and still be chopping and cooking by the time my husband gets home.
Rather than entering rest-mode for the evening, and having everything ready to enjoy, I’m still running around in the kitchen. This inevitably eats into our precious family time.
This is where one pot meals can really save the day.
The magic of one pot meals
I needed a way to feed our small army (it’s just three of us, but my husband is usually starving when he gets home from work) while also keeping the mess in the kitchen to a minimum and nutrition at the forefront.
This is the beauty of one pot meals; you’re not dirtying up six different saucepans (okay, I don’t even own six sauce pans, but you get the idea) and trying to pair together different side dishes to your main.
Nope. One pot meals are just that.
You use one pot and one pot only. And rather than trying to coordinate side dishes, your one-pot meal is already nutritionally well-rounded and can be served on its own.
There’s less to do, less to clean, and less to think about.
A quick overview
The first thing that probably comes to mind is obviously cooking your meals in a pot.
Of course! It’s in the name, after all: one POT meals.
But “one pot meals” can also be made in a:
- Cast iron skillet
- Dutch Oven
- Crockpot
- Pressure cooker or Instant Pot
- Baking dish or casserole dish
- Grill
- Foil packets (wrapping ingredients in foil and cooking them on a grill, over a campfire, or in the oven creates an all-in-one meal without the need for a pot or pan)
I hope this liberates you to think outside of the box and take full advantage of all the options that are out there for one pot meals.
One-pot meal options for the busy homesteader
Rather than focusing on specific recipes, I wanted to share recipe themes or categories. I think it’s easier to wrap your head around one pot meals this way, because it gets you to start thinking about the overarching idea behind each recipe.
Once you have the gist of where you’re going, it can be easier to think of what to whip up in the kitchen on the fly–and without dirtying up every pot and pan.
Here are seven of my favorite one-pot meal ideas that incorporate ingredients readily available on many homesteads (think: eggs, leftover steak, tomato sauce, etc.)
Unlike many one pot meals that rely primarily on pasta to make their meal magic happen, I’ve tried to incorporate a lot of variation with the main carbohydrate in each dish.
I think the variety, and avoiding conventional pasta, is what makes these one pot meals a bit healthier than most of the recipe ideas I’ve seen out there. After all, my daughter eats what we eat, and I don’t want to serve her meals loaded with empty filler calories (this is how I view store-bought boxed pasta).
The breakfast hash
Many homesteaders have more eggs than they know what to do with. Even when we aren’t raising ducks, I have more eggs than I know what to do with because I buy them in bulk (think 36 eggs at a time).
This is because we love eggs for their nutritional value, versatility, and affordability. In a breakfast hash, you can also use leftover steak from a barbecue or pot roast for added convenience.
Breakfast hashes are savory and good enough to serve for dinner. But if you want to make your hash decidedly more dinner-esque then drop the eggs, add more vegetables, and use corned beef instead of leftover steak.
Creamy casseroles
Is it redundant to say creamy casserole? Perhaps.
Because when I think of “the casserole” I think of milk, cream, eggs, and/or butter as the foundation that holds together the rest of the dish.
But technically speaking, a casserole just refers to the “spoon-like” or “ladle like” nature of the baking dish.
Casseroles can be served for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. And because casseroles frequently use eggs as a binding agent, you don’t need to use a recipe with meat because you’re already serving some protein in the meal via the eggs.
Breakfast casserole ideas:
- Green chile egg casserole
- Sausage, shredded potato, cheese, and egg casserole
- Protein peanut butter egg white oatmeal bake (throw in some berries or bananas for extra flavor)
Lunch/dinner casserole ideas:
- Chicken casserole with baked dumplings
- Cabbage casserole
- Corn pudding casserole (you can add leftover sliced ham for added protein)
- Turnip casserole
- The “flying jacob” casserole (a strange Swedish casserole that serves chicken with mango chutney, bananas, and peanuts… I think of this as a “kitchen sink casserole”)
Casseroles are such a great way to get creative with the ingredients you already have on hand. There’s nothing like a creamy egg base to make even the most ordinary ingredients pop with flavor.
Stews & curries
The original one pot meal, in my mind, is “the stew”. It’s a timeless classic and you can make endless variations of this depending on the season your in:
- A winter stew using pumpkin, squash, and beef stew meat
- A summer stew using fresh herbs, peas, potatoes, carrots, and any leftover chicken meat
- A creamy coconut curry with cod and bokchoy
You can make this in the slow cooker or the Instant Pot depending on what will work best for your schedule and whether the meat is fresh or frozen.
Note: if you do use an Instant Pot, then pressure cook your meat first, allow for the pressure to naturally release, and then add in your vegetables using the sauté or simmer setting.
Skillet bakes
A large cast iron skillet is ideal because you can start something on the stove top (sautéing up garlic, onion, or other vegetables) and then pop it in the oven to finish baking.
An example of this are enchilada bakes:
Any vegetables or sauces you’d typically start on the stove top (onions, tomatillos, jalapeños), can be made in the cast iron. Then rather than dirtying up another pan, you can simply start layering your meat, cheese, and tortillas in the same skillet.
Pop it in the oven to finish baking. Quick-to-cook proteins like shrimp and cod may not even require you to use the oven at all.
This is where it’s fun to get creative with the ingredients you have and playing things by ear a bit.
One idea I haven’t tried yet, but look forward to trying soon, is using my cast iron to sauté some vegetables and then pouring in an egg and cream mixture and popping it in the oven for a crustless quiche.
I think this sounds lovely.
Skewers and kabobs
Serving dinner on a stick can be a fun way to switch things up and is ideal for the summer months or for when you’re having company over for dinner.
When I was researching easy, one pot meals for our family, I was surprised that no one else mentioned skewers.
Maybe this idea is a bit less common, but it’s absolutely possible to serve your fruit, vegetable, and protein on a skewer and limit the mess to just your chopping block and barbecue.
Large chunks of pineapple, pork, and bell peppers are a favorite of mine. Small mushrooms, chunks of red onion, and steak is another classic kabob.
Tomatoes and pineapple are great for grilling, but you can also serve some cold fruit kabobs like melon or large strawberries.
And don’t forget the sauce! Serve up a chicken skewer with some homemade peanut dipping sauce, and voila! You have chicken satay.
Stir-fries
Think brussel sprouts and bacon. Or cashews and chicken. Stir fries are the ultimate menu item for the busy momma.
An oversized cast iron skillet works great here because you can feed a family using one pan and don’t have to worry about your ingredients spilling over the sides.
For a lonnng time, I didn’t think one-pot meals were practical until it finally occurred to me that I just needed to use a bigger pot or pan.
But when the previous owners of our house actually left behind an oversized, jumbo cast iron skillet–amongst many other things–I decided to scrub it up and put it to use.
“Another person’s trash is someone else’s treasure”, as they say!
It’s transformed what I think is possible to prepare in the kitchen now using a single cooking surface.
Stockpot pastas
I saved this suggestion for the end since most of the one pot meals suggestions I’ve seen use pasta.
But I would be remiss to not at least mention the magic of being able to throw in handfuls of dry pasta with some leftover meat, produce, and a splash of tomato sauce and suddenly having dinner in the bag.
It’s not my favorite to cook with pasta, but macaroni dishes are such a comfort food favorite for my husband that we make this at least twice a month.
American goulash–which is different from traditional Hungarian goulash because it uses ground beef and pasta instead of potatoes–is a great way to use up tomato sauce and stewed tomatoes.
And while my husband prefers we make this dish with “regular” pasta, I usually make this recipe with organic, whole wheat pasta that I buy in bulk from Azure Standard (he’s happy to make this small compromise as long as we keep this comfort food on the household menu).
The struggle to serve wholesome food for our families
Healthy, convenient, and affordable meals can seem like an oxymoron when we’re trying to feed our families with take out or ready-made meals from the grocery store.
In most cases, it’s just not possible.
But healthy food can be both cheap and convenient when we’re willing to make it ourselves.
It’s kind of a testament to the homesteading lifestyle:
If we’re willing to plan, prepare, and put in a little elbow grease, we can move mountains.
This is why I’m passionate about homemade food and the homesteading lifestyle. Because, it means we don’t have to settle when it comes to our family’s nutrition.
And when we contain our cooking to just a single pot, pan, dish or skillet, we can make our cooking convenient to boot.
It’s a win-win-win.
I hope you and your family can enjoy some of these one-pot meals too! And I hope the easy cleanup means more time spent relaxing and resting with your family.
Happy eating and happy homesteading!
