What's something so easy to cook, that you're kicking yourself for not making it sooner?
Air fryer Baked Potatoes are so easy to make, the I wished found out when I got an air fryer a while back. All you need is a potato, olive oil, seasoning, & foil to make. The only downside, it takes almost an hour to make in the air fryer
112 replies
My homemade version of the KFC Famous Bowl which I make like every other week at this point.
For two or us I do 1-1.5 pounds of Yukon golds potatoes in the instant pot, I leave the skin on cause I like it and I'm lazy. I throw some chicken tenders in the air fryer towards the end of the potatoes cooking.
When the potatoes are done I throw one of those steamer bags of corn in the microwave. Empty the water from the potatoes. Add a decent amount of sour cream and about 2 tablespoons of cream cheese as well as 2 tablespoons of butter to the potatoes. Cover all that with the potatoes so they can melt while I'm adding spices and chives.
Take the chicken out, let it cool and chop it up into bite sized pieces. Go back and mash the potatoes and taste test, adjust spices if needed. Add the corn and mix. Finally putting in the chicken and folding it in. Plate it and add cheese. You can add gravy too but neither of us are crazy about it so we don't.
Prep time is however long I takes you to wash potatoes. Putting it all together, spicing, mashing and cutting is all done in 10 mins or less.
Went to a really great BBQ place recently that had something like this on the menu. My partner and I both agreed that somehow, mine was better. And yes, their food is phenomenal.
Gnocchi, broccolini, and sausage. Chuck some pepper flakes on top and some cheese of your choice.
Eggs.
Its so easy to cook eggs. I like eggs. My wife and I have pet chickens. And for some reason I never think to take five minitues to make some eggs. Its basically free food, because I sell enough eggs to easily cover the feed that our spoiled chickens eat.
I think I just need to remind myself that I have them.
Eggs are like cheating at food. Full of proteins and makes you feel full like little else can.
Yeah, no, I’m too impatient to bake a potato in the air fryer. Microwave is adequate and much faster, or propane grill is good and faster, or oven is higher quantity.
I would skip the foil. It makes the skin soggy. No need for it.
I pulled a working pellet smoker off the curb yesterday. Today I am really kicking myself for not spending 400 to 600 dollars I don't have on something like this. I did a test run last night with the pellets in it and ate 3 plain hot dogs that were flavorful.
Gravy
Carbonara. Sounds fancy, but it’s really just a matter of mixing some egg yolk and shredded cheese together
Once you've made carbonara right once, it's super quick and easy. My favourite pasta dish.
I know what Im trying after work.
Low effort, high payoff. Bacon is a good sub for pancetta too.
Guanciale is the traditional meat to use, but I actually prefer the less fatty pancetta. Bacon would do in a pinch but I like dicing the meat up before it goes in which isn’t easily done with bacon
My favourite recipe. (context is outbreak of covid in Australia.)
Ranch dressing from scratch is like 7 things.
Pasta from scratch with a roller machine is stupid easy and delicious.
Lasagna. Not hard, just takes a while. Make 3, freeze 2. You'll thank me later.
Crispy smashed potatoes are every bit as good as IG posts make it seem. Practically no effort. Microwave to baked stage, smash, butter, oven 15 min. F, now I'm hungry.
Dutch baby/pancake. One of those "cast iron pan oh la la" things. Blend batter, pour in hot pan. Done. Regular pancakes take longer, are more work, and more mess.
The baby pancakes are called 'poffertjes'
Delicious
Scratch made ranch is the best. Once you try it you'll never want that soupy Hidden Valley stuff again.
Oh, I always do ;)
so thats why its always stringy and chewy
You didn't need to post that.
Sounds like making a potato in an air fryer is exactly the same difficulty as any other method except microwaving.
Maybe not one thing in particular but learning to keep rice, beans, cream of mushroom/chicken soup, and various seasonings on hand. That's a strong foundation to just make something decent to good.
As well onion, celery, and green pepper goes a long way to making many dishes.
I am not happy with any canned or boxed cream of mushroom soup.
But making your own is really, really, easy.
Cream and mushrooms simplest. Butter, white wine, flour, and thyme for fancier. Yet still easy!
Belgian waffles, as easy as regular waffles but you whip the whites and fold them in so they’re delicious and fluffy
Just so you know. There is no such thing as Belgian waffles. Source: I'm Belgian.
Waffles are rarely zaten over here but we have two distinct types of waffles:
soup. different kinds. never tried making, always seemed like magic requiring occult knowledge.
actually supper simple.
:D
Especially with a slow cooker. Chuck ingredients in, turn it on, let 8 hours do their magic. Sometime blend.
Gravy. I always thought it was hard, whenever I made it I'd get lumps and it would be bad. Then I learnt the trick is to fry the flour in oil/butter/fat first, then add the meat juices/stock
Its called a roux btw.
Last week I made Käsekuchen (German style cheesecake) it was easy to make and delicious!
Edit: I followed this recipe: https://www.chefkoch.de/rezepte/539641151173978/Kaesekuchen-aus-Bayern.html
152 “essentisl” tracking cookies? No thanks
What the hell is wrong with you? Do you know how much you just made my mouth water! Added to my list
I recently made the Basque version of this and it was amazing.
https://spanishsabores.com/burnt-basque-cheesecake-recipe
Good cheesecake is easy to make, great cheesecake is very difficult. It's the only cake I struggled with because I refused to adjust my grandma's recipe but I didn't have her know-how. The temperature, acidity, moisture and fat content of the quark, gently folding the beaten egg whites into the dough... It was worth it though, it's still my favourite and nothing comes close.
I have always stayed away from cheesecake because there are two styles. The soft type I did not know existed until my dad bought some for me on a trip at a restaurant (I was a kid). I spit it out and said this is not cheesecake. Of course, he made sure that that was the style that was always bought in the house from then on in. All I know is one is soft and icky (to me), the other is a lot firmer sort of like cheese. Is there a way to determine which is which as I would like to get some more again, but the correct type.
Some people try to pass no-bake-quark-jelly as cheesecake, I assume that's what you mean because it is, in fact, soft and icky and has a texture of a jelly that's too ashamed to admit its identity. Unfortunately real, baked cheesecake is also subject to opinions and preferences. For example I like it to contain raisins and candied orange peel and maybe a little grated lemon peel. But I know people who shudder at the idea of raisins in, really, any food item at all. Some people like their cheesecake to be creamy and moist, and - like the recipe above - add extra milk to the quark. A cheesecake like that will be very light coloured in the middle (on my recent trip to Frankfurt, this was the only kind I could find). In general, the darker the drier. Best of luck in your search!
For cases where I’ve seen this and know the answer, you nailed it. No bake whatever are even easier to make and not as rich. I don’t know if anyone actually prefers them but people seem to prefer making them and some people feel less guilty eating them
I am one of those boring people (also a tad autistic) who is so picky that I annoy myself. The cheesecake I like is plain cheesecake (no this or that added) that is very firm and tastes like cheese somewhat with a crumb bottom. Other than that I don’t know. I really like your comment on how it’s to ashamed to admit its identity.
You just have good taste
Thanks! If you like firm cheesecake your might want to learn baking it yourself. The firmness comes from high quark content, which is expensive if you're trying to run a business, so it's increasingly hard to find in mass produced cakes. On the other hand, baking a decent cheesecake on a crumb bottom isn't very hard at all. One way or another, I hope you'll be reunited with your perfect cheesecake :)
It's funny because I would be the same way, yet our grandparents probably adjusted their recipe all the time.
Dangerous though. I put on so much weight when I was cooking a tray of flapjacks for myself weekly.... So easy!
Was always intimidated by indian curries. Aloo gobhi, palak paneer, mattar paneer, etc.
They're relatively easy to make compared to my assumptions. Like anything else, diffcult to do well... but i can make something passable
Rice. The amount of cheap simple meals you can throw together if you have rice is ridiculous.
Cook it in stock instead of water for an easy taste upgrade. I just mix a stock cube in the water before adding it to the rice.
Ooh this is a good tip, thank you!
rice cooker, also the asian ones can cook/steam other stuff at the same time. making eggs, some meats. also making things like fried rice, and you can save it for later.
Upvote for the rice cooker. A real game changer. Rice may not be that hard to make but you have to pay attention. So much better to have the rice maker handle it while you pay more attention to everything else
cooked rice last alot longer, so you dont need to throw it away within a few days.
We got one recently, game changer
Rice on its own is bland, but adding a lot of salt, or any other flavorful sauce can make it a pretty enjoyable meal.
When I visited Japan, it was the standard replacement for breakfast cereal even in hotels, and it makes a lot of sense.
Yesterday I made a quick peanut sauce and chopped up some veggies and boom, instant rice meal
Baked onion. Literally just bake an onion, in the peel. Eat it with salt.
Stop it!
I need instructions for this 🤔
Same, girl, same.
Edit: I gotchu fam
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/77009/roasted-onions/
https://www.reddit.com/r/EatCheapAndHealthy/comments/mpr4ke/baked_onion_from_1808_easy_cheap_low_calorie/
Haha, that video in the second one is literally where I got it from!
Trying this week!
I think I'll pass. Does sound easy, though.
It's really really good. It's like french onion soup, it doesn't juat taste like on onion, it's creamy buttery and tastes really nice.
I don't think I've ever made them in an oven but I I've made plenty in a camp fire wrapped in foil the same way as potatoes.
I had that in mind and decided to just give it a try, wrapped some in foil and tossed them into the oven. They turned out sweet and jammy and quite delicious.
Salsa. And you don't even need to cook anything.
Chop up tomatoes, sweet onion, a bit of fresh pressed garlic, lime. That's the base. Then just add whatever else. Peppers, spring onions, cilantro (which I personally don't add because it tastes like soap to me), parsley. Then to taste add a bit of salt, dash of hot sauce. A pinch of sugar can bring things out depending on the tomatoes.
Adding a bit of sour cream and/or avocado right before you eat it gives it an interesting twist.
You can keep it in a mason jar in the fridge for about a week. Probably longer but it never lasts more than a day or two in my house.
Okay hold on, if your salsa doesn't include peppers in the base recipe something's wrong. That's not optional. It's not salsa without the peppers.
That's entirely, vastly, and certifiably incorrect.
EDIT: Unless you mean jalapeno, serrano, or pablanos or something. I thought you meant green or sweet peppers.
No, of course I mean hot peppers.
Cheat's Carbonara. I was practically making it for dinner every night anyway. Start with a basic recipe of spaghetti with olive oil and nutritional yeast. The only change is, don't pour out all of the pasta water, and add a beaten egg or two with black pepper. Tastier, and more protein too, with almost no additional effort. Parmesan is probably more to most's taste, but I like nooch.
Edit: if your eggs are refrigerated you'll probably need to put it back on the heat for like a minute or two. Accept that you'll overcook it a few times until you get the timing right.
Thank you!! I'd never thought of using nutritional yeast with pasta. Yum.
It has that cheesy taste but more of a dry texture, so it needs a touch more olive oil. It doesn't melt either obviously but I prefer it that way
:)I have it on buttered toast, delicious. I'm trying the pasta thing tomorrow - I usually use pecarino for carbonara.
Crepes
If I can make these everyone can and they're delicious
these are not easy to make without them falling apart.
Idk? I've never had that issue? I just use milk, 000 flour, egg, some tiny amount of salt if I feel like it, baking soda IF i want them to puff up a bit, maybe butter but I think it's unnecessary.
I think that's it? Idk I follow the most basic recipe I found.
Sometimes I mix it finely cut (or small chunks) apple or banana.
Then I put them on the highest heat possible in a teflon pan, but I add a tiny amount of oil otherwise it sticks a tiny bit. It probably takes like 1-2 minutes per side. I flip them once.
What's your recipe??
EDIT: ohhh yea definitely let the dough rest at least 15 minutes.
Sometimes leaving the dough to rest for a couple minutes before frying solves this problem. It gives the gluten time to form. If it doesn't help, your recipe might be bad.
what do you mean by fry. you do a skillet with butter no?
Butter or oil will do. If you use egg in your recipe and a teflon pan, oil is optional
Skillet and oil. What do you call it other than frying? English isn't my first language.
Butter's smoking point is too low for the temperatures involved. I fry on high heat, a couple seconds per side.
maybe that is my problem. I though butter was traditional but maybe im not using high enough heat. I guess when I think fry I think like sitting in oil. Almost deep frying. as opposed to a light coat. but yeah I guess fry an egg. I don't think its your english as much as my common word usage. I always remark my worst grades in school was foreign language and my second worst was english.
Before oil became common, lard was used - again, because of the high smoking point. The amount used is minuscule and actual lard (not bacon) doesn't have a very strong aroma.
Do you add any fat to the dough? Fat is common in recipes but if you want really thin and supple crepes that don't fall apart, there should be next to no fat.
And if there's too much oil in the pan, it might prevent the crepe from sticking together.
I wish I could just give you a recipe but I've been eyeballing it for the past 30 years, since I learned it from my mum, who was also eyeballing it.
Well it's quite easy i'll give you that but it's soooo long to cook when you have a bunch of people home.
Yeaaa at that point you just toss them right in their mouth haha. If you don't like that you probably hate crepes haha
Nigella Lawson's Minestrone in Minutes.
3 cups broth, 1 cup tomato sauce, 1/2 cup soup pasta (orzo, ditalini, etc.), 1 can of white beans. Throw it all in a pot and cook until pasta is done. Season however. Herbs, a parm rind if you have one, a garlic clove or powder, red pepper flakes etc.
Easy af, quite healthy considering its all pantry items, and super satisfying. Its grown up spaghettios essentially and super easy to scale up to feed a crowd. Its my favorite "I dont wanna cook" meal.
rice krispie treats
About the same time with a regular oven. Then put on a bunch of great toppings like sour cream, butter, green onion, salsa. Used to make them a lot. Dont do it anymore because im lazy.
True, Air fryers are simply countertop convection ovens, but the form factor makes "ovening" stuff way easier and appealing. The fact that I don't have to bend over, mess around with big hot trays or racks, heat up and clean a big-ass oven for two potatoes, or any 1-2 serving size dishes makes baking a couple of potatoes appealing again.
The air "fryer" moniker is a marketing stroke of genius.
BTW, baked potatoes are trivial easy to make in a microwave, and can be given a toasty finish if you have a microwave/grill combo.
Also, air fryers use less power to do something like a baked potato assuming you're just doing 1 or 2.
Risotto. It's not hard at all, the only semi difficult part is that you have to stir frequently.
If you have a pressure cooker, it's even easier because it eliminates most of the stirring
I don't mind it, as I just use it as an excuse to read even more than I usually do.
We make no-stir risotto in a Dutch oven, I'm sure a deep-ish cast iron with a lid would work as well. We use a cast iron camping pot from Ozark.
You can pressure steam potatoes in an instant pot, it takes 18 minutes =)
For me it was succotash. Super quick, cheap, vegetarian, and a complete protein
Sthuffrrin sthuccotash!
Grew up with Sylvester saying that, didn't actually try it until well into adulthood. Made me wish I'd tried it sooner.
Several types of soup. Also if you make soup for lunch you can eat it again the next day, so (e.g holiday or work from home) you only cook half as much as you would do.
If you're commuting to work, you can also bring your soup and drink it there, and it's way more price efficient than buying some food on site.
Air fryers are remarkable because you can make about everything more easily than you can without the airfryer. Instead of grilling meat in the electric grill (top half of oven), you can airer it on a baking tray and it makes clean-up easier.
Sweet potato fries, or any sort of roast vegetable, can be done easily with less oil and no gas usage from using the oven. Sweet potato stuff makes a great healthy snack for all occasion - no more tanking up on sugar!
You can cut the time in half if you use a microwave first. Prick the potatoes all over with a fork and place in a silicone tray then microwave on full for 10-20 minutes depending on size (check that it's soft inside with a knife.) Cover in oil and seasoning then air fry on full for about 15 minutes. The silicone tray allows you to transfer from the microwave to the airfryer with minimum mess and fuss (so not essential.)
For me though, it's homemade pittas. So much better than the flat discs of carboard they sell in the supermarkets. Takes a bit of time for proving, but I like to make a large batch and freeze a bunch, or keep some dough in the fridge and have a second meal with them later in the week.
https://akispetretzikis.com/en/recipe/1990/pites-gia-soyvlaki
Maybe I just have a more powerful microwave but in mine I can fully bake a single potato in 5 minutes.
Salmorejo.
https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/salmorejo
This recipe is very close to what I do, the only differences are that I go easier with the garlic, I don't add any water and I use more oil.
PD: I don't dice the tomatoes, I grate them so I can discard the peels.
can't you do the same in an oven?
Yes, but it uses a lot more energy to do it in an oven.
Meatballs: mix minced meat with cream cheese and season it to taste. In a pirex (or simliar container) mix a can of pealed tomatos with heavy cream and italian seasoning. Now form meatballs from the minced meat and add it to the tomato-haevy cream mixture. Add cheese on top of verything and bake it for about 35-40 mins at 220° C. When it comes out, you can enjoy it with pasta you boiled separately. (I mostly use tortelini).
Best part you can even make it vegan if you replace all ingridients 1 to 1 with vegan alternatives. It used to be one of my favourites when I was omnivore and still is one of my favourites as a vegan.
i assume you mean pyrex glass?
Yes, those where the ones I meant if you don't have them you can use a similar bowl, where the meatballs can be sumerged at least about 75% in the tomatato-cream sauce.
I rediscovered how quick couscous was to make, just boiling water, less than 10mn, no dishes. When i eat alone, i often eat couscous seasonned with watever i have on hand, a bunch of cream/oil/liquid to make it less dry.
No dishes? Do you pour the couscous and boiling water into your cupped hands?
Well you can use whatever you want for this, used plate, aluminium plate from yesterday takeaway, something that does not necessarily imply washing it immediatly after, unlike most things i use to cook. But yeah fair point
Caesar dressing.
Username checks out? Lol