Long ingredient lists are one of the main reasons people give up on cooking from scratch. If a recipe needs 18 things, half of which you don't have, you order takeaway instead.
These 15 dinners each need 5 ingredients or fewer. Pantry staples like oil, salt, pepper, and water don't count — these are the 5 interesting ingredients. All feed a family of four.
1. Butter Chicken (Cheat's Version)
Ingredients: Chicken thighs, tinned tomatoes, butter, double cream, garlic
How: Roast chicken at 200°C for 30 minutes. Blend tomatoes with garlic, reduce with butter, add cream and shredded chicken. Serve with rice.
2. Pasta Aglio e Olio
Ingredients: Spaghetti, garlic, olive oil, dried chilli flakes, parsley
How: Cook pasta. While it cooks, fry sliced garlic in olive oil with chilli until golden. Toss with pasta and a splash of pasta water.
3. Chicken Thighs with Lemon and Garlic
Ingredients: Chicken thighs, lemon, garlic, olive oil, rosemary (or any herb)
How: Score chicken, rub with garlic, olive oil, lemon, and herb. Roast at 200°C for 40 minutes.
4. Dal (Red Lentil)
Ingredients: Red lentils, onion, garlic, turmeric, cumin seeds
How: Simmer lentils with turmeric until soft. Make a tarka: fry onion, garlic, and cumin seeds in oil until golden. Pour over dal. Serve with rice or roti.
5. Soy-Garlic Noodles
Ingredients: Egg noodles, soy sauce, garlic, sesame oil, spring onion
How: Cook noodles. Fry garlic in sesame oil, add soy sauce, toss noodles. Top with spring onion.
6. Baked Salmon with Honey and Soy
Ingredients: Salmon fillets, soy sauce, honey, garlic, ginger
How: Mix soy, honey, garlic, and ginger. Coat salmon. Bake at 200°C for 12–15 minutes. Serve with rice.
7. Simple Chicken Karahi
Ingredients: Chicken pieces, tomatoes, garlic, ginger, garam masala
How: Fry garlic and ginger, add tomatoes, cook down until oil separates. Add chicken and garam masala, cook until done. 35 minutes.
8. Tomato and Egg Stir-Fry
Ingredients: Eggs, tomatoes, garlic, soy sauce, spring onion
How: Fry tomatoes and garlic until softened. Push to side, scramble in eggs. Combine and season with soy sauce. Serve over rice.
9. Pasta with Tinned Tuna and Tomato
Ingredients: Pasta, tinned tuna, tinned tomatoes, garlic, olive oil
How: Fry garlic, add tomatoes and cook 10 minutes, add drained tuna. Toss with cooked pasta.
10. Sausages with Lentils
Ingredients: Sausages, green lentils, onion, garlic, tinned tomatoes
How: Brown sausages, set aside. Fry onion and garlic, add tomatoes and lentils, simmer 25 minutes. Return sausages to heat through.
11. Prawn Stir-Fry with Soy and Garlic
Ingredients: Prawns, garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil, any vegetable
How: High heat. Garlic in oil, add prawns, soy sauce, sesame. Done in 5 minutes. Serve with rice.
12. Baked Potato with Cheese and Beans
Ingredients: Baking potatoes, tinned baked beans, cheddar cheese, butter, salt
How: Microwave potatoes 8 minutes (or bake 1 hour). Split and load with butter, beans, and melted cheese.
13. Simple Fish Curry
Ingredients: White fish fillets, tinned coconut milk, garlic, ginger, curry powder
How: Fry garlic and ginger, add curry powder, add coconut milk, simmer 5 minutes. Add fish, cook 8 minutes. Serve with rice.
14. Egg Fried Rice
Ingredients: Cooked rice (cold), eggs, soy sauce, garlic, spring onion
How: Fry garlic in oil, add cold rice, push to side, scramble eggs in, combine. Season with soy sauce.
15. Chana Masala (Chickpea Curry)
Ingredients: Tinned chickpeas, tinned tomatoes, onion, garlic, garam masala
How: Fry onion and garlic, add tomatoes and garam masala, cook 10 minutes. Add chickpeas. Simmer 15 minutes. Serve with rice or roti.
The Pattern
Looking at the list, a few things stand out. Most of these dinners are built on the same pattern: aromatics (garlic, onion, ginger) + a sauce base (tinned tomatoes, coconut milk, or soy sauce) + a protein (chicken, eggs, fish, pulses) + a carbohydrate (rice, noodles, pasta, roti).
Master the pattern and you can invent your own 5-ingredient dinners from whatever's in the fridge.
FridgeFirst does this automatically — it sees what's in your fridge and identifies the best dinner from what you have. No long shopping lists, no complex recipes.
Frequently Asked Questions
What counts as "5 ingredients"?
In this list: 5 primary ingredients not counting oil, salt, pepper, and water. These are the flavour-determining ingredients — the protein, the sauce, the aromatics.
Is it possible to feed a family well with only 5-ingredient meals?
Yes — many of the best cuisines in the world are built on very few ingredients. Indian, Italian, and East Asian home cooking are all historically defined by working with limited ingredients well. Flavour comes from technique and combinations, not ingredient count.
Which of these is cheapest?
Dal, egg fried rice, chana masala, and pasta with tinned tomatoes are all under £3 for four people. These are the budget anchors of the list.
Can these be made in advance?
Most of them — dal, chana masala, chicken dishes, pasta sauces — improve overnight and reheat well. Egg dishes and noodles are better fresh.