Cooking For Beginners: 4 Easiest Meals To Learn
Whether you’ve just picked up the frying pan for the very first time or you’re looking for a simple meal to cook this evening, look no further than this article. We’ve gathered together four of the easiest meals to learn, all of which taste fantastic.
Contrary to popular belief, cooking really isn’t all that hard. Once you know how to cut vegetables, adjust the temperature on the oven, and fry bacon in hot oil, there’s only one thing you’re missing, and that’s timing.
That’s right, we argue the hardest thing about cooking is timing. When you’ve got multiple pans on the stove and shelves stocked in the oven full of goodies, if you mess the timings up the whole meal may go to waste.
Here are four easy, simple to learn meals to cook at home, all of which aren’t too reliant on timings.
Spaghetti bolognese
That’s right, an all-time classic, spaghetti bolognese. No matter who you speak to, they’ll likely tell you they make a mean bolognese. However, don’t be fooled, mastering this dish is easy - you don’t even need to make your own sauce if you don’t want to.
What you’ll need:
- 12 oz of Spaghetti
- 1 pound of Minced beef or lamb
- 1 large onion
- Peppers (optional)
- 3 Garlic cloves
- Cheese for topping
- 1 jar of Bolognese sauce (ready-made)
How to make:
- Cut the onion and peppers and fry these for several minutes (they should look translucent)
- Add the minced beef or lamb, breaking this up as you go
- Add the garlic (preferably crushed)
- Mix in the sauce (or chopped tomatoes) and simmer until thick
- Add the cheese as a topping
Sausage pasta
An underrated yet highly delicious dish, sausage pasta. If you’re ever unsure of what to make, grab any old sauce, fry up some sausages and create this scrumptious meal.
What you’ll need:
- 4 Sausages (cut up)
- 12 oz of your favorite Pasta
- 1 large onion
- Peppers (optional)
- 3 Garlic cloves
- 1 jar of Pasta sauce
How to make:
- Boil the pasta
- Cut the onion, peppers, and garlic up, adding these to a pan on high heat
- Add the sausages (cook until no longer pink)
- Mix in the pasta sauce and pasta (once cooked) and simmer until done
Tuna pasta bake
Tuna pasta bake is an all-time family favorite in many households, and rightfully so. Requiring little to no preparation and cooking time, this makes for a great meal when you’re short on time.
What you’ll need:
- 2 cans of tuna
- Peppers (optional)
- 8 oz of Pasta
- ½ cup of Sweet corn
- A jar of white pasta sauce
How to make:
- Boil the pasta
- Drain the tuna and add to the pasta once the pasta has boiled
- Add the sweetcorn and white sauce
- Cook in the oven until crispy (usually 15-25 minutes)
If you want to make tuna pasta without the ‘bake’ you can also do this. Simply add the tuna to the pasta, season, and serve, as opposed to adding the white sauce and baking in the oven until crispy on top.
Pita pizza
Who says you can’t be creative when just starting out? Pita pizza has never been easier, you can even cook it on the grill for a crispier taste if you’d like.
What you’ll need:
- Pita bread
- Pizza toppings of your choosing e.g. cheese, onion, peppers, pepperoni
- Can of Tomato purée
How to make:
- Spread tomato purée on the pita bread with a spoon
- Add toppings
- Grill or cook in the oven for 10-15 minutes at 400 degrees F
To conclude
When cooking as a beginner, not all dishes are super hard to learn. No. In fact, many dishes, such as those listed in this article are easy to pick up. The more confident you get with your cooking ability the more you can play around with the recipe, mixing and matching different ingredients and flavors, and maybe even hosting your own dinner party.
If we can give one tip to beginner cooks, it would have to be having confidence in yourself and your ability. Follow the recipes, trust your gut, and see what you make - learn to love cooking and you’ll make some truly delicious dishes.