How to Make a One-Pan Dinner Without a Recipe

There’s cooking, and then there’s hands-off cooking: When time is tight, the latter is the only thing that will do.

Sure, a deeply involved Sunday sauce or a showstopping cake to rival the best of "The Great British Bake Off" is occasionally fun, but when life is jam-packed, a hands-off dinner that comes together in just one pan is the key to sanity.

We turned to Food Director Laura Rege for some tips about one-pan dinners that don't require too much work. (Laura is a big 3.3QT Hybrid Deep Sauté Pan and 4.5QT Hybrid Deep Sauté Pan fan.) The key to a laid-back one-pan dinner, Rege says, is to think about getting everything in one pan, including your carb, vegetable and protein. You don’t want to spend too much time chopping or monitoring the stovetop (hence the hands-off element), nor do you want ingredients going in and out of the pan too much. Essentially, making a great one-pan dinner is all about strategy and cooking times.

5 STEPS FOR AN OFF-THE-CUFF ONE-PAN DINNER:

(TLDR: Keep it simple.) If you’re using a bone-in protein like chicken thighs, a T-bone steak or bone-in pork chops, you’ll want to transfer the skillet to the oven to finish cooking. For fish, boneless chicken thighs, tofu or thin pork chops, you can make everything on the stovetop. This is a bare-bones recipe, so adjust the flavor profile to your liking.

1. PREHEAT YOUR OVEN: The great thing about one-pan dinners is that they’re pretty forgiving. Anywhere from 375º to 425º is a good temperature for an oven-safe skillet dinner.
2. SEAR YOUR PROTEIN: The best way to get a golden-brown crust on your main ingredient is to sear it first. Heat some fat in your pan of choice—our 3.3QT Hybrid Deep Sauté Pan and 4.5QT Hybrid Deep Sauté Pan are great for one-pan dinners—before adding your protein. Chicken thighs, steak, pork chops, tofu and fish filets are all ideal for one-pan dinners. Season them generously with salt and pepper, and sear until golden brown. (If you’re cooking something heartier like bone-in chicken thighs or thick pork chops, you may want to transfer them to the oven later, so don’t worry about cooking them through.) Transfer the protein to a plate.
3. NEXT, SAUTE YOUR VEG: If you want to build in some aromatic flavor, add onions, peppers, carrots and celery to the pot, cooking until soft and translucent. Stir in other vegetables like eggplant, potatoes, bok choy, green beans or zucchini. If you’re planning to transfer to the oven, there’s no need to cook them too long now. Otherwise, cook until the vegetables are fork-tender and season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. OPTIONAL: STIR IN GRAINS OR LEGUMES: Stirring in already-cooked grains like quinoa, short-grain brown rice, millet, oat groats or barley bulks up the meal. For beans or lentils, try chickpeas, beluga lentils, cannellini beans or gigante beans. Add ½ to ¾ cup per person, depending on hunger levels. Add ½ cup stock or water and cook until heated through (if not transferring to the oven).
5. RETURN THE PROTEIN TO THE SKILLET: If the vegetable and protein are already cooked through, transfer the dish to the table, put it on a trivet, and dig in. If you’ve opted for protein that requires a bit more cooking, transfer to the oven (in an oven-safe skillet!) and cook until the protein is cooked through and the vegetables are tender.

GREAT FLAVOR COMBINATIONS INCLUDE:

• Salmon filets + baby bok choy + brown rice + soy sauce + slivered scallions + sesame seeds
• Very thick pork chops + onions + cabbage wedges + caraway seeds + dollop of mustard + parsley
• Hanger steak + bell peppers + cumin + coriander + brown rice + sour cream + avocado + pico de gallo
• Tofu slabs + sliced green beans + quinoa + romesco sauce + slivered, toasted almonds

Another great way to make a one-pan dinner that’s even more hands off? Toss vegetables on a rimmed baking sheet (or in your roasting pan) with oil, salt and pepper. Push to the sides and in the center, add your protein of choice. Roast until the protein is cooked through and the vegetables are tender.

We’ll hesitate to say dinner is solved, but hopefully this helps make things a bit more doable.