After that, I was no longer intimidated coming up with meal ideas whether for breakfast, lunch, or dinner… or even for snacks! 

So if you’re feeling scared of meal planning, or cooking or baking for your family, don’t worry! Check out this list I compiled of easy meals with only 5 ingredients or less. I promise that not only will you find them all simple to make, but they’re all pretty delicious too!

Mac and cheese – five ingredients only!

Ingredients: butter, flour, milk, cheese, elbow macaroni

I think we can all agree that mac and cheese is a favorite at home, whether it’s you or your kids eating. This comfort food is pretty easy to make and requires only five ingredients. You can even substitute regular cheese for cream cheese to make it even creamier!

Of course, you can also add bacon bits or meat for more flavor, but that would be cheating the subject of this article since mac and cheese will now be 6 ingredients or less. But moving on…

Breaded pork chops

Ingredients: flour, salt, pepper, egg, pork chop

Breaded pork chops count as one of those simple dinner recipes with minimal ingredients (or even for lunch). Just coat each chop in flour and egg for the added crunch, season with salt and pepper, then fry them up or pop them into air fryers until they turn golden brown.

Congratulations, you now have something to serve for your family dinner or lunch – with 4 ingredients or less, since you don’t even need to necessarily season with salt or pepper.

Salmon – requires only four ingredients!

Ingredients: salmon, salt, butter, lemon

A salmon lunch or dinner is one example of plenty of minimal ingredient meals. Whether you prefer baked salmon or smoked salmon, you’ll get something delicious – and with only four ingredients, too! Butter pretty much makes everything taste better, while lemon adds a delicious taste contrast to seafood.

See? Another reason not to be afraid to prepare delicious food – this one is super easy to make!

Peanut butter cookies – three ingredients only(!!!)

Ingredients: peanut butter, white sugar, egg

Want a quick snack that even your kids can make? Peanut butter cookies are the way to go! As you can see, you only need three ingredients – all of which I’m sure are readily available in your cabinets!

Put them all together, shape the cookies, bake, and you’re done!

Of course, if you want a leveled-up version of the peanut butter cookies, check out our Gourmet Cookies class.

Rice krispie – another snack with less than 5 ingredients

Ingredients: butter, marshmallows, Rice Krispies, vanilla

Here’s another easy treat for the kids (and for you, of course). Just melt the butter, vanilla, and marshmallows together, then add the Rice Krispies (yes, the cereal). Snack cravings, solved!

Shrimp pasta alfredo – a dish with exactly 5 ingredients

Ingredients: pasta, shrimp, Alfredo sauce, cheese, herbs

Actually, you can make any pasta dish with minimal ingredients (pasta salad for example), but I chose this one to feature because it’s an exactly 5-ingredient dinner (or again, lunch). It will take some time to prepare since you have to boil the pasta and cook the shrimp, but the taste is definitely worth it.

Just add a little time styling it and you’ll get plenty of impressed looks, I promise.

Burger patty – a three-ingredient lunch or dinner!

Ingredients: ground beef, salt, pepper

Did you imagine that a super delicious burger patty would be a food that would need less than 5 ingredients? Well, it’s true! Just make sure you have quality ground beef, shape them into patties, season with salt and pepper, and you’re done!

You can eat them with bread and other things like a proper burger or simply with rice.
(If you’re looking for REALLY SPECIAL burgers, though, try our Burger Obsession class!)

Ready to get started making food with 5 ingredients or less?

That’s just a small sample of meals that consist of five ingredients or fewer. There are plenty more – all you need to do is research! You’ll be pleasantly surprised that there are a lot!

And when you find those recipes, all you have to do is follow them, and you’ll be good to go. You might even surprise yourself that you cooked up some delicious stuff!

Of course, if you want to feel less intimidated, feel free to check out our best cooking tips for beginners and basic rules of baking for beginners. There is plenty of useful stuff for you there!

Speaking of food with 5 ingredients or less…

Sorry, I skipped out on one more food item that doesn’t need a lot of ingredients: butter cakes. 

All you need to make them are butter, sugar, eggs, flour, and either baking powder or baking soda. Simple, right?

But if you want a truly leveled-up butter cake, you can check out our latest class with Chef Joey Prats: the Amazing Butter Cakes Master Class!

It took Chef Joey a lot of taste tests and different recipe combinations, but he finally found one that he could truly call AMAZING. The recipe in this class will give you a butter cake that is soft, moist, buttery, with the perfect crumb structure and mouthfeel!

But Chef Joey doesn’t stop there. You’ll also learn to make six different flavors for the butter cakes:

• Vanilla Butter Cake with Salted Caramel Glaze
• Chocolate Butter Cake with Dark Chocolate Ganache Glaze
• Red Velvet Butter Cake with Cream Cheese Glaze
• Espresso Butter Cake with Espresso White Chocolate Ganache Glaze
• Matcha Butter Cake with Matcha White Chocolate Ganache Glaze; and
• Chocolate Marble Butter Cake with Chocolate Marble White Chocolate Ganache Glaze

And with each flavor comes accompanying glazes to further elevate the appearance and taste!

Plus, if you think about it, butter cakes are one of the most common cakes ever – they’re used for weddings, parties, and other special occasions (like Halloween later in the month). That makes learning how to make them a great addition for your food business!

So what are you waiting for? Sign up at The Bailiwick Academy today and start making some amazing butter cakes!

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Keep coming back to The Bailiwick Academy blog for more kitchen tips, tricks, and much more!

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