22 Lazy One Pan Meals for the Nights You Can’t
There are days and nights the kitchen is the last place I want to be so these lazy one pan meals are my saving grace. I use one skillet or one pan, dinner comes out of it, and there’s almost nothing in the sink afterward.
I don’t mind cooking on a weeknight, but when i think of what i want on a weekend is to not stand there washing three pots and a pile of dishes at nine o’clock is what makes me order takeout instead (although I rarely order in).
Easy one-pan dinners are the best dinners, becasue they’re simple in one pan, and dont require too much cleaning.
These recipes take from five minutes (fried egg over rice the best last minute dinner) to about fifty. Some cook rice and a protein together, some are a sheet pan you slide in and forget, and a few are easy weeknight dinners for a small kitchen with almost no counter space.
Chicken for the Best One-Pan Meals
Chicken is what I fall back on most, and every one of these stays in a single pan. Two start with a store-bought rotisserie chicken, which takes the cooking out of it almost entirely.
Healthy Rotisserie Chicken and Rice Skillet
Leftover rice, pulled rotisserie chicken, frozen corn and broccoli in one skillet. Both of the slow parts are done before you start.
Lemon Dill Baked Chicken Thighs and Potatoes
Chicken thighs and baby potatoes in one baking dish at 400. The potatoes take on whatever drips off the thighs, so the side cooks itself.
Rotisserie Chicken and Broccoli Rice
A store-bought chicken, frozen broccoli and whatever rice is in the fridge, all in a skillet or wok. Nothing in it needs cooking from raw. Fifteen minutes, start to finish.
Rotisserie Chicken Quesadillas with Veggie Fajitas
Store-bought rotisserie chicken with peppers and whatever cheese is in the drawer, all in one skillet. I love to buy a whole chicken and make the best and easiest quesadillas using on pan.
45-Minute Creamy Coconut Milk Chicken Thighs
Boneless thighs seared, then simmered in a coconut milk sauce in the same skillet. Forty-five minutes, but only ten of them hands-on.
Ground Beef Skillets
Ground beef browns fast and everything else gets built on top of it. These are the easy weeknight dinners and one pan meals even when the ground beef is frozen and I have nothing else planned for dinner.
Enchilada Skillet
Everything enchiladas have with none of the rolling. If your skillet is oven-safe it goes straight under the broiler to melt the cheese, and then it really is one pan.
Southwest Ground Beef and Sweet Potato
Ground beef with sweet potato and warm spices in one skillet. I buy the sweet potato already cubed and frozen, since peeling is the only real work in it.
Ground Beef with Lemon and Parsley
Lemon and a lot of parsley brighten up the beef. Brown it, season it, done in seventeen minutes.
Ground Beef Orzo in Tomato Cream Sauce
The orzo cooks right in the sauce, so there’s no pot of water to drain.
Cheesy Taco Rice Skillet
Seasoned beef and rice under plenty of melted cheese, all in one skillet. I put it straight on the table. Nobody bothers with a plate.
Sausage and Kielbasa
Smoked sausage comes already cooked, which takes most of the work out before you start. These are the easiest one pan meal ideas on the list.
One-Skillet Sweet Corn Fried Rice with Kielbasa
Kielbasa is cooked already and the corn comes from a can. Mostly you’re stirring things together in a hot pan.
One-Skillet Onion and Pepper Kielbasa with Rice
Smoked sausage with peppers and rice in one large skillet. Frozen pepper strips skip the chopping if that’s the part you’d rather not do.
Cajun Sausage and Rice
Pre-cooked sausage and rice in a Dutch oven, with cajun seasoning doing all the flavoring. My go-to when I haven’t been to the store in a week.
Spicy or Sweet Italian Sausage Pasta
Italian sausage and peppers in a sauce that coats the pasta, all in one pan. Sweet or spicy, whichever you grabbed.
Everything Else in One Pan
Shrimp and salmon are the fastest proteins in the house. The steaks need a pan and nothing more, and the last two skip meat entirely.
Easy 20-Minute Chimichurri Shrimp with Tomatoes
Seared in cast iron with chimichurri and blistered tomatoes. The chimichurri does all the seasoning for you.
Smoky Shrimp Pasta with Angel Hair
Sweet onions and smoky shrimp with angel hair in one pan. The pasta is done in three minutes, so dinner lands before the table is set.
Sazon-Spiced Miso Butter Salmon
Salmon fillets in one cast iron skillet with a miso butter, cherry tomatoes and cilantro spooned over. Twenty-five minutes, and the sauce builds itself in the pan.
Sheet-Pan 15-Minute Steak
Ribeye with baby corn and scallions on one sheet pan. A whole Trader Joe’s haul that roasts together while I sit down.
Carne Asada Plate
Steak seared in cast iron with everything built around it. The recipe starts by softening a guajillo in hot water, but a taco spice mix with guajillo in it skips that step and keeps you in one pan.
Pork Belly Fried Rice
Trader Joe’s slow-cooked pork belly crisps up in the pan and the rice goes in after. Cold rice fries better than fresh, so this is my day-after-rice dinner.
Arroz con Huevo Frito
A fried egg over white rice. One pan, five minutes, and it’s the laziest dinner in the house.
One-Pan Angel Hair Chimichurri Pasta
Chimichurri compound butter and parmesan over angel hair, all in a single saute pan. Meatless. On the table fast.
A Few Things That Make One Pan Dinners Work
My large stainless pan and a cast iron skillet do most of the work in my kitchen. Both go from the stove to the oven, and that one feature turns a lot of two-pan recipes into one. A heavy Dutch oven handles anything with rice, and a rimmed sheet pan covers the rest.
I get the pan hot before anything goes in. Meat dropped into a lukewarm pan grabs on and tears when you move it, where a hot pan lets go on its own once the crust forms. Garlic and shallots go in after the protein comes out, so they don’t burn while the meat browns.
With rice I just leave it alone and let it catch a little on the bottom, then scrape it up with a wooden spoon. That browned layer is where the flavor is. If something sticks, a splash of broth loosens it right up and goes back into the dish.
Leftovers go back into the same kind of pan over low heat with a little water. Sheet pan dinners I put back in the oven rather than the microwave, since the edges should crisp again instead of going soft.
Lazy One Pan Meals FAQs
What are one pan meals?
A one pan meal is a dinner where the protein, the vegetables and usually a starch all cook in the same vessel. No separate pot for rice, no second pan for the vegetables. You get one thing to wash at the end, which on a weeknight is most of the appeal.
What are sheet pan dinners?
The oven version of the same idea. Everything goes on one rimmed baking sheet, slides into the oven, and roasts together while you do something else. They work best when the ingredients cook in roughly the same time, which is why so many of them pair a quick-cooking protein with vegetables cut small.
What’s the best pan for one pan meals?
Anything that goes from the stove into the oven, which is what turns a lot of recipes into true one pan meals. I use a large stainless pan and a cast iron skillet. A heavy Dutch oven is better for anything with rice, and a rimmed sheet pan handles the rest.
Is the pan oven safe, and can it go in the dishwasher?
Depends on the pan. Stainless and cast iron both go in the oven, and so do most enameled Dutch ovens, but check the handle since some are plastic or have a lower temperature limit. For cleaning, stainless goes in the dishwasher and cast iron never does. Wash cast iron by hand and dry it right away.
Are these healthy?
They can be, and these lean that way on their own. You control the oil, the vegetables cook alongside the protein instead of being an afterthought, and nothing needs a heavy sauce to hold it together. The same goes for one pot meals, where the broth catches everything instead of fat pooling at the bottom.
How do you keep them from getting greasy?
Drain the fat after browning ground beef or sausage, and go easy on the oil at the start since the meat releases plenty of its own. Non greasy meals come down to that one step more than anything else.
Do these work for a crowd?
Most of the skillet dinners double if your pan is big enough, which makes them worth knowing for dinner for 6 ideas. The sheet pan ones are easier to scale, since you just use two pans.
If You Like This You’ll Love These
Here are a few others I’ve made and loved:
One Skillet Recipes for a Simple Weeknight Dinner for the skillet ones on their own.
25 Easy Dinners for Lazy Nights for the nights you don’t want to cook at all.
One Pot Meals for Dinner Tonight for everything that happens in a single pot.
40 Make Ahead Meals for a Busy Week for the ones you cook before you need them.
If you make any of these lazy one pan meals, leave a comment. I love reading your comments and will try to get back to every single one.
