Weeknight Cooking Made Easy: Try These Two Simple 20-Minute Meals

Both these meals are so quick and easy that you might worry they “don’t count as real meals.” As I mentioned in my last post, meals don’t have to be perfect to be “real.” As much as I love to cook, opening packages, jars, boxes, and heating food and putting it on a plate counts as cooking. And I am a big fan of a go-to meals list that’s made up primarily of no-recipe-needed meals.

Just like with life, it’s not black and white. Cooking also falls on a spectrum. There are times you eat out or buy take-out. Sometimes, you cook frozen meals. Other times you have a sandwich, and sometimes you make a 3-course meal. Well, you likely only do that if you like to cook, and definitely not on a weeknight!

What You’ll Love About These Two Simple 20-Minute Meals

Chicken, rice, green beans, spaghetti, and meatballs with a side of broccoli take only 20 minutes to make.
It’s easy to serve sauces and dips on the side with the chicken, spaghetti, and meatballs, making mealtime easier if you have picky eaters. Let them decide whether to dip the chicken in ketchup or a sauce or put pasta sauce and meatballs on their spaghetti.
Both meals are made from pantry and/or frozen foods so that you can have them on hand for any night you need a kid-friendly, 20-minute meal.

How to make Trader Joe’s Mandarin Chicken with Rice and Green Beans

Preheat your oven to 400 F, and then place the chicken on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Bake for for 18-20 minutes.

Next, fill a medium size pan with water and a teaspoon of salt. Don’t skip salting the water because the beans absorb some of the salt while they’re cooking which helps season them.

When the beans are done (I cook them for less time than the package suggests), season them with a drizzle of olive oil and some Crazy Jane’s Mixed Up Salt. I have a fondness for this stuff because it’s what my grandmother seasoned her green beans with.

Frozen rice takes 3 minutes. Don’t forget to salt it! Cook the rice in the microwave according to the package instructions.

Last, heat the sauce for the chicken. In my house, we like to dip the chicken in the sauce that comes in the package or dip it in ketchup. You might like to drizzle the sauce over the chicken and then serve it. If you have picky eaters, they’ll likely prefer sauces and dips on the side.

Spaghetti and Meatballs with Broccoli is an Easy 20-minute Meal for Families

I tend to buy DeCecco brand pasta because it’s the brand we served in the restaurant where I first worked as a line cook and then baker. Yes! I do serve regular pasta, as opposed to whole wheat pasta. It’s completely OK to eat regular pasta if that’s what you prefer! Think of your nutrition over the course of a week. You’d get more fiber and protein from whole wheat pasta that’s for sure. But if you want to have regular pasta, you’ll get the fiber and protein from some other food you eat during the week.

As for frozen meatballs, Anna’s family likes Trader Joe’s brand. No one in my family likes frozen meatballs, so I’ve stopped serving them. I decided it was time to reintroduce them! I bought Mom Made Meals Turkey meatball bites to try. Chad and I loved them! The girls opted not to try them. Maybe next time.

Fill a large pot with water and generously salt it. The pasta will absorb some of the salt which helps season it.

By-the-way, this is one of my favorite pots! You just lift the colander out when the pasta is done instead of having to wrangle with pouring out a big pot of pasta and boiling water. I think it was from Williams Sonoma. My dear friend Amanda gave it to me and Chad as a wedding present.

Once the water comes to a boil, add your pasta.

Give it a good stir with tongs.

Put a jar of your favorite (or my favorite) pasta sauce in a pan large enough to hold the sauce and a bag of frozen meatballs. Bring the sauce to a simmer.

Add the meatballs and stir.

Cook until the meatballs are heated through (follow directions on the package). Or you could heat the meatballs in your microwave and add them to the pasta sauce.

Cook your pasta for about 10 minutes. I take a piece out and take a bite to make sure it’s cooked the way I like it.

Next cook whatever veg you have around either in your microwave on on the stove. I usually keep frozen broccoli, green beans, and peas on hand. I tend to cook them less than the instructions advise to prevent them from being mushy.

Yes, frozen vegetables are great. They are typically frozen at the same location where they’re harvested, so they are frozen when they’re at their freshest.