It’s 5 pm, your kids are asking what’s for dinner and you have no idea! Do you ever feel like there’s just no time to cook? That’s when we usually turn to fast food or take out — which is more expensive and less healthy than home-cooked.
Luckily there is a solution to this problem. Cook Once — Eat Twice. You can do this with any cooking technique, but when you combine it with using a slow cooker, Instant Pot, or air fryer it’s a double win!
Steps to Cook Once, Eat Twice
Plan ahead. This step is vital because you need to have enough food on hand to make at least two meals out of what you cook. Start by writing out some meals your family likes. A balanced meal has a protein food, a vegetable or two, and a starchy food like potatoes, corn, peas, brown rice, pasta, bread or tortillas. If you want to try something new, check online for meal-prep ideas.
- Try to always keep these foods on hand to cook dinner in a flash or assist with meal prep:
- Canned tuna or salmon
- Canned beans
- Canned tomatoes and tomato sauce
- Pasta sauce
- Canned corn
- Quick cooking brown rice or other quick cooking whole grain pasta
- Fresh onions and garlic
Protein foods are a big step in planning as they take longer to cook. These are especially good
cook-ahead proteins:
- Baked, grilled, or rotisserie chicken
- A beef or pork roast — slow cooker friendly
- Beans and lentils
- Ground beef and turkey
- Leftover or canned fish
Leftover Ideas for All Types of Protein:
Rotisserie, baked or roasted chicken
You can eat it as prepared the first night, with quick to make side dishes like microwave potatoes and a cabbage or cucumber salad. Here are ideas for another night (or lunch to go).
- Chicken tacos or burritos with cabbage salad
- Add cooked pasta, marinara sauce, and cooked veggies for a one dish meal.
- Make a stir fry. Cook a frozen veggie mix or sauté onions, carrots, and cabbage. Add garlic, ginger, and soy sauce or other Asian sauce. Mix with chicken and serve over brown rice.
- Cook canned tomatoes (or fresh cherry tomatoes) with cumin, paprika, chickpeas, or white beans and fresh cilantro. Serve with chicken, or for a vegan meal, over brown rice.
- Make a fresh chicken salad. Chop chicken and add chopped peaches or mango, greek yogurt, and any of these ingredients: chopped celery, onion, parsley or cilantro, raisins, curry powder or cumin.
- Sheet pan fajitas. Consider cooking chicken tenders with onion and bell peppers on a sheet pan. Serve over rice and use leftovers in a wrap.
- Pulled chicken. Who doesn’t love a barbecue sandwich with chicken? Mix shredded leftover chicken with barbecue sauce and cooked veggies, or try this slow cooker recipe here.
Roasted brisket, ground beef, or pork
First serve with sweet potatoes and green beans (or other veggies), cooked in the microwave or stovetop.
- Add barbecue sauce to the meat and serve atop a baked sweet potato, or chop the potato and mix with meat and barbecue sauce.
- Make burritos or tacos. Serve with a salad.
- Make a “bowl” with leftover meat and brown rice or corn, beans, cooked veggies, and chopped tomatoes or salad. Serve with Italian dressing. Each family member can make their own.
- Make pork chili by cooking canned beans with crushed tomatoes, cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, and pepper. Add leftover meat to the mix and simmer for 30 minutes. Or add green chiles for a Green Chile Stew.
- Cook ground beef with your favorite spices. Make half of the cooked ground beef into tacos by adding onion, chili powder, salsa, and garlic. Add the other half to marinara sauce to put over spaghetti or spaghetti squash for another meal.
Vegetarian Nights
Cook your favorite dried beans or lentils in the slow cooker. Beans are super healthy because they’re rich in iron, B vitamins, protein and fiber. Lentils don’t need soaking and cook quickly. Eat them the first night by themselves or over brown rice. Beans are also great with a sprinkle of grated cheese. Ideas for leftovers:
- Italian White Bean Stew: Cook chopped onion and celery; add a can of crushed tomatoes and ½ can tomato paste. Peel and grate 1-2 gold potatoes into the mix, along with chopped parsley, chopped garlic, ground cumin, paprika and a dash of thyme if you’ve got some. Add 3 cups broth of your choice and the cooked beans. Simmer until the flavors blend. Serve with leftover rice or pasta.
- Bean quesadillas: Mash cooked beans with a little bit of the water used to cook them in. Add your favorite spices and sautéed veggies like onions, mushrooms, and zucchini, then spread between two whole grain tortillas to make a quesadilla. You can also top a baked tostada shell with beans, cheese, lettuce, tomato, and avocado.
- Bean soup: Sauté onions, celery, carrot, and garlic. Add 2 cups of cooked beans and 2 cups of broth and simmer about 15 minutes. Put half of the beans into the blender and blend until smooth; add back to the rest of the beans. Stir, season to taste and serve with avocado. (Here’s another super quick black bean soup recipe.)
Canned tuna or salmon
Stock up on tuna or salmon when it’s on sale and you can make lots of dishes! You can also use any cooked leftover fish to make the following recipes.
- Tuna casserole: mix with your favorite cooked pasta, a can cream of mushroom soup, a cup of milk and leftover veggies or canned/frozen peas. Top with dry bread crumbs and bake at 400°F for 20 minutes. Serve with another veggie or salad. (Choose low sodium soup and frozen veggies for a lower sodium meal.)
- Tuna pasta salad — basically a cold version of tuna casserole! Mix tuna, frozen peas, your favorite dressing, or mayonnaise and a dash of white wine vinegar with leftover pasta or corn. Other add-ins include chopped parsley or cilantro, chopped olives, chopped bell peppers, chopped onion, grated carrots, Italian seasoning.
- Tuna salad: you probably have your own favorite way to make tuna salad. To make it even healthier, use a combination of Greek yogurt and mayonnaise. To make it go further, add chopped boiled eggs, chopped celery, corn, cucumber, minced carrot, or bell pepper. A bit of finely chopped onion, green onion, cilantro, or parsley also spices it up. Here are some different ways to eat tuna salad:
- On toast or a tostada with avocado.
- In a wrap roll-up with lettuce.
- Stuffed into celery or in a tomato or avocado.