Five Ingredient Dinners Ready in Under Forty Minutes

We’ve all been there—5:30 p.m. hits, the fridge looks like a Tetris board of half-empty bottles, and the kids (or your own stomach) are staging a revolt. The last thing you want is a laundry list of ingredients and an hour of cleanup. Good news: dinner doesn’t need to be complicated to taste like you tried. Below are eight dead-simple, five-ingredient dinners that go from pantry to plate in under 40 minutes—no culinary degree, no extra trip to the store, and definitely no mountain of dishes.

Before we dive in, here’s the golden rule: salt, pepper, and cooking oil are “freebies.” You already own them, so they don’t count toward the five. Ready? Let’s cook.

1. One-Pan Queso Chicken & Rice

Ingredients: 1 lb boneless chicken thighs, 1 cup long-grain rice, 1 cup chicken broth, ½ cup jarred queso, 1 tsp taco seasoning.

How: Nestle everything in a skillet, bring to a simmer, slap on a lid, and 22 minutes later you’ve got cheesy, spicy comfort food. Top with cilantro if you’re feeling fancy.

Shortcut: Grab pre-diced onion-pepper mix from the salad bar and it still stays at five.

2. Air-Fryer Everything-Bagel Chicken Strips

Ingredients: 1 lb chicken tenders, 2 Tbsp mayo, 3 Tbsp everything-bagel seasoning.

How: Slather mayo on tenders, shower with seasoning, 400 °F for 10 minutes, flip, 4 more minutes. Dunk in ranch and call it a day.

Why it works: The mayo keeps the meat juicy while the seasoning delivers the flavor of an entire spice rack.

3. 4-Ingredient Pesto Tortellini Bake

Ingredients: 1 bag frozen cheese tortellini, ½ cup pesto, ½ cup shredded mozzarella, ¼ cup diced prosciutto (or bacon bits).

How: Dump tortellini into a buttered 8×8 dish, stir in pesto, top with cheese and prosciutto, bake 20 minutes at 425 °F. Broil 2 minutes for those Instagram bubbles.

Pro tip: Use refrigerated pesto from the produce section—flavor bomb, zero chopping.

4. Slow-Cooker Salsa Chicken (Freezer Hero)

Ingredients: 1½ lbs chicken breasts, 1 cup salsa, 1 packet taco seasoning, ½ cup shredded cheese, optional sour cream for topping.

How: Toss the first three into the slow cooker on low 4 hours, shred, stir in cheese until melty. Pile onto store-bought tortillas or lettuce cups.

Meal-prep trick: Freeze the raw chicken, salsa, and seasoning in a bag. Dump into the crockpot straight from the freezer in the morning—dinner’s ready when you walk in.

5. Spaghetti Carbonara for One

Ingredients: 4 oz spaghetti, 1 egg, 2 strips bacon, 2 Tbsp grated Parmesan, cracked black pepper.

How: Cook pasta; while it boils, fry bacon until crisp. Whisk egg and Parmesan in a warm (not hot) bowl, add drained pasta, toss with bacon and a splash of pasta water until silky. Finish with pepper.

Scale up: Feeding four? Just multiply—still five ingredients, one pot, zero cream.

6. Sheet-Pan Kielbasa & Potatoes

Ingredients: 12 oz kielbasa, 1 lb baby potatoes halved, 1 bell pepper sliced, 1 small onion wedged, 1 Tbsp olive oil.

How: Toss everything on a sheet pan, roast 25 minutes at 425 °F, flip once. Smoked sausage means it’s already seasoned—no extra spice required.

7. 3-Step Tuna Casserole

Ingredients: 2 cups dry elbow macaroni, 1 can tuna (drained), 1 can cream-of-mushroom soup, 1 cup shredded Cheddar, ½ cup French-fried onions.

How: Boil pasta 6 minutes, drain, stir together with tuna, soup, and cheese. Bake 15 minutes at 400 °F, top with onions for the last 3 minutes.

Health hack: Swap in organic condensed soup and whole-wheat elbows—still comfort food, less guilt.

8. Honey-Ginger Carrots & Shrimp Skillet

Ingredients: 1 lb peeled shrimp, 3 cups baby carrots, 2 Tbsp honey, 1 tsp grated ginger, 1 Tbsp butter.

How: Steam carrots in a splash of water 5 minutes, add butter and ginger, toss in shrimp and honey, sauté 4 minutes until pink. Done.

Serve with: A pouch of microwaveable brown rice and you’ve got a complete meal without busting the ingredient limit.

Quick Reference Shopping List

• Proteins: chicken thighs, tenders, breasts, shrimp, kielbasa, tuna, bacon
• Carbs: long-grain rice, tortellini, spaghetti, macaroni, baby potatoes
• Sauces/Condiments: jarred queso, pesto, salsa, cream-of-mushroom soup, honey
• Cheeses: shredded mozz, Cheddar, Parmesan
• Flavor Boosters: taco seasoning, everything-bagel seasoning, pesto, ginger

Clean-Up Hacks

Every recipe above uses either one pan, one pot, or a single sheet tray. Line your bakeware with parchment or foil and you can literally toss the mess. If you’re leaning on the slow cooker, hit the ceramic insert with a spritz of non-stick spray before you start—scrubbing time drops to 30 seconds.

So the next time the clock taunts you and takeout feels inevitable, pick any of these five-ingredient heroes. You’ll save cash, skip the dishes, and still get a home-cooked meal on the table faster than the delivery driver can find your doorbell.