If you are looking for a hot cooked dinner that is cheap, simple, and quick to make, this simple one pan dinner is what you may be looking for.
Growing up, a packet based one pan dinner was some me and my brothers could cook without much fuss. You cooked the mince, added the packet and water to the same pot and it was done.
We started to do the same with our family, an easy meal that is a good introduction to cooking on the stove. With growing teens, we found the packets didn’t really make enough and needed to use two packets to fill them up. It’s still quick and easy but it increases the cost.
I made this recipe to make a larger serving and cheaper than purchasing the packet based one pan dinner. Additionally, it uses ingredients we often have in the cupboard anyway, rather than having the specific packet in case they make it.
Simple One Pan Dinner
Equipment
- 1 Pasta Pot
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic
- 500 g beef mince
- 680 ml passata
- 500 g spiral pasta
- 1 ltr hot water
- 2 tbsp Italian herbs
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp rosemary
Instructions
- Put olive oil in the base of the pot
- Crush and chop the garlic cloves and place in the olive oil in the pot
- Prepare 1 litre of hot water ready to use later. This saves having to sort out the water when the rest has already started cooking.
- Turn on heat and when the garlic starts to sizzle add the mince
- Stir and break up the mince so there are no large pieces and add the herbs
- When the mince has browned/cooked, add the passata and stir to heat the sauce. Use some of the hot water to rinse out the passata from the jar and add to the pot
- Add the pasta and the rest of the hot water to the pot and stir through to mix
- Bring to the boil then turn down the heat to lightly bubble, stirring every 2 minutes
- Continue cooking stirring every 2 minutes for 10 minutes or until the pasta has cooked
- If the sauce has lost its watery texture, it is normally finished. If the pasta is still too hard, add 100ml hot water and cook for another 2-3 minutes or until it is at the desired texture
- Serve into bowls ready to eat. Top with grated tasty cheese, Parmesan cheese, or your favourite topping