Cooking real food from scratch can take a lot of time and effort. Part of what makes it take so long is all of the cleanup involved. Thankfully, when my husband is home, he takes care of the post-dinner cleanup. That truly helps a lot. But another way to simplify your mealtime is to cook a One-Pot meal. I try to do this at least once a week.

This accomplishes a couple things. First, it makes it so I only have to clean one big pot or pan instead of the many pots and pans I often use when preparing dinner. This dramatically reduces the amount of after-dinner cleanup involved in any particular meal.

Second, it seems to make the meal simpler to have everything in one dish. Protein and vegetables all served up together? While I might not do it every night, it’s a simple way to make sure everyone is getting a balanced meal.

Some of our favorite one-pot/one-dish meals are:

Quick Thai Green-Curry Chicken (recipe HERE)

Bean-Free Vegetable and Beef Chili (recipe HERE)

Vegetable Crust, Grain-Free Pizza (recipe HERE)

Potato-Free Shepherd’s Pie (recipe HERE)

Simple Chicken and Vegetable Soup (recipe HERE)

What are your favorite One-Pot Meals? How do you cut down on post-dinner clean up?