Recipe: Baked One-Pan Vegetable Curry

Takeout curry is one of my favorite mid-week pleasures. Warmly spiced vegetables over a bed of rice, in all its creamy glory, is nothing short of soul-soothing. However, this year my family has been laser-focused on reigning in our food budget, leaving little room for impulse takeout purchases.

On a mission for a just-as-easy-and-satisfying solution at home, I discovered that keeping a few freezer and pantry staples on hand meant I could have that same enjoyment, with very little hands-on cooking, in the form of a Miracle Meal. This recipe calls for just four ingredients and is completely hands-off.

Homemade curries, be it butter chicken or tikka masala, can be made pretty simply with store-bought sauces and a few pots on the stove. But if you have a busy schedule, young children, or both, you know that some nights you just need a dinner that is entirely hands-off. This curry is built on that idea.

Instead of standing over the stove, simply layer shortcuts like frozen rice and vegetables in a baking dish with your favorite simmer sauce and bake. This leaves you time to help with homework or do a quick YouTube yoga practice.

Miracle meals are the meals we pull off despite the failure of our best-laid plans; the dinners we can get on the table in 10 minutes; the meals made from pantry staples. Miracle meals are just as much about the cooks as they are about the eaters. At Kitchn, a Miracle Meal recipe only uses basic kitchen equipment and no more than five ingredients, with just 40 minutes (or less) of hands-on cooking time.