5 Ways to Get Dinner on the Table Faster
After a busy weekday, assembling dinner is often closer to chore than cheer. Ordering takeout every night adds up, and many boxed dinners leave a lot to be desired. Luckily, we have some ideas. Birds Eye® vegetables and these five easy tips can help you whip up homemade meals full of contemporary tastes and textures that you’ll be proud to serve your crew.
1. Keep your pantry and freezer well-stocked
If you’ve got a few versatile staples, you’ve got instant dinner options. Keep plenty of grains, canned goods, and freezer sides on hand to suit any weeknight appetite, and half of dinner is already taken care of.
2. Serve frozen veggies
Frozen veggies like Birds Eye® Riced Cauliflower help you save time and still have a delicious, nutritious meal. Bonus: Birds Eye® Riced Cauliflower is a great alternative to rice that fits a low carb lifestyle and even comes in classic restaurant flavors like Fried Rice and Spanish Style.
3. Prep all you can ahead of time
Put the fun back in cooking by prepping anything you can ahead of time. Or, incorporate nutritious no-prep, ready-to-eat options into your routine to shorten the process. That way, when it’s time to make dinner, most of the heavy lifting will already be done.
4. Cook in batches
Welcome to the world of meal planning. Many meal planners set aside a few hours every Sunday to prep and cook batches of the coming week’s mains and sides. Meal planners tend to save time and eat more healthy, intentional choices: For instance, cooking a batch of four chicken breasts and broccoli in a large skillet or grill pan only takes a fraction more time than cooking a single serving.
5. Read your recipes and instructions from start to finish ahead of time
If you want to get dinner on the table faster, it’s all about making the most of your downtime. Here’s a helpful rule of thumb: First, cook the ingredient or portion of your meal that takes the longest. This will keep dinner hot and avoid lag time while waiting for bread to brown or pasta to parboil. Pre-chopped, low-prep veggies and sides cook quickly, so you can save the best for last.