Five Meals You Can Cook In Under 10 Minutes

The gap between getting home and someone melting down is about fifteen minutes. These are the meals that fit inside it.

All of them assume a normal kitchen, ingredients you can get at any supermarket here, and no advance preparation beyond having the basics in.

Egg fried rice

Serves 2 · 8 minutes · needs leftover rice

Day-old rice from the fridge is better here. Fresh rice steams and goes claggy.

1. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a wok or large pan until properly hot.
2. Scramble 2 eggs quickly, break them up, and set aside.
3. Add a little more oil, then 2 cloves of chopped garlic. Ten seconds only.
4. Add 2 cups cold rice, breaking up the lumps with the back of a spatula. Leave it alone for a minute to catch a little colour.
5. Add a handful of frozen peas and sweetcorn straight from the freezer, and any cooked protein you’ve got.
6. Return the egg, add 1 tbsp light soy sauce and a few drops of sesame oil. Toss and serve.

For fussy eaters: keep the components separate on the plate. A lot of children who refuse fried rice will eat the same food unmixed.

Ten-minute noodle soup

Serves 2 · 10 minutes

1. Bring 750ml stock to a boil, or water with a spoon of chicken or ikan bilis powder.
2. Add sliced ginger and a clove of smashed garlic.
3. Drop in noodles: instant, mee kia, or udon all cook in 3–4 minutes.
4. Two minutes before the end, add whatever vegetable you’ve got: chye sim, spinach, frozen peas.
5. Crack an egg directly into the simmering broth and let it poach, or stir it through as ribbons.
6. Finish with a splash of soy sauce and sesame oil. Spring onion if you have it.

Anything omelette

Serves 2 · 7 minutes

The best use-up-the-fridge dish there is.

1. Beat 4 eggs with a splash of milk, salt and pepper.
2. Soften any quick-cooking vegetable in a pan: onion, tomato, mushroom, leftover greens.
3. Pour in the eggs, tilt to spread, and leave on medium-low.
4. When the top is nearly set, add cheese or leftover meat to one half and fold over.
5. Slide onto a plate. Cut into strips for small children, far easier to manage than a wedge.

Garlic and tomato pasta

Serves 2 · 10 minutes, the length of time the pasta takes

1. Get the pasta on first, in well-salted water.
2. While it cooks, warm 3 tbsp olive oil with 3 sliced garlic cloves over low heat. Don’t let the garlic brown.
3. Add a tin of chopped tomatoes or a punnet of halved cherry tomatoes, and a pinch of sugar. Simmer while the pasta finishes.
4. Drain the pasta, keeping a cup of the water. Toss together, loosening with the pasta water until it coats properly.
5. Parmesan and torn basil to finish.

To add protein: a tin of tuna, or frozen prawns dropped in with the tomatoes.

Five-minute stir-fry

Serves 2 · 6 minutes

1. Very hot pan, 1 tbsp oil.
2. Thinly sliced protein: chicken, pork, prawns or firm tofu. Lay it in a single layer and don’t stir for the first minute.
3. Add garlic and ginger, then vegetables cut small enough to cook fast.
4. Sauce: 2 tbsp oyster sauce, 1 tbsp light soy, 1 tsp sugar, a splash of water.
5. Toss for two minutes and serve with rice.

The rule for speed: cut everything small. Thickness, not the recipe, decides how long dinner takes.

What makes this work on a weeknight

• Keep frozen vegetables in. No washing, no chopping, and nutritionally they’re fine: frozen at harvest, often better than tired fresh produce.
• Freeze protein flat in portions. A thin piece defrosts in minutes; a block doesn’t.
• Cook rice in bulk and refrigerate. It’s the single biggest time-saver, and it makes better fried rice.
• Get everything out before you start. Most “quick” recipes overrun because you’re still hunting for the sesame oil at step four.
• One pan. Washing up is part of the time cost, even if no recipe counts it.

Frequently asked questions

What can I cook in under 10 minutes?

Egg fried rice with day-old rice, noodle soup, an omelette using whatever is in the fridge, garlic and tomato pasta, and a basic stir-fry are all achievable in under ten minutes. The constraint is rarely the recipe. It’s having a few staples permanently in the house.

What should I always keep in the kitchen?

Eggs, frozen peas or mixed vegetables, rice or noodles, a protein you can cook from frozen, garlic, soy sauce and sesame oil. Every recipe here’s built from that list.

Is frozen veg as good as fresh?

Nutritionally it’s fine, and often better than fresh produce that’s been sitting around, because it’s frozen shortly after harvest. It also needs no washing or chopping, which is most of the time saved.

How do I make quick meals work for a fussy eater?

Serve the components separately, not mixed. A child who refuses fried rice will frequently eat rice, egg and peas side by side on the same plate. Cutting an omelette into strips rather than wedges also helps small children manage it.

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