Create Easy One-Pot Meals With This Simple Formula

Do you want to make easy weeknight meals with almost no cleanup? Nicole McLaughlin, aka NicoleMcmom, shares her formula for creating satisfying one-pot recipes using just one simple formula.

By

Vanessa Greaves

Published on December 4, 2020

Nicole has cracked the code for one-pot cooking, and now she's sharing it with you. To demonstrate the simple formula, Nicole will walk you through her recipe for One-Pot Crispy Chicken and Rice. And after that, she'll share her recipe for One-Pot Cheesy Bacon Ranch Pasta with Chicken and Broccoli.

The Formula for One-Pot Cooking

To create one-pot meals, you could use a slow cooker, Instant Pot, Dutch oven, cast-iron skillet, or any other sturdy vessel that's large enough to hold the ingredients and thick enough to allow for even heating and cooking.

1. Sear protein to create a flavor base.

Whether you're cooking with chicken, beef, or pork, your first step is to brown the seasoned meat to create that first layer of flavor. You're not cooking it all the way through — that will come later. Note: If you're using a slow cooker, you'll have to sear the meat in a separate pan.

2. Add aromatics and seasonings.

Remove the seared meat and set aside. If there's more than a couple of tablespoons of fat at the bottom of your pan, you can spoon it out and discard it, but you'll want to leave enough to sauté vegetables such as onions, garlic, celery, carrots, and/or shallots. Leave all the brown crusty bits in the pot, too. That's pure flavor that'll be incorporated into your dish. As you stir and cook the aromatic vegetables, you'll notice how the moisture they release while cooking actually helps loosen and dissolve the brown bits.

3. Add starches.

This is where the one-pot technique really starts to kick in. Instead of boiling rice or potatoes in a separate pot, you can stir them into the sautéed vegetables.

4. Add liquid.

Once the rice or potatoes are stirred in well, you'll add water, broth, or wine to the hot pan to deglaze it. What you're doing is dissolving the cooked-on brown bits so the flavor gets into your dish while at the same time you're giving the rice or potatoes enough liquid to cook in.