Easy Homemade Dinners for Two
Whether you are living with a roommate for the first time, a young couple just starting out, or empty-nesters adjusting to new time and space, it's easy to start relying on fast food, delivery, or just eating out at restaurants. When my husband and I first moved in together, we lived across the street from a shopping center that had a bar and two Mexican restaurants. After a long day at work, more often than not we ambled over across the street to sit down for tacos & beer. After a while, though, we realized that the habit was taking a toll on both our pocketbooks and waistlines!
Cooking at home saves money, is healthier, gives you a sense of accomplishment, and can give the two of you quality time together if you both participate; but it's hard when you are used to cooking for a whole family. As good as your grandmother's recipe may be, one can only eat so much bolognese sauce day after day before craving something lighter. Below are some of the meals that I have discovered work well for homemade meals that won't lead to a week of leftovers. I hope it will give you some inspiration!
Huevos Rancheros:
Corn tortillas, refried beans, eggs, cheese, and salsa. I fry the tortillas in a pan and set them on a sheet pan lined with foil, then fry the eggs in the same oil. I put a layer of refried beans on each tortilla, top each with an egg & grated cheese. I pop them under the broiler for just a couple of minutes to melt the cheese, then top with salsa. Each of us usually eats two for a full dinner.
HOT TIP: If you look in the international section of the grocery store, you might find refried beans in microwaveable bags.
Grilled Sandwiches:
Hot sandwiches rock for dinner. If you have a panini press, it's so easy! Or you can pull out the cast iron skillet. I've kicked my sandwich game up a notch: I need good bread, meat, cheese, and a sauce. My go-tos:
Turkey, provolone, and pesto on focaccia
Grilled cheese with bacon and barbecue (or pizza sauce) on sourdough
Pastrami with Swiss cheese and thousand island dressing (and sauerkraut!) on rye
Breakfast hamburger with fried egg on a sesame bun
Cheese Soufflé
If you haven't made a soufflé yet, it's time. Seriously- it's not that difficult to master, but it takes several steps that you need to have mastery of: separating eggs, whipping egg whites to stiff peaks, making a white sauce, and folding them together. If you know how to do those things, then you can make a soufflé. Pair with a salad and it's a lovely light dinner for two. It feels fancy. You can even bake them in individual ramekins. Have you never made a soufflé before? Learn from Julia Child (affiliate link).
Sheet Pan Dinner
Sheet pan dinners were made for fish and chicken. Slice up some veggies in small enough pieces to cook in the same amount of time as the meat, and you have a dinner on the table in under 30 minutes from start to finish. You can include potatoes on the pan, or boil some water and pour it over couscous. Some awesome combinations are:
Salmon, asparagus, and diced potatoes
Parmesan-crusted chicken breast, sliced bell peppers, and couscous with feta cheese & olive oil
Chicken, cherry tomato, mushroom and eggplant skewers
Herbed tilapia with sliced Brussels sprouts & fingerling potatoes
Baked Potatoes
When was the last time you had a baked potato? I mean, a fully loaded russet potato with sour cream, chives, butter, and bacon bits? Yeah, I thought so. My favorite way to bake potatoes is to coat them in oil and kosher salt and bake them for an hour at 400 degrees for an hour. But if you don't have an hour, you can also cook them in the microwave in 8 minutes! (Keep them wrapped in foil for a few minutes to finish cooking.) Pair them with a salad or soup, and you have a filling and nutritious dinner. If you are extra hungry, top with chili!
Lasagna
Wait. What? Lasagna for two? That's impossible, right?
Wrong! You can scale down lasagna and make two servings (well, two plus one night of leftovers) with this little secret: make it in a loaf pan! I got this from America's Test Kitchen cookbook (affiliate link), and it has increased my lasagna frequency at least threefold. Just cut a normal lasagna recipe in a third (or at least a half), and use no-bake noodles. I find that the normal curly ones don't fit in a standard loaf pan. You will have more than two servings, but you won't have weeks of leftovers.
I hope these ideas help motivate you next time you are tempted to order pizza or walk to the taco shop. Honestly, a home cooked meal is always more satisfying.
Happy cooking!
- Annabelle
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