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22 One-Pot Meals Without Pasta To Feed Your Whole Tired-Of-Spaghetti Family

And don’t worry — there’s more than just rice and beans here.

by Ashley Jones
Updated: 
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For those times when you just want to cook a delicious dinner without having to scrub a plethora of pots afterward, one-pot meals are totally life-giving. Most of the go-to recipes I know of feature noodles as the main ingredient, but these one-pot meals without pasta are easy to throw together even if you're fresh out of gnocchi.

Some of the one-pot meals below are absolutely riffs of your favorite pasta dishes with a few potatoes or rice thrown in for good measure. But, if you just want a healthy, well-rounded dish that doesn't require 15 pots and pans, several of theses dishes are made using only meat and veggies. Plus, just because they're often called "one-pot" meals, doesn't mean you can't switch it up and utilize one skillet or one pan instead. Maybe we should call it "one cooking surface" meals.

While I love a good simple-to-make pasta dish just as much as the next mom, my kids can only handle so many bowls of spaghetti before they claim they no longer "like" it. Even a tasty fettuccini sometimes just doesn't do the trick. These crave-worthy one-pot meals are perfect for days when (for whatever reason) pasta just won't do.

1One-Pot Nacho Beef Skillet

A giant plate of cheesy nachos is the ultimate comfort food. You can serve a heaping spoonful of satisfaction to your entire family when you make this Yummly recipe for one pot nacho beef skillet. Eat this single-skillet meal with a spoon or use chips as your vehicle of choice to deliver melty goodness right into your mouth.

2Irresistible Red Lentil Curry

This recipe for irresistible red lentil curry from Yummly truly lives up to its name. It combines red curry paste with ginger, carrots, lentils, coconut milk, and more to create a delicious creation that can be served over fresh spinach or rice.

3One-Pot Pork Chops & Vegetables

A wholesome, filling, and nutritious choice, this recipe for one-pot pork chops and vegetables from Family Fresh meals is a total winner. Once you've browned your pork chops to perfection, simply add broth and simmer with scrumptious vegetables like potatoes, carrots, and onions all in the same pan until tender.

4One-Pot Zucchini Pasta

If you want a pasta fix, but crave a vegetable-packed meal, this recipe for one-pot zucchini pasta from Making Thyme For Health features zucchini noodles in lieu of traditional pasta. This yummy dish features dreamy garden veggies cooked to perfection and seasoned with garlic, basil, and red pepper. It's basically summer in a pan.

5One-Pot Tomato Basil Chicken Rice

If spaghetti is on your weekly dinner rotation, but you're looking for a pasta-free alternative, this recipe for one-pot tomato basil chicken rice from Simply Delicious is sure to be a hit. The saucy, tomato-filled dish hits all the high notes you would expect from a spaghetti dish, but without using noodles.

6Lemon Basil Chicken

This one-pan recipe for lemon basil chicken from Yummly is the perfect way to help your family get in plenty of greens. The easy-to-make dish includes a hearty serving of spinach in addition to flavorful chicken, all seasoned with zesty lemon to give it some zing.

7One Pot Mexican Chicken & Rice

This recipe for one-pot Mexican chicken and rice from Dinner Then Dessert is sure to become a go-to family favorite. The beauty of cooking everything in the same skillet is that your veggies and rice get to soak up all of the tasty flavors from cooking the chicken. Between the peppers, onions, and fragrant spices, it's like an entire fiesta is taking place right inside a cast iron skillet.

8One-Pot Zucchini Primavera

You just didn’t know zucchini could taste so good. This super easy one-pot zucchini primavera recipe includes asparagus, mushrooms, and spinach (plus zucchini, of course) and tons of parmesan, heavy cream, and spices to make it taste decadent and filling.

9One-Pot Thai Coconut Curry Shrimp

You don’t need a lot of dishes to make a lot of flavor, and this one-pot Thai coconut curry shrimp recipe proves it. With only 13 ingredients, it’s not as complicated to make as you’d think, and ginger, fish sauce, and red curry paste help bring it to life. This is a great option for when the kids are just going to munch on peanut butter toast or if you have an at-home date night.

10One-Pot Oven Roasted Bone-In Pork Rib Roast

This is one recipe that could not be simpler to make even if you tried. To make this one-pot dish from A Pretty Life, you literally throw an entire bone-in pork rib roast into a big pot with apples, carrots, and onions coated in oil and spices, and roast it all together in your oven for a couple of hours. Voila! Dinner is served.

11One-Pot Lighter White Chicken Chili

What is there not to love about this recipe for one-pot lighter white chicken chili from Simply Scratch? Green chiles and chicken with white beans that I can make without dirtying up a million dishes, plus I can eat it with a spoon or with chips? Sign me up.

12One-Skillet Coffee-Rubbed Steak & Potatoes Dinner

Who says a one-pot meal can't also be a fancy steak dinner? With this recipe for one-skillet coffee-rubbed steak and potatoes dinner from Wholefully, you can whip up a meal worthy of a date night at home without ending up with a kitchen that looks like a tornado swept through.

13One-Pot Teriyaki Chicken & Rice

Packed with vegetables and bursting with flavor, this recipe for one-pot teriyaki chicken and rice featured on Yummly is a tasty meal that you can feed your entire family from without using anything more than a single skillet. Plus, this recipe includes plenty of handy tricks and tips to keep the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan while cooking.

14One-Pot Cabbage Casserole

Look, cabbage is a great versatile veggie, and this one-pot cabbage casserole will totally make you rethink it if you’ve been on the fence. Featured on Yummly, this one-pot cabbage casserole recipe is hearty and stick-to-your-ribs good with ground beef, cheese, and, of course, lots of cabbage.

1530-Minute One-Pot Cabbage Rolls

Cabbage rolls can be time-consuming and frustrating to make. (Anyone else always rip the leaves wide open or is that just me?) This recipe for 30-minute one-pot cabbage rolls from Averie Cooks is a cinch to make and just as delicious as traditional cabbage rolls.

16One-Pot Broccoli Cheese Soup

I mean, soup seems like a no-brainer for a one-pot recipe, but this easy broccoli and cheese one-pot soup is just so good. It’s thick, creamy, and extra hearty, perfect for those busy weeknights when you just need something full of sustenance for your family. (And hey, maybe it’ll convince the picky eaters that broccoli’s not so bad after all.)

17One-Pot Chicken Curry

Climbing Grier Mountain calls this one-pot chicken curry recipe "curry in a hurry" because it is so incredibly quick and simple to make right in one dish. Hearty vegetables like potatoes and carrots combine with herbs, spices, and plenty of chicken to create a filling meal your family will adore.

18One-Pot French Onion Soup

The hardest part about making traditional French onion soup is ladling each serving into an individual ramekin before broiling the toppings. With this recipe for one-pot French onion soup from Damn Delicious, you can skip that entire step and have a one-dish soup to serve that is also filling enough to have as a stand-alone meal without any pasta.

19One-Pot Italian Chicken Rice

If you want a dish big on flavor and filled with veggies like asparagus and sun-dried tomatoes, look no further than this recipe for one-pot Italian chicken rice from Family Fresh Meals. Everything cooks up together right in the same skillet, and fluffy rice takes the place of pasta that is so often used in Italian-style dishes.

20One-Pot Chicken & Potatoes

There are few things better than a delicious, traditional meal like roast chicken and veggies, and this gorgeous one-pot chicken and potatoes makes it easier than ever to pull together. Using chicken thighs, you get tons of juices all in that one pan, and the ingredients list even includes 20 (yes, 20) cloves of garlic, so you know it’s going to be packed with flavor.

21One-Pot Mushroom Rice

Rice is one of my ultimate comfort foods, so spotting this one-pot mushroom rice recipe from Yummly has made my day. Reviews say it tastes a lot like a risotto, and with fresh chives, Worcestershire sauce, and lots of thyme, you know it’s going to be a savory delight. Serve a big bowl for an easy dinner or lunch, or pair it with something else.

22Chicken Enchilada Skillet One-Pot

Seriously, how does this one get any better? Chicken enchilada skillet one-pot is absolutely loaded with rice, beans, and tons of flavor for the ultimate Mexican dish. Serve it with some chips and you could even have it be almost like a nice big loaded dip.

Pasta doesn’t have to be the star of the show. If you need a one-pot recipe with a little more variety, there are plenty of delicious options. Make them for dinner, make them for lunch, and make them just to freeze for a future meal.

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