25 Easy Recipes to Make in 2021

Here are the best easy recipes to make for every meal! These fast dinners, healthy lunches and quick breakfasts will get you through the day.

Easy recipes

What are the best easy recipes to make? is a question we get a lot. In fact: it’s powered much of the work we do here at A Couple Cooks! You’re busy, and you need ideas for getting food on the table…fast. Guess what? We’re there too! We may be cookbook authors, but we’re also two everyday people who need new ideas for eating healthy on the regular.

Here are our top easy recipes for every meal of the day! Whether it’s fast dinners, easy lunch ideas or healthy breakfasts, we’ve got you covered! Here are our top picks from the website, listed with a few extra features:

  • Total prep time so you know what you’re getting into.
  • Related recipes that might strike your fancy. Now, let’s get cooking!

And now…our top easy recipes for every meal!

More easy recipe inspiration

Didn’t find what you were looking for? We didn’t even get to side dishes, salads, snacks, and more! Here are a few more simple ideas in different categories:

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Vegan curry

25 Easy Recipes & Quick Curry!


1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (5 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

  • Author: Sonja Overhiser
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 12 minutes
  • Total Time: 22 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Diet: Vegan

Description

This quick veggie curry recipe is full of healthy vegetables and big flavor: and it takes under 25 minutes! The perfect fast and easy recipe.


Ingredients

  • White or brown basmati rice, to serve*
  • 1 yellow onion
  • 2 medium bell peppers (we used 1 yellow and 1 orange)
  • 1 large garlic clove
  • 1 teaspoon grated ginger
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 6 cups (5 ounces) baby spinach leaves (or chopped spinach)
  • 28-ounce can crushed fire roasted tomatoes (or best quality crushed tomatoes)**
  • 1 tablespoon curry powder (or garam masala)
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 3/4 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1 15-ounce can chickpeas
  • 1 cup frozen peas
  • 3/4 cup full fat coconut milk

Instructions

  1. Cook the rice: If serving with rice, start the basmati rice (or use an Instant Pot.)
  2. Prep the vegetables: Dice the onion and bell peppers. (For super speed, you can go to Step 3 and mince the garlic and ginger while they cook.) Mince the garlic. Peel and mince the ginger (or grate it).
  3. Saute the veggies: In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the onion and peppers saute for 5 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, and spinach and saute for 2 minutes until the spinach is fully wilted.
  4. Simmer: Carefully pour in the crushed tomatoes and their juices, then add the curry powder, cumin, salt, chickpeas, peas, and coconut milk. Cook for 5 minutes until bubbly. Remove from the heat. If desired, stir in a little more coconut milk (depending on the tomato brand*). Serve with rice.

Notes

*Or make the rice in advance, which is helpful for brown rice because it takes longer to cook. To reheat the rice, place it in a pan on the stovetop and add a splash of water. Heat gently for a few minutes until the water evaporates and the rice is warmed through.

  • Category: Curry
  • Method: Stovetop
  • Cuisine: Indian inspired

Keywords: Easy recipes

A Couple Cooks - Healthy, Whole Food, & Vegetarian Recipes



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Pandemic Trends Carry into 2021

A focus on at-home cooking, restaurant takeout, and delivery reshape the food industry for the near term.

The coronavirus pandemic has had widespread impact on every facet of food production, distribution, retailing, and foodservice. It has upended some trends, such as the long, steady decline in grocery center-store sales, and accelerated others, such as online grocery ordering and off-premises restaurant dining.

How 2021 will unfold will be a function of the vaccine rollouts and the confidence consumers have in their own safety. Some consumer shopping behaviors that accelerated during the pandemic, such as grocery delivery or curbside pickup, may persist at elevated levels. Likewise, consumer preferences with regard to restaurants, such as takeout, delivery, and outdoor dining, are likely to continue in the year ahead.

A significant number of consumers may also continue to prefer cooking at home, rather than dining out. This will help perpetuate the strong sales performance of food retailers into 2021, at least until consumers feel safe dining in restaurants and restrictions on restaurant operations have ended, according to industry observers.

In the meantime, consumers have continued to seek to replace some of their restaurant dining by buying more premium and specialty products to prepare meals at home. Sales of premium and super-premium packaged goods grew by 1.7 percent during the latter part of 2020, says Colin Stewart, executive vice president, business intelligence, at Jacksonville, Florida-based Acosta, citing IRI research.

He notes that the trend has been “consistent across households of all income levels.”

“This has been particularly noticeable with alcohol, coffee, cheese, chocolate—even hair care,” Stewart says. “Since we are a long way from ‘back to normal,’ we would expect these trends to continue well into 2021.”

Stewart says the changes in consumer shopping behaviors, and the adjustments made by retailers to accommodate them, will likely persist for some time. “At this point, it appears that 2021 will be an extension of many of the changes we experienced in 2020, with the health and safety of shoppers as the top priority for retailers,” he says. “Social distancing, touch-free, and transparency will continue to drive the way we live our lives, and the way we shop.”

He expects that many consumers will continue to minimize their shopping trips inside stores or will not visit stores at all. “The acceleration of online grocery shopping will endure, with expectations of doubling market share by 2025,” says Stewart. “Retailers will work hard to ensure seamless integration between in-store and online shopping, leveraging smartphones to drive personalization, and dark stores to drive fulfillment efficiencies.”

Grocery shoppers will expect inspiration and excitement when they do venture inside brick-and-mortar stores, he says. “Shopping wasn’t fun in 2020, and shoppers will need unique offerings to draw them back into the store in 2021. They will particularly be looking for meal solutions, healthy and convenient food options, self-care solutions, and one-stop shopping.”

After a year of product shortages and out-of-stocks on retailer shelves, product availability will be increasingly important going forward, he says. In addition, shoppers will expect better pricing and more deals after a year in which promotional activity was scarce and prices increased on many items.

Shelley Balanko, senior vice president at The Hartman Group, Bellevue, Washington, agrees that consumers will likely seek to minimize trips to the store and spend less time browsing the aisles. That will lead to a need for easy-to-shop store layouts, she says.

Balanko also points out that along with their increasing use of e-commerce, consumers have become more comfortable buying perishables online. Stores that incorporate some personalization into the online shopping experience—such as direct communication, feedback, and the building in of preferences—are more likely to provide more satisfying experiences for their customers.

Healthier Eating
Many Americans reported that they tried to eat healthier during the pandemic, and that they aspire to maintain a healthier lifestyle when the pandemic is over, says Balanko.

“Eating with physical, mental, and emotional resilience in mind is increasing,” she says. 

Stewart of Acosta agrees that consumers will focus on eating healthier in 2021, and will look to self-care options, such as seeking out foods that boost their immune systems. He cites data from research firm SPINS showing high growth rates of natural foods during the pandemic, which he says reflects consumers’ increased interest in health. Sales of vitamins and supplements have also increased.

The plant-based food trend will also gain momentum in 2021, Stewart says, noting that 70 percent of shoppers who buy plant-based alternatives do so for health reasons. “This is one of the top categories that shoppers say they will buy even more of post-COVID,” he says.

Balanko notes that although consumers had been cooking more dinners at home early in the pandemic, that trend has slowed amid the emergence of “cooking fatigue,” indicating potential demand for more quick-and-easy meal solutions in the months ahead. She also expects consumers’ focus on snacking to persist.

“As consumers adapt to the new realities of life during COVID-19, perceptions of busyness have increased, which reinforces consumers’ tendencies to cook less and snack more,” Balanko says.

Focus on Functional
Balanko notes that specialty food makers can capitalize on consumers’ ongoing interest in health and wellness by emphasizing those attributes in their products. “Consumers are receptive to functional benefits, especially from inherently functional whole food ingredients,” she says.

That doesn’t mean consumers will avoid indulgent foods, however, she adds. “Authentic indulgences play a role in wellness. Consumers enjoy indulgences and comfort foods that have been upgraded with high-quality ethically and sustainably sourced/produced ingredients.”

The pandemic accelerated the trend toward what she describes as “conscious consumption,” indicating an opportunity for specialty food makers to showcase their sustainability. “Pay attention to the role packaging plays in reinforcing sustainability credibility while also keeping the product, and consumer, safe,” says Balanko.



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