Last minute meals are the way to go because many of us have busy schedules may it be from work, school, or family obligations, but that shouldn’t stop us from making meals at home. I, too, have a busy schedule and often times lack the energy to cook a full-blown meal. When I have one of those days, I have a list of last minute meal ideas that I whipped up; these meals take 30 minutes or less to cook.

One thing to keep in mind is to make sure you have your kitchen, pantry and freezer stocked for items or ingredients needed to make these last minute meals. These items include, but are not limited to instant noodles, tofu, ground meats, canned meats, frozen fish, frozen vegetables, cheese, and eggs.

These are great last minute meal ideas that are fast and delicious. You will be glad you didn’t order take out! Enjoy these 12 last minute meal ideas

LAST MINUTE MEAL IDEAS 1-12:

Soba Noodle with Dumplings

I made soba noodles with dumplings frequently when I was in school, and I was too busy to make meals that required a lot of preparation time and cooking. Japanese Soba noodles consists of buckwheat flour, which are dipped in Soba sauce. These noodles cook fast and take about 5-8 minutes to boil. Locate your nearest Asian market and purchase Soba dipping sauce. I enjoy eating soba noodles with dumplings. I take frozen dumplings and pan-fry them. If you prefer, you can also boil them. As you boil the soba noodles, you can start cooking the dumplings on the side. Top the soba noodles with Furikake seasoning, which consists of sesame, seaweed, sugar and salt. This meal is super simple and delicious.

Pad Macaroni

Pad Macaroni is a version of western pasta with a Thai twist. It’s tangy, sweet and spicy! This dish would have to be one of my favorite stir-fry noodles under the Thai food repertoire. The main ingredients in Pad Macaroni are ketchup, oyster sauce, soy sauce, Sriracha and tomato sauce. This dish is very simple and takes 30 minutes to make.  You are just in luck because I have a recipe on my blog that is a must try, click HERE for further instructions on how to make it.

Fish with Vegetables, Salad or Rice

Stock your freezer with Tilapia and Salmon. Tilapia and Salmon are the main frozen fishes that I keep in the freezer. Pair your fish meal with rice with salad or veggies; I love to eat fish with broccoli and rice. Defrost the fish the same day or the night before cooking it. Either way, fish defrosts quickly. Season the fish or leave it plain and bake for 15 minutes. I love the “Oh My Spice” Seasoning Brand. In my pantry, I have the Oh My Spice Garlic Powder and Oh My Spice Sweet and Savory. I recommend this brand because the sodium content is low, and it contains high quality ingredients with no preservatives and artificial additives.

Canned Sardines, Rice and Broccoli

Another item I keep in the pantry is canned sardines. I am reminded to my childhood days whenever I eat canned sardines. On Sunday afternoons, my mom prepared sardines for us to eat with sticky rice. Pop open the can, heat and it up and enjoy it with rice and broccoli or any other veggie you might have in the fridge. Honestly, you don’t even have to heat up the sardines since they are ready to eat.The brand I use is the Ligor Canned Sardines in Tomato Sauce from the Philippines, which come with 3 sardines. I split the 3 sardines into 2 servings.

Chow Mein using Instant Noodles

Many of us have instant noodles lying around in the kitchen! You can take those noodles, remove the seasoning packets and turn it into stir-fry noodles or chow mein. The best part is making your own sauce for the noodles, which will have less sodium compared to what is in instant noodle seasoning packets. The instant noodles take only 3 minutes to boil. I chop up carrots and broccoli and add them to the noodles. This dish takes 15 minutes to cook and goes well with a side dish of dumplings. Click HERE for my recipe.

Pasta and Sausages

Pasta and sausages are a no-brainer. Take a jar of pasta sauce and add it to your favorite pasta. I have a cabinet full of pasta (spaghetti, rotini, macaroni, shells, and angel hair) as well as pasta sauce. My favorites sausages to eat with pasta is Aidells Chicken and Apple Sausages because they are all natural and made ready to eat. I buy a lot of these sausages and stock them in the freezer. When I’m ready to eat the sausages, I let it sit in a bowl of water to defrost. Voila, my meal is done.

Taco dinner

Stock on taco kits; it includes the taco shells, taco sauce and taco seasoning. All you need to do is buy ground meat, veggies and cheese. Taco kits are super cheap and cost 3 dollars or less. The meat takes about 10 minutes or less to cook. Spoon the beef into the taco and add lettuce, tomato and cheddar. Bam dinner is done. I use half of the taco seasoning and save the rest for later to make a skillet taco pasta, which is next on the list.

Skillet Taco Pasta

Take leftover taco seasoning and make a skillet taco pasta. Cook up the beef and add the seasoning sauce. Once the meat is browned, add in macaroni pasta, cheese and tomatoes. Feel free to use whatever pasta you may have in the pantry! The skillet taco pasta will still taste amazing. With this dish, you can have the taste of tacos without the taco shell!

Fried Rice

Fried rice is such a simple dish to cook. I add carrots, onion and shallots. The sauce for fried rice is not complicated at all. Put in oyster sauce, thin soy sauce, and Golden Mountain seasoning sauce. Mix everything together and your fried rice will be done in 20 minutes. You can keep the fried rice simple by just adding soy sauce. Don’t forget to scramble egg into the fried rice. I usually don’t add meat to my fried rice since I like to make it fast and simple, but if you have leftover chicken, pork or beef in the fridge, add them to your fried rice. When I do add meat to my fried rice, I use lupcheong (Chinese Sasuages), Portuguese Sausage, Spam or chicken.

Eggs with rice

Ever have those days when you don’t know what to cook? Well I have those days too! The simple way to solve that problem is to make eggs and rice. I chop up onions and add spinach into my fried egg.  Always keep your fridge stocked with eggs. Need I say more?

Tofu Curry with Rice

House and S&B have ready-made Japanese Curry in pouches. Pour the curry over the rice and heat it up in the microwave or stove top. Add in potatoes and carrots. I also like eating Japanese curry with tofu; its very yummy. Buy a block of tofu and add them into your ready-made curry. Enjoy your curry with a side of steamed rice. If your rice is already hot, you can pour the curry over the rice.

Mapo Tofu with Rice

Not only is there ready made Japanese Curry, but there is also ready made Mapo Tofu Sauce. Lee Kum Kee and House Foods Brands sells Mapo Tofu Sauce. Buy tofu and pour the sauce over the tofu and microwave. If you prefer, cook it on a pan. Add ground beef or pork to the Mapo Tofu dish. One day, I brought the ready made Mapo tofu to work and my co-workers were amazed by how great it smelled!

Thanks for stopping by and reading my post on last minute meals idea!