6 Simple One-Pot Meals

In a dream world, dishes would magically wash themselves after making dinner. But we aren’t living in a Snow White world, so accounting for how many pots and pans it will take to make a dish is essential when planning what recipes to tackle. That especially comes into play when looking for easy recipes for entertaining, because the last thing you want to do is get stuck elbows-deep in dishes after throwing a party.

Enter: the one-pot meal. These wonderful easy entertaining recipes can be cooked and served in one dish, leaving you more time to drink that extra glass of wine, whip up a dessert, or just kick back and relax. They also double as great weeknight ideas for family meals.

1. Cheesy Chicken Egg Noodles

Think of this as a grown-up macaroni and cheese. It’s cheesy but also has chicken and broccoli to be more filling. And it makes a lot, so you can feed lots of friends and family with one pot.

2. One-Pan Chicken and Potato Bake

For this easy recipe, you can throw the chicken and potatoes in the oven in a 13x9 dish, both seasoned with KRAFT Zesty Italian Dressing, while you make a salad, set the table, and chill the wine when hosting a party. It’s also great for meal prep.

3. Weeknight Lasagna Toss

Instead of fussing with building multiple intricate layers of lasagna, just toss it all in one skillet. It tastes exactly the same, and you can just call it “rustic” and serve garlic bread on the side.

4. Skillet Vegetable 'Lasagna'

Or for a meatless version, combine zucchini, eggplant, and yellow squash instead of ground beef for a colorful version of lasagna. If you are having a lot of guests over, this is such an easy entertaining dish that you could make a version for vegetarians and a version for meat-eaters.

5. Tuscan Garlic Chicken Skillet

The trick to getting the most flavor out of this dish is searing the chicken thighs and potatoes until they’re golden brown before finishing in the garlicky sauce. All of that caramelization will taste like it was slow-simmered for hours, when it actually takes 45 minutes from start to finish.

6. Shrimp-Fried Rice

Fried rice can be great for entertaining because everyone can grab a bowl and sit around and watch TV, like Chinese takeout but cheaper and customizable. And if you have leftovers, try some the next morning with a fried egg on top. Since you didn’t spend the whole night cleaning dishes, you’ll be much more rested after a night of easy entertaining.