148 no winner recipes

Baked salmon patties made in muffin cups for easy, no-flip portions, then topped with a bright lemon-cayenne cream sauce. A budget-friendly canned-salmon dinner with a zesty finish.

Orange roughy with basil and peppers is a light microwave fish dinner for two: mild white fillets steamed over julienned red bell peppers and onions with fresh basil and lemon. Ready in 25 minutes with almost no fat.

Spaghetti tossed with crisp bacon, beaten eggs, and grated cheese in a butter and white wine sauce. The heat of the just-drained pasta cooks the eggs into a silky, no-cream carbonara-style coating. A fast pantry dinner.

Lentil and rice one-pot dinner with carrots, garlic, and basil. A budget-friendly vegan meal that simmers in a single pot, no draining or sauteing required. High in fiber and plant protein.

SPAM, sliced potatoes, carrots, and onions baked in foil packets with a sweet-tangy brown sugar, beer, and stone ground mustard glaze. A hands-off foil packet dinner with almost no cleanup.

Quick two-bean beef chili with kidney beans, chili beans, tomatoes, and cheddar cheese ready in 40 minutes. A hearty, no-fuss weeknight dinner that feeds a crowd from one Dutch oven.

Vegan stuffed peppers filled with split peas, couscous, mushrooms, and fresh tomatoes seasoned with cumin and balsamic vinegar. High-protein, no meat, and finished in the microwave for a fast weeknight dinner.

Four-ingredient pesto pizza with Romano cheese and pine nuts on a pre-made crust. No tomato sauce needed. Ready in under 30 minutes for game day or a quick weeknight dinner.

French chocolate pots de creme: silky individual chocolate custards made with heavy cream, semi-sweet chocolate, egg yolks, and a hint of Kahlua. The classic French dinner-party finale, no oven required.

Pantry pasta puttanesca: quick tuna, anchovy, and olive pasta in low-fat tomato sauce. Low-fat, 20-minute weeknight dinner built entirely from pantry staples. Neapolitan attitude, no trip to the store.

Microwave black bean burritos done in minutes, no stove required. Spiced black beans, partly pureed for a creamy texture, wrapped in tortillas with a fresh avocado-tomato salsa. An easy vegetarian dinner.

This 30-minute microwave enchilada casserole cooks ground beef with chili powder and tomato sauce, then layers it with flour tortillas and sharp cheddar. No oven needed for this retro weeknight dinner shortcut.

I guess I will have to ditch the craft dinner, because this mac and cheese was actually so easy to make, and it was so much better than those boxed stuff. No comparison.

Sliced cold roast beef with a bright tomato-vinegar sauce and a creamy Caesar-Parmesan dipping sauce. A 10-minute no-cook platter that turns leftover roast beef into a dinner party spread.

One dish microwave spaghetti for two with ground beef, onion, and Italian tomato sauce cooked together in a single casserole. A quick weeknight pasta dinner with no pots to boil and minimal cleanup.

Here's a recipe that I make whenever I'm recruited to make dessert for a dinner party. It's perfect for Passover since it contains no flour, but I bake it 12 months of the year.