10 Impossibly-Easy 3-Ingredient Dinners

It’s been a challenging couple weeks for me and my tiny family, as I’m sure it’s been for you and your family. By the end of the week, I have absolutely zero energy to cook or I’m lazy and don’t feel like cooking. That’s when I lean on dinners with the fewest possible ingredients and the smartest grocery-store shortcuts. Some rely on ready-made items like salad dressing or hummus, while others start with pre-prepped produce to save time. Whatever helps you get dinner on the table.

Here are 10 ridiculously-easy three-ingredient recipes for when you need to spend the bare minimum effort to get dinner on the table.

A pack of gnocchi, pre-sliced mushrooms, and shallots and a sheet pan is all you need for this sheet pan dinner (see lead image). If you don’t have mushrooms or shallots, improvise and throw whatever you have on the pan. The gnocchi, which get crispy on the outside, but stay tender on the inside are the star.

Get the recipe: Mixed Mushroom Sheet Pan Gnocchi

Think of this as the baked chicken equivalent of Caesar salad. All it takes is a pack of boneless chicken breast, your favorite Caesar dressing (this is ours), and grated Parm.

Get the recipe: 3-Ingredient Baked Caesar Chicken

A good bowl of creamy, peppery cacio e pepe is one of the most dreamy pasta dinners around. Period.

Get the recipe: Cacio e Pepe

Meet our favorite way to upgrade tomato soup and stretch it to feed the whole family. Any boxed version will do, a couple cans, or the container you have stashed in your freezer.

Get the recipe: Tomato Soup with Stuffed Gnocchi and Spinach

Hummus is for more than just snacking; it’s also our favorite low-effort way to give boneless chicken breast a big boost of flavor. Here, it partners with a sprinkling of smoky seasoning to give ho-hum chicken breasts a tender, golden-brown crust and a moist interior.

Get the recipe: 3-Ingredient Hummus-Crusted Chicken

This big batch of saucy shredded pork almost feels too good to be true. With just a few ingredients and barely any effort you’ve got plenty of meat to feed the whole family. Perhaps a couple times over. Pile it on sandwiches, stuff it into tacos, or use it to finish off a grain bowl.

Get the recipe: 3-Ingredient Slow Cooker Root Beer Pulled Pork

Keep this in your back pocket for those nights you really don’t want to cook. All you need is some zucchini noodle, an egg or two, and a jar of pesto, and bam, you’ve got dinner.

Get the recipe: 3-Ingredient Pesto Zoodle Bowl

Here’s all the proof you need that you don’t need much to cook up really great chicken breast for dinner. With a little help from the spice cabinet and a staple we all have in the fridge, you’ll get a juicy, super-savory, and slightly smoky piece of chicken.

Get the recipe: 3-Ingredient Oven-Baked Cajun Chicken Breasts