One-Frying Pan Meals

While roasting pans, slow cookers and durable pots have their place in most kitchens, the one piece of cookware that’s absolutely a must for busy cooks is a trusty frying pan. Good for much more than making scrambled eggs, the right frying pan can help you serve up a healthy meal quickly without the fuss of using multiple burners.

Even better, one-frying pan dinners let you build up delicious flavours one step at a time and avoid a seemingly never-ending pile of grimy dishes at the end of it. Pare down your meal preparation with these warmly inviting and hassle-free speedy frying pan recipes.

Recipes

• Tofu Scramble
• Mussels in Smoky Tomato Broth
• Sweet Potato Salmon Curry
• Silverbeet Egg Pan
• Chickpea Kale Stir-Fry

Tools of the trade

A frying pan is an indispensable piece of cookware, and quality definitely pays off in the long run. Here’s how to choose one that will turn out to be a kitchen workhorse.

Shop small

Instead of purchasing a frying pan from a department store, consider taking your business to an independent kitchenware store. Here you’ll often experience better service from staff who are well versed in how different frying pans perform. This will help you make the right purchase for your needs.

The big three

Generally, heavy-gauge bottom frying pans made of stainless steel, infused anodised aluminium and indestructible cast iron will give you good bang for your buck. Enamelled cast iron offers a few advantages over the original, such as being easier to clean and not reacting with tomatoes and other acidic ingredients.

Size matters

To prepare a meal large enough to feed a family or give you plenty of leftovers, you’ll need a frying pan that is at least 10 in (25 cm).

Put a lid on it

For simmering items such as curries and to keep food hot once completed, it pays to invest in a frying pan with a tight-fitting lid.

Hot stuff

If you want to make items such as frittatas, look for an ovenproof frying pan that can safely go from stovetop to oven. This means it must have a handle that is heat resistant. Read: not cheap plastic.