24 family oven dishes to prepare in 20 minutes

The benefits of baking

Cooking in the oven has many advantages. First, as we have already said, it avoids monitoring its cooking down to the minute. But that doesn’t mean you forget your dish for hours! You still have to take a look from time to time, but the risk of burning your dish is less rapid than with cooking in a frying pan, for example. Secondly, the dishes to cook in the oven are often all-in-one, understand we put everything in the same bowl and shoo, we send this little world to bask in the sun. If some recipes do not require prior preparation before baking, others recommend a few steps. For example, marking a meat first in the pan, the famous Maillard reaction, will add more flavor to the dish. Ditto with certain vegetables, such as zucchini, which will first be gently simmered before integrating it into sheets of filo pastry. And thirdly, while the dish is cooking, you can either focus on the side dish(s) to be prepared – if needed – or on other family activities.

What are the family dishes to bake in the oven?

Among the great classics of dishes to be baked in the oven, let us mention pies, quiches and savory pies, gratins of all kinds, roast meats, stews, or even lasagna. Preparations based on puff pastry, filo and pastry sheets such as turnovers and pastilla are also options to keep in mind. But often the latter require substantial prior preparation before being baked. The ideal, especially for a family meal, is that the preparation does not exceed 15 to 20 minutes before baking. Beyond that, especially in the evening, it’s too long if we include the final cooking in the oven, to make our whole hungry tribe wait, especially the little ones.

In terms of composition, everything depends on the chosen dish, but we don’t forget the major fundamentals by including proteins, fibers, minerals, vitamins and carbohydrates. If the dish does not contain enough vegetables, or do not forget to complete with pan-fried or mixed salad. Don’t forget that frozen or canned vegetables can also save you the day to complement grilled meat or fish. If, on the other hand, it is the vegetable or the accompaniment that is cooked in the oven, we do not forget to supplement the protein if necessary. It’s all about thinking balance. Family meals must be able to meet everyone’s needs, whether for energy, growth or even memory. Food is our fuel, so we have to take great care of it.

To do this, here are 24 gourmet proposals to delight your world.