Cheat’s fish pie
Buying ready made mash is a really quick and easy cheat for fish pie if you’re in a rush. You also don’t have to make a white sauce, and the fish is already cooked in this recipe, so it’s ready in 20 minutes.

Tomato, spinach and mascarpone gnocchi
It’s not a new trick, but it is a convenient one. Shop bought gnocchi is a midweek staple. Save the homemade potato dumplings for the weekend and make our cheesy gnocchi recipe. There’s another clever trick in this recipe, to make it ready in 20, we won’t tell if you don’t.

Cheat’s seafood stew
Seafood stew doesn’t have to take hours to make. This recipe for cheat’s seafood stew is packed full of those delicious fish flavours but is on the table in under an hour, so it’s still achievable midweek.

Sausages and mash with quick onion gravy
Our onion gravy uses a clever ingredient so you don’t have to spend an hour caramelizing onions. Great if you want classic comfort food in a flash.

Quick chicken pie
Cooked chicken and ready made puff pastry means homemade pies just got a whole lot easier. You can buy cooked chicken from most supermarkets or use leftover from your Sunday roast for a Monday supper special.

Sesame chicken, pickled red cabbage and sushi rice salad
If you’ve never made sushi but really like the flavours, try our sushi salad with sesame chicken. It’s a shortcut without any rolling mats or impressive knife skills required. Sprinkle with crumbled nori and black sesame seeds for an authentic feel.

Cheat’s spicy pork ramen
Ramen may seem like one of those dishes you can’t recreate at home, but this recipe for cheat’s spicy pork ramen changes that. Rather than spending hours making stock, we buy a good flavoured one and spike it with Asian aromatics.

Easy tarte tatin
Making these individual tarte tatins means less time preparing and arranging your apple slices, and they are easier to plate up too. Perfect to finish off a French inspired menu for a dinner party.

Strawberry trifles
Using shop-bought Madeira cake shaves an hour off making these individual trifles, and using ready-made lemon curd/custard means these are ready in 30/20 minutes (just stick them in the fridge until your ready to serve).

Quick banana ice cream
No churn ice cream is our saviour in summer, and uses up overripe bananas too! With only 4 ingredients, it couldn’t be more simple. Keep a tub in your freezer for when ice cream cravings kick in.

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