Simple Texas Recipes to Liven Up Your Weekly Meal Plans

It may have taken a national pandemic and economic health crisis, but Texan residents are starting to realize the advantages of cooking at home. It saves you a ton of money and is often a lot healthier than dining out. Not to mention you avoid the health risks of eating at your favorite steakhouse, Tex-Mex spot, or bbq restaurant. An increasing disadvantage of cooking at home, however, is it’s time-consuming.

When you’re working from home, helping your kids with their online education, and tending to the household all day, you barely have time to prepare a delicious meal for your family. Then there’s the challenge of coming up with new ideas for variety. After six months, it feels less like a perk and more like a chore.

A Practical Solution
If preparing meals for the family is driving you insane, there is a practical solution. All you need is quality cookware and simple recipes for your favorite Texan dishes. The right pots, pans, knives, and utensils make it easy to whip up meals in no time (without the disastrous ending or extensive cleanup). You can browse brands like Made In Cookware to get the best deals.

Once your kitchen is fully-equipped, you’re ready to try out some recipes. Here are a few popular ideas below.

Tex-Mex Recipes Are Fast, Delicious, and Convenient
Suppose you’re looking for something that tastes great but doesn’t take a lot of time to prepare, opt for tex-mex meals. There are several reasons that they’re a popular go-to. Most recipes require the same base ingredients like chicken breasts, lean cuts of beef, seafood, corn, refried beans, black beans, rice, and veggies.

With these ingredients in your pantry, you can prepare tacos, fajitas, enchiladas, or burritos in a jiffy. You can cook or prep most of the ingredients in advance, and the recipes are simple enough that you can cook with the family. It also doesn’t hurt that most of the elements are affordable and easily accessible.

Steakhouse Dinners Made Easy
Longing for a nice family dinner at your favorite Texas steakhouse? Well, skip the long lines, wait times, and high costs by making it at home. While it might seem like a lot of work to prepare a hearty steakhouse meal, there are some hacks to make things more manageable.

You can prepare your dry rubs and marinades in batches or select pre-mixed products from your local grocery store. You can marinate your meats overnight for extra flavor. If you use an indoor or outdoor grill, you can quickly sear or cook meats in just a few minutes.

When it comes to sides, you can throw a little salt and pepper on them and cook some roasted or sauteed potatoes and vegetables. A loaf of bread from your favorite bakery, and some olive oil, only takes a few moments to heat in the oven. Serve everything up with a nice house salad, and dinner is ready.

It’s Not Too Late for BBQ
Summer may be over, but that doesn’t mean you have to give up a barbecue for the next few months. The temperatures are still ripe for an outdoor meal. The best part about grilling is that you can prepare everything from chicken and steaks to fruits and vegetables at the same time.

If the temperatures are cold or the weather is unpleasant, you can also prepare delicious barbecue meals using a skillet, your oven, an electric grill, or your crockpot. As a finishing touch, you can pair these barbecue-style dishes with cold sides like coleslaw, potato, or pasta salad.

Don’t give up on the perks of cooking at home because it takes too much time or thought. As you can see, there are plenty of famous Texas-style dishes you can prepare at home. These ideas don’t require much time and allow you to add variety to your meal plans as you and your loved ones remain sheltered in place in the upcoming cooler seasons.