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6 Min
26/12/2025
Hit the reset button on your dinner game as the new year rolls around the corner. It’s time to leave chaos behind and step into effortless meals to grace your tables, with quick dishes that give off cosy vibes, and do not give you any stress. Because you should begin the new year with a night as chill as your favourite binge-worthy series and flavours that hit harder than your favourite songs.
This New Year, truly embrace the concept of ‘New Year, New Me’, wrapped in layers of comfort, like a pashmina shawl. New Year might fall on a weekday, but you can still stir up comforting dishes in 30 minutes or less and have enough energy to savour whatever you cooked. So, here are some easy-to-make and appetising dishes for a quaint meal. These dishes do not need any complicated steps or ingredients, and you can make them in bulk to share or eat again and again.
This version of butter garlic chicken gets its rich, savoury boost from a simple pan‑fried method where chicken breasts are dredged in seasoned flour before hitting the heat – a trick that helps the sauce cling, and the chicken develop a golden exterior without drying out. The ‘magic’ sauce is just butter, chicken stock, minced garlic and a sprinkle of fresh parsley, whisked until glossy and aromatic. A squeeze of lemon at the end cuts through the richness for a perfectly balanced dish.
From the hills of Nepal comes this viral recipe, where chicken, raw onions and yoghurt salad redefines what comfort food looks like. Marinated chicken is pan-seared and then mixed with onions, coriander and green chillies. Then goes the thick curd mixture with garlic, sugar and salt. The magic happens at the end with the heated mustard oil infused with kasuri methi, turmeric, and Kashmiri red chilli powder. This tempering, poured over the yoghurt mixture, transforms everything. The tempered yoghurt mix is then mixed with the chicken-onion mix, and et voila, it’s done!
Shrimps can be finicky but cook faster than any other protein, which makes them ideal for dishes that deliver on comfort when time is short but flavour can't be compromised. These are cooked on high heat, with the butter melting and foaming, and the garlic hitting the pan just before the shrimp. In minutes, the shrimp curl and turn opaque, their edges picking up colour while staying tender. The garlic-infused butter becomes the sauce, quite simple but loaded with flavour. Sprinkle with fresh parsley and serve these shrimp over pasta, rice, or with bread to mop up the sauce.
Instant ramen gets a bad reputation, but it serves as the base for something far better than the packet instructions suggest. A raw egg whisked with mayonnaise and fresh garlic creates a base that, when hit with boiling broth, transforms into something creamy and rich. The hot liquid tempers the egg, while the mayo adds body and depth. Suddenly, what starts as a basic packet of noodles becomes a bowl of ramen that tastes like someone put thought into it. Add toppings – soft-boiled eggs, green onions, sesame seeds, nori sheets, whatever's in the fridge – and the dish evolves further.
Salad doesn't have to mean cold, raw vegetables tossed with vinaigrette. Roasted vegetables can do the trick just fine with in-season vegetables like root vegetables, beans and more, adding a nice flavour to an otherwise raw salad. When these warm vegetables meet sturdier greens like romaine lettuce, it produces a robust flavour. Add crunchy bits and sweetness from toasted nuts, dried fruit, and a tangy dressing to tie everything together. This is a salad that satisfies in a way that cold lettuce never could. You can add meat to it and seafood too, making sure these are roasted before adding them to your salad.
Consider this like your white sauce pasta, which starts with a béchamel‑style white sauce – made by whisking melted butter and flour, then slowly adding milk until it becomes silky smooth. Then go in sautéed veggies and seasonings like oregano, black pepper and chilli flakes. Toss in perfectly cooked pasta until each strand is coated in the sauce, then finish with cheese. You can also sauté garlic before adding the sauce to get a garlicky batch. The Parmesan cheese melting into the pasta makes for a delicious and quick pasta. Add whatever protein you have at hand – leftover chicken, a few shrimps, or keep it simple with just pasta and sauce.
A humble Mediterranean dish, this dish is made with whole onions, hollowed out and filled. The onion layers soften in the oven, becoming sweet and tender while the filling, whether rice and meat, breadcrumbs and cheese, or mushrooms and herbs, absorbs flavours from both the onion itself and whatever sauce surrounds them in the pan. This is a dish that feels special without requiring a special technique. The onions caramelise slightly, developing edges that taste almost sweet, while the filling stays moist from the steam and liquid in the pan.
As the calendar flips and one steps into a fresh year, there’s no reason to wait hours for the comfort and joy of a good meal. Whether it’s buttery garlic chicken, creamy pasta, or a bowl of dreamy ramen, these dishes prove that delicious comfort food can come together in just 30 minutes. So, ring in the New Year with meals that warm the heart, satisfy the soul, and leave plenty of time for celebrating all the moments ahead.
