5 One-Pot Italian Dinners that Your Family Will Love

As a busy mom of five children, I am always looking for ways to get out of as much dishwashing as possible. One of the easiest ways I do this is by assigning the task of dinner dishes to my teenage daughter. In theory, this should work out well for me but somehow I always get stuck doing the pots and pans. What can I say? I want to spare my oldest daughter from traumatic memories of having to scrub bits of stuck food from heavy pans. Or maybe after 18 years of mothering, I’m tired of the complaining and it’s easier to do it myself but I am teetering on the brink of a parenting blog and THAT, my friend, is another story for someone a little more patient and composed. 

However, the whole after-dinner “soap” opera (see what I did there?) is one of the reasons why I love One-Pot Meals. Not just because it is incredibly convenient to throw in all ingredients into one cooking vessel, but because I know that inevitably I will be the one washing that said cooking vessel. 

Now let me clarify, when I say ONE-POT MEAL, I mean a recipe that only uses ONE COOKING DISH. PERIOD. I say this because often I will read a recipe labeled as so only to see that some separate sauteing or browning is required in another pot. No maa’m. Mama ain’t washing another pan tonight. Not to say that I don’t mind doing it on other nights, but if I am cooking a one-pot meal, I don’t want to see another cooking dish anywhere in the recipe. Is that too much to ask?

So from one busy mom to another–here are 5 One-Pot Italian Meals that will spare you some grief at the sink and will wow your family at the dinner table. All you need is one cooking vessel, a little time and your ONE-STOP Italian Seasoning Blend. Little Eataly delivers on your favorite Italian flavors without having to reach for extra dried garlic or pepper. It even has tomato powder to round out the Italian flavors you love so much!

 

One Pot Gnocchi and Sausage

Yes there is zucchini in this skillet dinner but your kids will forgive you when they bite into large chunks of sausage and gnocchi. Can I just say my teenage boys loved me a little bit more after this meal? Seriously…creamy, delicious and only one skillet to clean. See it on Instagram!

 

“Marry Me” Chicken

This chicken is so decadent, flavorful and beautiful that it is said that the person you serve it to will ask you to marry him. In your case, you might get a happy husband willing to give you the shoulder massage you’ve been asking for these last 6 years. You are welcome. While you can serve this over polenta or pasta–it wouldn’t technically be a One-Pot Meal so I suggest you go to the bakery and buy a nice crusty sourdough, slice into pieces thin enough to pop in your toaster and use it to dip into the sauce. Add a nice glass of red wine and you may even get a foot massage, too;)

One-Pan Chicken Marsala

So many people I know love to choose this from the menu of their favorite restaurant but they don’t know they can easily make it at home and have it be JUST as delicious. Don’t fret about the Marsala Wine because most grocery stores carry it in their wine section. However, if you still can’t find it, feel free to use a Pinot Noir. Just like the Marry Me Chicken, you can serve this with some crusty bread if you don’t want to fire up another pot to cook pasta. See it on Instagram.

Chicken Parmesan Casserole

What makes this dish so amazing (aside from the bubbly cheese) is that the pasta cooks in the casserole with all the other ingredients. This is a family-favorite in our house because it is so easy to throw together and I know every kid in the house will 100% devour it. See it on Instagram.

One-Pot Orzo with Boursin Cheese

Creamy and decadent Boursin Cheese is not just for dinner parties anymore. Kudos to the person who thought to use this appetizer cheese as the centerpiece of a baked pasta dish. 

However, most of the recipes out there are more for a side-dish and in order to make this a TRUE ONE POT MEAL, I needed there to be some sort of protein and it needed to practically cook itself. THIS recipe delivers. See it on Instagram. 

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