Five-minute fixes for ‘can’t be bothered to cook’ days

Whether you’ve been at work all day, looking after the baby or out and about with your kids, cooking a decent meal often feels like more trouble than it’s worth. These speedy recipes and kitchen hacks will help you get tea on the table in record time – with minimum effort.

This curry takes only five minutes to prepare and counts as two of your child's five-a-day.

Serve it with naan to get it on the table in a flash.

You will need a saucepan to make this easy meal. We really like this one by Tower that you can find at Amazon.

Find the curry recipe here. If you can spare half an hour, have a go at our no-yeast naan recipe, too.

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Okay, so you can't beat a crispy oven-baked spud, but if you’re pushed for time, you can 'bake' potatoes in the microwave instead.

Use a skewer or knife to check that they're soft and well-cooked inside, and serve with speedy toppings like beans, grated cheese or tinned tuna mixed with sweetcorn and mayo.

Find some alternative jacket potato fillings here.

Eggs are the ultimate fast food: quick to cook, nutritious and packed with child appeal.

Yolky eggs with toast soldiers are perfect for a speedy lunch or tea. Just remember not to give lightly cooked eggs to a baby under 12 months, or toddlers.

Find out how to make the perfect soft boiled egg here.

If you haven't got your hands on some reusable toaster bags already, you NEED them in your life.

They're designed for making toasted sandwiches, but can also be used to cook things like fish fingers, chicken nuggets and potato waffles in your toaster in a matter of minutes!

Just what you need when you've got a hungry child who needs feeding RIGHT NOW.

Microwave rice is a great store cupboard standby for days when you need to get dinner on the table in a hurry.

Check out our recipe for a delicious dinner idea here. It uses leftover chicken and tinned veg, and can be prepared in the blink of an eye.

Pasta and sauce is one of the easiest meals ever, but shop-bought jars of sauce can be too high in salt and sugar for kids.

Instead, you could try using a pouch of tomato or vegetable-based baby food as a sauce. They're also a handy topping for pizza, as well as being great for feeding your baby or toddler on the run.

Okay, so using a slow cooker isn't exactly a five-minute fix, but slow cooker meals are brilliant for those days when you can't be bothered to cook, or when you know you’re going to be busy all day and need a hearty dinner at the end of it.

Just throw the ingredients in it in the morning, and come back to a delicious warming meal.

Of course, you will need a slow-cooker and we highly recommend this model by Morphy Richards. It's shatterproof and is on sale at Amazon for £25.

Check out our best slow cooker recipes here.

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Whether it's breakfast, lunch or dinner, omelettes take a matter of minutes to cook.

We love this baked bean omelette for a speedy supper, but you can add whatever fillings you like: chopped mushrooms and peppers, cheese and ham, leftover cooked potatoes and veg ...

If you tend to have plenty of time to cook at the weekend, but none in the week, batch cooking is a brilliant time-saver.

Meals such as chilli, bolognese sauce, stews, casseroles and curries can all be cooked in large quantities and then frozen in individual or family-size portions, ready to be defrosted and reheated on time-pressed days.

Take a look at our budget-busting batch cook recipes here.

This no-cook sauce is packed with healthy fats and has to be THE quickest pasta recipe ever.

To make it even faster, use fresh rather than dried pasta, which cooks in a matter of minutes.

Find more speedy pasta dishes here.

Using ready-made pizza bases with your own toppings is a great way to get the convenience of a shop-bought meal with the nutritional benefits of cooking from scratch. Plus, kids love coming up with their own combinations.

Tinned sweetcorn and chopped mushrooms, tomatoes, courgettes and peppers will all add extra vitamins.

We've got a pizza recipe that only takes 20 minutes – check it out here.

Keeping a good supply of tinned basics like sweetcorn, tomatoes, peas, green beans and mixed veg means you can whip up a healthy meal in a fraction of the time it'd take you to cook using fresh ingredients.

The best part is, they still count towards your five-a-day!

There's something about toasting your sandwich that makes it feel like a far more substantial meal.

French classic croque monsieur is one of our favourites, with a squidgy cheesy-hammy filling. Serve it with some cucumber and carrot sticks to make a balanced teatime treat for your child.

Who says pancakes are just for Shrove Tuesday? These finger food-sized cheesy pancakes take a couple of minutes to cook and are perfect for a speedy lunch or tea.

And to make it even quicker, this best-selling pan from KitchenCraft will let you cook seven pancakes at once. You can find it at Amazon .

Why not experiment with other fillings, too? Browse some more savoury pancake ideas here.

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We're conditioned to think that we're somehow failing our children if we don’t cook every meal from scratch, but baby food jars, pouches and toddler meals are a lifesaver on days when there’s just no time to cook.

No need to feel guilty!