Semi Homemade Recipes: How To Make These Easily?

Are you hungry? Are you tired from a hectic day? So, are you bored with cooking the same meal every day? Are you done with all the cutting and chopping and other long processes to cook? Are you looking for some easy recipes to try out? Here in this article, all your worries will vanish completely. You must have heard about homemade recipes; how delicious and healthy they are! But have you heard about semi homemade recipes? If not then you are missing out on a great life hack where you prepare the meal in a shortcut and hassle-free way. The food tastes equally good!

Semi Homemade Recipes

Semi homemade recipes are referred to as those recipes that are made partly from raw and organic edible substances like vegetables, fruits, cereals, etc, and partly from processed foods like canned tuna, cake mix, etc. Although you know processed foods are mainly manufactured for ready-to-eat purposes sometimes they might taste completely bland and are not always the best option to eat when you are hungry. It is a quick process but sometimes you need a bit more flavors to your palette.

In that case, semi homemade recipes help a lot as adding a few fresh ingredients is easy and less time taking. It also makes the food more appealing and healthier. Below are some must-try semi-homemade recipes and they are best for beginners trying to step into the cooking world as well!

1. Chinese Maggie

Who doesn’t love this Indian instant noodle popular among students? You should add a bit of twist to it by following the below instructions-

Ingredients required

• 2 Maggie packets
• 2 eggs(optional)
• Chopped onions (half cup)
• Chopped tomatoes (1/4th cup)
• Carrot juliennes (half cup)
• Chopped beans (half cup)
• Chopped capsicum (half cup)
• Chopped spring onions (1/4th cup)
• Soya sauce (1 tablespoon)
• Tomato sauce (1 and a half teaspoons)
• Chopped chilies (optional)
• Vegetable oil (1 tablespoon)
• salt and sugar according to your taste.

Procedure

• Boil the instant noodles for 5-6 mins and drain out the water. Put a few drops of oil while boiling to keep the strands separated after draining the water.
• Boil all the vegetables except onions and tomatoes.
• Take a pan and add oil to it. Heat the oil. Add onions and tomatoes to it. After frying the onions to golden brown color, add eggs and scramble them.
• Now add all the vegetables to it. Add the drained noodles.
• Pour soya sauce and tomato sauce on it. Sprinkle the Maggie masala. Add the chopped chilies.
• Mix the noodles well with all the other ingredients.
• Add salt and sugar if required. Garnish with spring onions when ready.
• If you are not willing to add the eggs you can substitute them with boiled soya bean chunks or fried tofu.

This ready-to-eat recipe among the semi homemade recipes will save you whenever you crave Chinese takeout! It serves 2 people.

2. Chocolate Cake

Craving something sweet and want a quick solution? No worries here is a recipe that could be mastered by newbies as well. Just a few steps to follow and there you have a delicious chocolatey cake.

Ingredients required

• Chocolate dry cake mix (1 cup)
• Chocolate pudding mix (1/4th cup)
• Milk (1/2 cup)
• Melted butter (1/4th cup)
• 2 eggs, chocolate chips (as required)
• Baking soda (1 teaspoon)
• Sugar (as per your taste)
• Chocolate syrup (for garnishing).

Procedure

• Take a bowl and mix all the dry ingredients in it except sugar.
• Take another bowl and mix eggs and milk.
• Pour the melted butter into the dry ingredients along with the liquid mixture.
• Mix the batter well. See that there are no lumps in it.
• Add sugar to your taste or if required.
• Add chocolate chips and again give it a good mix.
• Take a baking tin and grease it with butter. Pour the cake batter into it and bake it in a preheated oven (350 degrees) for 50 to 55mins.
• Let the freshly baked cake cool down for 10mins. Then drizzle chocolate syrup on it.
• Here we have our very own chocolate cake!

This cake is perfect for your sweet tooth and will satisfy your random cravings. If you do not want to add eggs to this i.e., one of these semi homemade recipes you can add curd in its place.

3. Cheesy Tomato Pizza

Craving a saucy, cheesy, tangy pasta? Say no more! And if you are a picky eater, this is something you can make at home with these easy semi homemade recipes-

Ingredients required

• Pizza dough (frozen) or pizza bread (7inches)
• Sliced tomatoes (1/3rd  tomato)
• Chopped onions (1/4th cup)
• Chopped olives (1/6th cup)
• Chopped mushrooms (1/4th cup, it’s optional)
• Boiled sweet corn (1/4th cup)
• Boiled boneless chicken or paneer (1/2 cup)
• Mozzarella cheese (1/2 cup)
• Tomato flavored pizza sauce (2 tablespoons)
• Oregano powder (1 teaspoon)
• Salt and pepper to taste.

Procedure

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees and then bake the frozen pizza bread (crust) for 10mins. You can make sure it evenly gets cooked by poking holes in it with a fork.
• Spread the pizza sauce all over the crust. Add all the vegetables and chicken (or without chicken).
• Distribute mozzarella cheese evenly all over the pizza. Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Bake the pizza for 10 mins more with all the toppings.
• Here is our tangy, cheesy pizza ready. Sprinkle oregano powder and chili flakes (optional) on top of it.

You would hardly find any other pizza that can compare with the cheese pull of this semi-homemade pizza! It serves 1-2 people approx.

4. Peanut Butter Fritters

Bored with the same old sweet snacks? Here is a new and quick recipe from our semi homemade recipes to help you with this problem.

Ingredients required

• Peanut butter (as required)
• Brown bread slices (12)
• Vegetable oil (to deep fry)
• 2 eggs, flour (1/2 cup)
• Milk (1/4th cup)
• Chocolate syrup

Procedure

• Take a shallow bowl and mix flour, eggs, and a bit of milk to form a thick batter.
• Take the bread slices and spread peanut butter to make peanut butter sandwiches. Cut each sandwich into two halves.
• Dip each half into the batter and deep fry it in preheated oil on medium flame.
• Drain the excess oil after the fritters are cooked properly.
• Drizzle them with chocolate syrup.

Here you go! Freshly made peanut butter fritters with a hint of sweetness from the chocolate. It serves 5-6 people approx.

5. Healthy Chicken Salad

What about making your diet a bit healthy as well as tasty with this semi homemade recipe? You should be able to make this in a few mins.

Ingredients required

• Boiled boneless chicken shreds (150gms)
• Diced cucumbers (half cup)
• Diced tomatoes (half cup)
• Chopped onions (1/4th cup)
• Diced carrots (half cup)
• Chopped olives (a few)
• Canned corn (half cup)
• Canned beans (half cup)
• Chopped celery (half cup)
• Feta cheese (1/4th cup)
• ½ a lime
• Olive oil (2 teaspoons)
• Dijon mustard (1 teaspoon)
• Garlic powder (1 teaspoon)
• Dried oregano (1 teaspoon)
• Salt and pepper according to taste.

Procedure

• Prepare the salad dressing by mixing olive oil, lime, dried oregano, garlic powder, and Dijon mustard.
• Take a bowl and put all the ingredients along with the dressing and mix well. Add salt and pepper according to your taste.
• Garnish with feta cheese.
• If you want to make it a bit fancy then wrap the salad in lettuce leaves and make small salad pockets (optional).

Here we have our healthy, mouth-watering, easy chicken salad ready. Enjoy! Serves 1-2 people approx.

6. Tomato Chicken Spaghetti

Here is another recipe from semi homemade recipes that is less time-consuming yet does not require a lot of cooking skills.

Ingredients required

• Spaghetti pasta (1 packet)
• Canned chicken (half can)
• Canned tomatoes (half can)
• Olive oil (2 tablespoons)
• Pasta sauce (4 tablespoons)
• Chopped onions (1/4th cup)
• Grated garlic (1 teaspoon)
• Basil leaves (a few)
• Parmesan cheese (1/4th cup)
• salt to taste.

Procedure

• Take the spaghetti pasta and boil it in water with a bit of salt.
• Take a pan. Heat oil and add onions and garlic to it.
• Add tomatoes and stir for a while. Add the chicken and start frying a bit.
• Add spaghetti and pasta sauce along with some pasta water.
• Add salt to your taste.
• Top it up with parmesan (grated) and basil leaves.

Now that our pasta is ready you can dig into it! It will be one of the best pasta you had to date. It serves 3-4 people approx.

Frequently Asked Questions (F.A.Q.s)

1. What are semi-prepared foods?

Semi-prepared food could be explained as a mix of raw food materials with processed food materials that come together to form a meal. Its popularity is increasing day by day as it saves you time going grocery shopping.

2. Which is the easiest food to make?

There are a lot of options you can try that are easiest to make-

• Cheesy masala toast
• Coconut balls
• Egg fried rice

The above-mentioned recipes fall under this category as well.

3. What are the 4 examples of ready-to-eat food?

There are a lot of examples for this category of food like –

• Biscuits
• Cookies
• Energy Bars
• Oats

4. What can semi-vegetarians eat?

Semi-vegetarians are referred to as people whose diet consists of mainly plant-based or vegetarian food and very few egg or chicken or fish-based products. They don’t consume red meat. So if you are joining that group you should be able to eat an all-plant-based a few egg, chicken, or fish-based diet that is devoid of red meat.

5. How to save money and yet have loads of food to eat?

The only way to save money while cooking is by doing it in bulk. That will cut down on your food wastage as well as save money. You would be storing the meal and having it multiple times a day as required.

6. How to make easy food in 5 minutes?

You can try a few options below-

• French omelet
• French toast
• Instant noodles
• Instant pasta
• Greek salad

Conclusive Insights

If you have a busy schedule or you are someone who wants to try new recipes now and then but doesn’t have great cooking skills, these semi homemade recipes will help you a lot. These are not at all time taking neither is completely unhealthy like our processed foods. It still has some freshness to it. It still has a personal touch to it. These recipes could be your building blocks in your cooking journey as well as a savior when you are in a hurry or just don’t want to invest a long time in the preparation of food.