3 Ingredient Meal Ideas: A Full Starter, Main, Dessert and Drink
Right, we’re back with one of my absolute favourite formats — super simple 3 ingredient recipes that somehow end up feeling like a full-blown meal. I’ve done loads of these before, and after getting a bunch of requests to revisit it, here we are with another full round.
This time it’s a starter, main, dessert and a drink, all using just three ingredients each (or as I like to say — three items, because let’s not get too technical about what counts as an ingredient). If you’re short on time, budget, or just love seeing what you can make from next to nothing, this one’s for you.
Sweetcorn and Bacon Fritters (Starter)
Start with something crispy and savoury that takes barely any effort. These fritters are smoky, sweet and ridiculously moreish.
Method:
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Cook your bacon until nice and crisp, then chop it up into small pieces.
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In a bowl, mix the sweetcorn, chopped bacon and self-raising flour to form a thick batter. Add more flour or a splash of water as needed.
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Shape into small fritters. I rolled mine in a bit of extra flour to get them compact, then gave them a tiny brush of water with a pastry brush — that stops them being too dry on the outside.
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Fry or deep-fry until golden and crisp. None of the sweetcorn fell off during frying, which surprised me — they hold together really well!
Cheeseburger Pasta Bake (Main)
This is one of those “it really shouldn’t work but it does” dishes. Classic burger flavours… in a pasta bake. Trust me.
Method:
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Cook your pasta in salted water until just tender, then drain.
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Fry your flavoured burger patties (or seasoned minced beef) in a pan and crumble them up as they cook.
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Stir in the cooked pasta along with a couple of slices of cheese — this helps coat it all in a creamy, cheesy layer.
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Pour into a baking tray, top with more cheese slices (I used four on top), and grill until melted and golden.
Lemon and Blueberry Traybake (Dessert)
Super simple, really fresh, and a lovely bit of colour to round off the meal.
Method:
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Preheat your oven and line a small baking tray or tin.
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Mix the lemon cake mix with eggs and water (I skipped oil to keep the ingredient count low).
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Fold in frozen blueberries — if you want to stop them sinking, toss them in a little cake mix first.
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Bake until golden and a skewer comes out clean. Cool, slice and enjoy.
Tropical Cream Float (Drink)
We finish on something fun, fizzy and a little bit nostalgic. This is basically a dessert in a glass.
Method:
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Fill a tall glass halfway with tropical juice.
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Drop in a couple of scoops of Raspberry Ripple ice cream.
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Top up slowly with Sprite — let it foam up for that proper float effect.
Watch More 3 Ingredient Meal Ideas
This is part of a whole series I’ve done over the years, with loads of different combos — from cheat versions of classics to ideas that probably shouldn’t work but absolutely do.
Watch the full playlist here
Want another recipe set? Try these 3 ingredient recipe ideas.
Let me know in the comments what you’d make first — and as always, feel free to have a bit of fun with it!