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These easy 3-ingredient recipes are perfect when you want something good without a long grocery list. There are simple dinners, breakfasts, snacks, and desserts, so there is a little something for everyone.
From cheesy stuffed biscuits and smothered burritos to pumpkin cookies and apple spice cake, these recipes keep cooking simple without making dinner or dessert boring.
If you loved my other 3-Ingredient Recipes roundup, save this one too because there are eight completely different ideas to try.
Why You’ll Love These 3 Ingredient Meals
I love recipes like these for the days when I want to make something homemade but really do not want to pull out ten different ingredients. A few simple shortcuts can make breakfast, dinner, or dessert so much easier.
- Short ingredient lists
- Easy-to-find grocery store ingredients
- Minimal prep work
- A mix of sweet and savory recipes
- Great options for busy days
- Beginner-friendly recipes
Some of these also use optional seasonings or toppings, but the main recipes stay intentionally simple.
Looking for freezer meal ideas? Watch my Freezer Meals Course on YouTube for step-by-step meal prep videos, freezer recipes, and more ways to make busy nights easier.
Made With Love,
Table of Contents
- Here are all the recipes:
- 1. Sausage & Cheese Biscuits
- 2. Snickers Apple Salad
- 3. Spinach Artichoke Bread
- 4. In Memory of Dolly Parton’s Cuppa Cake
- 5. Smothered Burritos
- 6. Easy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
- More Easy Recipes
- 7. Chicken Alfredo Bake
- 8. Apple Spice Cake
- My Cookbooks
- Easy 3-Ingredient Recipes
- Frequently Asked Questions
Here are all the recipes:
1. Sausage & Cheese Biscuits
These little stuffed biscuits are such an easy breakfast or breakfast-for-dinner idea. Refrigerated biscuits make the outside golden and fluffy while the sausage and cheese make the center warm and filling.
Ingredients
- 1 can refrigerated butter biscuits
- Precooked sausage patties
- Cheese, cut into small pieces or shredded
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Separate the biscuits and carefully split each biscuit in half.
- Place a piece of cheese and a sausage patty in the center of each biscuit.
- Fold the biscuit dough around the filling and pinch the edges together to seal.
- Place the filled biscuits on a lightly greased or parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 15–20 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through.
- Serve warm.
If easy breakfasts are your thing, my Breakfast Meal Prep Recipes and Breakfast Casseroles are also great for mornings when you want something ready without a lot of work.
2. Snickers Apple Salad
This is one of those easy sweet salads that always disappears quickly. Tart Granny Smith apples, chopped Snickers, and creamy Cool Whip make it perfect for potlucks, holidays, or an easy dessert.
Ingredients
- 6 Granny Smith apples
- 4 Snickers bars, chopped
- 10 oz Cool Whip
- Additional Snickers bars for topping, if desired
Instructions
- Wash, core, and chop the apples into bite-sized pieces.
- Chop the Snickers bars into small pieces.
- Add the apples and chopped Snickers to a large mixing bowl.
- Gently fold in the Cool Whip until everything is evenly coated.
- Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.
- Sprinkle with additional chopped Snickers just before serving, if desired.
For more easy treats when you do not want a complicated dessert, my No-Bake Desserts roundup has plenty of simple options too.
3. Spinach Artichoke Bread
This cheesy bread takes almost no effort but makes a great appetizer or side dish. The spinach artichoke dip does most of the work, and the Parmesan gets bubbly and golden in the oven.
Ingredients
- 1 loaf French bread
- 16 oz spinach artichoke dip
- ¾ cup Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Slice the French bread in half lengthwise.
- Spread the spinach artichoke dip evenly over the cut sides of the bread.
- Sprinkle generously with Parmesan cheese.
- Place on a baking sheet and bake for 10–15 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.
- For a crispier, golden top, broil for 1–2 minutes, watching carefully.
- Slice and serve warm.
This would be so good with an easy pasta dinner like Creamy Italian Sausage Pasta or Taco Pasta, especially on a night when you want dinner to feel a little more complete without making another complicated side.
4. In Memory of Dolly Parton’s Cuppa Cake
In memory of Dolly Parton, a wonderful lady who was so generous to others.
This simple Cuppa Cake is made with just sugar, self-rising flour, and fruit cocktail. It is an old-fashioned kind of dessert that could not be much easier to put together.
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup self-rising flour
- 1 (15 oz) can fruit cocktail, undrained
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Grease an 8×8-inch baking dish.
- In a large bowl, combine the sugar, self-rising flour, and undrained fruit cocktail.
- Stir until well combined.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish and spread evenly.
- Bake for approximately 35 minutes, or until the center is set and cooked through.
- Allow to cool slightly before serving.
- Serve with vanilla ice cream, if desired.
If simple fruit desserts are your favorite, Berry Cobbler, Apple Dump Cake, and Grandma’s Old Fashioned Apple Crisp are good ones to save for later.
5. Smothered Burritos
This is the kind of shortcut dinner I love for a busy night. Frozen beef and bean burritos get covered in enchilada sauce and plenty of cheese, then baked until everything is hot and bubbly.
Ingredients
- 28 oz red enchilada sauce
- 1 package El Monterey Beef & Bean Burritos
- Shredded cheese, as desired
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Spread half of the enchilada sauce across the bottom of a 9×13-inch baking dish.
- Arrange the frozen burritos in a single layer over the sauce.
- Pour the remaining enchilada sauce evenly over the burritos.
- Sprinkle generously with shredded cheese.
- Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes.
- Remove the foil and continue baking for 15–20 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbly and the burritos are heated through.
- Serve hot with your favorite toppings.
If this is your kind of dinner, you will probably also love my Lazy Dinner Ideas roundup. Those are exactly the meals I reach for when I need something filling without turning dinner into a project.
6. Easy Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
These soft pumpkin cookies are such an easy fall treat. Cookie mix keeps things simple, while pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice give them plenty of cozy flavor.
Ingredients
- 1 (15 oz) can pumpkin purée
- 17 oz bag chocolate chip cookie mix
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly grease it.
- In a large bowl, combine the pumpkin purée, cookie mix, and pumpkin pie spice.
- Mix well until a soft, evenly combined dough forms.
- Drop rounded spoonfuls of dough onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving space between each cookie.
- Bake for approximately 12 minutes.
- Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for a few minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.
- Makes approximately 20 cookies.
For another ridiculously easy dessert, Pumpkin Crumble Dump Cake or Crescent Roll Cinnamon Rolls would be great during the cooler months too.
More Easy Recipes
7. Chicken Alfredo Bake
This creamy chicken bake is about as easy as dinner gets. Chicken tenderloins bake right in Alfredo sauce with Parmesan cheese on top, making it a great low-prep family dinner.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs chicken tenderloins
- Salt, to taste
- Black pepper, to taste
- Garlic powder, to taste
- 16 oz Alfredo sauce
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Season the chicken tenderloins generously with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
- Place the chicken in a greased baking dish.
- Pour the Alfredo sauce evenly over the chicken.
- Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese over the top.
- Cover with foil and bake for approximately 35 minutes, or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F.
- Remove the foil during the last 5–10 minutes if you want the cheese to become golden and bubbly.
- Let rest for a few minutes before serving.
Serve this with Easy One Hour Dinner Rolls or Cheesy Garlic Bread (with Crescent Dough) and you have a really easy comfort-food dinner.
8. Apple Spice Cake
This easy apple spice cake has warm fall flavor with almost no prep. Apple pie filling goes on the bottom and the buttery spice cake topping bakes up golden over the top.
Ingredients
- 2 cans apple pie filling
- 1 box spice cake mix
- ¾ cup butter, melted
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Grease a baking dish.
- Spread the apple pie filling evenly across the bottom of the dish.
- Add the spice cake mix to a bowl.
- Pour in the melted butter and stir until combined.
- Place scoops of the cake mixture evenly over the apple pie filling.
- Bake for approximately 45 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the apple filling is bubbling around the edges.
- Let cool slightly before serving.
- Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream, if desired.
If you love warm apple desserts, Apple Dump Cake, Apple Crescent Donuts, and Grandma’s Old Fashioned Apple Crisp are all worth adding to your dessert list too.
My Cookbooks
If simple recipes like these make your life easier, both of my cookbooks are filled with easy, realistic family recipes for busy days.
My Pro Tip
Easy 3-Ingredient Recipes
- Use shortcuts without feeling bad about it. Refrigerated biscuits, jarred sauces, frozen burritos, prepared dips, and boxed mixes can make homemade meals much more manageable.
- Keep a few flexible staples around. Cheese, canned fruit, chicken, bread, and simple baking mixes can turn into several completely different recipes.
- Season to your taste. Some recipes use only three main ingredients but still benefit from pantry seasonings like salt, pepper, garlic powder, or pumpkin pie spice.
- Watch closely when broiling. The Spinach Artichoke Bread only needs a minute or two under the broiler to get golden.
- Use the serving suggestions as optional extras. Ice cream, whipped cream, toppings, and garnishes are not required for the recipes to work.
Frequently Asked Questions
The main recipes are built around three primary ingredients. A few include basic seasonings or optional toppings, which I treat as pantry staples rather than core ingredients.
The Smothered Burritos, Chicken Alfredo Bake, Sausage & Cheese Biscuits, and Spinach Artichoke Bread are especially easy savory options when you need something quick.
Yes. Recipes with short ingredient lists and straightforward instructions are a great way to get more comfortable in the kitchen without feeling overwhelmed.
Salt, pepper, garlic powder, butter, shredded cheese, jarred sauces, baking mixes, and refrigerated dough are all helpful ingredients to keep around for quick meals.
Several can be prepared ahead. The Snickers Apple Salad can be refrigerated, baked desserts can be made earlier in the day, and some of the savory recipes can be assembled before baking.
