BBC books has published a whole host of these GoodFood magazine 101 recipe books. I have several but my favourite is this 101 one-pot dishes. When my husband and I both worked full time this was our bible for quick easy meals to do when we got home from work. Since the arrival of our first baby it is still used every week as my husband (who stays at home with our daughter) can prepare of these recipes while I'm at work without slaving over a hot stove for hours and means he can cook and keep one eye on our now very mobile daughter.

They say each recipe is written with simple step by step instructions and is accompanied by a useful nutritional analysis and a full colour photograph, so you can cook with complete confidence.
I personally can't stand following a recipe without a picture. I am an awful cook and really need all the guidance I can get so never attempt any dish without sight of what it's meant to look like. The instructions we always find good enough which is a surprise as at first glance they look very short but this is because they are meant to be quick recipes without many steps. Your cooking skills don't have to be Michelin stared to follow the recipes either.

The nutritional guidelines we do find helpful but treat as a very basic guide as surely the book doesn't know exactly which cream you will buy from the supermarket? If on a diet I don't think this will be accurate enough for you if counting calories etc. The recipes do lend themselves well to putting on your twist on them tweaking the ingredients here and there either to make them healthier or just take out something you don't like.

The size of the book is quite small compared to all my other recipe books as this is less than half the size of an A4 piece of paper (less than A5 I think the next size down is called) but it is reasonably thick. We don't find it stays open on the page we need which is a little bit of a nuisance but as they are easy to cook recipes this isn't a major problem. It's a paperback which is possibly why it doesn't stay open but the cover does wipe clean when my dirty mitts have got flour etc over it!

The book is divided into chapters on 6 different areas:

Soups
Meat and poultry
Fish and seafood
Veggie friendly dishes
Suppers for a crowd
Pudding and desserts

So you could cook a delicious and quick 3 course meal for one person or a dinner party for several of your nearest and dearest.

There is a real mixture from different cooking tastes such as Italian, Chinese, Indian etc as well as stable favourites such as hotpots and fry ups.

Our 2 favourites are a quick meatball casserole which uses turkey mince so works out extremely cheap to make and works well for as many people as you want to cook for. The other is pizza chicken melts which we have served for nieces and nephews who scoffed down.


I brought mine from a book club that comes round to where I work for £3. I have seen then in WHSmith for £4.99 or on Amazon for £3.43. Well worth the money.