3 one-pan dinners for a busy weeknight

Each of these dinners is built in one pan. The only extras are a pot for the spaghetti and, if you cook rice, one for the curry. They start from three different things, chicken, sardines and sausage, so the choice follows what is in the fridge and how long you have tonight.

1. One-pan golden butter chicken

Boneless chicken thighs and 25 minutes are all this one needs. The chicken sears in the pan that then holds the sauce, so the browned bits, garam masala, smoked paprika, cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, ginger, garlic and tomato paste all end up in the dish instead of stuck to the pan.

It is a shortcut take on a braised curry. A splash of chicken broth and a cup of cream simmer for 3 to 4 minutes while the chicken finishes, then a chunk of cold butter stirred in on low heat gives the sauce its shine. The recipe serves four over basmati, which the creator boils in a separate pot, so the curry is the one-pan part. Cucumber or a sharp salad does more for the plate than a second creamy side.

2. Creamy lemon sardine spaghetti

This suits a night when the fridge is nearly bare but you have wine, capers and lemon. The sauce comes together in the frying pan while the pasta boils: spinach wilted for 30 seconds and set aside, then shallot, garlic, capers, lemon zest and the sardines in olive oil, with white wine and lemon juice reduced by half and three tablespoons of butter stirred in on the lowest heat. The spaghetti, cooked in its own pot until just under al dente, goes through the sauce with some of its cooking water, the spinach goes back in, and olive-oil toasted breadcrumbs finish it. It serves 2 and lists about 25 minutes, with the pot of boiling water as the longest job.

3. Spicy sausage and chickpea stew

Everything happens in one frying pan, and there is hardly any chopping. A red onion, garlic and a long red chilli cook for a minute, spicy pork sausages squeezed out of their casings and broken into thumb-sized pieces go in for two minutes with salt and cumin, then a can of whole tomatoes (plus half a can of water) and a can of rinsed chickpeas simmer under a lid for four minutes. Baby spinach wilts in at the end.

The recipe's timed steps add up to about seven minutes at the hob; its 20 minutes and four servings are estimates. There is no cream or butter in it, and the heat comes from the long red chilli and the spicy sausages, so pick the sausage heat you want. Bread would suit it.

Which one fits tonight?

The butter chicken and the pasta both lean on butter, and the chicken adds cream as well. The stew has no cream or butter in it.

Handling the chicken

Do not wash raw chicken, because splashing can spread bacteria, and wash your hands and any surface the raw meat touched. Cook it until it is steaming hot with no pink in the thickest part and the juices run clear. If you use a probe thermometer, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) gives 70°C for 2 minutes or 75°C for 30 seconds in the middle.

Sources

• Food Standards Agency: Campylobacter and chicken
• Food Standards Agency: cooking your food