Expat cooking
Over the last four years of expat life and cooking, I’ve realized there are many dishes that I cook and love to make overseas that I would never cook in the States. Sometimes you crave things and make things you thought you would never have a reason to cook. For me, that’s chicken nuggets and fried chicken sandwiches–both of which I would simply go out to eat and enjoy in the States but have learned to make in my expat kitchen.
what we have access to
Where we live, we mostly eat chicken, chicken, and more chicken. Sometimes we can find good bacon and I honestly haven’t tried to cook mutton (aka lamb) but we could probably find it somewhere if we looked hard enough. There is one store in a part of the city we don’t go to very often that has real cheese- not just processed, sliced cheese. Although this is a huge improvement compared to our first few years here, I don’t count on having cheese on hand.
my love-hate relationship with chicken
My relationship with chicken is a love-hate relationship. Sometimes, I cook something that we love and we end up making it every week or two. Other times, I have gotten so sick of eating chicken that I make something that’s probably a 6 on the 10-point food scale and end up throwing the leftovers away cause I just can’t do another bite.
our 10 current go-to dinners
All of these meals are ones I can pretty much make at any time of the year. We can usually find carrots, potatoes, green peppers, onions, and frozen peas all year round. I’ve included side ideas that I’ve made to go with them but for most of the meals, I only go into detail about the main course. Many of these recipes are made in my instant pot, which I bought in our host country, and use daily.
1. Homemade chicken nuggets, mashed potatoes, and seasonal veggies
These chicken nuggets are a new favorite. AMAZING! Every time I make them, I get a little quicker at the assembly. The only problem is it’s difficult to not go through our stash of Chick-fil-a sauce pretending like we can just order more with one click.
2. Whole chicken, Instant pot cooked carrots, and homemade crescent rolls
I usually make this weekly. It’s delicious and packed with nutrients as you eat chicken off the bone.
my tips on bone broth: I usually de-bone any chicken we didn’t eat, throw the bones in the instant pot for 60 minutes and make simple nutrient-packed bone broth the same evening. It leaves me with about 1 liter of gelatin/collagen-packed bone broth that I can add to soups or drinks throughout the week.
crescent rolls: with bread machine or without bread machine
my crescent roll tips: I always made crescent roll dough in a bread machine and then form them into rolls, let them rise, and bake them. I like to use half white and half wheat flour.
3. Instant pot quinoa khichdi with raita (VEGETARIAN)
My son (15 months) LOVES this Indian dish, which has become a weekly staple. It’s super healthy, packed with lentils and veggies, and fairly quick and easy to make.
My tips: definitely make a double batch as this doesn’t make a whole lot. We love it with homemade raita (yogurt sauce). It would also go great with naan or chapati.
Homemade Lemon Garlic Raita (recipe is approximate): 1.5 cups plain greek yogurt, 1 tsp garlic powder or 1 T minced garlic, 1 T lemon juice, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 T olive oil.
4. Carrot soup, Cheesecake Factory honey whole wheat bread, and seasonal veggies or fruit (VEGETARIAN)
This is actually Thai carrot soup but I have recently cut the red curry spice down so my little one will eat it.
The honey whole wheat bread is AMAZING with the soup so I included the recipe link as well.
My tips: If the carrots are washed really good and clean, you don’t have to peel them which saves time. When I wasn’t making this for kids, I liked it with 1 tsp red curry paste instead of 1 T.
I’ve made a large portion of this and bought 2.5-3 KGs of carrots. Cook for 20 minutes in this case.
5. Red Thai curry sauce with chicken, green peppers, and rice
This has been a favorite for years!
My tips: I usually make the red Thai sauce in a small saucepan and cook the chicken with diced peppers and onions in a large skillet. Once the chicken and peppers are done, I drain the liquid and add the sauce to simmer for 5 minutes or so.
6. Instant pot honey chicken with rice and seasonal veggies
We recently made this for nationals and it was a hit. I actually left out the sriracha sauce in order to make it more favorable for kids. I put sriracha on the table so people could make theirs spicier as they preferred.
My tips: if you are adding chicken and cooking for 8-10 people, cook for 8 minutes. Can use less sweetener too.
7. Cashew chicken with quinoa or rice and veggies
To us, this definitely tastes like it’s from a restaurant. Delicious and relatively easy.
8. Sloppy joes with homemade sesame hamburger buns, grilled onions, and seasonal veggie
This has been a favorite for guests and crowds.
My tips: The recipe I linked to it is similar to the one I have used, although we use ground chicken and sometimes mix it with ground pork if we can get it. I’ve always just added more ketchup if I need it saucier.
9. Veggie quiche with healthy crust (VEGETARIAN)
This is a relatively easy dish if you don’t have a lot on hand except eggs, some basics, and frozen veggies. I always try to keep labeled ziplock bags of pre-cut veggies in the freezer such as broccoli stems, mushrooms, and carrots. I use as many parts of the veggie as possible because I know it will come in handy later when I just need a veggie and not a lot of prep work or when there aren’t many vegetables in season.
My tips: follow the crust recipe and bake for about 15 min at 175 degrees Celcius (or 350 degrees Fahrenheit).
- Quiche: 6 eggs, 3/4-1 cup milk, 1/2 cup of cheese (optional), salt and pepper to taste, 1/2 tsp thyme, 2 cups diced veggies you have on hand such as onion, garlic, mushroom, or broccoli.
- make and bake crust
- spread cooked veggies on top
- pour egg mixture over veggies
- cook for 35-40 min at 175 Celcius
10. Meatloaf with mashed potatoes and veggies
I didn’t grow up on meatloaf so I wasn’t sure if this would be something I came back to but it is currently one of our favorites. Plus, it’s great for little ones since it’s soft and easy to introduce to babies.
My tips: This recipe has mixed reviews but I have had a great turnout when I cook it on high in the instant pot for 30 minutes. We use ground chicken since that’s what we have access to. It’s not overdone but it’s cooked to medium well and is delicious. I cook mine in a 6.5-inch cheesecake pan that fits in the instant pot but you can use tin foil as the recipe says if that’s what you have on hand. I leave out all the brown sugar in the sauce and add 1 tsp smoked paprika (which I bring from the States #Costco).
I’d love to know what your go-to dinners are as an expat or a simple meal you keep coming back to.