One Pot Cheats’ Tinned Vegetables and Gravy

If you’re short of hob space, or short of saucepans, but want to put a selection of mixed vegetables on a plate quickly then here’s one cheats’ tinned vegetables and gravy solution.

I was first introduced to this method about 40 years ago when I took my parents to tea at a boyfriend’s house and his father was cooking – man style 🙂 and it’s so simple I’m surprised every family and single person household isn’t doing it!

You can mix and match this solution and choose your own tinned vegetables to use.

Serve this alongside any meat pie or similar dish – or even alongside roast beef, roast chicken or roast pork.

What’s great about this is that tinned vegetables keep in the cupboard for months (years), so it’s an easy store cupboard quick vegetable fix in a hurry!

Ingredients:

• One tin of garden peas in water
• One tin of carrots, I prefer the whole carrots, but it’s your choice
• One tin of potatoes
• 2-3 stock cubes or stock pots.

Method:

1. Open all the cans and tip all the contents into your saucepan.  You might care to check the labels to see what sort of water they’re in – if one’s in salted water then I’d drain that one off and chuck the salt water away; if they’re in water, then I’d keep use that too.
2. Crumble up your stock cubes into the saucepan, or tip your stock in.
3. Add a little extra water if you feel it needs more, but you can do this closer to the end if you wish.
4. Bring the entire saucepan of vegetables and gravy to the boil, then cover the pan and simmer it on a low heat for 10 minutes.
5. Strain off the gravy – keeping it and pouring this into a gravy jug.
6. Put the mixed vegetables into a serving dish.
7. Serve: one bowl of mixed vegetables + one jug of gravy.

Genius.  Just one saucepan to wash up!

Alternatives: 

• Use a can of cubed mixed vegetables
• Green beans are a great addition.