Two Fast Five-Ingredient Dinners for a 20-Minute Meal

This Mako Food article, published on June 15, 2026 and updated later that day, offers two quick dinner ideas that use only five ingredients each and can be finished in about 20 minutes. Food writer Jordan Weiss presents the recipes as simple answers for anyone who wants a full meal without many ingredients.

The first recipe is five-ingredient tuna patties. If you have canned tuna in the pantry, Weiss says you can turn it into a complete, nutritious dinner by putting everything into a food processor, giving it a brief blitz, shaping the mixture into patties, and frying them quickly. The result is small patties that are crispy on the outside, juicy inside, and versatile enough to serve with chopped salad, cut vegetables, or inside pita with tahini.

The second recipe is a quick mac and cheese. Weiss argues readers should avoid the boxed supermarket versions and make the dish with real cheese instead. This version uses just five ingredients, not counting salt and pepper, including grated cheddar and, in this case, parmesan. It can be prepared in about 15 minutes and produces a sauce that coats the pasta and creates a proper, stretchy, cheesy mac and cheese.