Prepare an Entire Italian Comfort Food Meal in an Hour or Less

It's hard doing it all.  Between work, chores, errands and family, it feels like there's never enough time in a day. Bonding over dinner is one of the most cherished things that I try to make happen as often as humanly possible.  Relying on my best shortcuts is the only way this will work, so today I'm going to share how to prepare an entire Italian comfort food meal in an hour or less. It can totally be done with a few dinner hacks, let's do it! This is a sponsored post as a part of my Cool Food Panel participation, all opinions are my own.

March is Frozen Food Month. It's a great time to start exploring the freezer section at your local grocery store for new favorites. Also, in other fun news, I've been selected to be a part of the Cool Food Panel with the National Freezer & Refrigerated Food Association for 2016. So, I'll be sharing awesome ideas all year long in addition to today's meal ideas, so make sure to follow along! 😉

Make an Italian Meal in an Hour or Less

Today, we'll explore making a full dinner including lasagna, garlic bread, a fresh salad, beverages and dessert to complement the meal. Don't be afraid to lean on your best kitchen tool... your freezer. You can shave so much time off meal making when you can reach into the freezer for high quality, wholesome and reliable ingredients or prepared foods. Let's dig in to these scrumptious family pleasing Italian meal ideas!

Italian Entrees

Generally your main dish takes the longest to prepare. This is where you want to really get those shortcuts in. Using a pre-made entree straight from your freezer will save you time without sacrificing taste, and it will also save you time cleaning up. You can serve it right in the container you cook it in. That's my kind of cooking hack!  Choosing a main dish such as Michael Angelo's Eggplant Parmesan is the perfect way to serve up a meal that tastes like homemade.  Their recipes date back to the late 1800's and are made in small batches from scratch. You can taste the love in every bite. 

Time needed to prepare: 13 - 16 minutes in the microwave or 35 - 45 minutes in a conventional oven.

Classic Italian Sides

Preparing easy to make sides like salad and garlic bread is a no brainer. So simple to make and even easier to love. Best of all you can save time by preparing these while your main dish is cooking.

Tossing together a quick salad with romaine lettuce, grape tomatoes, red onions, whole pepperoncini and a sprinkle of grated Parmesan cheese will just take minutes. It's the perfect accompaniment to a lasagna or eggplant parm. Top with a store bought Italian dressing or simple oil and vinegar to keep it classic and tasty.

Time needed to prepare: 5-10 minutes.

You can’t have an Italian meal without garlic bread! Take advantage of another shortcut by picking up garlic bread or Texas toast in the freezer section. There are so many yummy varieties to choose from. I like the extra thick slices. Mmm.

Time needed to prepare: 5-10 minutes.

Italian Soda

Every extra special meal has a complementary beverage. You can make an Italian Soda in just seconds. To keep it really easy, just put the ingredients on the dinner table. Everyone can make their own.

Ingredients needed: Club Soda or Sparkling Water and your choice of flavored syrup to taste. I used cherry.

Time needed to prepare: None.

Look at that! We put together a whole Italian dinner in no time.  It's officially easy to make an entire meal with all the fixings with shortcuts all while not sacrificing flavor.

But, friends. No delicious dinner is complete without a little dessert to end the evening.

Enter Lady Finger Sundaes! These need little to no advanced preparation. Just pick up pre-made Lady Fingers, Vanilla Bean Gelato, Strawberry sauce and fresh or frozen strawberries. Place the Lady Fingers on a small plate or in a bowl, a scoop of gelato and top with strawberry sauce and sliced strawberries. So delicious and easy to assemble!

Time needed to prepare: 5 minutes.

Don't let time constraints keep you from preparing a stellar dinner. Make sure to check out Michael Angelo's Signature Dishes next time you are perusing the freezer section for a phenomenal meal that tastes homemade. Mangia!

What are your favorite Italian comfort foods?