There’s just something about fried food that stands tall against ingredients cooked together in one pot. With one-pot meals, all your ingredients are often simmered together to create concentrated flavor across the board. There isn’t too much texture variation in one-pot meals either. Sure, with dishes like one-pot Tex-Mex pasta, you add a few counteracting fresh ingredients before serving; however, plate dishes have the ability to carmelize and develop complexity due to browning. Browning (or the Maillard reaction) occurs around 300 degrees Fahrenheit when foods begin to change color and develop flavor. Then comes caramelization at 320 degrees, which can actually develop the natural sugars hidden in your favorite vegetables.
This flavorful response, combined with the fact that plates are fairly easy to clean up after, make them a winner, especially for those nights when you don’t feel like putting in a lot of effort. You can even line your sheet pans with parchment paper, so when dinner is over, just throw the used paper away and give your pans a quick wash. Alternatively, with one-pot meals, you’ll need to scrub out the Dutch oven or pot when all is said and done.
Now that you know the benefits of plate meals, how do you make one without a specific meal plan?
