When it comes to grill recipes some can be overwhelming. Demanding a load of complex ingredients and techniques. However there are plenty of easy, more tasty alternatives out there, requiring less work. As the Italian cooking style shows, simplicity is king. Over packing foods with ingredients can ruin a good dish. This article is all about two ingredient recipes. Certain items I don’t include in ingredient count, such as salt and pepper. These two are in almost any dish, and mostly are required only for taste. If you think something is bland or like salt feel free to add to fit your taste buds. Pepper is also one of those ingredients that comes down to personal taste. Some people like to use massive amounts of pepper in their recipes, other’s use none. Always use pepper to taste but remember when cooking for others that a little pepper goes a long way. The list below highlights how much you can do, with almost no ingredients. Some things you may need beside the ingredients are ziplock bags, a meat tenderizer, skewers, and gloves. All of these items can be found at any grocery store. Remember that cooking is about having fun, make that your goal and you can never fail.
Getting Started
Before we jump into the recipes we should go over some basics first. Remember first to preheat your grill. None of these recipes call for a cold grill, they want a hot one. So preheat and clean before cooking. If a recipe calls for a specific timing, follow that timing. Don’t try to take shortcuts as it will only diminish the final product’s quality. If I say to use a tool be aware that there are substitutes. I will try to list some substitutes but realistically anything can be used as long as it’s cooking safe. Be sure to get creative if you want to save some money. These recipes are to my taste. Hence the removal of salt, add seasonings to suit your taste buds. Salt and pepper go with mostly every recipe I’m going to list. Be sure to read carefully, I’ll explain where and why salt shouldn’t be used. Don’t be afraid to mix recipes together. These are simple two ingredient recipes, you can very easily mix a few together to create something original. Be sure to keep certain flavors together, things you think would mix well. Like I said before, clean your grill. There is a very comprehensive grill cleaning guide on this website, I suggest you give that a read if you haven’t already. A clean grill will cook the food better, giving you better flavor. Lastly these recipes are to be done prior to cooking. Most require some margination time to develop a strong flavor. Be sure to give yourself ample time to prepare everything you need. Now that we have gone over some basics let’s get to the list.
The 10 Recipes
These recipes are very simple and have solid tasting outcomes. Feel free to add herbs and seasonings where you see fit. I will include some extra ingredients in each in case you want to explore a bit more with flavors. You will find I list the two key ingredients at the end of each one. Some of the ingredients or steps have substitutes if you cannot eat or cannot obtain certain items. Get creative, my list is in no way law. Feel free to explore your own recipes.
Pickle Chicken
If you like pickles and chicken you’ll love this easy one step recipe. If you buy jars of pickles to snack on throughout the week save one when you are done. This juice can be recycled into a chicken marinade. (More like a brine I guess) Simply stuff the cuts of chicken into the jar until filled. If you have more chicken than will fit in a jar place the chicken in a ziplock bag and pour the pickle juice over it. Place in the fridge to marinate for at least two hours. The skin of the chicken should have a noticeable green tint to it. If the chicken is not totally submerged be sure to rotate the pieces around inside the jar/bag. I would not add any extra salt as the juice is already salty. If you really like salt add to taste. At first this green color makes the chicken look sour, but the flavor produced is a sweet and salty mix. Mimicking some of the grand sauces with a vast ingredient count. The juice also locks in moisture making the chicken extra juicy. ( Ingredients – Chicken, Pickle Juice )
Lemon Chicken
Lemon goes well with almost any food. You can realistically remove chicken from this recipe and replace it with any meat. For example Salmon is an excellent substitute. You have a few options on how to infuse your food. My favorite way is to let the chicken sit in lemon juice for a while. This infuses the chicken better, you can also add some salt to cut some of the acidity from the lemon. The other option is to spray lemon juice on while the meat cooks. I find the first method is better if you want a stronger lemon flavor. You can let the chicken sit for however long you’d like. It should infuse in under an hour. The second method gives you a lighter lemon flavor. Just follow which ever you prefer, everyone’s tastes are different. You can also sprinkle some lemon zest on the finished product for a sweeter lemon flavor. (Ingredients – Chicken* – Lemon Juice/zest)
Sesame Tuna
Tuna Is a very delicate dish, requiring a very high heat. Some experts say you can’t achieve this heat on a gas grill, but if you are not cooking anything else you should be fine. The steps are simple. First get tuna that you can either cut into fillets are buy them precut. Place the fillets on a very hot grill and allow to cook for about a minute on each side. I enjoy my tuna very rare, almost raw in the center. Depending on personal tastes or the quality of tuna you buy you may want to cook it longer. Once finished you can lightly salt the fish or pour on some soy sauce. Sprinkle with sesame seeds to finish. ( Ingredients – Tuna, Sesame seeds ) Soy SteakAs soy sauce pretty much is a seasoning in my mind I’m not including it as an ingredient. This is a steak marinade which we will consider one ingredient, as it is very simple. In a bag mix Oil, water, soy sauce and a splash of fish sauce. Allow the steaks to marinate in bags for at least an hour. The flavor from this marinade will elevate any cut of steak, perfect for cheaper cuts. ( Ingredients – Steak, marinade ) Salt steaks to taste.
Spicy Shrimp
This is such a quick and easy recipe, that results in the most delicious shrimp ever. You will be returning to this recipe over and over again. Make sure your shrimps are clean and de-tailed before marinating. You can leave the tail on if you’d prefer. I’ve found that when the tail is off the shrimps marinate evenly. You need to mix shrimp in a marinade of Oil, paprika, and garlic. Depending on personal tastes you can go light or heavy on any of the ingredients. I’ve found the flavor is always good. You may also add salt while cooking if you’d like. Like before salt to personal taste. ( Ingredients – Shrimp, Garlic )
Chipotle *Meat*
This recipe works with any meat, and some seafoods. Chipotle peppers are smoked jalapeños. The smoking process lowers the heat and adds a smoky flavor. If you have a blender, blend the peppers into a paste. If you lack a blender you can crush and mash the pepper. Take this paste and rub it into the foods. (WEAR GLOVES) Once the food is coated you can let it sit or grill it right away. Depending if you want the flavor to remain on the exterior of if you want it more infused with the foods. Chipotle peppers are one of those peppers that can either be very hot or not. Each one is different so if you are sensitive to spicy go easy on the rub.
Grilled Pizza
Technically your pizza should only have two to three ingredients. Personally I find pizzas with too many ingredients overwhelming. Tomato sauce and mozzarella are two perfect ingredients for simple pizza. You can also add some meat to spice it up. Some of my favorite pizza ingredients are as followed.
- Tomato sauce and cheese
- White cheese and slices tomato
- Basil and sauce ( Cheese too! )
- Prosciutto, oil, cheese
- Red sauce, oil, and arugula
As you can see the possibilities for two ingredient pizzas are endless. Get creative, and before you say those are three ingredients, is cheese really an optional ingredient when making pizza? It seems like it’s necessary.
Pear Porkchop
Grilled pears on top of a crispy pork chop is a delicious combo. The savory salty flavor of the pork compliments the sweet pears well. The first step is to de-core the pear and slice into grill able pieces. Coat a flat side of each pair with sugar to caramelize the edge. You can caramelize the pears in a pan if you want to collect some of the sauce to pour over the pork chop. The only thing you need to watch out for is the heat. Both require a nice high heat to get the desired outcome. Also be careful with hot sugar. Sugar burns are some of the worst burns you can get, so always use care when handling hot sugar. ( Ingredients – Pork, pears )
Stuffed Pepper
A grilled pepper is something magical. Grilled pepper have a smoky soft flavor that can substitute great for any vegetarian. You can also add some meat to the pepper to make it even more special. First either cut the top off and remove the insides, or slice down one edge to keep the top of the pepper intact. Slicing the pepper will require a skewer to hold it together. You want to buy large pepper if you plan to make grilled stuffed pepper. Smaller ones are harder to work with, requiring some practice. Some of my favorite things to stuff peppers with. Ground beef, sausage, corn, quinoa, cheese. The list goes on and on so feel free to explore your flavors. This is a recipe sure to impress even the most snobby of guests.
Sausage and Pepper
This is by far the easiest recipe on the list. Any sausage will work, but most people prefer Italian style for this recipe. Prep required is simple, cut the peppers into strips to grill. The goal is to be able to top the sausage with the grilled peppers. You want the peppers to be very soft yet nice and charred on the outside. Simply cook the sausage and the peppers. Place the sausage into a bun and put the peppers on top. You can also add a wide array of different sauces to enhance the flavor. These easy sandwiches are simple to prepare for a large party, substituting hotdogs. Yet any guest who eats one will agree that they are much better than hot dogs, nothing can compare to a perfectly grilled pepper. Now that you have some new recipes to try, get out there and grill. Be sure to practice the recipes, tweak them to fit your needs and tastes. Get creative and have fun!
