3 Winter Meals That ALL the Family Will Love!

You know the feeling of standing in your winter kitchen, wondering what to cook that will fill everyone up… especially the children?

Look no further! Over the last 30 years, we’ve found some absolute winners that never last long—and we’ve made sure they use pantry-friendly ingredients.

These ingredients are inexpensive, filling and usually found in most kitchens. All three recipes can also be made vegetarian or vegan by substituting the meat and dairy ingredients with your preferred alternatives.

1. The Maybis Cottage Pie
2. Maybis Creamy Tomato and Red Lentil Soup
3. Maybis Chicken or Vegetable Tray Bake

1. The Maybis Cottage Pie

This recipe is simple, hearty and freezes well. Feel free to double the ingredients and freeze the rest. It’s a great way to reduce prep and washing-up, and it saves on energy bills!

Ingredients

• 500g lean British beef mince
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 carrots, finely diced (I’d use a vegetable chopper—they’re very affordable, but they save so much prep time)
• 150g frozen peas
• Garlic, if you have it in (there’s no suggested quantity because some people like it very strong and others don’t!)
• 1 tablespoon tomato purée
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce—but if you don’t have any, brown sauce will do
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard (if you don’t have any, don’t worry)
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
• 2 beef Oxo cubes, or equivalent
• 1 tablespoon plain flour
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Salt and pepper, to taste

For the topping

• 1kg floury potatoes (though jacket potatoes are fine)
• 40g butter
• 75ml warm milk
• 1 teaspoon wholegrain mustard (my family asks me to put it in every time)
• 40g mature Cheddar cheese, grated
• Freshly ground black pepper—or whatever pepper you have in

How to cook it

To save yourself time, put the potatoes into lightly salted water to boil and preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F—all before you start frying the filling. Then:

1. Fry the onion and carrots in the olive oil until they’re golden.
2. Add the beef and cook until browned—so you can see that some of the beef is actually a little crispy.
3. Add the garlic, then sprinkle the flour over everything. Stir well until you can’t see any white flour, then crumble in the stock cubes.
4. Add the tomato purée, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard and herbs.
5. Slowly add up to 500ml boiling water. If you feel the filling is becoming too liquid, stop adding water.
6. Add the frozen peas and simmer for 15–20 minutes.

The potatoes should be cooked by the time the filling is ready. Drain them and leave them to release some steam for a few minutes.

1. Mash the potatoes with the warm milk, butter, seasoning and—if you have it—the wholegrain mustard.
2. Stir half of the cheese into the mash.
3. Spoon the beef mixture into an ovenproof dish and spread the mash on top. The best method I’ve found is to add blobs all over the filling, then fill in the gaps as you go. Smooth the top, or leave it with a lovely rustic look, then add the rest of the cheese.
4. Bake for 25–30 minutes, until golden and bubbling.

2. Maybis Creamy Tomato and Red Lentil Soup

This is perfect with a toasty French stick and butter.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced
• 2 celery sticks, grated or finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tablespoon tomato purée
• 2 tins chopped tomatoes
• 150g dried red lentils, rinsed
• 2 vegetable Oxo cubes, or your preferred stock cubes
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika (no problem if you don’t have any)
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf (again, no problem if you don’t have one)
• 1 teaspoon soft brown sugar—you can use honey if you prefer
• 100ml double cream, or oat cream
• Salt and pepper

How to cook it

1. Gently fry the onion, carrots and celery over a medium heat until softened.
2. Stir in the garlic and tomato purée, then cook for another couple of minutes.
3. Add the chopped tomatoes, red lentils, stock cubes and herbs, followed by 1 litre boiling water.
4. Simmer for 25–30 minutes, until the lentils and vegetables are soft.
5. If you added the bay leaf, take it out now.
6. Blend the soup until smooth.
7. Stir in the cream and season to taste.

This pairs so well with a French stick cut into 1-inch slices and spread with butter.

A little Maybis tip: Add a dash of balsamic vinegar right at the end and stir it in well!

3. Maybis Chicken or Vegetable Tray Bake

Tray bakes are my absolute favourite! I use a method you don’t hear about very often, but it has the family fighting over the crispy rice around the sides.

Before you start preparing the tray bake, preheat the oven to 190°C/170°C fan/375°F.

For the rice

• 1 cup long-grain rice
• 600ml boiling water
• 2 chicken stock cubes (use vegetable stock cubes for the vegetarian version)

For the tray bake

• 6 chicken thighs, bone-in and skin-on, or 4 chicken breasts (the more meat you add, the less room there is for vegetables)
• 2 red onions, cut into wedges—or white onions, if that’s what you have
• 2 carrots, cut into thick batons
• 2 parsnips, cut into thick batons
• 2 red peppers, sliced lengthways
• 1 courgette, cut into large cubes
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

For the seasoning

• 2 teaspoons smoked paprika, if available
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1 teaspoon garlic granules—you can use onion granules if you prefer
• Salt
• Black pepper

How to cook it

1. Scatter the rice across the bottom of an ovenproof baking tray or large roasting tin.
2. In a large bowl, add the olive oil and toss the chicken and vegetables until coated. Add the seasoning and keep tossing until everything is evenly covered.
3. Arrange the chicken and vegetables over the rice in the roasting tin.
4. Dissolve the stock cubes in the boiling water, then carefully pour it all over.
5. Cover tightly with kitchen foil and bake for 40 minutes.
6. Remove the tray from the oven and carefully take off the foil. Return it to the oven for another 20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and the skin is golden brown.

Cooking the rice beneath the chicken means that all that lovely flavour is soaked straight into it.

For the vegetarian version, replace the chicken with your favourite meat-free substitute, or use chickpeas, mushrooms and extra peppers instead. Remember to use vegetable stock too.

I hope you enjoy these recipes. They really are favourites in our house—and across our family!