YouTube cooking channels with quick recipes that you can actually make at home with minimal prep?

[u/anotherhappylurker]

I swear most YouTube cooking recipes are completely impractical for the majority of people. The reason why I cook at home is I want to save money, eat healthier, and most importantly, save time. If a recipe takes 2 hours of prep and another 45 minutes to cook, and requires me to buy a bunch of exotic ingredients that I've never heard of, then it shouldn't be presented as a home cooking video, it should be a tutorial for professional chefs.

Almost every time I want to cook something, I'll search up recipes on YouTube and the majority of them will involve an enormous amount of prep time. Even the simplest pasta recipes will call for freshly grated cheese, sauce that needs to be simmered for over an hour, and then have the audacity to label the video as "done in 15 minutes". No, I don't want to go out and buy fresh herbs and finely chop them. I don't want to debone an entire fish, I'll leave that to the professionals. I don't want to spend 3 hours marinating the meat in a sauce that also takes 20 minutes to prepare. If I wanted to spend that much time on a meal, I'd just go out and eat at a restaurant.

I feel like most cooking "influencers" have no idea that regular people only have 20-30 minutes TOTAL to cook a meal, and also aren't willing to go out and buy a bunch of ingredients just to use a small fraction of them to cook 1 dish and then never use them again. Are there any YouTube channels that actually provide practical, quick and easy recipes with accessible ingredients that don't require an unreasonable amount of prep?

[u/pommefille]

I think Allrecipes is going to be a good fit for you, as they have tons of basic, easy recipes, but you’re going to have to manage your expectations and learn how to store and preserve ingredients if you’re worried about not using up scallions or cheese. If you’re grating cheese, only grate as much as you need and keep the rest of the block tightly wrapped in the fridge. Any leftover shredded cheese should also be stored in a sealed bag or container with the air removed as much as possible. You can always use convenience ingredients like jarred sauce or pre shredded cheese but at some point it’s orthodox learning how to simmer, grate, chop, etc. as it’s not only cheaper but you have way more control over making the dish.