Cooking for Someone Unwell
Brothy, warm, mild, and easy to digest. What the household cooks without being asked.
15 recipes
15 recipes sit under Cooking for Someone Unwell, and every one of them is scored against what is actually in your fridge before it is shown. The quickest is Sweet Corn Egg Drop Soup at 15 minutes; the longest, Clear Beef Rib Soup, takes 120. 6 of them finish in twenty minutes or less, which is usually what matters on a weeknight.
None of these need an oven, an air fryer, or a microwave — a stove and a pan is enough. 3 are vegetarian. 14 have no chili at all, so they work for children.
These recipes lean most often on Spring onion, Carrot, Potato and Sweet corn — if you have one or two of those as well, more of this list becomes cookable tonight rather than after a shopping trip. Add what you have to your fridge and the recipes reorder themselves around it, with anything missing collected into a shopping list.
Clear Chicken Vegetable Soup
A clear broth that takes whatever is in the crisper drawer. The most forgiving recipe there is.
⏱ 35 min🍽 4 servingsEasy
Sweet Corn Egg Drop Soup
Natural sweetness from corn, silky body from egg. Ten minutes, and children always say yes.
⏱ 15 min🍽 3 servingsEasy
Braised Chicken and Potato in Sweet Soy
Dark, sweet, and fragrant with nutmeg. A dish that tastes better reheated the next morning.
⏱ 45 min🍽 4 servingsEasy
Chicken in White Coconut Curry
Pale gold, rich, and fragrant with spice. The key is frying the paste until genuinely cooked.
⏱ 1 h🍽 5 servingsMedium
Rice Cooker Chicken Congee
Put everything in, press the button, walk away. Breakfast that cooks itself.
⏱ 1 h🍽 4 servingsEasy
Meatball and Tofu Soup
From fridge to table in 15 minutes, with no fresh ingredient strictly required.
⏱ 15 min🍽 3 servingsEasy
Clear Chicken Soto
A clear golden broth fragrant with lemongrass and ginger. Light, but deep-flavoured.
⏱ 55 min🍽 5 servingsMedium
Creamy Corn Soup
Silky and thick without expensive cream — just milk and a little cornstarch.
⏱ 20 min🍽 3 servingsEasy
Clear Spinach and Corn Soup
A clear broth naturally sweetened by corn. The spinach goes in last and comes straight off — ten seconds too long already ruins it.
⏱ 15 min🍽 4 servingsEasy
Beef in Sweet Soy
Dark, sweet, and tender. The beef simmers until the fibres let go on their own — there is no shortcut for that part.
⏱ 1 h 30m🍽 5 servingsMedium
Clear Beef Rib Soup
The broth must stay clear. Skim the foam in the first ten minutes and never let it boil hard.
⏱ 2 h🍽 5 servingsMedium
Broccoli and Meatball Soup
The broccoli goes in for the last two minutes. Boiled from the start it turns yellow and smells sharp.
⏱ 20 min🍽 4 servingsEasy
Corn and Carrot Soup
Naturally sweet with no added sugar. The corn and carrot simmer long enough for the sweetness to move into the broth.
⏱ 25 min🍽 4 servingsEasy
Clear Luffa and Meatball Soup
Luffa cooks fast and turns to mush if left. Add it last, three minutes, done.
⏱ 18 min🍽 4 servingsEasy
Steamed Ginger Chicken
No oil at all, and the chicken comes out remarkably tender. The liquid that collects while steaming is the sauce — do not throw it away.
⏱ 40 min🍽 3 servingsEasy