No Oven Needed
Most Indonesian kitchens have no oven, and almost nothing worth cooking actually needs one.
98 recipes
98 recipes sit under No Oven Needed, and every one of them is scored against what is actually in your fridge before it is shown. The quickest is Fried Egg with Chili Soy at 6 minutes; the longest, Clear Beef Rib Soup, takes 120. 49 of them finish in twenty minutes or less, which is usually what matters on a weeknight.
A few of these need equipment beyond a stove and pan; the filter will hide those if you do not have it. 39 are vegetarian. 47 have no chili at all, so they work for children. 28 are properly spicy.
These recipes lean most often on Chicken egg, Spring onion, Palm sugar and Red chili — 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.
Village-Style Fried Rice
Yesterday's rice, three basic aromatics, and a hot wok. The most honest fried rice — no drowning in sweet soy sauce.
⏱ 15 min🍽 2 servingsEasy
Thick Indonesian Omelette
Three ingredients, eight minutes, and it comes out thick and layered. The end-of-month saviour that never fails.
⏱ 10 min🍽 2 servingsEasy
Stir-Fried Water Spinach with Shrimp Paste
Five minutes in a hot wok. One secret only: never put a lid on it.
⏱ 10 min🍽 3 servingsEasy
Garlic Fried Chicken
Chicken, garlic, coriander. Simmered first so the seasoning reaches the bone.
⏱ 40 min🍽 4 servingsEasy
Sweet Crisp Tempeh
Sweet, dry, and keeps for three days. The cheapest rice companion there is.
⏱ 25 min🍽 4 servingsEasy
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
Saucy Mixed Vegetables
The most efficient way to clear six kinds of vegetables before they all wilt.
⏱ 20 min🍽 4 servingsEasy
Javanese Fried Noodles
Sweet-savoury, slightly saucy, and fragrant with garlic fried until browned.
⏱ 20 min🍽 2 servingsEasy
Eggs in Chili Sauce
Boiled eggs flash-fried for a skin, then coated in properly cooked red chili paste.
⏱ 30 min🍽 4 servingsEasy
Butter Soy Chicken
Sweet, savoury, and buttery. The recipe that reliably gets children to finish their rice.
⏱ 25 min🍽 4 servingsEasy
Potato Fritters
Fry the potato, never boil it. That is the only reason these hold together in the pan.
⏱ 40 min🍽 4 servingsMedium
Stir-Fried Green Beans and Carrot
The fastest everyday vegetable: two ingredients, seven minutes, still crunchy if the heat is high.
⏱ 12 min🍽 3 servingsEasy
Tempeh with Green Chili
The fresh heat of green chili, not the sharp kind. The tempeh stays tender, never fried dry.
⏱ 20 min🍽 3 servingsEasy
Vegetable Fritters
The most dignified destination for leftover cabbage, carrot, and sprouts starting to wilt.
⏱ 25 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
Manadonese Spicy Chicken
Honest heat from whole bird's eye chilies, with a slap of lemon basil and ginger.
⏱ 45 min🍽 4 servingsMedium
Fried Fish with Fresh Chili Salsa
The sambal is raw — just sliced and hit with hot oil. Five minutes, and far fresher for it.
⏱ 25 min🍽 3 servingsEasy
Bean Sprouts with Tofu
Three minutes in the wok. Sprouts cooked longer than that just turn to water.
⏱ 12 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
Tamarind Vegetable Soup
Sour, refreshing, and packed with vegetables. The best way to clear seven leftovers at once.
⏱ 35 min🍽 5 servingsEasy
Vegetables in Coconut Milk
Gentle coconut richness. Never cover the pot after the coconut milk goes in — it will split.
⏱ 35 min🍽 5 servingsMedium
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
Mushrooms in Oyster Sauce
Mushrooms seared hard without constant stirring turn brown instead of watery.
⏱ 15 min🍽 3 servingsEasy
Air Fryer Crispy Chicken
Crisp without a litre of oil. The trick is spraying the coating, not the chicken.
⏱ 35 min🍽 3 servingsEasy
Rice Cooker Chicken Congee
Put everything in, press the button, walk away. Breakfast that cooks itself.
⏱ 1 h🍽 4 servingsEasy
Scrambled Eggs with Vegetables
Nine minutes, one pan, and almost any leftover vegetable can go in.
⏱ 10 min🍽 2 servingsEasy
Spicy Potato and Chicken Liver
The potato is diced small and fried crisp first — that is what separates it from the soggy version.
⏱ 40 min🍽 5 servingsMedium
Garlic Broccoli
Blanch for 60 seconds so the green stays bright, then stir-fry fast. No more complex than that.
⏱ 12 min🍽 3 servingsEasy
Homemade Chicken Nuggets
Steamed first, then fried. Freezes for a month and saves you on hectic mornings.
⏱ 1 h🍽 6 servingsMedium
Cheesy Omelette for Kids
Low heat and patience. Eggs cooked slowly turn silky, not dry and pockmarked.
⏱ 10 min🍽 2 servingsEasy
Meatball and Tofu Soup
From fridge to table in 15 minutes, with no fresh ingredient strictly required.
⏱ 15 min🍽 3 servingsEasy
Simple Tomato Spaghetti
Real tomatoes, garlic, and pasta water. Three things that make jarred sauce unnecessary.
⏱ 25 min🍽 2 servingsEasy
Crispy Fried Banana
A thin rice-flour batter, fried twice. The crunch holds until the afternoon.
⏱ 25 min🍽 4 servingsEasy
Eggplant in Chili Paste
The eggplant is flash-fried in hot oil so it does not soak up oil like a sponge.
⏱ 25 min🍽 3 servingsEasy
Clear Chicken Soto
A clear golden broth fragrant with lemongrass and ginger. Light, but deep-flavoured.
⏱ 55 min🍽 5 servingsMedium
Stir-Fried Flat Rice Noodles
Heat as high as it goes, and do not stir too often or the noodles fall apart.
⏱ 20 min🍽 2 servingsMedium
Sweet Braised Tofu and Tempeh
Slow-braised in palm sugar until it soaks through, then briefly fried.
⏱ 1 h🍽 5 servingsEasy
Creamy Corn Soup
Silky and thick without expensive cream — just milk and a little cornstarch.
⏱ 20 min🍽 3 servingsEasy
Fried Catfish with Shrimp Paste Sambal
The sambal is pounded, not blended. It comes out coarse, and that is exactly right.
⏱ 30 min🍽 3 servingsEasy
Simple Mac and Cheese
One pot, no oven. The cheese goes in off the heat so the sauce never turns grainy.
⏱ 20 min🍽 3 servingsEasy
Bok Choy with Mushrooms
Eight minutes, two fresh ingredients, and it stays bright green if the heat is high.
⏱ 10 min🍽 3 servingsEasy
Mini Savoury Egg Martabak
Uses shop-bought spring roll wrappers. The filling is curry-spiced minced meat.
⏱ 35 min🍽 4 servingsMedium
Three-Ingredient Egg Fried Rice
Rice, egg, sweet soy. Eight minutes. For nights when the fridge is genuinely empty.
⏱ 8 min🍽 1 servingsEasy
Long Beans with Crispy Anchovies
The anchovies are fried separately so they stay crisp on the plate. A cheap dish that does not taste cheap.
⏱ 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
Black Pepper Beef
Heat as high as it goes, beef sliced thin against the grain. Fifteen minutes, and it never turns tough.
⏱ 20 min🍽 3 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
Sausages in Spicy Tomato Sauce
Ten minutes from fridge to table. Score the sausages so the sauce gets inside instead of sitting on the skin.
⏱ 12 min🍽 3 servingsEasy
Sausage and Cheese Fried Rice
The version made for children: no chili at all, and the cheese goes in off the heat so it melts instead of clumping.
⏱ 15 min🍽 2 servingsEasy
Sausage and Green Beans
The fastest way to get children to eat green beans: cut them to sausage length so both land on the spoon together.
⏱ 15 min🍽 3 servingsEasy
Nuggets in Sweet and Sour Sauce
Frozen nuggets become an actual dish. The sauce is made separately and poured over at the end so they stay crisp.
⏱ 20 min🍽 3 servingsEasy
Nugget Fried Rice
The emergency school-morning breakfast: ten minutes, from what is already in the freezer.
⏱ 12 min🍽 2 servingsEasy
Nuggets in Sweet Soy Glaze
Three ingredients, eight minutes, and it tastes far more like home cooking than plain nuggets.
⏱ 10 min🍽 2 servingsEasy
Instant Noodles with Egg and Greens
Use only half the seasoning packet and make up the rest with fried garlic. The difference is bigger than people expect.
⏱ 10 min🍽 1 servingsEasy
Instant Fried Noodles, Upgraded
Drain it but keep two spoonfuls, then return the noodles to a hot pan. That is what makes it taste fried rather than boiled.
⏱ 12 min🍽 1 servingsEasy
Corned Beef Instant Noodles
Fry the corned beef until it crusts first. Dropped straight into the broth it just turns to mush.
⏱ 12 min🍽 1 servingsEasy
Sweet and Sour Chicken
The balance comes from the vinegar, not the sugar. Add it last so the sourness is still bright when it reaches the table.
⏱ 30 min🍽 4 servingsMedium
Crispy Tofu with Chili Sauce
Press the tofu first to drive the water out. Wet tofu never crisps, no matter how much flour you use.
⏱ 25 min🍽 3 servingsEasy
Eggs in Padang-Style Sauce
Hot, savoury, and deep orange. A simplified take on the sauce usually reserved for crab.
⏱ 30 min🍽 4 servingsMedium
Mackerel in Yellow Sour Sauce
Yellow, sour, and fresh. The fish is fried first so it does not fall apart in the sauce.
⏱ 35 min🍽 3 servingsMedium
Grilled Mackerel in Sweet Soy
Cooked in a pan, not over coals. The soy glaze goes on in the last five minutes so it never burns.
⏱ 30 min🍽 3 servingsEasy
Catfish in Spiced Coconut Broth
The catfish is fried crisp first, then briefly simmered in spiced coconut broth. It stays firm rather than going soft.
⏱ 40 min🍽 3 servingsMedium
Fried Catfish with Tomato Sambal
The sambal is fried, not raw — that is what makes it keep until tomorrow and taste deeper.
⏱ 30 min🍽 3 servingsEasy
Prawns and Broccoli in Oyster Sauce
Prawns cook in ninety seconds. Everything else must be ready before they hit the pan.
⏱ 15 min🍽 3 servingsEasy
Battered Fried Prawns
Ice water in the batter, and do not mix it smooth. The small lumps are exactly what makes the crust crisp.
⏱ 25 min🍽 3 servingsMedium
Prawn and Petai Sambal
Hot, pungent, and not for everyone. The petai gets only a brief fry so it stays crunchy.
⏱ 25 min🍽 3 servingsMedium
Peanut Sauce
The peanuts are dry-toasted, not fried. Toasting gives a roasted aroma that hot oil cannot imitate.
⏱ 25 min🍽 6 servingsEasy
Simple Gado-Gado
Boil the vegetables separately, not together. Each has its own timing, and combining them gets all of them wrong.
⏱ 35 min🍽 4 servingsMedium
Stir-Fried Spinach and Corn
Six minutes total. The spinach goes in last and comes straight off — this is not a vegetable you can walk away from.
⏱ 10 min🍽 3 servingsEasy
Spinach with Sesame Dressing
Blanch briefly, then squeeze hard. Any water left behind thins the dressing and ruins it.
⏱ 12 min🍽 3 servingsEasy
Lombok-Style Water Spinach
The greens are boiled, not fried, then topped with raw tomato sambal. Two textures that a stir-fry never gives you.
⏱ 20 min🍽 3 servingsEasy
Broccoli in Cheese Sauce
The approach that genuinely gets children to eat broccoli. The cheese goes in off the heat so the sauce never turns grainy.
⏱ 20 min🍽 3 servingsEasy
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
Green Beans with Crispy Anchovies
The anchovies are fried separately and added off the heat. Cooked with the vegetables they go soft in two minutes.
⏱ 18 min🍽 3 servingsEasy
Green Beans with Beef
Slice the beef as thin as possible, cook it first, then remove it. Cooked together with the beans, one of them always comes out wrong.
⏱ 20 min🍽 3 servingsMedium
Crispy Fried Mushrooms
Do not soak the mushrooms — they absorb water like a sponge, and wet mushrooms never crisp.
⏱ 25 min🍽 3 servingsEasy
Mushrooms with Lemon Basil
Dry-fry the mushrooms first until their water evaporates. That is the difference between browned mushrooms and watery ones.
⏱ 15 min🍽 3 servingsEasy
Banana in Palm Sugar Coconut Milk
The coconut milk goes in last and must never boil hard. Once it splits, there is no fixing it.
⏱ 30 min🍽 4 servingsEasy
Steamed Banana Cake
No oven, and moister for it. Wrap the steamer lid in a cloth so condensation never drips onto the batter.
⏱ 45 min🍽 6 servingsMedium
Egg and Cheese Toastie
Six minutes. The egg cooks in a hole cut in the bread, so both finish at the same moment.
⏱ 8 min🍽 1 servingsEasy
Bread and Milk Pudding
The best way to finish bread going stale. Fresh bread actually makes a soggier pudding.
⏱ 45 min🍽 5 servingsEasy
Simple Meatball Soup
The broth is built on fried garlic and pepper, not just stock powder. You taste the difference from the first spoonful.
⏱ 20 min🍽 3 servingsEasy
Fried Meatballs in Chili
Score the meatballs crosswise so the sauce gets in. Ten minutes, straight from the freezer.
⏱ 12 min🍽 3 servingsEasy
Anchovy and Peanut Sambal
Keeps a week in a jar and rescues a lot of lunches. The anchovies and peanuts must be bone dry before they meet the sambal.
⏱ 30 min🍽 8 servingsEasy
Smashed Eggplant with Green Sambal
The eggplant is charred in a dry pan until the skin wrinkles, not fried. Deeper flavour, far less oil.
⏱ 25 min🍽 3 servingsEasy
Corned Beef Fried Rice
Let the corned beef stick and crust before you stir it. That is the best part, and the part most often skipped.
⏱ 15 min🍽 2 servingsEasy
Rice Cooker Chicken Rice
Everything goes in at once, one button, forty minutes. The rice absorbs the chicken stock as it cooks.
⏱ 50 min🍽 4 servingsEasy
Cheese-Stuffed Tofu
Slit the tofu rather than halving it. An intact pocket keeps the cheese inside while it fries.
⏱ 25 min🍽 3 servingsEasy
Garlic Water Spinach
The plainest and most-cooked version there is: a lot of garlic, high heat, nothing else.
⏱ 8 min🍽 3 servingsEasy
Corn Fritters
Blend part of the corn and leave the rest whole. That is what stops it turning into fried porridge.
⏱ 25 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
Shredded Spicy Chicken
Keeps three days and goes with anything: rice, bread, or as a filling. Shred the chicken while warm so the fibres come apart easily.
⏱ 40 min🍽 5 servingsEasy
Half-Fried Battered Tempeh
Deliberately not fried crisp — mendoan is meant to stay floppy. Frying it crunchy makes it a different dish entirely.
⏱ 20 min🍽 4 servingsEasy
Bean Sprouts with Salted Fish
The salted fish is fried first and needs no extra salt. Taste before seasoning — it is almost always salty enough.
⏱ 12 min🍽 3 servingsEasy
Fried Egg with Chili Soy
Five minutes, three ingredients. The chili soy is mixed raw in a bowl while the egg is still in the pan.
⏱ 6 min🍽 1 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