Jamie’s back with some five ingredient meals for quick and easy food

Back in 2017, Jamie Oliver released his 20th book, 5 Ingredients – Quick & Easy Food.

Containing a collection of 130 great, simple-to-knock-out recipes made from only five elements, it was billed as his ‘most straightforward’ book yet and proved to be every rushed metropolitan’s dream.

It also shifted millions of copies, rivalling the sales of his other smash-hit publications 30 Minute Meals and 15 Minute Meals.

In an interview with Vogue, he explained what he thought made 5 Ingredients – Quick & Easy Food appealing.

“Five is the magic number, he said. “When I tried recipes with three or four ingredients, they were incredibly easy. But, the payoff for that was that they just didn’t deliver the hit of flavour and texture I was after.

“Five ingredients allows a balance of simple and delicious.

“For me, anything that makes you stress less is a bonus. By limiting the amount of ingredients to five, it’s fewer components for you to think about, and so it makes the process of getting food on the table easier.

“If you’re able to cook and have a repertoire of recipes that can be put together depending on how long you’ve got, you’re going to be in a good place.”

And is usually the case with Jamie’s publications, and most cookbooks for that matter, a TV series inevitably followed in which the chef demonstrated how to make the recipes on camera.

Jamie’s Quick & Easy Food ran on Channel 4 for four series between 2017-2020, and there was a Christmas special in 2018.

Tonight, the 48-year-old chef is back with a slightly different programme, as he helps us say goodbye to long shopping lists and hello to all-new easy, clever recipes that use just five hero ingredients to deliver maximum flavour.

New, four-part series Jamie’s Five Ingredient Meals will be packed with tips, tricks and swaps to make cooking easier, quicker and more affordable.

And with the ingredients easily sourced from the supermarket, Jamie is hoping to deliver a fresh set of hassle-free dishes that will surprise and delight family and friends without busting the budget.

In this first edition, he demonstrates two delicious dishes that are ideal for when you need to get food and flavour on the table – fast.

After showing us a genius way to cook chicken for the crispiest skin ever, he bakes a deliciously simple pie with the easiest dough ever.

In addition, there’s also a treat from the ‘Godfather of Spanish Cuisine’, José Pizarro, who runs tapas and sherry bar José and restaurant Pizarro as well as a restaurant in London, The Swan in Surrey, and two eateries at The Royal Academy of Arts.

He shares some gorgeous Mediterranean flavours, again using just five everyday ingredients.

If you’re planning on cooking along with Jamie tonight, he has a short list of essentials to start off with, in addition to the five ingredients on the recipes.

“Olive oil for cooking, extra virgin olive oil for finishing, red wine vinegar as a good all-rounder, and, of course, sea salt and black pepper for seasoning,” he says.

When this four-part series had concluded, it won’t be long before Jamie is back on Channel 4 with two brand-new programmes – Jamie Cooks The Mediterranean and Jamie’s Seasons.

But for now, five is clearly still the magic number for the man who remains one the nation’s most popular writers and chefs.