Jamie Oliver: I filmed my 20-minute recipes in one take – here are the best one

Being the UK’s best-known chef (and being second only to JK Rowling in UK book sales) comes with a liberal sprinkling of scrutiny and criticism, as Jamie Oliver knows only too well. He is currently preparing for the comments that will inevitably follow the publication of his latest book and airing of the accompanying TV show – both of which ambitiously tell us how to make a home-cooked meal from fresh ingredients on the table from scratch in a mere 20 minutes. “Honestly, that pace, that vibe, that energy is pretty much me Monday to Thursday when I’m cooking dinner at home – which I do most days and is literally what I’m going to do when I get home tonight,” Oliver tells us, on the drive back from his culinary empire’s north London HQ to the family pad in rural Essex. Shorts “Some of the negativity that I’ve got over the years is like: ‘Well, you’re a chef, of course you can do it,’ but on these shows, I’m cutting things badly on purpose, I’m squashing things, I’m bashing things and I’m not using technical equipment – there are no mandolines involved. I’m not rushing, I’m doing a bit of washing-up and hopefully, people feel like: ‘OK, I can do this.’ That’s the intention.” This is the first-ever cooking show to be filmed in one take with zero editing, in a bid to prove that it really is possible to create each dish in said timing. “I know my production team loves me, but it’s never been done before – and I know they didn’t trust me deep down, because we had done what they expected to be the day’s work by lunchtime every day. So I think they thought I was going to f**k it up – and I didn’t. There was only one recipe that we had to do twice because we had a technical problem, so we ended up giving Channel Four two extra shows. I think they call that over-delivery,” he smiles. It is, quite staggeringly, Oliver’s 87th TV series since he began by leaping into the public’s consciousness and kitchens by sliding down that famous banister a quarter of a century ago, in 2001. And the lack of an edit made it his most challenging yet. “It was potentially very hard, because it’s not just the cooking and it’s not even the time. It’s the fact that your job is to be your true self, to be enthusiastic enough to tell a story, but to be utterly eloquent about how, when and why to get this pile of delicious ingredients into a bowl. “I’ve been around the block a few times, and finding the right cameraman was really important. They had to be physically fit enough to hold a camera with no put-down for 20 minutes. Jamie filmed each recipe in one take (Photo: Justin Downing) “They’ve also got to know food enough, and have what I call a curious camera – to give the wide shot, the mid-shot, the close-up, and the macro shot, all from one lens. Because what’s beautiful is that the lens almost acts like the human eye.” Oliver is famously not afraid of a crusade and what drove the now 51-year-old on this mission was recent research which shows that, as a nation, we are cooking less than ever before. “It’s the Uber-isation of food. It’s the way that we work, the expectations of young parents, a whole cocktail of things that have, I think, maybe made it easier – but also harder – to have more, but less,” he says. “We’ve gone from an average time of 40 minutes spent cooking before Covid to 20 minutes. “We’re trying to get people to cook at least once a week. We know about the success of fast food and takeaways and delivery, and we’re not fighting for seven meals. We’re fighting for one.” So what does Jamie make in 20 minutes in his own kitchen, when he gets home to his stove? “With the family, I’ll rattle out a pasta dish, or they love noodles. If I’ve got some besties coming around, I’ll knock up a delicious, dynamic curry – with a curry paste and a little bit of fantasy, you can get big flavours you wouldn’t expect from an English kitchen halfway around the world. If it’s just me and Jools, I typically do an expression of a curry every week, and she absolutely loves it. “The difference between a 20-minute meal for the kids or entertaining friends would just be more fancy combinations – maybe roasting meats with fruit, just something a bit more unusual.” With such a famously large household – Poppy, at 24, is Jamie and Jools’s eldest, before Daisy, Petal, Buddy and, lastly, River, the baby of the clan at 10 – isn’t he dealing with constant requests for different meals, much like the rest of us? Jamie cooks at home for his famously large family (Photo: Justin Downing) “I do have that and I don’t like it. I would be much stricter, but Jools is much nicer than me. I’m like: ‘I don’t really care if you’re hungry. If you’re hungry, you’ll eat, and we’ll all eat the same thing.’ It’s lovely to cook one thing and everyone tucks into it,” he says. “But I’ve got two gluten-intolerant girls, so it’s a pain if you want to do one pasta dish for everyone. “And we’re a busy family, and not everyone comes home at the same time, because they finish school at different times, they’ve got after-school clubs or sports, so it’s about having dishes you can stagger – something that can hang around and keep warm to serve later is good. I’ll do the same thing in different pans and add chilli to one, so they can choose whether or not to have it. “At times they turn up and see what I’ve cooked, and they’re just not impressed. I’m like, ‘Listen, do you realise how lucky you are?’ They’ll learn one day.” Jamie’s top tips for cooking a good meal in 20 minutes “The modern-day British kitchen has gone from being a kitchen to being the heart of the home. There has been a blurring of the lines both architecturally and literally between the front room and the kitchen so that, in the kitchen space – and I’m generalising, but go with it – there’s just stuff everywhere. “It’s satisfying to have a nice little redesign. Think of your favourite meal that you love to cook and do a bad drawing of where you go to cook that dish – and if there’s too many crossings of lines, that’s bad design. Maybe the cutlery drawer should move, perhaps the spice cupboard should be over there, and your pans should go next to the hob. I call it flow, and everyone’s flow is slightly different, because they cook and season in different ways – but, ultimately, it means that your economy of movement is much more ninja, and that makes a difference to your cooking.” “There are certain bits of equipment you have to have: first, a decent chopping board (you don’t need five; just one good, large thick chopping board). You don’t need 20 knives; three will do the trick – a chef’s knife, a small paring knife and a carbon knife will get you out of most trouble. I also use a speed peeler for thousands of things and it’s boring, but a box grater. “Apart from that, you only really need a liquidiser. Simple stuff, but hopefully creating impressive results.” “Use flavour bombs. In supermarkets or delis now, there are interesting Asian-inspired chilli oils with bits and pieces in them, and you get, like, 20 ingredients in one product, making life easier when it comes to big flavour. I love gochujang from Korea and it’s probably old-school now, but miso – not just in Asian but also European dishes. Try a little thimble of miso when you’re roasting carrots, it makes mushrooms even more delicious, and it gives a crunch on the outside of roast chicken. “Probably the most underrated ingredient is vinegar. Willy’s apple cider vinegar is like nectar. Adding it to dressings or a marinade is so much more interesting than a white-wine vinegar.” Pressure cooker bolognese (Photo: David Loftus) Pressure cooker bolognese Serves 4 2 tbsp olive oil 250g beef mince 250g fresh or frozen chopped mixed onion, carrot and celery 10g dried porcini mushroom, optional 4 sprigs of rosemary 2 cloves of garlic 4 tbsp double concentrate tomato purée 125ml red wine 400g tin of lentils 300g dried penne pasta 30g Parmesan cheese Put the pressure cooker on a high heat with the olive oil, the mince and chopped mix veg, and crumble in the porcini, if using, stirring regularly. Pick and finely chop the rosemary, peel and finely chop the garlic, and stir into the pan with the tomato purée, wine, lentils, juice and all, along with half a tin’s worth of water and a pinch of sea salt and black pepper. Clamp the lid on and, as soon as the steam starts to release, cook for 10 minutes on medium. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a pan of boiling salted water according to the packet instructions, then drain, reserving a mugful of starchy cooking water. Release the steam from the pressure cooker and, once ready, carefully remove the lid. Mash the bolognese with a potato masher, loosening with a splash of reserved cooking water, if needed, then season and toss with the drained pasta. Pour on to a platter, finely grate over the Parmesan, and drizzle with a little extra-virgin olive oil to finish if you like. ENERGY 536kcal | FAT 13.5g SAT FAT 4.1g | PROTEIN 30g CARBS 72.5g | SUGARS 8.6g FIBRE 6g | SALT 0.8g Fish pis pasta bake (Photo: David Loftus) Fish pie pasta bake Serves 4 20g frozen spinach 1 onion (160g) 1 tbsp olive oil 300g dried macaroni pasta 50g plain flour 2 heaped tsp English mustard 500ml semi-skimmed milk 400g frozen fish pie mix 100g Cheddar cheese 2 red chicory 60g rocket 1 tbsp red-wine vinegar 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil Turn the grill on high. Boil the kettle. Defrost the spinach in a bowl in the microwave. Peel and finely chop the onion, and place in a large ovenproof frying pan on a high heat with the olive oil. Cook for five minutes, or until soft, stirring regularly. Cook the pasta in a pan of boiling salted water for eight minutes, then drain, reserving a mugful of starchy cooking water. Stir the flour and mustard into the onions, then gradually stir in the milk. Add the spinach to the pan, water and all, then season. Stir in the fish chunks and simmer for another five minutes on a medium heat, then stir in the drained pasta, along with a splash of reserved water, if needed. Coarsely grate and mix in half the cheese, grating the rest over the top. Carefully transfer to the highest shelf of the grill for a few minutes, or until golden and bubbling. Meanwhile, finely slice the chicory bases and separate the leaves, toss with the rocket, red-wine vinegar and extra-virgin olive oil, then season. Serve with the fish pie pasta bake. ENERGY 649kcal | FAT 20.8g SAT FAT 8.2g | PROTEIN 42.7g CARBS 78.5g | SUGARS 11.9g FIBRE 3.9g | SALT 1.7g Chicken and sausage stew (Photo: David Loftus) Chicken & sausage stew Serves 2 1 tbsp olive oil 150g skinless chicken breast 2 rashers of smoked pancetta 2 sausages (130g) 400g tin of cherry tomatoes 400g tin of borlotti beans 1 tbsp red-wine vinegar 160g purple sprouting broccoli ½ bunch of rosemary (10g) Pinch of sea salt 2 cloves of garlic 1 lemon 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil 2 large slices of sourdough bread (100g each) Lemon wedges, to serve Turn the grill on high. Put a large, shallow casserole pan on a high heat with the olive oil. Adding it all to the pan as you go, chop the chicken into six equal pieces and halve the pancetta and sausages. Cook for nine minutes, stirring occasionally, or until golden. Tip the tomatoes into the pan, then add the beans, juice and all, and the red-wine vinegar. Bring to the boil, then trim and add the broccoli, halving any thicker stalks lengthways. Leave to simmer while you make the topping. Strip the rosemary into a pestle and mortar and pound with a small pinch of sea salt, then peel and bash in the garlic. Finely grate in the lemon zest, then muddle in half the juice and the extra-virgin olive oil, and season. Tear the bread into bite-sized chunks and scrunch with the mixture. Season the stew, then scatter the herby dressed bread over the top. Carefully transfer to the grill for five minutes, or until golden, bubbling and cooked through, then serve with lemon wedges, for squeezing over. ENERGY 862kcal | FAT 43.5g SAT FAT 10.3g | PROTEIN 48.4g CARBS 67.3g | SUGARS 9.5g FIBRE 14.4g | SALT 2.2g ‘20 Minute Meals: Real Fast Food’ by Jamie Oliver (Penguin Michael Joseph, £30) is out now. ©Jamie Oliver Enterprises Limited (2026, 20 Minute Meals). The accompanying TV show, ‘Jamie’s 20 Minute Meals’, airs from 28 September on Channel 4