There are a fair number of "one pan" (pot/bowl/etc) recipes out there for this specific purpose, definitely try that search term :) though I haven't seen much of anything that includes cleanup explicitly. Only rare exceptions.

And yeah, number of dishes matters to me too, much of the time. Most of the stuff I make can be done with one, rarely two, and that's about where I draw the line.

We all have our own journey. But one of the biggest improvements in enjoying to cook was to learn not to clean up after. It was a revelation to me and the big enabler which moved cooking from a chore to something I appreciate.

Do not clean up after - clean during!

Maybe annoying at first but it quickly turn into a habit

There is plenty of time (as a home cook!) during prep to clean the knives, bowls boards etc. What will seem like a huge mountain if left to linger will be a breeze when you learn to keep your station clean. And you never see this very simple fact of life in most videos.

I really used to optimize how few bowls etc. I would use as I hated the dishes afterwards. But quickly cleaning a bowl after use only take seconds and I no longer dread reaching for another if it ease my process.

This usually only leaves a pan and maybe a pot to clean when done eating. Not too bad even though I do them by hand as I am particular with what goes into the dishwasher

That. And doing mis en place rather than running head first into it. Absolute key lessons for me.

Sparks joy ;-)

EDIT: And if you stack things in the sink we cannot be friends. Sorry. Stack them elsewhere and keep them low.

This x100. I actually like cleaning up while cooking because it uses up the dead-time while waiting for something to cook, where I would normally let my ADHD brain take me out of the kitchen to do something else and then burn everything.

There are one pot or instapot/crock pot/rice cooker recipes that can help, but a lot of those still require some prep work. I 100% agree here, though. The key, especially in a small space, is to keep things clean as you work.

But, this also means managing sub-tasks through the day, like making sure clean items get pulled out of the dishwasher when it's done so that, to your point, things don't stack up in the sink through the day. There's nothing worse than trying to quickly throw a meal together and realizing the tool you need is at the bottom of the sink under a stack or pile. Things quickly turn to yak shaving.

Cooking and cleaning go hand and hand in my mind. I don't always have everything clean when I'm done cooking, but I'm proud when I'm able leave things at a good stopping point. That said, go eat the food you just cooked while it's hot. I think it can be difficult for people new to cooking to balance all these things, it takes practice. As you get a better sense of timing when things will be ready, you find time to clean something. [The more clean and organized your workspace is, the easier meals come together.]

My trick: while not everything is dishwasher safe, almost everything IS rinse cycle friendly (not wood).

I won't put my nice metal bowls through a full cycle, but a rinse during prep makes the later hand wash a breeze.

When we build our next home, I desperately want a pair/trio of those drawer-style dishwashers.

> Ideally the clean up of the cooking is essentially done by the time food is being served.

Yes. Watch chef Jean-Pierre. I wouldn't say he minimizes the clean up, but he cleans as he goes and gives tips and general remarks on the overall process beyond just the recipe.

Another commenter mention one pan and sheet pan dinner - those are great. Similarly crock pot, Dutch oven, etc.

But much closer to what you’re looking for - I cannot for the life of me find the website, I thought it was owned by NYT, but all of the recipes are ~5 ingredients max. It negates tons of pans/etc when you only cook/cut a couple things.

Sorted Food do a tonne of “mid-week” recipes and they actually sell an app that lets you plan your weeks meals with recipes that reuse ingredients, so they very much cover the “minimise total effort” side of cooking.

Epicurious has a week menu plan that has you cooking a bunch on Sunday and re-using it during the week for quick and easy meals with light cleanups.

https://www.epicurious.com/search/%22Weekly%20Meal%20Plan%22...

Ethan Chlebowski sometimes talks about this in his recipes. But there's not much to it really - you just have to get in the habit of cleaning while cooking. Most recipes will have a few intermissions where you're just waiting for something to cook, water to boil, some meat to brown/saute etc. I use those times to clean and usually only spend 2 minutes cleaning up after the cooking is done.

Clean as you go as much as possible. Don't let mess accumulate.

Find a life partner. One cooks the other cleans up. :)

The clean as you go method works well with most recipes though. There are dishes that come together really quickly and you can’t walk away from or others that must be monitored constantly but most dishes have some downtime built in.

Prepping all of your ingredients ahead of time makes a huge difference. I used to try and slice the veg for step 3 while step 2 was simmering and it became a stressful race to get it done in time. Now I prep all of my ingredients ahead of time in small bowls or on my cutting board. It’s ready before I need it and the extra “cleanup” involves adding a few more dishes to the dishwasher.

I really hate it when my wife cooks and she leaves me the kitchen looking like a bomb went off. And then I cook and I leave her maybe two pans and a knife.

Sounds familiar...

Big proponent of cleaning while cooking myself.

This, it ruins relationships

This doesn’t ruin it, lack of communication and compromise does. This is a symptom.