From magic fried rice to her most popular fish dish: 3 RecipeTin Eats dinners you have to try.

If you've ever looked for a recipe to make online, there's a good chance you've seen or used one from the popular food blog, RecipeTin Eats.

Created by Sydney-based cook Nagi Maehashi, her hundreds of recipes - from Asian takeout at home to 10-minute weeknight winners - are easy to follow and delicious to eat.

Maehashi has recently released her debut cookbook, Dinner, which includes more than 150 of her best recipes, all with her signature simplicity and addictive flavours.

Here are three of the beloved cook's favourite foolproof dinner recipes, and why she wants you to try them.

1. Baked Fish with Lemon Cream Sauce.

Image: Supplied

"This is the single most popular fish recipe on my website because it’s an incredibly delicious way to cook fish that’s completely effortless. You simply put fillets in a baking dish, pour the sauce over, then bake. And out comes a beautifully tender, semi-poached fish with a creamy lemon sauce. Add a simple garden salad with a bread roll for sauce-mopping, and that’s dinner done!"

Serves: 4.

Prep: 5 minutes.

Cook: 10 minutes.

Ingredients:

• 4 x 180 g skinless white fish fillets, about 1.5 cm thick 
• ½ tsp cooking salt
• ¼ tsp black pepper
• 1½ tbsp very finely minced eschalots

Lemon Cream Sauce

• 50 g unsalted butter 
• ¼ cup (60 ml) thickened cream
• 1 garlic clove, finely minced
• 1 tbsp dijon mustard
• 1½ tbsp lemon juice 
• ¼ tsp cooking salt 
• ¼ tsp black pepper

To serve

• 2 teaspoons finely chopped parsley
• 4 lemon slices or wedges

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan-forced). 

2. Place all the lemon cream sauce ingredients in a heatproof jug or bowl. Microwave on High in two 30-second bursts, stirring in between, until melted and smooth.

3. Place the fish in a 30 x 20 cm baking dish. Sprinkle both sides of the fish with salt and pepper, then arrange the fish so there is space between each fillet. Sprinkle the fish with the eschalot, then pour the sauce over the top.

4. Bake for 10–12 minutes until the fish is cooked, with an internal temperature of 55°C, or the flesh flakes easily. (Thicker fillets around 2.5 cm will take about 17 minutes.)

5. Remove the fish from the oven and transfer the fish to serving plates. (Leave the sauce in the dish for now.) Rest for 5 minutes.

6. Spoon the sauce over the fish and serve sprinkled with parsley and lemon slices. Serve with your favourite sides.

Notes:

• This recipe works best with 1.5–2cm thick white fish fillets, which cook quickly in the oven. Try ling, snapper, barramundi, silver dory, John Dory, basa, hoki, perch or flathead.
• Use a baking dish large enough so there is space between the fillets. If the fish is crammed in too snugly then the sauce won’t reduce and thicken.
• Insert a cooking thermometer into the middle of the thickest part of the fish – 55°C is the internal temperature for white fish when it just reaches the point of being fully cooked, which means it is at optimum juiciness! The internal temperature will rise to 58°C while resting. If you don’t have a cooking thermometer, you can tell the fish is cooked when the flesh flakes easily.

Leftovers: Fridge three days, but best served fresh.

2. Magic Baked Chicken Fried Rice.

Image: Supplied

"Sometimes after a long day, even I don’t have the energy to deal with the hassle of chopping vegetables, pulling out woks and smoking out my kitchen – let alone remembering to cook rice the day before! So I published a ‘dump and bake’ fried rice on my website – albeit with some trepidation – convinced it would be slammed as an abomination. To my total surprise, the recipe was a smash hit and had 100,000 views in 24 hours! Truth is, it’s delicious – the flavour is fantastic, the rice is fluffy and moist. The most asked question I get is, ‘How can I add chicken to this?’ Well, here’s how!"

Serves: 4 as a main.

Prep: 10 minutes.

Cook: 45 minutes.

Ingredients:

• 1½ cups (300g) long-grain white rice uncooked
• 1½ cups (375 ml) low-salt chicken stock 
• 1½ tbsp light soy sauce*
• 1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
• 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
• ¼ tsp white pepper 
• 2 cups (270g) frozen diced vegetables (carrots, peas and corn mix) still frozen 
• ¾ cup (100 g) chopped bacon or ham (I use store-bought chopped bacon)  

Marinated chicken:

• 500 g chicken thigh fillets, cut into 1.5 cm pieces
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 garlic clove, finely minced

To finish:

• 2 eggs, scrambled (optional)
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 green onion stem, finely sliced

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan-forced).

2. Place all the baked fried rice ingredients, except the vegetables and bacon, in a 23 x 33 cm metal pan (not ceramic or glass). Shake to spread the rice evenly, ensuring all the rice is submerged under the stock. Sprinkle the vegetables evenly across the surface, then sprinkle the bacon on top. Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, place the marinated chicken ingredients in a bowl and mix well to combine. Set aside to marinate while the rice cooks.

4. Remove the foil (reserve foil), then spread the chicken in a single layer across the surface of the rice. Bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes.

5. Remove from the oven, cover with the reserved foil and rest for 10 minutes. Use a rubber paddle to turn the rice over and gently break it up. Add the scrambled egg (if using). Drizzle with sesame oil and sprinkle with the green onion. Gently toss the fried rice to mix it through, then serve!

Notes:

• Basmati and medium-grain white rice can also be used. Not suitable for risotto rice, paella rice, brown rice or sushi rice.
• Or all-purpose soy sauce. Do not substitute with dark soy sauce.
• Or mirin or dry sherry. If you can’t consume alcohol, omit and add ¼ cup (60 ml) low-salt chicken stock and cook for 1 minute longer.
• I just use a garlic crusher in this recipe for convenience.
• I tried all sorts of ways to bake the egg in the oven along with the rice! But it just didn’t work, or got unnecessarily fiddly. Really, it’s just easiest to cook it on the stove. Whisk the eggs, then scramble them in a non-stick frying pan over medium–high heat with a teaspoon of oil until just cooked. Transfer to a bowl, then add to the rice as directed. 

Leftovers: Fridge three days, freezer three months.

3. Fried Cabbage with Noodles and Bacon.

Image: Supplied

"Cabbage and noodles sounds like an unlikely winner, but this dish knocks out absolutely everyone who tries it! (I think the added bacon and parmesan might have a small hand in this.) A good finishing hit of black pepper and squeeze of lemon really brings the dish to life. I love this sort of weekday dish that packs a heap of veg but doesn’t skimp on flavour. Try it and thank me later!

Serves: 4.

Prep: 6 minutes.

Cook: 6 minutes.

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp cooking salt
• 3 cups (225 g) short-cut angel hair pasta
• 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 250 g streaky bacon, chopped into 1 x 1.5 cm pieces (or so) 
• 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 1 brown onion, halved and sliced 7 mm thick 
• 5 heaped tightly packed cups (400 g) sliced green cabbage (7 mm thick) 
• 15 g unsalted butter 
• ⅓ tightly packed cup (30 g) finely grated parmesan, plus extra to serve 
• 1½ tsp coarsely ground black pepper (or ½ tsp finely ground)
• ¾ tsp cooking salt
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice  

Method:

1. In a small pot bring 3 litres of water to the boil with the salt. Add the pasta and cook as per the packet directions (usually 2–3 minutes). Drain in a colander, then set aside until required. 

2. Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan over high heat. Add the bacon and cook for 30 seconds. Add the garlic and onion, then cook for 3 minutes until the bacon is golden and the onion is translucent.

3. Add the cabbage and butter. Cook for 2 minutes until the cabbage is wilted. Add the pasta, parmesan, pepper and salt. Toss for 1 minute. Add the lemon juice and toss to coat. 

4. Divide among bowls, then sprinkle with the extra parmesan and enjoy!

Notes:

• Short-cut angel hair pasta (‘broken angel hair’) is thin spaghetti broken into around 2.5 cm lengths. Fairly accessible these days in the pasta aisle. Can’t find it? Get normal angel hair pasta, egg vermicelli pasta or the thinnest spaghetti you can find and break it yourself (it’s fun!).
• It’s okay! Store-bought, pre-grated parmesan is just fine here! As long as it’s from the fridge section, not the dried pasta aisle (that’s not real cheese).
• The dish is mildly spicy, from the pepper. You can reduce or omit, to taste.

Leftovers: Fridge four days. Not suitable for freezing.

Recipes from Dinner by Nagi Maehashi, published by Macmillan Australia, RRP $44.99, photography by Nagi Maehashi. 

Image: Supplied.

Feature image: Instagram/@recipe_tin/Supplied.