20 Ridiculously Slow Recipes for When You Have Nothing but Time

Not only does this caramelized, rich pot of meat take plenty of time to make (four hours, to be precise), it also requires an overnight slumber in the fridge, which means you have something delicious to look forward to the next day.

This is comfort food to the utmost degree. Permission to get lost in the frequent stirring, granted.

As far as slow recipes go, this one is pretty fast; it’s ready in under an hour. But it’s basically a warm hug in a bowl, so we couldn’t pass it up.

You don’t need a ton of ingredients, but you do need four hours of free time. The payoff? Crispy skin, tender meat and leftovers for days.

Finally, the humble bean has gotten its time to shine. It doesn’t hurt that making a pot of your own legumes requires an overnight soak and plenty of gentle simmering.

This saucy chicken dish is pretty low maintenance once you get it into the oven, but it does require some tending to. You said you were free, didn’t you?

The more crispy phyllo rosettes on top, the better. Is it weird that we want to marry this dish?

We would also like to be tucked beneath a blanket of mashed potatoes, in case anyone is wondering.

Everyone’s baking bread these days, so why not join the party? We guarantee your Instagram followers will swoon over this stunner.

We know you have canned soup in your pantry, but you also have enough time to make this slow-roasted bowl of tomato heaven. Make grilled cheese, too. We dare you.

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Some people like to meditate for stress-relief. We like to make homemade bread.

The store-bought pastry makes this dish surprisingly easy, but feel free to spend extra time on the assembly (unless you’ve got plans).

Want our advice? Make your own crust. We’ve heard buttery, flaky pastry is good for the soul.

There’s something soothing about making dough from scratch, then methodically forming it into pillows of sweet potato goodness.

Think of yourself as a lasagna artiste while you layer on the noodles, sauce and cheese with extreme precision and care.

This probably goes without saying, but you get bonus points if you make your own pasta.

Intricate filling and folding? Sign us the heck up. We’ll even make homemade dough (and we never thought we’d say that).

When making a meat stew, time is your best friend for a tender final result. Keep a watchful eye on that gentle simmer while you finish another six reruns of Seinfeld.

If you always wanted to try your hand at homemade pasta, now is your chance. Ravioli isn’t difficult to assemble, but it will give your hands something to do (and the end result is *chef’s kiss*).

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Sure, much of the six-and-a-half-hour cooking time is hands off, but that won’t stop us from taking a peek every 15 minutes to check on our precious child—er, dinner. It’s not like we’re busy.