In lockdown, food has become a welcome distraction. From banana bread to dalgona coffee, there’s been plenty of viral recipes and food trends to keep us occupied so far.

In all honesty, I spend most of my days right now planning what I’m going to eat next. In lieu of social events and daily routines, I’m spending my days dreaming about the cookies I want to bake or thinking about what topping to put on my two ingredient pancakes the next morning. 

Instead of organising my time based on work and social events, I now see the day in terms of the time left until my next meal, and have spent plenty of time deliberating when it’s “socially acceptable” to switch my cup of tea for a glass of wine.

I know I’m not the only one experiencing this obsession with all things food. Take a scroll through any Instagram profile or Twitter feed and it won’t be long before you stumble across someone baking sourdough or making banana bread. In this strange time, it seems many of us are turning to food as a form of escapism.

Although we can’t always get our hands on some key ingredients right now (has anyone seen flour recently?) that hasn’t stopped us from trying out new recipes and experimenting with exciting flavours. Instead of mourning the time we would have spent eating in our favourite restaurants and visiting new bars, we’re doing our best to recreate those dishes from the comfort of our own home. 

In response to the rise in the number of people enjoying their time in the kitchen during lockdown, a number of places have now opted to make their recipes widely available for the public to enjoy. From McDonalds famous McMuffins to Wagamama’s classic Katsu Curry, we’re now able to recreate some favourite takeaway treats at home.

Feeling hungry yet? Without further ado, here’s all the mouth-watering recipes you can have a go at making from the comfort of your own kitchen.

Nando’s have delivered the goods and released the recipe for their famous Peri Peri Chicken thighs, spicy rice and macho peas.

We couldn’t imagine any better recipe for a lockdown Saturday takeaway.

Nando’s Peri Peri chicken recipe

To make the chicken you’ll need:

• 12 boneless chicken thighs (skin on)
• Nando’s Medium Peri Peri sauce (125ml bottle)

To start, put the thighs in a bowl and rub them all over with the marinade. Once they’re all covered, cover the bowl with clingfilm and put it in the fridge for at least an hour (ideally overnight).

When you’re ready to start cooking, set the oven to 180 degrees and transfer the thighs to a roasting tray with the skin side up. Put them in the oven for around 20 minutes until the chicken is cooked.

Next, you’ll want to heat up a grill pan on the stove. When it becomes smoking hot, put the thighs skin-side down in the grill pan (make sure not to move them so you get those classic grill marks). Once the marks appear, flip the chicken and do the same on the other side for another 1-2 minutes.

Brush over a bit more of the Nando’s sauce and serve!

IKEA have done us all a favour and released the recipe for their world famous meatballs to keep fans of the dish happy during lockdown.

In true IKEA fashion, the recipe is laid out on a flatpack furniture instruction sheet, so it’s pretty easy to follow.

IKEA’s Swedish Meatballs Recipe

To make the meatballs you’ll need:

• 500g beef mince
• 250g pork mince
• One onion finely chopped
• One clove of garlic (crushed or minced)
• 100g breadcrumbs
• One egg
• Five tablespoons of milk
• Salt and pepper

To make the cream sauce you’ll need:

• Dash of oil
• 40g butter
• 40g plain flour
• 150ml vegetable stock
• 150ml beef stock
• 150ml thick double cream
• 2tsp soy sauce
• One tsp Dijon mustard

To start, combine the beef and pork mince with your fingers, before adding finely chopped onion, garlic, breadcrumbs and egg. Give it all a mix, then add a little milk and season with salt and pepper.

Next, shape the mixture into small, round balls and place them in the fridge for two hours before cooking.

Once the two hours is over, pop them out of the fridge and into a frying pan, making sure to brown the meatballs on all sides. Then all you need to do is add them to a covered ovenproof dish and put them in the oven at 180 degrees for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, to make the sauce, melt 40g of butter in a pan. Whisk in 40g of plain flour and stir for two minutes, after which you should add 150ml of vegetable and beef stock and continue to stir. Finally, add 150ml double cream, two teaspoons of soy sauce and one teaspoon of Dijon mustard. Wait until the sauce is simmering and then allow it to thicken. 

Restaurant chain Wagamama is launching online tutorials to show you how to make their famous katsu curry (plus a handful of other dishes) at home.

The aptly titled “wok from home” series streams on Facebook, Instagram, IGTV and YouTube. Headed by Wagamama’s executive chef Steve Mangleshot, the first episode will talk you through how to make katsu curry.

Mangleshot will also be doing store cupboard cooking challenge on Fridays which will seem him make tasty recipes using only a few ingredients.  

If you’re missing the gooey chocolatey goodness of Pret’s handmade cookies during lockdown, you’re in luck.

Over the last week or so Pret have been sharing recipes for their favourite products on their social media under the hashtag #pretrecipebook, from a store cupboard take on their baked omelette to the classic chocolate cookies. 

Pret’s Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe

To make the chocolate chip cookies you’ll need:

• 110g unsalted butter
• 170g caster sugar
• 85g light brown sugar
• One egg
• 190g self-raising flour
• 3g salt
• 120g large dark chocolate buttons

To start, preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius and melt the butter in a saucepan. Then, beat the butter with the sugars until its well combined, after which you can add the egg until its all incorporated.

Next, add the flour and salt until a dough forms, and then toss in the chocolate chips. Scoop out balls of dough (the recipe should produce about eight) and place them on a lined baking tray, pressing them down slightly to flatten them. Bake for 10-12 minutes and enjoy!

They’ve also shared the recipe for their dark chocolate vegan cookies if that floats your boat.

McDonald’s restaurants may have had to close due to the coronavirus outbreak, but that doesn’t mean you can’t indulge in one of their classic Sausage & Egg McMuffins.

Last week, the brand released the recipe for fans to create their very own McMuffin and hash brown using just five simple ingredients.

McDonald’s Sausage & Egg McMuffin Recipe

To make the McMuffin, you’ll need:

• English muffins
• 75g sausage meat
• Eggs
• A slice of American Cheese
• One Potato

Start by seasoning the sausage meat with a pinch of salt and pepper, and then flatten them into patty shapes. Cook them under a pre-heated frill for six or seven minutes.

Although the recipe suggests using a metal ring to cook your eggs into a nice circular shape, you could just plop it straight in a small frying pan. McDonalds recommend using water to cook the eggs (and then covering the pan for two or three minutes) but frying the eggs is also an option.

Making the hash brown to go with your McMuffin is easy – just grate a potato into a bowl, mix it with egg, salt and pepper and then spoon some of the mix into a pan to cook.

When all of this is done, simply assemble the McMuffin with the American Cheese, sit back and enjoy.

Lockdown hangovers = sorted.

The beloved highstreet bakery chain have launched their very own DIY baking tutorials (aptly named GIY – Greggs It Yourself) to teach fans of the brand how to make their treats from home.

The first tutorial is, of course, their famed Sausage, Bean & Cheese Melt – perfect for a lunchtime treat (or mid-afternoon snack, who cares!).

Gregg’s Sausage, Bean & Cheese Melt Recipe

To make the sausage, bean and cheese melt you’ll need:

• Beans
• Sausage
• Puff pastry
• One egg
• Grated cheese

The method for this one is surprisingly simple: to begin, cut two squares of pastry and egg wash the edges. Squash your beans and mix together with the sausage to make the filling, and then spoon them on top of one of the pastry squares.

From there all you need to do is sprinkle some cheese on top, put the other pastry square on top (sealing the edges with a fork), give the top of the pastry an egg wash and then put it in the oven for 20 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius. Easy peasy!

We’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for the next tutorial on their Instagram page: vegan steak bake, anyone?

Image: Getty