All the best things you can make in a mug in the microwave

Check out the clips above for the best mug and microwave recipes or read on for more recipes.

The trick with making anything in a mug in the microwave is simply cutting down the quantities of what you'd usually make so that it's one serve.

If it can be steamed or has sugars to caramelise, then it is likely it will work. You won't get browning, but you will get it steamed and cooked and puffed up.

SAFETY TIP: Make sure your mug is microwave safe and does not have any metallic paint or detailing on it.

We've all heard about mug cake and scrambled eggs made in a mug... but what else can you do? Turns out, quite a lot, from pizza to cinnamon scrolls. Let's get our mug on.

MORE RECIPES: Self-saucing, microwave steamed golden syrup teacup puddings

Mug of microwave pizza

There's a couple of ways to do this trick. The first is to mix a dough in your mug, top it and microwave it.

• 2 tablespoon plain flour
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• pinch salt
• 3 tablespoon milk
• 1 tablespoon pizza sauce
• 1 tablespoon mozzarella
• scattering of pepperoni, diced
• fresh basil leaf

1. Mix your dry ingredients in the mug, then mix in the milk to make a dough.
2. Spread the pizza sauce on top, sprinkle with cheese and then add salami pieces.
3. Microwave for one minute and 30 seconds and then top with basil.

Or, you can get really cheeky and use store bought dough, which works much better:

• store bought ready-made pizza dough
• 1 tablespoon pizza sauce
• 1 tablespoon mozzarella
• scattering of peperoni, diced
• fresh basil leaf

Break off ⅓ of the dough and flatten it a little. Spread ½ tablespoon of pizza sauce in the middle, add a bit of mozzarella and some salami pieces. Pinch it shut into a ball, place it into an oiled mug and then top it with more pizza sauce, cheese and salami.

Microwave for two minutes. Lift out of the mug and eat.

Lasagna in a mug:

The trick here is to soften both your lasagne sheets and your spinach with boiling water first and then let the microwave do the steaming.

• ½ fresh lasagne sheet, broken into mug sized pieces
• 4 tablespoons tomato pasta sauce
• 1 cup baby spinach, shredded
• ½ cup ricotta
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ cup mozzarella, grated

1. Place the broken up lasagne sheets into a heatproof bowl and cover in boiling water. Do the same with the shredded spinach. Allow to sit for a couple of minutes until softened. Then drain the spinach and squeeze it out a little.
2. In a bowl, mix together shredded spinach, ricotta, mozzarella and garlic powder to make a paste.
3. In a mug add a tablespoons of pasta sauce, a piece of the softened pasta, a tablespoons of ricotta mix and then repeat layers until the mug is full, finishing with some extra mozzarella.
4. Cover the top with a piece of baking paper and then some damp paper towel (to stop any saucy popping making a mess) and then microwave for one minute and 30 seconds and check the cheese. Microwave in 10-second bursts until cheese is melted.

Karl could not resist this one. It's ugly, but delicious.

Cheat's chicken pot pie:

You're not cooking the chicken here, just use leftovers and reheat mixed with all the other flavours to get your pot pie. It's thickened with a bit of flour and then topped with crumbled up pre-cooked pastry.

• ½ cup corn, peas and diced carrot
• 1 teaspoon butter
• pinch of tarragon
• 2 teaspoons plain flour
• ¼ cup of milk
• puff pastry offcuts, cooked and cooled

1. Place veggies, butter and tarragon into a mug. Microwave for 1 minute to thaw and then mix.
2. Sprinkle over the flour and stir through, then add the milk and stir again. Microwave for one minute and 30 seconds and then stir to mix through all the sauce.
3. Crumble the cooked pastry over the top and serve.

Choc chip mug cookie:

The best part about this is it actually still has a bit of a cookie dough vieb to it, right in the middle.

• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon caster sugar
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg yolk
• 3 tablespoons plain flour
• 2 tablespoons chocolate chips (mix of colours works well)

1. In a mug, melt the butter and then mix in caster sugar, brown sugars and vanilla to dissolve. Mix in egg yolk until thoroughly combined.
2. Then mix in the flour, adding the choc chips last.
3. Microwave for two minutes or until cooked. Serve warm.

Easy cinnamon scrolls

Another cheat with the store bought pizza dough for the wine.

• store bought pizza dough
• butter
• cinnamon
• sugar

Roll out some of the pizza dough and brush it with melted butter. Sprinkle mixed cinnamon and sugar together over the buttered dough. Roll the dough into a log that fits loosely into your mug.

Microwave for two minutes until puffed. Butter with more melted butter and cinnamon sugar.

MORE RECIPES: Luke Hines' healthy two minute microwave mug meal

Or try molten lava cake in a mug in the microwave too.