The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 plus 4 letter word READY MEAL
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
R
E
A
D
Y
M
E
A
L
More clues leading to the result READY MEAL
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "something quick to prepare in the kitchen" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case something quick to prepare in the kitchen = ready meal.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.