Question Can we save a Mesh with Material so that it uses its material when dropped in the scene?

I've managed to save a generated mesh and added its material to it with AssetDatabase.AddObjectToAsset():


When I drop the mesh in the scene, the material is not automatically assigned to the MeshRenderer. It's kind of expected and I know I should be creating a Prefab for that.

Still ... maybe there's some way to get the Mesh to automatically use the Material that is embedded in it?

By that I mean:

1. without creating a prefab (separate asset file) - I know this works, already did it
2. without writing an editor script that watches for "objects added to scene" - I assume this could be possible, but feels intrusive and out of context (generating mesh assets)
3. without exporting as FBX/OBJ or similar - I assume this should work provided the mesh is added to the scene with material assigned, right?

If you have any pros, cons, or notes regarding solutions 1-3 I'd like to hear about them.

Thank you!