What’s your go‑to “I don’t want to cook but I have to” meal?

I love this thread, so I extracted out everything that was listed so far. Please offer corrections for any errors and I will fix.

1. Frozen chicken nuggets and fries; buttermilk ranch dip 
   Ingredients

• Frozen chicken nuggets
• Frozen fries
• Ranch dip
• • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1/2 cup mayonnaise
  • 1/3 cup fresh buttermilk; up to 1/2 cup for a thinner, dressing like dip
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons Hidden Valley ranch powder
  • 2 to 4 tablespoons fresh dill, finely chopped
  • Optional herbs: chives; parsley; a little tarragon
  • Black pepper; optional squeeze of lemon juice

• Bake or air fry nuggets and fries per package directions.
• Stir sour cream and mayo until smooth.
• Stir in ranch powder; let it sit 2 minutes so it hydrates.
• Add buttermilk a splash at a time until the texture is right.
• Fold in dill and any other herbs; add pepper; chill 15 to 30 minutes if you can.

1. Chicken and salad 
   
   Ingredients

• Chicken thighs or breasts
• Salt; pepper; oil
• Salad greens or a bagged salad kit; dressing

• Season chicken with salt and pepper.
• Cook in a skillet over medium heat until done; about 5 to 7 minutes per side depending on thickness; or bake at 425°F until 165°F internal.
• Toss salad; add dressing; serve together.

1. Risotto 
   
   Ingredients

• 1 cup arborio rice
• 4 to 5 cups broth, kept warm
• 2 tablespoons butter or olive oil
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan
• Optional add ins: mushrooms; peas

• Warm broth in a saucepan.
• In a second pot, melt butter; toast rice 1 minute.
• Add warm broth 1/2 cup at a time; stir often; keep adding as it absorbs.
• Stop when creamy and the rice is tender; usually 18 to 22 minutes.
• Stir in parmesan; fold in add ins; season to taste.

1. Baked beans on toast 
   
   Ingredients

• Bread
• Canned baked beans
• Butter

• Toast bread; butter it.
• Warm beans in a small pan or microwave.
• Spoon beans over toast.

1. Pasta aglio e olio peperoncini 
   
   Ingredients

• Pasta
• Olive oil
• Garlic, pressed or thinly sliced
• Chili pepper or chili flakes
• Parmesan
• Salt
• Optional: sliced mushrooms; pancetta; chickpeas  

• Cook pasta in well salted water.  
• Warm olive oil on low; add garlic and chili; keep heat low so it flavors the oil without browning.  
• Drain pasta; toss with the oil; top with plenty of parmesan.  
• Optional: crisp pancetta; sauté mushrooms; warm chickpeas; stir in at the end.

1. Fast mug pesto pasta 
   
   Ingredients

• Pasta
• Garlic
• Basil
• Olive oil
• Salt; black pepper
• Parmesan
• Optional: pine nuts; olives; marinated peppers; artichokes  

• Cook pasta.
• In a mug, crush garlic with salt; add basil; pepper; optional pine nuts; mash well.  
• Cover with olive oil; stir; mix in parmesan.  
• Drain pasta; toss with pesto; finish with more parmesan.

1. A sandwich 
   
   Ingredients

• Bread
• Any quick protein: deli meat; tuna; leftovers
• Cheese; greens; pickles
• Condiment: mayo; mustard

• Build; toast if desired; eat.

1. Quesadillas; high effort to almost no effort 
   
   Ingredients

• Tortillas
• Shredded cheese
• Optional fillings: cooked protein; onions; peppers; garlic; seasonings  
• Salsa; chips

• High effort: cook protein and vegetables; then assemble; pan fry in the fat left in the pan; add butter if needed.  
• Medium effort: use canned chicken or pre cooked frozen Mexican style meat; assemble; pan fry.  
• Low effort: assemble; toaster oven until melted.  
• Serve with salsa and chips.

1. Instant noodles upgraded 
   
   Ingredients

• Indomie or Buldak instant noodles
• 1 egg
• Furikake
• Optional mozzarella

• Cook noodles per package.
• Add seasoning.
• Add egg: crack into the hot noodles and cover 2 minutes; or top with a soft boiled egg.
• Top with furikake; optional mozzarella.

1. Microwaved potato with butter and salt 
   
   Ingredients

• 1 russet potato
• Butter
• Salt

• Poke potato all over with a fork.
• Microwave 5 minutes; flip; microwave 3 to 6 minutes until soft.
• Split; add butter and salt.

1. Oatmeal porridge with an egg 
   
   Ingredients

• Oats
• Water or milk
• Salt
• 1 egg

• Cook oats with a pinch of salt.
• While hot, stir in the egg steadily until it thickens; or top with a fried egg.

1. Natto and cheddar on toast 
   
   Ingredients

• Toast
• Natto
• Cheddar

• Toast bread.
• Mix natto per its usual prep; spoon onto toast.
• Add cheddar; broil briefly if you want it melted.

1. Stuffed frozen chicken breasts; rice; frozen vegetables 
   
   Ingredients

• Stuffed frozen chicken breasts
• Rice
• Frozen vegetables

• Bake chicken per package directions.  
• Start rice; stir frozen vegetables into the rice near the end, or microwave vegetables separately.  
• Serve together.

1. Sweet pasta with poppy seeds or walnuts; powdered sugar 
   
   Ingredients

• Cooked pasta
• Poppy seeds or chopped walnuts
• Powdered sugar
• Optional butter

• Toss hot pasta with a little butter.
• Add poppy seeds or walnuts.
• Dust with powdered sugar.

1. Toasted cream of wheat with pasta; jam 
   
   Ingredients

• Cream of wheat
• Salt
• Water
• Cooked pasta
• Jam or jelly

• Toast dry cream of wheat in a pan with a pinch of salt until lightly nutty.  
• Carefully add water; cook into porridge.
• Stir in cooked pasta.  
• Top with jam or jelly.

1. Paprika potatoes with noodles 
   
   Ingredients

• Potatoes
• Optional onions; optional peppers
• Sweet paprika
• Salt; pepper
• Cooked noodles

• Boil potatoes until tender.  
• Optional: sauté finely chopped onions and peppers.
• Lower heat; stir in sweet paprika; salt; pepper.  
• Mash potatoes; mix in the paprika mixture.
• Fold in cooked noodles; serve.  

1. Simple skillet goulash 
   
   Ingredients

• 1 pound ground meat
• 1/2 pound chopped vegetables; bell peppers and onions are common  
• 1 jar pasta sauce; about 28 ounces  
• Water; about 80 percent of the empty sauce jar  
• 1/2 pound dry pasta  
• Shredded cheese

• In a 12 inch skillet, cook meat and vegetables until meat is almost browned.  
• Add pasta sauce and water; stir well.  
• Add pasta; bring to a boil; reduce to low; cover.  
• Cook until pasta is tender; 11 to 20 minutes depending on pasta.  
• Stir in shredded cheese; serve.  

1. Canned beans and rice; scale the effort 
   
   Ingredients

• Cooked rice
• Canned beans
• Hot sauce
• Optional upgrades: proper seasoning; smoked sausage; chicken thighs; Mexican rice; cornbread; jambalaya style  

• Warm beans; season; add hot sauce.
• Serve over rice.
• Optional: brown sliced smoked sausage; stir into beans; or add roasted chicken thighs on the side.

1. Sweet farro bowl 
   
   Ingredients

• 10 minute farro
• Salt
• Butter
• Dried fruit
• Pie spice  

• Boil salted water; add farro; simmer about 10 minutes.  
• Drain.  
• Stir in butter; dried fruit; pie spice.

1. Frozen salmon; microwave sides 
   
   Ingredients

• Frozen salmon fillet
• Olive oil; salt; pepper
• Optional sauce
• Microwave green beans; olive oil; salt; pepper  
• Microwave rice  

• Heat oven to 425°F.  
• Put frozen salmon on a foil lined tray; season with olive oil; salt; pepper; optional sauce.  
• Bake about 20 minutes until flaky and cooked.  
• Microwave green beans; season; serve with microwave rice.  

1. Hobo stew 
   
   Ingredients

• Frozen or canned vegetables
• Beef broth
• Potatoes, diced
• Ground beef

• Brown ground beef.
• Add broth; potatoes; vegetables.  
• Bring to a boil; simmer about 30 minutes until potatoes are tender.  
• Season to taste; reheats well overnight.

A sandwich

Microwaved potato with butter and salt.

Oatmeal porridge with an egg added.

Natto and cheddar cheese on toast.

Pasta aglio olio peperonici

• Cook pasta in salt water as described on the package
• Put a thick layer of olive oil in a small saucepan on low heat
• Add pressed garlic and a finely chopped chilli pepper. Make sure the oil stays cool enough not to fry the garlic and chilli. It’s just to flavour the oil.
• Drain the pasta, add the oil, top with too much parmesan cheese

If you want to fancy it up, fry some sliced mushrooms and/or pancetta and add it in.

Indome or buldak instant noodles. Add an egg, furikake, and optional mozarella cheese as topping.

Baked beans on toast.

Lately it’s bastard heathen “""carbonara"""”.

Chicken flavored instant noodles with a slice of kraft cheese cooked to a thick slurry and add eggs at the end and steam/baste it.

Farro. Boil water w/ salt, add a bag of 10 minute farro from Trader Joe’s. Reduce heat and boil 10 minutes. Drain and serve.

I like mine on the sweet side so I add dried fruit, butter, and my secret ingredient: Pie Spice:

https://www.penzeys.com/online-catalog/pie-spice/c-24/p-3079/pd-s

Frozen salmon (fish).

1. Preheat the oven to 425
2. Put a salmon fillet on a baking tray with some foil for easy clean up
3. Sauce and/or season (salt, pepper, olive oil minimum)
4. Bake for about 20min until the fish is flaky and cooked.

This can be applied to almost any flash frozen fish, requires no preparation, cleans up easy, and scales up to multiple people without scaling the work.

Want sides with this? Microwaved Green beans with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Minute/microwave rice.

a whole bag of brussel sprouts. maybe with a hot dog and apple

if i want to get fancy, maybe hamburger soup, or green bean casserole

boxed red beans and rice. follow instructions, add frozen veggies

Hobo stew: frozen or canned vegetables (dealers choice), beef broth, some ‘taters, tube of ground beef. Bring it to boil, then simmer for 30 minutes. Best when reheated overnight.

-Pasta with simple toppings: poppy seeds / walnuts with powdered sugar.
-Or you can roast some cream of wheat +bit of salt, heat it up nicely, add water (be cautious the steam can hurt you) then add cooked pasta. Mix and serve with jam/jelly on top.
-Or boil some potatoes, meanwhile cook some finely chopped onions (you can add chopped peppers also) - reduce heat: add powdered sweet paprika, salt, pepper then mash the potatoes and mix. Add cooked noodles,mix and serve.

Salads, based on greens not mayonnaise, at worst you have to wash and chop but if I’m completely burned out I’ll buy pre washed and chopped. I always add plenty of lean proteins like beans and then adjust the amount of fat with a nice pre-made dressing.

Heat 1. a pot with water and 2. a pan with oil

1. Add rice noodles, ketchup, shriracha and a can of shredded tuna
2. stir fry eggs and veggies

I operate pot and pan simultaneously, in the end I tip the stir fry in with the noodles. I can do all this in less than 10 minutes I think (not that I ever stopped myself).

The end result is a sort of asian style noodle soup.

Quesadillas.

On the higher effort end: whatever protein that has to be cooked plus onions, peppers, garlic, seasonings, and cheese. Then pan fried in whatever fat is left over from cooking the protein, adding butter if there isn’t much fat like with chicken or turkey.

Medium effort: still pan fried but using canned chicken or any Mexican style meat that I’ve frozen.

Barely any effort just need to get food made: same as the medium effort but put together then tossed into the toaster oven until everything is melted.

Add salsa and chips and call it a meal. It may not be healthy but it’s basically my go to when I don’t want to put in the effort of cooking something as I always have everything on hand.

Stuffed frozen chicken breasts, with rice and frozen vegetables. Just put the chicken in the oven, and throw the frozen veggies in with the rice. It’s almost completely hands off, and it all gets done at about the same time.

Canned beans and rice. How fancy you wanna go depends on how much you don’t wanna cook. In order for me from “I don’t want to order out” to weeknight staple

hot sauce only, proper seasoning for the beans, smoked sausage added to beans, chicken thighs, Mexican rice, make cornbread, jumbalaya

Have to because you have to eat or have to because there’s nothing microwaveable/doesn’t need cooking to eat? 🤔

Former: Tacos or anything I can just throw in the slow cooker before noon.

Latter: Whatever I have that will make food 🤷‍♂️

Cheater Chicken Parm!

We’ll grab burgers from Culver’s for lunch and pick up an 8 piece of chicken tenders for dinner.

Ingredients:

• 4 breaded chicken tendies from Culver’s or regional equivalent
• Red pasta sauce
• Spaghetti
• Mozzarella

Make the pasta according to the package. While that’s cooking, heat up the tendies in a toaster oven at 350°F (167°C).

Once the tendies are warmed up, spread a spoonful of red sauce on the tendies, top with mozzarella and bake until cheese is melted.

Plate with cooked spaghetti and sauce as desired.

I have a simple goulash that has been a goto for a bit.

1. Toss 1 pound of ground meat ( any kind) and 1/2 pound of any veggies (usually chopped bell peppers and onions for us) you want into a 12 inch skillet and cook until the meat is just about but not quite browned.
2. Add a medium sized jar (28ish oz) of red pasta sauce and about 80% of the same jar filled with water to the pan and mix thoroughly.
3. Add roughly half a pound of pasta, any kind.
4. heat to boil, reduce heat to low and cover.
5. Cook until pasta is done, roughly 11 to 20 minutes depending on the pasta.
6. Add shredded cheese to taste and stir until melted in.
7. Serve.

Feeds 2 - 3 people depending on how hungry they are. Might consider adding a heavy side dish if I need to feed more people, but a 12 inch is the largest cast iron I have. Takes about 20 to 40 minutes including waiting for the skillet to heat up.

Too large a recipe for a 10 inch. It will fit but, likes to slosh over the sides.

Originally, I made this with ground beef, but nowadays ground pork is far cheaper. Costs roughly $3 per serving.

For one, chicken and salad.
For lots, risotto

Frozen chicken nuggets and fries. I do make my own ranch dip/dressing that I always keep on hand though.