What are your go-to meals that you cook?

10 minute pad thai.

I have some rice pho noodles in a dry pack similar to ramen. I heat water to cook those and drain them, and microwave broccoli normandy or other vegetables, and throw that in with the noodles, seasoning pack, and some variant of onions, fresh greens, chives, rosemary, peppers, or whatever else looks good. Add a spoon of m
Peanut butter, soy sauce, and something for taste like peri peri sauce from trader joes, sriracha, or goyoza.

Sometimes i have air fryer potatoes or occasionally 3 gluten free chicken nuggets or something for crunch.

Fantastic and filling and mostly veggies. Eat it almost every day

Toasted gnocchi! I like to do toasted gnocchi with some lemon garlic butter sauce. Good with all sorts of veggies, recently we did asparagus and arugula, which was pretty good.

The actual recipe is pretty simple:

• Melt a decent amount of butter in a pan
• Toss in some minced garlic for 30 seconds or so
• Toss in some lemon juice and take off heat
• Cook some gnocchi in boiling water, as you would normally
• When it starts floating, strain it and put in it a pan in a single layer over medium high heat
• Let it toast for a minute or two, until it starts to brown, then flip and toast the other side

Combine (optionally with some sauteed veggies) and eat!

Recently I’ve been pan frying salmon, then eating that with steamed broccoli and rice. Super easy, quick, tasty, and healthy. I just cut off a couple steaks from a half of a salmon, descale and lay in a pan with butter and olive oil. Season with salt, pepper, smoked paprika, etc. Finish the fish and broccoli with lemon juice.

I get maybe 10 cuts from a side of salmon, which is like $2/cut. Total meal is maybe $5 and 1,000 calories.

My super lazy breakfast burritos:

Make a couple scrambled eggs. Set aside.

In the same pan, fry up some diced onions. After they're starting to cook down a bit (or after just a few minutes), add some beans (I usually use about 1/3 can black beans, but adjust based on preference and how much you want to eat). Add some frozen corn if you have it and want to. Add some leftover rice if you have it in the fridge (or microwave a bit of it if you'd rather not have it mix together; I like it a bit better when it's separate, but it's up to you). Add some spices (cumin, cayenne, garlic powder, oregano, black pepper) toward the end. Then dump a bit of salsa on and mix it together until even-ish.

Throw some shredded cheese on a tortilla and put it in the oven until the cheese is melted, then make your burrito.

So easy, and so good. I have this for lunch fairly often because of the ease and deliciousness.

I do a much better job when I'm planning on burritos. I soak dry beans and make a big pot slowly and the flavors come together a lot better. I also fry up onions and peppers separately to add, and probably get an avocado if there are any decent ones at the store, but you asked for easy recipes, and that's one of my easiest.

Another of my go-to super-simple recipes is spaghetti. I'll share it anyway, but it does use ground beef, so you might not be interested. I'm sure you could substitute a bean mix and it'd be quite delicious. Unfortunately, my spaghetti is one of my son's favorite dishes, and he's always "disliked" beans (meaning: he doesn't like the look or the smell or the idea of them, so won't try them), so I'm stuck with this beef version until he's older.

First: pour yourself a glass of wine. You actually can skip this step if you don't drink, but it adds some great flavor. You'll need the glass later in the recipe, but of course drink it while cooking, and just top it off when it's time.

In a big pot, brown some ground beef (we like a lot of leftovers, so I use about a pound and a half). Get the pot nice and hot with some oil in the bottom (olive is what I use) and toss in the beef. Let it sit for a while without moving it so it actually gets seared a bit and therefore brown. Then flip it over and brown the other side. Wait a bit, then start to chop it up, etc.

You should've diced half an onion by now. To avoid making yourself cry, ... never mind. I struggled to clearly describe how to dice it, so check out this short video to hear it from a professional: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCGS067s0zo. (Hopefully I'm not over-explaining, but you said you were a beginner, and it took me many years before I learned how to properly dice an onion.)

Once you're happy with how brown the beef is, add the onion, and cook it down until a bit translucent. Also add as many whole garlic cloves as you want. Don't let me stop you from going nuts; I love whole cloves. Then add spices. I don't measure anything, but I end up with at least a quarter cup total of spices. I start with a mix of Italian seasoning (I don't actually know everything in it, it's just a mix that I buy from the store). Then add a bunch of basil. Then garlic powder, oregano, and black pepper. Wait 30 seconds to a minute, then mix them in and wait another minute. Cooking the spices helps bring out the flavor, so make sure it's good and fragrant.

Add the glass of wine and then mix it in, scraping the bottom of the pan (aka deglazing). Add a can of tomato sauce, then a can of chopped tomatoes, then a can of tomato paste. I always rinse the cans to make sure I get as much of the tomato as possible into the spaghetti, since I can always just cook it longer to get rid of that excess water.

Simmer for a while on low until it seems done. Serve on your pasta of choice, of course.

This is super basic, but it’s an incredibly easy, relatively cheap one-pot pasta dish that’s supposed to be a more “wholesome” version of boxed Hamburger Helper meals. My whole family loves it, from the toddler up to the adults, and it dirties exactly four items (cutting board, knife, pot, wooden spoon or other stirring tool), five if you feel the need to measure everything precisely, but it’s a great dish to learn how to get comfortable eyeballing measurements. My wife found this on TikTok and we adapted it to suit our tastes, so no link or anything, just my handwritten sloppy notes:

1 tbsp olive oil
1 lb ground meat, we usually use beef, your preference of fat percentage
10 oz uncooked pasta (we tend to use fusilli, any short shape works great)
3 carrots, diced
1 onion, diced (we usually use white)
5 cloves garlic, minced
3c chicken stock
1c milk, any percentage works
1c tomato sauce
1t garlic powder
1t onion powder
1/2t smoked paprika
1t oregano
1t dried thyme or marjoram
1-1.5c shredded cheddar

In your pot, add oil, medium high heat
Add carrots & onion, 3-4 minutes
Add ground meat, break up and cook through
Add spices, 1 minute
Add garlic, 1 minute
Add all liquids and pasta, bring to low boil, stir occasionally
Cook 7-10 minutes until pasta is good, should still be a little liquid left
Remove from heat, stir in cheese, let sit for 5 min so sauce thickens

Obviously also a great pantry-clearing recipe if you want to throw in any additional vegetables or mix the odds and ends of pasta types with only a few oz left in each box.

This past year I have become a big fan of the what I have started to call the okonomi meal. Basically instead of having set recipes or ingredients you have meal “formats” that you fill in however you want. The name comes from the Japanese dish okonomiyaki, which basically means “grilled whatever-you-want”. And it’s a great example but might be difficult to figure out if you aren’t familiar with Japanese flavorings and the process.

The premier okonomi meal is soup. If you boil anything long enough it becomes soup. It is the one dish you cannot mess up. If you have no confidence. Make soup. My personal suggestion is to add dried mushrooms because it gives it a lovely savory and earthy flavor, and it’s stronger dried than fresh.

The thing I have been making the most of is “unfried rice”. Basically, make a bunch of brown rice and then add frozen veggies and a protein at the end. I actually make a big batch and store it unseasoned, then add seasoning right before I eat it so I can switch things up. Go-to seasonings for me are simply soy sauce, onion powder, and black pepper.

My "I am dead inside but I want something warm that tastes good" meal is spicy tuna rice.

Cook 3/4 cup of rice in my rice cooker. If you don't have one, they sell microwavable rice pouches.

Defrost some frozen vegetables - chopped broccoli, peas, corn, edamame, whatever you have. I've also used fresh cucumber, or canned corn if it's all I had. Drain any liquid.

Open a can of tuna and drain it. Put it into a bowl with your veg, add ~2 Tbs mayo, and then to taste sriracha, soy sauce, and rice vinegar (or any other vinegar, just be careful with the quantity because rice vinegar is less acidic).

Once the rice is done, mix everything together. Furikake is good on top if you have it.

The other meal I make while dead inside is just a can of chick peas, olive oil, red wine or apple cider vinegar, garlic powder, smoked paprika, salt, pepper and if I have one, a chopped tomato.

Super Easy:

Dry pasta or refrigerated tortellini. Boil in a pot per instructions. Pasta sauce in a bottle. Heat in a pan. Bonus points for toasted garlic bread, you can buy it pre-made. Double bonus points for red wine. Splash some in the sauce. Taste test the wine. Splash some more in the sauce. Better taste test it again...

Air fryer. Throw in frozen breaded fish and chips. Done. Maybe rinse it out every third or fourth cook.

Easy:

Dehydrated potatoes. Just add water. Let sit. Pre-cooked sausages. Fry them up. Peel, slice and fry up onions in pan. Pre-made beef gravy in a jar. Add to fry pan. Now you have traditional bangers and mash.

Low Effort:
Buy entire chicken. Empty out insides. Rinse. Dry. Salt. Pepper. Onion powder. Garlic powder. Line roasting pan with tin foil. Throw chicken on roasting pan. Most people tie the legs, I am lazy. Rinse baby potatoes. Chop them up and put in roasting pan. Rinse baby carrots. Throw them in the roasting pan. Thermometer in the chicken. Once the thermometer measures 165 F just check the chicken. is 165 throughout. Red blood is fine. Pink meat is not.

This is really something my girlfriend cooks, but we eat black bean tacos nearly every week. It’s basically just regular homemade ground beef tacos but with black beans for a healthier option.
Sautee some onions, and a can of drained and rinsed black beans, and some taco seasoning (can buy it premade for cheap), and then just cook that a while. We also try get the “carb sense” tortillas from the grocery store for extra fiber. They taste almost as good as regular tortillas (but not quite, admittedly), but with 9g of fiber each.

This red sauce acts as a fantastic base for a lot of things --- I mostly do it solo or with anchovies, capers, olives, etc for a puttanesca. Super quick and easy.

quick edit: I might as well add in some quick meatballs

Veggie chilli

Any kind of canned beans you want, I like to get a variety of colors so I do:
Red kidney beans
Black beans
Pinto beans
Lima beans
Canned corn

And then the chilli part:
1 can rotel if all the above beans were 1 can, increase with the beans
1 pt chilli powder + cumin (1 tbsp ea to start and increase with size)
1 pt black pepper (1 tsp to start, and if you did dry beans instead of canned, also 1 tsp salt)
And sometimes if Im feeling Indian style-y I’ll toss in a tbsp of curry powder.

I use a slow cooker, so 4 hrs on high or 6-8 hrs on low.

• Stirfried veggies with scrambled egg comes together about as quickly as it takes for rice to cook. Great for using up whatever veg I have on hand.
• Pasta with a quick red sauce and maybe meat or lentils in the sauce. Lately, I've been making some variations on lentil pasta, which is great because it incorporates more veg protein and it's a one-pot meal
• Loaded sweet potato: This is for when I really dont want to cook. Microwave a sweet potato, and load it with whatever I'm feeling/have: canned beans, bell pepper (sauteed or finely diced raw), freezer corn, sour cream/yoghurt, cheese, salsa or hot sauce, herbs, avocado, etc.
• Stovetop frittata: blend up eggs, add some diced veggies, add herbs/flavours, cook covered on stovetop, when top nearly cooked, add cheese if you like. Eat as is or serve with toast or rice.
• Rice pilaf: One recipe, but you can endlessly tweak to your flavour preferences; I often go herby and lemony instead of warm and spicy. I like to load in veggies and nuts to make it a one-pot dish, or use whole-grain rice for its healthiness. Another one-pot meal that's freezable, too.

I really want to post a lot of stuff here, but... I'm very tired and had a few drinks so I know I'm on that downward spiral.
But one I want to state from a random option: a bun, a chicken thigh (or breast, if you keep it small, I just have a thing against poultry breasts), some mint leaves, a couple strawberries, and mayo. Grill the chicken (or pan fry it, or oven bake it...), muddle a couple mint leaves and mix with the mayo, and the strawberries cover instead of tomatoes. Though you could do those too. It's a delightful and easy sweet and savory that a friend used to bring to potlucks - she'd make like 12, and never got to take any home. I found they were pretty easy to replicate on a single level, and at one point I ditched the mayo though I can't remember what I replaced it with (this was like 15 years ago).
If I remember later, I'll come back with a few more that are pretty easy and easily veggie based. But regardless, good luck!

cheap staple rice+beans, trivial effort if you have a crock pot and rice cooker:

2 pounds dried beans (just made half red, half black)
2 tablespoons each: nutritional yeast, flour, salt
2 teaspoons each: oregano, cumin, paprika, crushed red pepper, onion powder
1 teaspoon each: black pepper, garlic powder
3 quarts (12 cups) water
combine dry in a 6-quart crock pot, pour over water, stir once, six hours high heat

4 cups brown rice in a rice cooker, add water to measure, maybe another batch mid-week
half-bowl rice, half-bowl beans, ladle broth over: cheap, satisfying meals for a week

...you can get much fancier cooking fresh premium ingredients on a stovetop, and the difference is substantial, but cheap commodity ingredients are tough to beat for the effort as a low-cost staple...

This is my favourite vegan recipe: https://veggiedesserts.com/red-lentil-dahl/

Pretty easy as far as dahl goes, but it's very tasty. Multiple people I've cooked it for have asked me for the recipe.

i always like to share this one: https://damndelicious.net/2014/04/09/one-pan-mexican-quinoa/

some modifications:

• as written, the recipe is vegan. that’s fine , but i find it comes out a bit lacking. it needs cheese. i typically use one of those “southwest “ type mixes
• i slice the avocado and serve on the side because warm avocado is gross
• you don’t need to bother with veg stock, plain water is fine
• lots of lime! 🍋‍🟩

it’s super easy, filling, and you’ll have leftovers

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someone else mentioned salmon and steamed broccoli- i do the salmon with a sort of teriyaki-esque sauce. frozen broccoli and shelled edamame steamed together and finished with a bit of rice vinegar, olive oil, a touch of sesame oil and miso (mix together into a sauce in a little bowl first, then top the veg with it) is really delicious

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thai green curry is pretty easy and you can load it with veg, and use different meats (or go vegan) for variety. https://m.youtube.com/@PailinsKitchen search pai’s youtube , she has a few different recipes. depending on location some of the ingredients can be a bit tricky to find tho

japanese curry is pretty easy too- just follow the directions on the box of roux

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for salads,

greek style

• tomatoes, i like to use the tiny colorful ones
• red onion
• red pepper
• cucumber
• olive oil (use a good one)
• sheep feta
• fresh mint
• oregano
• pepper
• olives (i used sliced green ones from a jar)

japanese style

• spring mix, butter lettuce, iceberg lettuce, whatever leaf is good
• some other veg like tomato, cucumber, carrot
• dressing: 3:1 oil-acid , olive oil + a touch of sesame oil for flavor, rice vinegar + a touch of yuzu juice for flavor, and then a bit of miso and some pepper. can also add grated ginger and carrot if you want

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miso soup is pretty easy and you can add whatever you want to it. we often add daikon, mushrooms (shiitake, enoki, etc) , carrots and things like that

What do low effort and beginner mean to you? Even just posting a recipe you like will help us calibrate, I think.

One low effort meal I make often is based on ramen noodles. I basically make a stir fry, using frozen stir fry vegetables and whatever meat I have that day. The type of frozen veggies I buy have snow peas, carrots, mushrooms and onions, which I can augment if I wish.

I use a spice mix I make and keep available at all times. It consists of 2tsps of paprika, 2 tsps of cumin, 2 tsps of onion powder, 2 tsps of garlic powder, 1 tsp of cayenne, 1 tsp of MSG, 2 tsps of black pepper and 1/4 tsp of salt.

Sprinkle the spice mix liberally on the chopped up meat, fry in your choice of oil (I use canola) and add the frozen veggies. Pour in some soy sauce (and siracha if you want it spicier).

While all that is cooking, I make the ramen noodles in the microwave, pour out all the liquid when it is done and add the meat and vegetable mix to the noodles.

Very quick to make.

I'm intentionally posting a lame, simple, it's-been-a-rough-day-OK recipe; please don't judge me too harshly 😅

Base: Lentils & Pasta
80g green lentils
550g water
60g pasta
Microwave lentils & water in a lidded container; 4 minutes at high, 16 at half power.
Add pasta. Microwave 3 minutes at high, 14 at half power.
Add salt (or soy sauce, black salt, etc.) and acid (lemon juice, vinegar, citric acid, etc.) to taste.

That prevents me from dropping dead of malnutrition when I can barely rub two brain cells together, and am teetering on the verge of collapse, but it's boring as sin! Some useful variants:

• tomato cube and some dried herbs (basil, oregano, savoury, etc. are good), and a spoonful of garlic powder
• throw in frozen vegetables 4 minutes before it's done cooking
• stir in a teaspoon of Better than Bouillon (vegan, ofc)
• top with copious amounts of lao gan ma and/or fried onion bits
• etc.

I've been trying to eat relatively lower carb during the week, because I tend to go out and eat a lot of unhealthy foods during the weekend. So, weeknight dinners usually consist of air fryer vegetables with some kind of protein with pan sauce.

Air fryer vegetables are just cut up and tossed in olive oil, salt, and pepper. Put it in the air fryer at 400-450F or so until slightly charred. The high heat and char are very important to me. Works with a large variety of things: carrots, onions, potatoes, broccoli, brussels sprouts, squash, cauliflower, bell peppers, asparagus, etc. It sounds really simple, but I honestly prefer this type of preparation over something more complex or highly seasoned, especially if the veggies are fresh and in season.

Protein can be pork chops, boneless chicken thighs, steak, whatever is on sale in the meat department. Sear hard and pan fry until done (a meat thermometer helps). Make a pan sauce with ingredients that are salty, sour, and sweet to varying degrees, plus a little water if necessary. For example, I might cook some chicken thighs then deglaze with soy sauce, lemon juice, a little sugar, and enough water to just cover the pan. Cook the sauce down until it starts to thicken and immediately pour on top of the chicken. Or maybe pork chops the deglaze with red wine vinegar, fig jam, salt, and a little butter thrown in at the end. I guess for amounts, about a tablespoon of each is a good place to start (not the salt though). I just go by feel for balance. You can always taste and add more, so just try not to overdo the stronger ingredients.

Another easy one is nabe. Buy thinly sliced beef then put it in a pot along with some napa cabbage, green onions, enoki mushrooms, dashi powder (enough for 2 cups of broth per directions), a few tbsp soy sauce, a few tbsp sake/cooking wine, then water to cover halfway. Cook on stove with lid on until the meat is cooked through, about 10 minutes. Eat with rice. I often fill out my rice with some cauliflower rice to sneak extra veggies in there, one cup cauliflower for each cup of dry rice. I just chuck it all in a rice cooker, and it turns out pretty well.

One I've started recently is a quick instant pot stew of chicken with gochujang, soy sauce and sesame oil. I just throw them into the instant pot and pressure cook for~10 minutes. Once I release the pressure I then change it to saute and mix in carrots and broccoli (and zucchini if I have it) and let things saute for ~5 minutes. Pretty feeling, decently healthy I feel?, and fairly low effort.

There are times where even that is too high effort for me though. I'll then simply bake chicken thighs with basic seasonings like salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder. Ill then thaw some frozen broccoli and eat it with rice.

Not veg heavy but I do love this Vodka Pasta recipe, it’s pretty quick cause I usually just prep the sauce while the water is boiling and the pasta is cooking:
https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/fusilli-alla-vodka-basil-parmesan

(Can share if you DM if you hit the paywall).

I am also a big fan of Mediterranean bowls for lunch, because I can prepare all the chopped tomatoes/cucumbers/onion beforehand & the seasoned chickpeas (might not be in the recipe, I just toss with lemon, parsley, and the onion), and then can put on either microwave rice or lettuce for a quick lunch/dinner.
https://www.acouplecooks.com/hummus-bowl/

I’m also a big fan of making a large soup on the weekend (see my topic history where I asked for recs), and then reheating for lunches during the week. I picked up some “souper cube” knockoffs from Costco and I use those to freeze a couple servings as well.

I don't make it that often, but it's a comfy meal I really enjoy: Spinach!

1. Smash the heck out of some garlic. I usually do around 6-7 cloves for 1kg of frozen spinach

2. Add some butter and oil (or just oil of preference) to a pot, heat it up, add the crushed garlic and let it get nice and aromatic. Don't burn it

3. Add some flour - plain white, around a tablespoon. This is where you might want to add a bit more oil or butter, you want to have enough to not burn the flour. Stir constantly, don't want anything sticking

4. Once the flour has absorbed the oils and garlic flavors, extinguish it with full fat milk. You can either add it slowly in steps, constantly stirring to make a roux, or add a bunch at once and vigorously stir to make sure there aren't any chunks.

5. Once that's done, add frozen chopped spinach, then add more milk until it's covered.

6. Stir and cook on low heat until the spinach is of a desired texture. I like it on the more fresh side, but you can cook it longer.

7. Once the milk is hot and it's all cooking, you can add salt and pepper and other desired spices. Cream is usual, perhaps a bit more butter, a more neutral cheese that will melt nicely, etc

8. Once it's done, serve with a nice slice of sourdough and a fried egg.

If I don't know what to cook and don't want to put much effort into it these are mine:

Champignon cream risotto

• cut champignons to thin slices (5 champignons)
• put them on frying pan (wok style preferably) with adequate amount of butter (100 grams) and let them cook; not on high power, we are not frying them!
• boil rice (400-500 grams of uncooked rice)
• when champignons turn grey/brown and/or you are pleased with how they are done, add cream (400 milliliters)
• let the cream boil of a bit to get it thicker
• add boiled rice and add salt to you liking

Pasta with tuna and dried tomatoes

• boil your favorite pasta, penne works great for me (500 grams of uncooked pasta)
• in the meantime cut dried tomatoes to small squares (around 100-150grams of tomatoes; not counting oil if they are in oil)
• put tomatoes and one can of tuna in oil (160 grams can, which is around 110 grams of tuna) in the pot and heat it up a bit, you may add more oil if it's too dry (ie. from tomatoes if they were in oil or olive or sunflower or whatever cooking oil)
• once pasta is boiled, mix everything together thoroughly
• no seasoning needed, but you may add some parmesan or similar cheese on top

Ham risotto

• cut sliced ham to circa 3-4 mm wide and around 1-2cm long stripes (250 - 300 grams)
• put the ham into the frying pan (wok style preferably) with some butter (say 100 grams)
• fry the ham on medium heat and in the meantime
• cut two peppers to say halves or quarters and then cut those to thin slices
• add peppers into the pan once ham starts to get fried
• add butter if needed
• once peppers are in pan, turn down the heat a bit so it doesn't fry anymore and just let the peppers get soft
• in the meantime boil rice (400-500 grams of uncooked rice)
• after peppers are softnand rice is boiled, mix everything together thoroughly
• add abundant amount of soy sauce (say 2 - 4 table spoons), all the rice must change color, keep mixing
• add salt and ground pepper tonyour liking
• you can put grated cheese on top while serving, if you like

Pasta with cheese sauce

• boil your favorite pasta, spaghetti works great (500 grams)
• put 200 grams of parmesan(-type) or blue cheese type and 200 ml of sauce and 50 grams of butter in the pot and let the cheese melt on low heat, you don't want it to overheat! Keep the temperature so low you could actually eat the sauce directly from the pot
• once pasta is boiled and sauce is done, put pasta in the deep plate and pour over the sauce, serve immediately!
• don't mix the remaining pasta with the sauce! This would make it really bad for reheating!
• if you are reheating, you can do pasta in the microwave oven but you should reheat the sauce in the pot and again on low heat and slowly until it all joins together again!

All of these are for three to four adults or two adults and two kids. All of them could be reheated, the cream risotto is best served immediately though.

I already replied with my very healthy burrito in this comment but the easiest and laziest for me is leftover quesadillas.

I almost always have some cooked rice left over, and I also always have some cooked/canned leftover beans. I'll take the leftover rice and beans, put them in a tortilla wrap with some cheese and then chop up whatever leftover vegetables I have. Put that quesadilla in the oven for about 10 minutes for all the food to warm up and for the cheese to melt, and bam! You've got yourself a quesadilla most people would pay 18 bucks for at a restaurant!

I've been consuming a bunch of fried rice lately, it's become my new go-to.

Basically, I start some rice in the rice cooker before I walk my dog. 1-2 cups. I sauté a whole onion and about 3-4 mushrooms, finely diced, in a saucepan. Then, I beat together 6 eggs, shoyu soy sauce, salt, pepper, garlic, smoked paprika, a dash of Worcestershire sauce. Heat up my wok, or a large frying pan if it's dirty, with a generous portion of sesame oil, and once it's good and hot, toss in the egg mixture. Give it a couple scrapes, but don't let all the liquid egg solidify before tossing in the rice. Give a good stir to spread the egg throughout the rice, then toss in your sautéed veggies and another mix. Then add your leftover protein or veggies of choice. I've tossed in leftover chicken, peas, carrots, and whatever else I happen to have on hand. However, recently I started adding Landjäger sausage to the fried rice, and it absolutely kicks things up a notch. Let the rice mixture sizzle for a bit - the taste really comes alive that way, and if you're using a wok, try tossing it a bit!

So easy, so delicious. More rice, more leftovers!

A few people have already mentioned burritos, but that's my go-to meal prep as well. I'll cook up a batch of rice, make a big batch of refried beans (heat up some olive oil with garlic+onion powder, cayenne, and chili powder, add 2-3 cans of drained black or pinto beans, then mash it all up once it's all heated), and a small batch of cheese sauce (make a roux from butter+flour, add some milk, then a bunch of shredded cheese, and I'll usually also mix in some taco seasoning). I refrigerate each of these in their own container, then when I want a meal I'll mix some of the rice, beans, and cheese and heat it in the microwave for a minute or two, warm up a tortilla for 15 seconds or so, then roll it all up into a burrito. I treat this as a meal "plotform" that I can change up before wrapping it by adding some diced tomato, lettuce, or other veggies, guacamole if I've got some, various hot sauces, a bit of sour cream--whatever I'm feeling like. If I still ate meat I'd probably add some variety on that front as well but it's pretty easy and tasty even without.

Lots of good ones in here, I’ll definitely spend more time with this thread soon. My go to meals are all fairly quick.

Easy Baked Fish
I buy whatever white fish is on sale in frozen fillets, usually pollock, flounder, or whiting. I bake it from frozen in my countertop convection oven (but in the bake setting) brushed with oil and salt/pepper. Usually about 25 minutes from frozen. Then I serve that alongside a veggie or lately I’ve been getting the Birdseye brand California Power Blend and serving it over that with something on the side (usually microwave a raw yam, skin it, mush it up with margarine and salt.)

Soup and a Sandwich
What it says on the tin. I wait for Progresso and Campbell’s soups to go on special and stock up on the ready to heat varieties, then I’ll make one of those with a simple meat and cheese with lettuce and tomato and a pickle sandwich, or an open face baked melt (usually chicken and cheese, sometimes canned tuna and cheese; American diner fare.)

Lavash Bread Pizza
I keep cubes of frozen marinara in the freezer, so I’ll thaw a cube or two depending on the number of pizzas I’m making, spread the sauce, hit it with shredded cheese and always at least sliced black olives and mushrooms, sometimes crumbled sausage or diced ham or whatever morsels of meat I have handy, top with a bit more shredded cheese and bake it in my countertop oven for about 15 minutes at most. I like the lavash because the one I get from Joseph brand is very thin and I can roll up the slices and eat it more easily.

Edit: I buy the oat and flax lavash bread because it’s higher fiber and tastes just fine for this dish, plus I get like six lavash for like $4.

I’m on my phone and did my best to catch errors, but I’ll try to look this over more thoroughly later. I have many recipes but these are the three currently in heaviest rotation.

Spam Musabi is a standard for lunch.

Or for breakfast just spam, scrambled eggs, and pineapple.

Carbonara. It’s basically just bacon eggs and cheese. Very hard to fuck that up.

Spaghetti/pasta with butter and salt. It really doesn’t get any easier than that. Boil the spaghetti and ad a good chunk of good butter and some salt while it’s hot. Tastes too good to be that easy and cheap too.

Sycamore, I'm not sure how much of a beginner you are, but these were my go-to dishes when I was super intimidated by cooking and just starting out. All of these should easily be doable on a work night:

• Scrambled eggs with cheese. Scramble some eggs, then when it's almost done cooking, throw some grated cheese in the pan. Take off the heat and stir until the cheese starts to melt. Serve on a plate with some leafy greens with your favorite salad dressing. This could easily be modified to add some leftover chopped veggies or precooked meats you already have in the fridge. Just add them to the scramble a little earlier so they have time to heat up more. If you're feeling super fancy, make some toast and you can put the scramble on it while you eat.
• Tuna fish sandwich. Take one can of tuna and put it in a bowl. Add some mayonnaise, cracked black pepper, and dried dill from the spice cabinet. Start mixing the tuna with the mayo/pepper/dill, and add more of the ingredients until it tastes good to you. If you have them, capers also taste good here. Serve on your favorite sliced bread with a pickle spear on the side. Salad is my favorite thing, so this is another meal I would just take some leafy greens and add dressing to.
• Steamed veggies and dumplings. Note, you will need a steamer basket for this. Bring a pan of water to a boil. Choose your favorite green vegetable, and chop off the non-edible bits (frozen works fine here, and needs no prep work). Some veggies work particularly well for steaming, such as broccoli, broccolini, and bok choy. Place the basket with the veggies over the boiling water, and let sit for not more than two minutes (it'll need to be longer if the veggies were frozen). Remove the veggies from the basket, and dress with oyster sauce + some toasted sesame oil. In the steaming basket, now add your favorite frozen dumplings. Follow the steaming directions on the dumpling packaging. Eat the dumplings with your sauce of choice - I usually like to mix together black vinegar, soy sauce, chili oil, and a little bit of toasted sesame oil.

Not really the healthiest thing, but it is an american classic and it's easy:

• Boxed mac & cheese with hotdogs. Make the boxed mac & cheese per the box instructions. In a frying pan, cook the hotdog on medium heat until it's nicely browned on all sides. If you're feeling fancy, you can cutup the hotdogs when they're done cooking and add them to the mac & cheese. If you're lazy like me, you just serve it on the side of the mac & cheese with some ketchup+mustard. Oh yes, serve with leafy greens and your favorite salad dressing.

And this recipe takes a long time to make and some effort, but it is easy and one of the first harder things I learned to cook. I definitely recommend making it on a weekend and a lot of it, because it freezes really well.

• French onion soup. In the biggest pot you have, coat the bottom with some olive oil (butter is more traditional, but olive oil is easier for me). Then, chop up as many onions as you can stand and throw them into the pot until you either mostly fill up the pot or can't stand it anymore (minimum 3 onions at least). Don't worry about dicing them, rough chopping is fine here. Sprinkle some course or kosher salt on top of the onions, just a few pinches. Place the pot on the stove and turn it to medium. This next part can literally take an hour, but as the onions start to warm up, stir them every few minutes, enough so that the onions on the bottom are constantly changing places with onions on the top. The onions will significantly reduce in size and start to darken. When they reach a deep golden brown, pour on some dry white wine, enough to just cover the onions again. Wait until the wine has reduced by half, then pour in a bunch of beef broth, enough so that there's some space between the onions as they float in the broth. Add in a pinch of dried thyme, rosemary, and cracked black pepper (if you have fresh sprigs of the thyme/rosemary, that is even better). Bring the soup to a simmer, and let cook uncovered for 30 minutes. After that time, taste the soup and add more thyme/rosemary/pepper/salt to your own taste. While the soup is simmering, slice up an old french baguette and place on a baking tray. Slice up some gruyere cheese onto each bread slice (parmesan is acceptable if you don't have gruyere, it needs to be a hard, salty cheese). Turn up your oven to the highest heat setting and put on convection if that's an option. Place the baking tray with bread/cheese on the top rack and watch carefully, the bread should be toasted with the cheese melting after 2-3 minutes. Serve the soup with the toasted bread/cheese slices, and a side salad.

Pork N Beans! I melt some butter in a pot, put in some nice sausage to get crispy (I love Opa's Jalapeno Cheddar), then add a can of Ranch Style beans and heat. Serve with saltines.

I've been experimenting with adding some vegetable too; I really enjoy kale after the sausage but before beans, but I can't eat enough kale to get through the giant bags without most of it going bad. I'm exploring frozen options, and frozen cut okra has been neat, I do let the beans stew a little longer to give the okra time to soften. I tried frozen spinach and that was awful, do not recommend. My local store doesn't sell frozen kale sadly. Might try broccoli soon!

Spaghetti Bolognese

I enjoy any form of bolognese with pasta, and the range I cook is very wide: from a very convenient Knorr's powder fix to a fancy recipe for ragu from Fallow. Usually just do something in the middle from scratch - sometimes more traditional, sometimes a little bit different, like adding some bell peppers and mushrooms.

I've got some standbys that are similar to those already posted, but Oyakodon is an easy, quick, high-protein comfort meal that I make about every other week, especially in the winter. I use instant dashi, and for my taste, cut back the sugar to about a teaspoon (5 g). It scales and reheats reasonably well, so I usually make a double recipe to have a couple of days of meals.

Oyakodon (Japanese Chicken and Egg Rice Bowl)

Asian, Entree, Japanese, Poultry, Quick Dinner
Cook Time: 20 mins | Servings: 2 servings

Ingredients:

1 cup (240ml) homemade or instant dashi (see notes)
2 tablespoons (30ml) dry sake
1 tablespoon (15ml) soy sauce, plus more to taste
1 tablespoon (15g) sugar, plus more to taste
1 large onion (about 6 ounces; 170g), thinly sliced
12 ounces (340g) boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breast, thinly sliced
3 scallions, ends trimmed and thinly sliced, divided
2 stems mitsuba (optional; see note)
3 to 4 large eggs (see note)
To Serve:
2 cups cooked white rice
Togarashi (see note)

Directions:

Combine dashi, sake, soy sauce, and sugar in a 10-inch skillet and bring to a simmer over high heat. Adjust heat to maintain a strong simmer. Stir in onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is half tender, about 5 minutes. Add chicken pieces and cook, stirring and turning chicken occasionally, until chicken is cooked through and broth has reduced by about half, 5 to 7 minutes for chicken thighs or 3 to 4 minutes for chicken breast. Stir in half of scallions and all of mitsuba (if using), then season broth to taste with more soy sauce or sugar as desired. The sauce should have a balanced sweet-and-salty flavor.
Reduce heat to a bare simmer. Pour beaten eggs into skillet in a thin, steady stream, holding chopsticks over edge of bowl to help distribute eggs evenly (see video above). Cover and cook until eggs are cooked to desired doneness, about 1 minute for runny eggs or 3 minutes for medium-firm.

To Serve: Transfer hot rice to a single large bowl or 2 individual serving bowls. Top with egg and chicken mixture, pouring out any excess broth from saucepan over rice. Add an extra egg yolk to center of each bowl, if desired (see note). Garnish with remaining sliced scallions and togarashi. Serve immediately.

Nutrition:

(per serving)
635 Calories 19g Fat 63g Carbs 50g Protein
Nutrition Facts
Servings: 2
Amount per serving
Calories 635
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 19g 24%
Saturated Fat 6g 29%
Cholesterol 436mg 145%
Sodium 960mg 42%
Total Carbohydrate 63g 23%
Dietary Fiber 3g 9%
Total Sugars 11g
Protein 50g
Vitamin C 9mg 45%
Calcium 114mg 9%
Iron 5mg 29%
Potassium 916mg 19%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

we have 2 low effort meals that we make when we can't be bothered, but still want to eat relatively healthily:

1. impossible nuggets and roasted broccoli - put both in the oven on one or two sheetpans and call it a day
2. pasta with jarred sauce and frozen veggies - it's what it sounds like. Boil the pasta and at the last minute of cooking add frozen peas, carrots, and spinach before draining, then mix in sauce. Grate parmesan on top if you're feeling fancy.

No joke, the first recipe from this YouTube link is so good and so easy to make.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVAN4_pWCwY