10 Easy Meals to Throw Together When You Simply Can’t Handle Cooking
Sometimes in life, we quite simply cannot handle making food for ourselves. It’s too much energy output, it’s exhausting, it’s overwhelming to know what to make, the thought of doing anything is just too much. But, we have to eat, right? We rounded up 10 meals that are incredibly easy to throw together when you simply cannot handle cooking. Whether you’re in a depression, low mental health moment, having a life emergency, exhausted, a new parent, overwhelmed, overworked, tired of cooking, or simply just don’t feel like thinking about food, we’re giving you permission to keep meals simple with these fresh and easy meal ideas.
Plus, we know during certain life moments, it can even be tricky to get the dishes clean, so we love these compostable disposable bowls, plates, and utensils. We also love these disposable and compostable food containers to prep food or make your life easier! Keep them on hand for when you need them!
As a side note: if you are a parent or caregiver, the below meals are more than enough to keep your kids fed. Fed is best isn’t just for babies, it’s for us all. Sometimes in life, we just need to show up, get something on the table, and lie back down, and that’s more than okay.
*the below links are affiliate links, we appreciate you supporting Fresh Starts so that we can support others!
10 incredibly easy meals to make when you cannot handle the thought of cooking:
Crunchy Yogurt Fruit Parfait: Yes, a yogurt parfait counts as a meal! We recommend having granola on hand always (it’s a good staple for when you need something, anything, to eat). Keep some vanilla yogurt in the fridge, make sure to have bananas in the house - and if you want to get fancy, add some strawberries and chocolate chips for extra deliciousness. Simply chop up the banana, throw it in a bowl with the yogurt, add granola (honestly, Honey Bunches of Oats works great here), any other fruit you like (canned pineapple, mandarin oranges - they are both pantry staples, so grab them on sale and keep them around), and top with a few chocolate chips or any other fun cereal you may have on hand. It’s crunchy, filling, and you can throw this together in seconds.
Tuna Salad Wrap: Simply mix canned tuna with creamy mayo, diced pickles, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Spread the mixture onto a tortilla, add your favorite greens like lettuce or spinach, then roll it up tightly. Don’t have a wrap on hand? Make tuna salad, throw some pickles on the side, and use potato chips to dip! We like to keep pickled carrots and onion on hand to toss into the tuna too!
Incredibly easy rice and beans: Rice and beans is a staple meal, but cooking rice? That can be overwhelming. Make sure to stock your pantry with canned beans (white beans, chickpeas, kidney beans, black beans, butter beans), and microwaveable rice. Add some sour cream, salsa, and corn chips, and you’ll have a feast.
Quick Salad: Sometimes when our body craves veggies or a salad, but we simply don’t have the energy to clean a bowl or cut veggies, it can be really defeating. So, here’s our trick. First off, get yourself these disposable and compostable food containers. You can feel good about using these and you don’t need to wash them!! Open up a bag of salad, and toss in the dressing, and anything else you want to add - like croutons, or shredded carrots, or even pre-cooked grilled chicken or deli meat. You can also make a quick salad this way and pair it with a pizza you order! It doesn’t need to be all or nothing when it comes to making your life easier with cooking. We recommend keeping the frozen pre-cooked grilled chicken in the freezer and extra bags of croutons in the pantry.
Crunchy Fruit and Veggie Platter with Tuna: Need something quick, easy, crunchy, and healthy? We love to make a quick veggie and fruit platter. Cut up an apple, add baby carrots, celery, your favorite chips, and pair with a can of tuna mashed with a little mayo. Dip the crunchy apple and veggies into the tuna for a fast and nutritious meal. Plus: baby carrots, celery, and apples last a long time in the fridge!
Pasta and sauce: Did you know you can buy pre-cooked pasta? Yes, sometimes even boiling water is hard. Stock up on some pre-cooked pasta, tomato sauce, and Parmesan cheese. You can also add some sliced chicken sausage (just slice and microwave it), or some frozen chicken cutlets. A yummy and easy meal.
Pasta+: There are so many ways you can prepare pasta to make it mouth-watering at the end of a long day. Use that pre-cooked pasta and toss it in butter and Parmesan cheese, while you’re at it, microwave some frozen peas, frozen broccoli, or frozen mixed vegetables. Keep a bag of frozen meatballs in the fridge, too!
Breakfast foods: Use frozen waffles and pancakes as a base, and add bananas, strawberries, and yogurt on top! Or, simply add syrup and some frozen sausages.
Sandwiches: Yes, sandwiches are a meal. Stock up on your favorite deli meat, cheese, bagged lettuce, mayo, and bread. Add chips and a sliced apple or strawberries on the side for a full meal.
Mashed potato bowl: Make the most out of those instant mashed potatoes! Add in a protein of your choice (chicken sausage, breakfast sausage, meatballs), shredded cheese, bacon bits, even some sliced scallions for fresh flavor!
We give you permission to eat these as meals too:
Canned soup is a meal: chicken pot pie, chicken and wild rice, chicken noodle, sirloin burger, savory vegetable.
Cereal is a meal: Honey Nut Cheerios, Honey Bunches of Oats, Reese’s Puffs, Apple Cinnamon Cheerios.
Frozen pizza is a meal: pepperoni pizza, cheese pizza, BBQ chicken pizza, thin crust pizza.
Nut butter + jelly is a meal: Peanut butter (creamy), peanut butter (crunchy), almond butter, cashew butter, sunflower butter + strawberry jelly, peach jelly, grape jelly + bread!
Ramen is a meal: Cup of Noodles, Chicken Ramen, Ramen Variety Mix
Oatmeal is a meal: instant oatmeal variety pack, steel cut quick oats
Hard boiled eggs + other things: Pair some hard boiled eggs (pre-cooked) with a cut up apple, baby carrots, chips, oatmeal, or toss into a bag of salad.