5 Meals to Make for Dinner If You Don’t Want to Cook

UGH! What to make for dinner when you don’t want to cook?! It’s no secret that I genuinely love to cook. I have been helping my mom in the kitchen for as long as I can remember and making someone a good meal is my true love language.

However, that doesn’t mean I love cooking every single night. Even I need a break from a laborious recipe that requires lots of chopping and dishes. So here are my 5 meals to make for dinner when you don’t want to cook!

Crockpot Meals

Crockpot meals are still technically cooking but they are super easy when you don’t know what to make for dinner. Throwing things together in the morning to have a fresh and tasty dinner ready at 5pm is my kind of cooking.

• Making a batch of chicken chili in the crockpot takes less than 10 minutes in the morning to prep and there’s nothing additional to make when you serve dinner. Just serve with tortilla chips and you’re good to go.
• Cooking up a few bone-in, skin on chicken breasts in the crockpot is also super easy. You slather them with barbecue sauce and broil them for an easy yet delicious main course.
• Grab a beef roast and make this easy crockpot recipe for delicious and authentic Chicago beef sandwiches. Serve with a bagged salad kit and you have a meal that not only easy to prep but it’s a huge crowd-pleaser.

15-Minute Meals

15-minute meals are the best meals to make when you don’t feel like cooking because you can do anything for 15 minutes, right?! Add these to your weekly meal plan and spend that time doing stuff you actually enjoy. Or laundry, you’ll probably spend that time doing laundry.

• Try some of my favorite fifteen minute meals and see which ones you like best.
• Grab a rotisserie chicken from the store and use your 15 minutes to make mashed potatoes or a your families favorite side. Serve with a bagged Caesar salad for the ultimate easy comfort meal.
• Using frozen cooked chicken strips and frozen pepper and onions, whip up some 15 minute fajitas. Just sauté chicken and onions/pepper with some taco seasoning and serve with store-bought salsa, shredded cheese and lettuce.

Sandwiches for Dinner

No-cook meals are the best! Sandwiches are perfect meals to make when you don’t want to cook because anyone over the age of 4 can make their own. Put the ingredients out and let your family go to town. Grab a bag of chips as a side and call it a night.

• Make sandwich night a weekly meal in your house. It’s quick and it’s something the whole family will actually eat!
• Grab a variety of deli meats and cheese to make subs at home. I personally love getting ham, salami and provolone to make Italian-style subs. We get the Turano rolls and add red wine vinegar, olive oil and oregano just like they do at sub shops.
• Wrap it up! A wrap is the easiest way to fancy up a basic sandwich. You can add whatever you would normally put on a sandwich but it just feels like a nicer meal since it’s in a wrap. We love these Turkey Avocado Club wraps and these BBQ Chicken wraps.

Breakfast for Dinner

Brinner is a staple in our house. This one is great to have on the meal plan when you don’t want to cook because you can offload to to your spouse or teen.

• Don’t discount your brinner options! Yes you still have to do a bit of cooking but breakfast items are usually quick cooking! Plus, my kids will always scarf down breakfast foods.
• Make a batch of waffles and sausage for a fun weeknight treat. Or French toast for a little added protein. Serve with fruit and you’re good to go.
• Make a breakfast casserole if you have a few extra minutes. They are quick to throw together and then all you do is bake them. The leftovers make easy, quick breakfasts!

Make it Once, Eat it Twice

Leftovers, the original meals to make when you don’t want to cook because you already cooked it. They get a bad rap but I find they to truly be a lifesaver and necessity most weeks.

• This concept is what I like to call Leftovers Reimagined. If you make a big batch of chicken taco meat one night, mix it with some rice and stuff it in peppers a few nights later for a new take on the same meal. Or make nachos, seriously no one will mind eating nachos and tacos in the same week.
• When you make a big batch of soup, freeze a quart of it. When you get a few quarts in your freezer, serve them up together for a fun soup night! Grab a loaf of take & bake bread and dinner is done in minutes!
• Don’t discount regular old leftovers. If you made a casserole on Monday and there’s still a ton left, reheat that baby on Thursday. Maybe serve it with a new side dish to liven it up a bit. Or maybe it was chili and you mix in some elbow macaroni and shredded cheese so now it’s Chili Mac.

Ultimately, dinner doesn’t always have to be an hour-long cooking event. Just remember to keep it simple and feeding your family whatever you have the energy to make is still feeding your family.

Check out my 6 Quick and Easy Weeknight Meal Guide to get even more great ideas for simple meals you can make when you don’t want to cook!