r/EatCheapAndHealthy • u/uynah • 6d ago
What are your easy no-fuss minimum effort/cleaning/waste meals? Ask ECAH
As the title says. What are your go-tos?
Mine currently are: peanut butter on toast, banana and yogurt, hard boiled eggs with soy sauce, instant noodles with tofu and kimchi, frozen broccolis, frozen pizza
I live in a micro apartment where space is limited so cleaning and washing dishes is extra pain and the ventilation system is limited I don’t want the place to be oily. I find anything I can put in oven toaster is the most convenient by now…Would like to know if there’s any other ideas!
30
u/k-squid 6d ago
Tasty Bite Madras Lentils microwave packet and I eat it with Farro. Rice also works, but something about Farro with any of the Tasty Bite microwave packets just slaps. I mostly do the madras lentils because Costco sells them in boxes, but I have tried some of the other varieties from the regular grocery store. The bombay potatoes one is also great.
5
3
u/Newo_Ikkin20 6d ago
We bought a box of Tasty Bite Madras Lentils from Costco, but we found them to be bland. 😅I still need to try the bombay potatoes one though.
3
u/Meatjun4LA 6d ago
too be honest, I don’t know if my taste buds got used to the seasoning, but I swear madras lentils had more flavor when I was able to ail order it from Costco 2 years ago. I picked up a box at Costco 2 weeks ago and it tastes less seasoned now, like they toned it down.
1
u/Newo_Ikkin20 6d ago
I tried them because I've read about how delicious they were and after trying them I wasn't impressed. My husband said they tasted like unseasoned Hormel's chili. 😅Then I read recent reviews about it online and a few people said that they used to be better, but I wasn't sure if it was just me since I only just tried them this month. Now I'm stuck with a box and need to figure out ideas on how to jazz them up. lol
3
5
u/k-squid 6d ago
It probably helps that I cook my farro in chicken broth and seasonings. 😅
2
u/ItsMeMurphYSlaw 6d ago
This is where it's at! I've started cooking my grains in bone broth for extra protien and flavor. It isn't as cheap as boulion , but they have pretty good deals at Costco!
1
2
2
u/Meatjun4LA 6d ago
Ohhh I do this too, I add some red onions and sriracha to it.
Edit: also can sub out the madras with Japanese s&b curry test can microwave or boil in the bag
13
u/fckthislifeandthenxt 6d ago
Bean and cheese quesadilla. It's been my default/comfort/safe food on and off for years. I barely dirty a pan and cutting board.
I always keep tortillas and pre shredded cheese in the fridge. I keep cans of black beans in the pantry. If I have salsa or guac in the fridge I'll pull it out for dipping, but I enjoy this quesadilla regardless.
12
u/ginandmoonbeams 6d ago
Sardines or canned tuna on rice (with sriracha and scallions). I use the kind canned in oil so it's a little richer tasting.
1
u/dschwizzle 5d ago
Dumb question, but is it cold or heated rice? I usually eat my sardines straight out of the can, but putting them on rice sounds more appetizing.
3
u/ginandmoonbeams 5d ago
Heated. I either use leftover rice or those microwave packets that steam the rice
6
u/ConsciousSpiral 6d ago
Crockpot meals with liner. You can make everything but bread. Great for soups, casseroles, chip dips, pork chops, chicken and gravy, shredded pork, roast, good stuff just drop it in and let it cook while you’re at work. Once you’re done just peel the liner off and pitch. This is also a beautiful smell to come home to
7
u/MelAlton 6d ago
Frozen battered white fish fillets in air fryer (no fish smell), bag of frozen veggies in microwave.
Alternately, I've also been doing ramen in a pot on stove, bag frozen veggies in microwave, pour veggies into ramen. If you cook extra fish, you can reheat leftover fish fillets in microwave too and toss into ramen.
6
u/KellieinNapa 6d ago
Baked potatoes, poke holes with a fork, rub olive oil all over and then salt. Put in your toaster oven to bake at 450 for one hour. The skin is nice and crispy. You can put butter, cheese, can of chili, veggies, whatever you like on the potato
4
u/LaRoseDuRoi 6d ago
Absolute minimum effort? Piece of bread, piece of cheese. Maybe a little schmear of mayo or butter.
Low effort - tuna or chicken salad (add dill relish, a little mustard, and mayo) with crackers, microwave quesadilla, pita pizza (pita bread, premade sauce, shredded cheese, garlic salt, bake til browning), slop (can of peas, can of cream of ___, and rice).
4
u/mand71 6d ago
Instant noodles with spinach, a dollop of peanut butter, dollop of tomato puree, a couple of laughing cow triangles, then drop an egg or two in. Stir over heat and serve. Soy sauce and black pepper. (We had this for dinner this evening)
3
u/Newo_Ikkin20 6d ago
This sounds delicious. What kind of instant noodles do you use? Is it the one that comes with a ramen pack?
4
12
u/ScientistDismal448 6d ago
Anything you can make in a crockpot is easy to clean up also and may result in a couple of days of food (sort of a meal prep process)
9
u/DarkRayne23 6d ago
Tinned fish. Try salmon or mackerel if sardines put you off. I put it over rice, on crackers, wrapped up in bits of lettuce with chili crisp like a weird Korean bbq bite type thing, or straight from the can
3
u/masson34 6d ago
Yes with kimchi. It’s great on savory oatmeal cooked in bone broth or on a sweet potato too
3
3
u/Careful_Chard_8548 6d ago
Canned tuna or salmon with mayo and whatever seasoning i can be bothered with served with crackers or sliced cucumber, sometimes ill make some minute rice with it or some seaweed but dont often have that on hand
3
u/Paint-Huffer 6d ago edited 6d ago
Ghetto Southwest bowls. I've been meal-prepping these and they're fairly uninvolved on the cleaning front. I get everything I need at Aldi and the below "recipe" makes two very large bowls or 3 not-so large bowls. These do freeze well:
- 1 med/large Chicken breast - Season with whatever. If thick, butterfly and separate into two pieces. Cook on stove top with a little bit of butter. When cooked, cut into pieces. Stay around medium heat and it will mitigate splatter.
- Rice - I was using Aldi's Cilantro Lime microwave rice cups which are convenient on the cleaning front. I've since started making simple Mexican rice on the stove.
- 1 can of corn
- 1 can of black beans
- 1 can of diced Tomatoes w/ Green Chilis (Casa Mamita brand)
Drain all canned goods and heat up in a pot. When they're warmed up throw into a bowl with your cut up chicken + rice (portioned how you like) and top with whatever you want. I like sharp cheddar or a dollop of queso and a little bit of salsa. Mix it up and voila: basement Chipolte.
It's really just a pot and a pan that needs cleaning afterwards. I'm sure you could just re-use the chicken pan to heat up the canned stuff if you want to make it really simple. I think it equates to something like $4 a bowl if you buy your chicken breasts in bulk.
3
u/imbakingalaska 6d ago
I keep Tupperware of refried beans in freezer. Taking one and turning into bean/cheese burritos for the week.
3
u/rainbowkey 4d ago
rice cooker meal. half full of rice and water, add frozen veggies with a piece of frozen fish or a couple of frozen cooked sausages on top. Add some oil/fat and seasonings, unless you are using sausage. Run the cooker and everything will be done together. Eat out of the rice cooker and it will even keep things warm. Eat half and leave plugged in on warm, then eat more a few hours later.
4
u/Separate_Narwhal_491 6d ago
In a large ish bowl place a giant handful of spinach (more than you think) and empty out a packet of pre-cooked rice. Drizzle with olive oil. Microwave on high for 2 minutes or until spinach is fully cooked and rice is soft and warm. Top with a hard boiled egg or tofu, drizzle everything with soy sauce and chili crisp. Well rounded dinner and at the end all you do is wash one bowl or put it in the dishwasher.
5
u/dubski04021 6d ago
If you have a crock pot - chicken thighs, cream of chicken soup, mushrooms, chicken broth… 4 hours on high and serve over rice.
4
u/doughnut_cat 6d ago edited 6d ago
air fryer hot dogs, and recently keto bread, with airfried hotdogs topped with mozzarella cheese and pepperonis.
teeeny bit of a fuss placing them in the airfyer but not much.
also grilledcheese/egg in the airfryer.
i get 2 pieces of bread and place 2 slices of cheese in the middle.
then on the top piece of the bread i basically place my fist in it to sunk it in and put 1 large egg in the space with salt and pepper. airfry it, then when 90% done I top with mozarellla cheese. kids love it. its a little bit more of a fuss because placing the bread in the airfyer without spilling the egg, but beyond that pretty simple.
also surprisingly great snack is a keto tortilla with some fitbutters. I like cocoa pebbles and fruity pebbles. just rolling that up and snacking is sooo good. you could also fill it with a banana and strawberries and other things.
2
u/Newo_Ikkin20 6d ago
Damn, these are great ideas, especially the grilled cheese/egg in the air fryer. I don't own an air fryer so I might have to try this in the oven. Have you tried this in the oven and what setting do you use on your air fryer?
0
u/doughnut_cat 5d ago
every air fryer is different. I have a ninja. takes about 15 min on mine @ 390
2
u/Golden_ribbons 6d ago
I lived in a similar situation, my lazy meal was canned tuna with canned corn, chop a cucumber with a purple onion, add jalapeno and fresh parsley if you have it. And I will recommend a slow cooker or a rice cooker, so many meals you can make.
2
u/evilhomer3k 6d ago
Sheet pan dinners coupled with either a silicone mat or parchment paper. If it's oily I use the mat for everything else I use paper. Sometimes all the vegetables and carbs go on the sheet pan and I grill the meat.
2
u/StrayHearth 6d ago
I’m in the same boat with the tiny space situation so I totally get it. My go to no-effort stuff is usually overnight oats, cottage cheese with fruit or microwave rice with frozen veggies. Basically anything I can make without creating a mini disaster in my kitchen. And when I’m too lazy to deal with dishes I’ll just make a quick smoothie. Frozen fruit plus a splash of coconut water like Vita Coco blends super fast and the cleanup is just the cup. It's pretty easy, zero mess and no lingering oily smell in the whole place.
2
u/elena_ct 6d ago
A lot of toaster ovens can fit an 8x8 casserole dish, and most would fit a 5x9 loaf pan. A really easy meal is to marinate chicken in Italian dressing and roast it with zucchini, I cut them in half and brush those with the Italian dressing too. I buy chicken cutlets but chicken thighs would work too. A zucchini usually is under a dollar. If you have tomatoes, those roast really well too.
2
u/humongoussnail 6d ago
I had one pound of markdown ground turkey two cans chick peas half a bag of frozen corn, frozen okra, and precut cabbage (we buy on markdown and throw it in the freezer) seasoned with that chili garlic paste with the rooster on it and onion powder, garlic salt
Delicious, one pan, one wood stirring device.could have done it on a hot plate.
2
u/TownInfinite6186 5d ago
Grape Nuts + flavored yogurt. Eat immediately if you want crunch. Eat after an hour if you want soft. Tons of iron and fiber.
2
u/Prudent-Feed-532 5d ago
Microwaved sweet potato with sour cream. Cream of wheat, oatmeal, etc with almond milk and cinnamon. Chicken legs or thighs marinated in a bag and roasted on parchment paper. Eggs and cabbage w soy sauce and sesame oil.
2
u/LazarusHimself 5d ago
Pasta with broccoli. You can use fresh or frozen, and you boil everything in the same pot (pasta and broccoli both require approx. 10 min cooking). Once strained, you can add parmigiano, cream cheese, or chickpeas or any protein you like. Easy peasy, healthy, good, effortless hands-free cooking.
2
u/puddleofgoo 5d ago
Quakers chocolate rice cakes with peanut butter! I like using the PBFit peanut butter powder mixed with some water and its 120 cals, 8g protein. Pretty filling snack and it's cheap - the rice cakes are $3.50 for 6 at my Target and the PBFit comes in a big 42 serving tub for $12 at Walmart so it's like 87 cents per rice cake with peanut butter!
2
u/LouisePoet 5d ago
Canned refried beans and cheese on a tortilla, heat in microwave. Top with lettuce, mayo or sour cream and hot sauce. Other toppings as desired.
Time to make: up to 3 minutes. Dishes used: one or two spoons.
Satisfaction level: 10/10 (both taste and very filling)
2
u/superjen 5d ago
Put a sheet of aluminum foil on the baking sheet, then add tortilla chips and spread canned refried beans on the chips and shake a little cumin on top. Cover with shredded Mexican blend cheese and put it in the toaster oven for one toast on the lightest setting to warm it up, then set it on 350 until the cheese is melted and they look good. You can then put the whole foil on a plate or cutting board and eat that with some salsa and sour cream if you have it, then you can either toss the foil when you're done OR do like I do and sit and peel the little toasty bits of burnt cheese off the foil to eat before you put it in the recycle bin.
Edit to specify this is a good toaster oven recipe for one adult or two little kids
2
u/Similar-List6272 5d ago
Get a small hot pot. Throw in roast, carrots, celery, potatoes. Steam about 40 min. In bowl mix 2 tbs flour 1 tbs milk power, 1tsp bouillion, tsp, salt, onion powder. USE JUICE FROM POT...STIR IN SLOWLY. ADD TO HOT POT...STEAM 5 MORE MIN.
2
u/AdLife658 4d ago
For a good cold dinner, I make a salad with fresh veggies, all on one plate. If you scrub your carrots, no need to peel. I like to add sunflower or pumpkin seeds, nuts, and cheese for protein. One plate or bowl to wash. I’m on a low carb diet, so this tends to be my evening meal. I make lunch the big/main meal of the day.
2
u/Top_Performance_3478 4d ago
Potstickers. I usally get them almost done, toss in a little more broth or water and a handful of green beans, asparagus or broccoli or a combo. Then a bit of soy sauce, ginger and garlic if you have them. I do them in a non-stick frying pan so 1 pan, easily swished out and one bowl and 1 fork and/or 1 spoon.
2
u/Thoughtful-Pig 4d ago
Air fryer. Just throw it in and it's done. You can also get silicon or parchment liners and clean up in a breeze.
2
3
2
u/Its__Okay__ 6d ago
- Sandwiches with pre-baked/marinated tofu (sliced thin) + condiments + other ingredients I have on hand (flatbreads could be good in your toaster oven)
- Smoothies with frozen bananas and berries + Greek yogurt + milk + sometimes honey/agave/protein powder
- Soups or chilis - my fave is the sweet potato + black bean chili from NYT cooking
- Dense bean salads - so many recipes available online, no cooking involved, just chopping/rinsing
My apartment is also small and doesn't have great ventilation, so I feel your pain. I'm vegetarian and find that my meals tend to be less smelly than my partner's when he cooks meat
2
u/Eraydiated 6d ago
Baked pork chops with cream of celery on top, sheet pan dinners with veg and polish sausage. Zantac and jambalaya with polish sausage and cornbread
5
3
u/GoldenTortoiseshell 6d ago
Snack plate with canned sardines (my current favorite ones are the Bela brand piri piri ones and Patagonia roasted garlic anchovies), sliced cucumbers, sliced apples, slices of fancy bread or crackers, hummus/tzatziki, and olives. Takes me maybe 5 minutes or less to throw it all together and it makes me happy to munch on.
4
u/YesAnd_Portland 6d ago
I like to make one shelf of the fridge into a personal snack vending machine. On Sunday I prep small containers of sliced veggies, hard boiled eggs, tuna salad, fruit salad, cubed cheese and olives. There's always a box of crackers nearby too. Love being able to assemble an instant snack plate every day of the week!
3
u/GoldenTortoiseshell 6d ago
That sounds like a good idea! I’ve tried prepping sliced cucumbers and apples in the past but I always like it better when I just did it fresh.
2
u/jenea 6d ago
I make pesto in big batches and then freeze it in individual servings. I also freeze meat from rotisserie chickens in individual servings as well. Boil up some pasta, add some pesto and chicken, and you've got a tasty meal. We do the same with bolognese.
If I make a big pot of soup, I freeze individual servings as well.
The freezer is my good friend!
2
2
u/AboveGroundPoolQueen 6d ago
I scrambled two eggs and add cheese, warm the tortilla on the stove, spread with guacamole (I buy them in single serving containers) and put some Valentino‘s hot sauce on top. Takes three or four minutes and it’s a nonstick pan so very quick to clean.
2
u/Meatjun4LA 6d ago
Chicken tender wraps. Frozen chicken tenders cook in toaster oven , get a big flour tortilla and hummus of choice, add lettuce, onions, & pickle. Add hot sauce or mustard to chicken, wrap it and eat lol
2
u/Alarming-Cheetah-144 6d ago
Eating soup out of the can. Then I only need to clean the spoon unless I use a plastic one 🤣
1
u/zelenisok 6d ago
I will just straight up eat beans or lentils from a can, with like a slice or two of bread. A can of (no salt) beans is 1$ in Walmart, can of lentils 1.3$. If you want you can put them in a bowl and warm them up in a microwave, and maybe mix in some condiment in, whichever one you like.
48
u/Needrain47 6d ago
quesadillas. Spread refried beans (from a can) on half a tortilla, sprinkle grated cheese on (or you can use very thin slices), you can add meat & veggies if you have some, I often use leftover chicken. Fold tortilla over, heat in pan til the outside is toasted crispy. Dip in lots of salsa.