Not a big fan of cooking? Don’t worry – you’re not alone! Many people want to bring lunch to work or prep meals ahead of time, but struggle with the actual cooking part of it. Luckily, there are some options available, from more convenient methods of cooking, to choosing items that require absolutely no cooking or baking at all.
Here are some tips for meal planning when you don’t want to cook much, or just don’t have time for it.
Utilize Different Appliances
If you aren’t interested in cooking elaborate meals, you don’t have to. In fact, you never have to turn on your stove or oven just to meal prep. But if you can turn on an appliance and just let it do its job, there are some options available to you.
Pressure Cooker
A pressure cooker is a type of appliance you plug in and cook foods with water and steam, as opposed to fire or an electric grill. It cooks foods in a different way, but there are many things you can do with it.
You can cook chicken breasts or other types of meat, vegetables, pasta, baked potatoes, even hard boiled eggs.
Slow Cooker
The ultimate “set it and forget it” appliance is the slow cooker. This is great for people who don’t like to cook, since you just dump everything in and turn it on. A few hours later, your food is done.
Air Fryer
This is one of the newest and most popular cooking appliances around. It will cost you about $100 for a decent brand, but you get so much out of it.
The air fryer is a way to cook food that is crispy and tastes fried, without actually being fried. No oil has to be used, and it cooks everything very quickly. You can make “fried” chicken in as little as 8-10 minutes, without ever turning on the stove.
Non-Cook Lunch and Dinner Options
If you want lunches and dinners that require absolutely no cooking at all, but don’t mind very minor prep work, here are some ideas:
Salads
Salads are healthy, pack a lot of vitamins and minerals, also something you can make without cooking anything.
Want chicken on your salad, but don’t want to cook it? Just get a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store and shred it up. Doesn’t get easier than that!
Sandwiches
This might sound boring, but there are many ways to make sandwiches. You can use bread, rolls, tortillas for wraps, and so many other items for a sandwich. It is all customizable, from the protein to the veggies, and you don’t need to turn on the stove or oven if you don’t want to.
Pasta or Rice in a Cup
Yes, these require a microwave, but that’s it I promise! These handy little cups usually don’t even require water, though some do so read the instructions.
