This is the ultimate lazy mom dinner guide: how to prioritize healthy, home-cooked meals even when you don’t feel like cooking! Learn to create minimal effort, well-balanced meals with recipe ideas, shortcut strategies, and my go-to throw together meals.
This guide offers somewhat of a solution for what every single mom tends to complain about: cooking dinner! Every. single. night. You can still attempt to eat healthy when you’re exhausted, tired, and have little desire to cook.
I am one of those people who doesn’t always have a plan when it comes to dinner – I just know I am going to make something. Maybe this is because I have a few tried and true go-to options that I know I can put together.
Does it always turn out great? Nope, but at least I am attempting to cook dinner. Hopefully after reading through this guide, you will have a few easy meal ideas to cook with minimal effort.
Now, some of this information may get repetitive but it’s to get the point across so you have the tools to create lazy dinners yourself. Then, at the very end, I will provide some no cook dinner options when you’re thinking NO WAY to any of these ideas.
Grocery Staples for Easy Meals
One of the best tricks for healthy and easy meals? Combining fresh ingredients with convenience items.
- Store-bought sauces and dressings for easy flavor. Think flavorful dressings, pasta sauce, salsa, hot sauce, buffalo sauce, Buffalo Wild Wings sauces, hummus, etc.
- Canned beans and legumes. Just open the can, drain, rinse, and add to meals to increase protein and fiber. Or you could batch cook a large bag of beans to save money and reduce sodium.
- Chopped nuts for texture, crunch and healthy fats.
- Rice and ancient grains. Maybe have some microwaveable rice packets on hand or frozen options, too.
- Pasta alternatives. I love Barilla Protein + pasta because it’s higher in protein and fiber than traditional pasta.
- Chicken broth for flavorful sauces or soups.
- Frozen vegetables and/or fruit. Easily increase the nutrient density of your meals by just microwaving some frozen vegetables.
- Cheese, for extra flavor – like feta, goat cheese, parmesan, and shredded cheese.
Shortcut Strategies
Practice component cooking! On the nights where you DO feel like cooking, select one component to make more of. This way, you can use the extra for another meal. For example, make a whole bag of rice and freeze the leftovers OR store in the fridge for up to 4 days.
This works for protein sources as well: chicken, ground beef, turkey, and more. It’s a serious game-changer as you’re eliminating the need to cook a component. For example, many slow cooker recipes require pairing that meal with rice or a grain. That means the whole “easy crockpot meal” becomes a moot point because you still have to add another component to it.
Even further, component cooking chicken works well with casseroles or power bowls that require already cooked chicken. Therefore, if you already have cooked rice or chicken, a slow cooker dinner or casserole comes together easily for those busy nights. Other options include rotisserie chicken, canned chicken or tuna, or utilizing the air fryer to eliminate dirtying a dish.
Easy Meal Ideas
Below are multiple different easy meal ideas that you could throw together on busy nights. If these options still feel like too much, scroll down to see my no cook dinner ideas! Recipes listed with each idea for inspiration.
Power Bowls or Salads
First and foremost, we are going to talk about the power bowl! I like to call it the “queen” of throw together meals. Essentially, a power bowl should include 1) a lean protein source, 2) 2-3 different veggies, 3) a homemade or store-bought sauce, and 4) whole grains or a starch.
Take, for example, my Mediterranean Chicken & Cucumber Power Bowl (shown above) which utilizes chicken, canned chickpeas, diced tomatoes, cucumber, feta cheese and Olive Garden Italian dressing. With leftover or rotisserie chicken, this meal comes together in 10 minutes or less.
There are endless variations of power bowls so you can select the flavor profile based on your preferences. Use whatever you have on hand or make a few of these items pantry staples so you can throw together a well-balanced bowl with minimal stress.
Mediterranean
– Feta Cheese
– Olives
– Red Pepper Sauce
– Garlic Sauce
– Crushed Pita Chips
– Mediterranean Herb and Spice Blend
– Hummus
Asian
– Chili Garlic Sauce
– Sweet Chili Sauce
– Soy Sauce + Honey
– Chopped Walnuts
– Sriracha
– Teriyaki Sauce
– PF Chang’s Kung Pao Sauce
American/Italian
– Ranch Seasoning
– Pesto
– Buffalo Wild Wings Sauce (Parmesan Garlic, Buffalo)
– Garlic Aoli (or Truffle, Lemon Aioli, etc.)
– Boursin Cheese
So many of these additions add flavor to a power bowl without any additional prep!
I have an entire post on protein bowl recipes for more inspiration because this is my #1 go-to meal when I don’t feel like cooking. Use the shortcut strategies for even more convenience.
Easy Power Bowl/Salad Ideas
- Quick Buffalo Chicken and Rice Bowl (Craving Something Healthy)
- Vegan Fajita Bowls with Tempeh (Melissa Traub)
- Greek Chicken Protein Bowls with Garlic Yogurt
- Southwest Quinoa Salad (Let Us Munch Lettuce)
- Sesame Ginger Beef Udon Bowls (The Healthy Epicurean)
Sheet Pan Dinners
Sheet pan meals are the ultimate time-saving, stress-free dinner solution! With just one pan and endless combinations, you can create balanced, nutritious meals with little clean up and prep time.
You’ll want to select veggies and a protein source that can be cooked together on one sheet pan (line with parchment paper for less mess). Try to choose a combination with similar cooking times OR just add the shorter cooking veggies or protein about halfway through.
Use seasonings and sauce that you have on hand to add flavor. Check out my Sheet Pan Dinner Guide for a more elaborate post about winging easy sheet pan dinners.
Easy Recipes
- Sheet Pan Stir-Fry (shown above by Get Inspired Everyday) with chicken thighs and veggies
- Roasted Asian Shrimp and Brussel Sprouts (Kalyn’s Kitchen)
- Sheet Pan Chicken and Vegetables with Italian Caprese (Two Healthy Kitchens)
- Harvest Sheet Pan Dinner (Two Cloves Kitchen)
Dump and Bake Casseroles
Dump and go casseroles typically require minimal prep, mostly just chopping vegetables or prepping chicken. For example, this Easy Coconut Chicken & Rice Casserole (shown above) requires already cooked chicken but the rest is easy peasy! Plus, casseroles usually provide a leftovers lunch the next day (or two).
Recipe Inspiration
- Chicken Burrito Casserole (Haute and Healthy Living)
- Dump and Bake Meatball Casserole (Together as a Family)
- Dump and Bake Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole (The Seasoned Mom)
- Pizza Casserole (Living Chirpy) –> requires cooked ground sausage
Tacos or Quesadillas
Mexican-inspired meals might be the easiest type to throw together easily. Like a quesadilla with a whole grain tortilla, shredded cheese, ground beef or chicken, and even some black beans for extra fiber. Cut up an avocado on the side and voila! A super easy, well-balanced meal. Even jarred salsa would add some additional flavor.
Tacos can be a super easy meal to throw together, too. Think canned beans, already shredded lettuce, a jar of salsa, canned corn, hot sauce or a taco seasoning packet for flavor. Shrimp takes just a few minutes to cook or make a large batch of taco meat and freeze for future meals.
Try these like these Air Fryer Chicken Tacos (Kitchen at Hoskins) with just 5 minutes of prep time. Plus, tacos and quesadillas are easily customizable with pantry staples.
Stir-Fries
Similar to a power bowl, a stir-fry can have many different flavor profiles depending on the seasonings and sauces selected. An Asian stir-fry is my first choice because there are frozen Asian blend vegetables and delicious sauces (like Thai chili sauce)
What’s better than a one pan meal? Plus, homemade stir-fries are typically much healthier than takeout. Try this Pork Stir Fry from Living Chirpy (shown above) or this Broccoli Beef Stir-Fry from Nut Free Wok. You could also get creative with whatever sauces and ingredients you have on hand.
Slow Cooker Meals
It’s nice to come home to an already prepared and cooked meal. Enter: the slow cooker. You could even chop/prep some ingredients the night before to throw in the crockpot the morning of.
Something like salsa chicken is the easiest slow cooker recipe of all time. Easy Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken from Two Healthy Kitchens is as easy as it gets: throw chicken and salsa in a crockpot and enjoy as a taco, bowl, or on a salad.
The Easiest Slow Cooker Meals to Try
- Slow Cooker Chicken and Chickpeas (shown above)
- Lazy Lasagna Soup (Haute and Healthy Living)
- Slow Cooker Carne Asada Bowls (The Oregon Dietitian)
- Easy Slow Cooker Dinner Recipes for Summer Nights
Breakfast for Dinner
Most breakfast foods take minimal prep and cook quickly. Scrambled eggs, toast, or pancakes can be on the table in under 15 minutes. Serve with fruit and you have a nutritious, simple dinner.
Minimal Cook Dinner Ideas
If you’ve made it this far, these dinner options requires minimal to no cooking yet still provide healthy, well-balanced meals.
Options to Try
- Rotisserie chicken + salad kit
- Hummus plate with whole-grain crackers, sliced veggies, cheese, nuts and salami
- Cottage cheese or yogurt bowl with fresh fruit or vegetables and chopped nuts or seeds
- Tuna or chicken salad wrap
- Stir-fry with frozen veggies and edamame or pre-cooked chicken
- Pasta + jarred sauce + frozen veggies + frozen meatballs
- Microwaveable rice + canned beans + salsa
- Healthy, high protein frozen dinner –> my top recommendations
- Oatmeal with protein powder, fruit, and chopped nuts or seeds
- Frozen salmon + frozen veggies and rice
- Black bean and cheese quesadilla with avocado and salsa
- Simple Chickpea Salad (The Dinner Bite)
- Peanut butter and jelly with a side of fruit
- Greek yogurt bowls
- High protein and fiber cereal with milk –> here’s my top cereal choices
- A nutrient-dense smoothie
When All Else Fails
Resort to takeout but make it healthy! Ask for sauces and dressings to be on the side so you can control the amount of sodium and calories you consume. Try to select something that has a lot of nutrient-dense vegetables, like a salad, power bowl, or stir-fry.
If you select a heavier option, practice portion control! Save half of your meal for lunch the next day.
I really hope this lazy dinner guide was helpful and you now have some options you feel like making even when you’re not in the mood to cook and clean. Follow along for more evidence-based nutrition and healthy eating strategies curated for moms, specifically.