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10 Ways to Eat Cheap, Healthy, and Lazy, According to Reddit
Credit: Edward Fielding - Shutterstock

When we last visited r/eatcheapandhealthy, we found a treasure trove of cold lunches that are full of veggies and protein and won’t break the bank. Today, we’re taking a look at their best tips for lazy meals, some just as simple as two or three ingredients. “I’m talking about LITERAL one-step (or two-step) meals a step above microwavable lean cuisine,” says the redditor who kicked off the thread, specifying that they aren’t looking for recipes that will leave them washing a slow cooker.

Let’s go!

Bagged salad with rotisserie chicken

My go-to lazy meal is a grocery store rotisserie chicken and bagged Caesar salad. I use the leftover meat and carcass to make soup with whatever veg happens to be in the fridge (if I remember)
Credit: Reddit

This is one of my favorites, too. The salad gives you plenty of veggies, and the rotisserie chicken adds flavor and protein. Both require very minimal prep, and the chicken leaves you with excellent leftovers.

One-pot pasta

I'm a big fan of whole wheat pasta with pesto. Literally just cook the pasta, drain it (but don't rinse), put it back in the pot, and stir in a couple tbsp of pesto. Maybe some Parmesan on top. You could also throw in some spinach or cherry tomatoes or whatever other veggies you have on hand that don't require much prep.
Credit: Reddit

This redditor’s one-pot pasta led to a thread of replies with variations. You can make your pasta, drain off most of the water, and stir in some pesto, parmesan, and spinach or cherry tomatoes. But you can also toss some frozen veggies in the pot while it’s boiling, or use hummus instead of pesto, or use gnocchi or tortellini as the pasta. Rotisserie chicken would go well in this, too, since you’ve got those leftovers.

Make a sweet potato into a meal

big fan of microwaving a sweet potato, splitting it in half and eating it with canned beans, cheese, sour cream, spices and some rotisserie chicken I also sometime buy frozen meatballs to pop in the microwave and put over pasta or rice
Credit: Reddit

A sweet potato is a great start for a meal. This redditor piles beans, cheese, sour cream, spices, and chicken on top. Others chimed in to say Greek yogurt can sub for the sour cream (less fat, more protein), and that sweet potatoes are also great with bacon and blue cheese, or butter and five spice powder, or cumin and paprika.

Turn a cup of yogurt into a lazy parfait

Dump blueberries and granola into greek yogurt container eat until there's no more granola. Back into the fridge until later.
Credit: Reddit

This move is genius: add granola and berries to a big container of yogurt, “eat until there’s no more granola,” and pop the rest of the yogurt in the fridge. You can also scoop it into a bowl like a normal person, if you want to be all fancy.

Sheet pan meals

Sheet pan meals. I grab a couple seasoning mixes cover chicken/salmon and veggies in them and roast in the oven. Maybe have a second tray for potatoes. Use a silicone baking sheet or foil for easy clean up. This is my easiest lazy solution. This is a good idea if you want a real meal with minimum effort. My grocery store meat counter will even season and put the meat in an oven bag. We eat salmon like this once a week just take it from the fridge, poke it, put it on a tray and stick it in the oven. Chop a veggie, like cauliflower, toss with olive oil, season and roast in the oven. great meal, like 10 mins of prep.
Credit: Reddit

Throw all your ingredients on a sheet pan, and let the oven do the cooking. One redditor points out that their grocery store meat counter will season your meat and put it in an oven bag, which sounds like a hack to us. Salmon or chicken, plus the veggies of your choice, makes a solid meal with or without some extra starch like potatoes. Want more ideas? We’ve got tons of sheet pan meals for you.

Have a smoothie for dinner

I also like lazy meals... Maybe these are TOO simple and lazy for you. I don't know. But here's what I eat a lot of when I feel extra lazy: Smoothies-- yogurt, frozen fruit, milk, and voila. Fast and healthy. You can buy frozen fruit in bulk fairly cheap. No law against having a smoothie for dinner. In fact I had a blueberry one for dinner yesterday. Another one is a sandwich with canned veggies Healthy pasta-- I use red lentil pasta from Walmart and canned sauce. With sauce on it the red lentil pasta literally tastes just the same as the regular stuff to me. But lentils have a ton of fiber and protein. At least at my local Walmart, boxed red lentil pasta is often in the clearance section. I don't know why because it's good. To make pasta even faster, Fasta Pasta is a cool product that cooks your pasta in the microwave. Fry one piece of bacon. Remove, and cook onion, green pepper, spinach, and a scrambled egg in the grease. Remove, put in a tortilla (I use tortillas made with spinach for added health; to me they are the same as the regular kind except they are green... but you could use any tortilla) and sprinkle with cheese. Super fast and good. Kodiak frozen waffles when I just want to heat something up. Lower carbs and higher protein than a regular frozen waffle. (Can you tell I love breakfast?! Lol) Instant oatmeal packet (I always get the low sugar and/or high fiber kind and they truly taste the same as the regular stuff) with whatever fruit is in season. When I do cook a little fancier than that, I like to put a favorite podcast or TV show on. True crime is my favorite and always keeps me hooked to try to figure whodunit and that makes the boring cooking go by faster. Also, I've found I enjoy cooking a lot more when my boyfriend does it with me. Is there a friend or family member or partner who'd come cook with you over the weekend? You could both take some stuff home for the freezer.
Credit: Reddit

A ton of great tips in this reply, but the most important is the legal advice: There is no law against having a smoothie for dinner. If you like yogurt and fruit, dinner can be just a whirl in a blender away. Breakfast burritos, instant oatmeal, and protein waffles round out your breakfast-for-dinner options.

Make yourself a cheese board

A more out of the box idea is a cheese board. Just swing by the grocery store on the way home and grab any combination of cheese, fruit, vegetables, nuts, crackers/bread, and meat. you can stack the meat and cheese on the crackers like a lunchable and you can keep your fruit seasonal so it will be cheaper and change throughout the year.
Credit: Reddit

As our food editor, Claire Lower, keeps reminding us, a mini charcuterie board is a fancy yet lazy meal option for any occasion. Start with cheeses and fruits, and round out the meal with whatever you feel it’s missing. You’ve basically reinvented lunchables. Dinnerables. In any case, there’s no prep, and you can just shove the leftovers back into the fridge when you’re done.

Put hummus on some toast

Hummus toast. Toast the bread. Add hummus. Top with salad greens/seeds/etc. Eat. // I had hummus toast with sliced hard boiled egg and Crystal hot sauce for breakfast. It was great.
Credit: Reddit

Hummus toast is warm, filling, and more delicious than it has any right to be. One redditor tops theirs with salad greens or seeds; another opts for a hard boiled egg and hot sauce.

Try some toaster oven nachos

Guurl I am you. Do you have a toaster oven? Get 1 lb of some chunky (they will cut it for you)meat at your local butcher and season it with salt, pepper, chili, garlic and all them good powders. Throw it in the toaster oven and cook that. Have all your traditional taco prep ready. Store extra meat. Eat for days. EDIT: want to add that you can make nachos with all that the next day.
Credit: Reddit

Another grocery counter hack: Buy your meat and have the butcher cut it for you. Then you can season it and cook in the toaster oven, and use pantry staples to make tacos. Best of all: next-day nachos.

Slow cook a meal...in a bag?!

Slow cook a meal...in a bag?!

I wasn’t expecting this one! It turns out there are slow cooker bags (here’s one brand, 50 cents a bag) that make it so you don’t have to clean your slow cooker. And as the redditor points out, they allow you to make two recipes at once by putting both bags in the same pot. Make a chili in one bag and a chicken stew in another, and you’ve prepped dinners for the week. Genius.