Don't feel like cooking, but still want to eat healthily: five ways out

It is a quarter past five. The fridge is not empty, there is food in there. And still you stand in front of it without a single idea that appeals to you.

That is not laziness. Cooking takes twenty minutes, but working out what to cook started this afternoon and was never finished. On days when your head is full, that decision is the heaviest part of the meal. And if you still want to eat reasonably healthily, the easiest way out — ordering from the first place you find — is off the table straight away.

Below are five ways out, each with when it works and when it does not. And at the end, the trick that tackles the problem at the root.

Why it goes wrong on exactly those days

The evenings when you do not feel like cooking are rarely the evenings when you have little time. Often there is plenty of time. What has run out is the willingness to make one more decision.

That also explains why looking for recipes does not help then. You scroll past twenty dishes, find four that would do, and close your phone without choosing. The problem was not that you had no idea. The problem was that you had to choose.

Once you see that, you start searching differently. Not for inspiration, but for something that has no decision left in it.

Five ways out, weighed honestly

1. Something of your own from the freezer

The best option, and at the same time the most annoying one, because you had to have thought of it earlier. Anyone who makes one pan too many at the weekend and puts it away in portions has a meal on the hard evenings that is exactly as good as what they cook themselves.

Works if: you freeze stews, soup or bean dishes. They are none the worse for it.
Does not work if: you are standing in front of the freezer right now and there is nothing there. Then this is a lesson for next week, not a solution for tonight.

2. A one-pan dish in fifteen minutes

There is a small number of dishes that are almost always possible, because the ingredients are in the house anyway. In Turkish cooking that is menemen: eggs with tomato, pepper and onion, in one pan. Or a lentil soup, which you make from store-cupboard ingredients and which asks nothing of you beyond the occasional stir.

Works if: you still have just enough energy to reach for a pan.
Does not work if: you cannot face the washing-up either, or if several people with different wishes are coming to the table.

3. Ready meals from the supermarket

Quick, available everywhere, and the quality varies enormously. Turn the packaging over: with one brand there is a short list of things you recognise, with another a whole paragraph. Look at the portion size too, because what is sold as one meal is not always one.

If you buy halal, there is one more thing to know: the certification almost never sits with the supermarket, but with the manufacturer. We looked into why halal in the supermarket is almost never the own brand, and what that means if you want to know who checked it.

Works if: you are doing the shopping anyway and take a moment to compare.
Does not work if: you take it off the shelf blind. Then there is a good chance you bring home something that disappoints you.

4. Takeaway or delivery

The most honest option on the hardest days: it costs no energy at all. It just usually does not solve the "but healthy" requirement. Most of what arrives at the door within half an hour is deep-fried, and after two of those evenings in one week it no longer feels like a way out but like a pattern.

Works if: it is an exception and you treat it as one.
Does not work if: it becomes your standard solution. Then this is exactly the reason you feel bad about it.

5. Having chilled meals in the house

The idea is the same as your own freezer, but without having had to cook for it yourself: something is ready and waiting with no decision left in it. Chilled means it has been cooked and is kept refrigerated, not frozen, and that you heat it through in a few minutes.

Works if: you want to be able to think ahead and accept that you choose a few days in advance.
Does not work if: you have nothing at five o'clock tonight. This too has to be there already.

What "healthy" means on an evening like that

Not: the perfect meal. On an evening when you do not feel like cooking, that is a guarantee of takeaway.

But: a hot meal with vegetables in it, a normal portion, and something that is not deep-fried. That is the whole story. Anyone who manages that on an evening when they wanted nothing has won — and it helps that you are not left with it the next day.

A useful measure: would you put this in front of someone else? If so, it is good enough for yourself.

The real solution: make the decision earlier

All five ways out above share one property. Four of them only work if you thought of it earlier.

That is no coincidence, that is the heart of it. The problem shows up at five o'clock, but it starts earlier. Anyone who settles on a Sunday what goes on the table during the week no longer has to make that decision midweek — and that helps more than any quick recipe.

It does not have to be complicated. Fix three evenings and leave the rest open. Read how to build a weekly menu without cooking, or what works for halal family meals during the week.

If you are on your own

One thing that appears in almost no article on this subject: this is harder when there is no one to take it off your hands.

In a household with two adults, one can relieve the other on a bad evening. If you are on your own there is no relief, and every evening lands with you again. Then "just making something" is not a small effort but one more in a long line.

For anyone who recognises that: arranging it in advance is not a luxury, it is the only way to keep it up. Not because you cannot do it, but because you should not have to do it all over again every day.

How we solve it

We cook Turkish dishes in our own kitchen, 100% halal, and deliver them chilled. You heat them through in a few minutes. No shopping, no choice at five o'clock, no whole pan to wash up.

It does not solve everything: you choose a few days in advance, so for an evening that has already collapsed it will not help. But it takes the decision away from the moment when you are least able to make it.

See the whole menu, or first read the difference between fresh and frozen.

Frequently asked questions

What do you eat when you do not feel like cooking?

Something with no decision left in it: a portion from your own freezer, a one-pan dish from store-cupboard ingredients such as menemen or lentil soup, or a meal that is already waiting in the fridge. Looking for recipes usually does not help on an evening like that, because the choosing is the hard part.

Can you eat healthily without cooking?

Yes, as long as you arrange it earlier. A hot meal with vegetables in it, a normal portion and nothing deep-fried is good enough. You get there with portions you froze yourself or with chilled meals; what you have delivered within half an hour usually does not meet it.

What is quick to make and still not unhealthy?

One-pan dishes with eggs or pulses are ready in fifteen minutes and ask little of you. Soup from store-cupboard ingredients is the easiest. Anything that has already been cooked and only needs heating through is quicker still.

Are supermarket ready meals unhealthy?

That differs a great deal per brand. Turn the packaging over and look at the ingredients list and the portion size: a short list with recognisable ingredients is a better sign than a long one. If you buy halal, look at who certified it as well, because that sits with the manufacturer and not with the shop.

How do you stop having to work out what to eat every evening?

Settle the decision earlier in the week, on a Sunday for instance, and plan three evenings instead of seven. That way you no longer have to choose anything midweek and there is room left for an evening that goes differently.

What do you do if you do not feel like it several evenings in a row?

Then it is not a one-off and a quick fix will not help. Make sure something is ready as a matter of course: cook a big pan at the weekend and freeze it in portions, or have meals delivered that you only have to heat through. That takes the pressure off each individual evening.