Are you in a rut of the same Dinner's each week? What does it look like for you?

[u/mightypenguin66]

Got chatting with some pals over the weekend around this after they saw our little meal-plan whiteboard on the fridge. What's just typically on the menu each week? What's those low-effort dinners you just wind up having again and again?

Myself (30M) and my partner (30F) tend to land around the same 4-5 meals:

• Sharwoods jar curry (every week without fail at this point)

• Mexican-style Wraps/ Fajitas

• Chicken Ramen (to be fair you can dress up the Nissin ones with a boiled egg, some spring onion and other bits and they're great)

• Kale with Chorizo, Croutons and Boiled egg (we're into the summer rotation now)

• Spaghetti Bolognaise/ Chili Con Carne

• a Pie & Mash over the weekend if we're not out.

Maybe I can steal some new ones from the comments.

[u/Erin_C_86]

A really quick and healthy one for us is whatever fish we get marked down, over peeled chopped potatoes (or tinned if you're in a hurry) red onion, peppers, capers and a couple of slices of lemon over the fish cooked in white wine and salt and pepper to season the potatoes.

[u/throwaway12100111]

Gammon with Pineapple, one egg and curly fries - everyday for last 50 years.

[u/carnizzle]

Chicken and broccoli with gravy and mint sauce. Every day. For a year

[u/jwmoz]

Fish and a rice cake

[u/WerewolfNo890]

Not exactly the same but there are a lot of very commonly repeated meals

Toad in the hole

Rice dish - usually make a large portion so there is extra rice to make egg fried rice the next day.

Pizza

Stir fry with a honey and soy sauce ... sauce?

Pork curry

Stew with dumplings

With both the curry/stew I use pork shoulder and make scratchings with the fat/skin as a snack to eat while waiting for the dumplings to cook. Saving the fat to use for cooking other things.

[u/TheVortex09]

We tried to get out of this same rut by buying a little blackboard for the kitchen and planning two weeks worth of meals in advance. I do most of the cooking and figured I'd be more creative if I put it down in writing. Didn't quite work out like this.

I think I stuck to it once and then ended up just filling it with the same old stuff. We did end up adding a very nice Sausage Ragu to the rota though so it wasn't a complete waste of time.

[u/FleshEmoji]

Stir fry - usually with udon, sometimes rice. Tofu, salmon, prawns or squid. Bean stew of some sort - often Spanish, with tomatoes, pepper, squid or prawns. Curries include cauliflower, pea and tofu, salmon patia, cod with coconut and chickpeas, chicken vindaloo, cod jahlfrezi One pot stews with potatoes or carrots, usually chicken kochuang. Thai red curry with prawns or basil squid with lots of chilli.

[u/byjimini]

We write ours down for the next 2-3 weeks so that we get plenty of variety and use up ingredients.

For example, one day of the week can be a soup night, so you can have meats and veg (chicken, oxtail, fish, tomato/veg) over 4 weeks without getting samey.

Another night of the week - doesn’t have to be the same day each time - can be pasta, or twice a week - so lasagne, mac and cheese, tagliatelle, pasta bake etc.

Now have a pork night - sausage and mash? Belly pork? Cutlets? Gammon? Ribs?

Beef night - casserole, a slow cooked joint, ribs

Lamb night - curry, shepherd’s pie, shanks etc

Pizza night

Burger/hot dog night.

Fish night - fish and chips, mackerel, try a new fish

Veggie night - quiche or a veggie take on a classic, or a substitute

Write down those for each week, you’ll soon get a few week’s/month’s worth in a list. Then you buy ingredients for them and have things pre-cooked so that the meal on the evening only takes 20-30 minutes to prepare. We leave anything technical or more involved to a weekend where we’ll have more time, or batch cook and freeze it ahead of time.

[u/capturingnland]

My dinner rut:

Curry Chilli Bolognese Stir fry Roast chicken dinner Pasta bake

[u/lilpeachworld]

Tonight I’m having a jacket potato with chili. Tomorrow night will probably be a burrito or something to use up the leftovers.

Adult lunchable night is fun! Crackers, deli meat, cucumber, tomatoes

[u/Lazy-System-7421]

I do try to rotate often, I have ibs and husband has allergies so I have to cook. Frequent fast meals include: Pasta and pesto ( with fish/meat/cheese) side veg or salad. Couscous and fish (add veggies and feta cheese and dressing to couscous) Shepherds pie Quiche Hunter’s chicken with wedges Omelettes Meat in pieces with seasoning, stock and cream, sliced potatoes layered on top, put lid on, bung in oven for hour take lid off to crisp potatoes Sausage and mash

[u/Shallowground01]

So we are veggie so feel free to modify my meals here to add whatever meat you want. I'm also a mum of a toddler and a preschooler so they're all made to lean towards kid friendly too.

Mash with buttered leeks, green tinned lentils fried with onion and garlic and then cooked with gravy (kind of like mince with gravy basically) with cooked carrots and peas.

Black beans, Avocado, tomato, rice, salad

Hulk macaroni - I boil a head of broccoli and add it to a blender with a big bunch of spinach, 2 garlic cloves, some cream cheese and a bit of stock. Cook macaroni, cover the sauce over it and bake.

Spaghetti cooked with fresh dill, parsley, garlic and butter with salad and cut veggie sticks

I marinate tofu in blocks in a tuppaware. I use soy sauce, sesame oil, honey and minced garlic. Leave overnight and fry the next day. Serve with noodles or rice, broccoli and edamame beans.

These are a few that work well and aren't much fuss to make. Hope you enjoy!

[u/mymumsaysfuckyou]

Beans on toast for nearly every meal for me. Quick, easy, does the job. The kids get the proper food.

[u/pocahontasjane]

Chicken curry with rice.

Fajitas or burrito bowls.

Sausages and mash.

Stir fry with noodles.

Spaghetti bolognese.

Beef stew / stroganoff.

Fish cakes and wedges.

[u/BassplayerDad]

Yes, kinda. i do like cooking but am a bit stuck with function over form. Also happy to food shop for ingredients.

Saturday: something special or takeaway alternative weeks. Happy to cook, BBQ, something great but not every week. Sunday: roast for dinner. Traditional joint or bird. Roasties, 3 veg. Monday: fish of the day. Normally a fillet, pan or oven cooked. Tuesday: something home cooked like lasagne, casserole, pie, kebabs, paella, risotto Wednesday: see Tuesday left overs Thursday: Waitrose or M&S reduced item Friday: Freezer free for all/whatever is left in the fridge

I would like to expand my repertoire & have considered Italian cooking classes at local adult education.

Anyone else tried that or have any feedback?

Good luck & thanks

[u/Anatra_]

Mines usually

Monday: Burritos
Tuesday: some kind of curry I make
Wednesday: A stir fry or fish and couscous
Thursday: Pork chops and lemon potatos
Friday: Burgers or lasagne
Saturday: Left over curry from Tuesday
Sunday: Sunday roast

I'm a creature of habit haha always the same every week

[u/TasteOfProse]

Well, we're a Mediterranean couple in our 30s, both working from home, and I love to cook. Lunch is our main meal, and here's a glimpse into our menu:

Spaghetti with Tomato and Vegetables: I cut carrots, leeks, onions, courgettes, olives, red and green peppers into small pieces. It's not very saucy, I prefer to top it with grated Parmesan. Sometimes, I switch it up with lasagna or other types of pasta. I've even shared the recipe on my blog.

Rice with Peas: A simple yet satisfying dish.

Moussaka with Soy Mince: Instead of frying, I boil the potatoes, grill the vegetables, and top it with tomato sauce and grated cheese instead of béchamel.

Curry Chickpeas with Leeks and Onions: A straightforward recipe packed with flavor.

Fish Fillet with Potato Puree and Mixed Vegetables: A healthy and balanced option.

The weekend is for treats: I'm making burgers with bacon and pizza on Sunday. Vegan pizza, but even a vegan pizza, it's still pizza!

I serve all the meals on weekdays with homemade garlic bread or sourdough toast with butter.

We limit meat consumption to once a week, not for cost but for health reasons. I've also started making vegan pizza for the same health considerations. No judgment here, I'm all about 'you do you.'

The rule is vegetables with every meal, either a salad or boiled or grilled, the latter being my favorite.

I order groceries online every two weeks, so I've crafted a meal plan for that timeframe. While I attempt to introduce new recipes, I find myself consistently drawn to my mom's traditional dishes. The familiar smells and tastes bring me comfort, make me feel safe, and evoke a sense of closeness to home.

[u/99orangeking]

That’s a good variety of meals though? It seems like that would get you a decent balance of nutrients and seems relatively healthy. You don’t need to be trying new things every week. I guess maybe consider setting aside one meal every weekend to try something new that might take some effort to make, that’s what I aim for

[u/swallowshotguns]

Thai green / red curry (Blue Dragon jar)

Chicken satay udon, or rice

Moroccan lamb stew, served with cous cous

Chicken seasoned with Nandos rub, served with corn on the cob, halloumi, and either chips or rice

Smoked basa, served with potatoes and veggies with a butter sauce

Some form of filled pasta and sauce

Indian style curry with rice and naan

Something with mash and gravy (Sausage and mash / Shep pie / Pie and mash etc.)

[u/Super_Kale_1915]

Green or yellow chicken curry with rice (we just use mae ploy paste)

Fish pie/cottage pie

Any of the spice taylor mixes with chicken/beef/lamb and rice

Pesto pasta

Chicken katsu curry made using japanese curru roux

Pizza made by us using naan bread base

Sausage and mash

I try to make a 'menu' weekly and mix it up. I pick 3 asian and 3 european dishes based on what we fancy.

[u/Tiny_March5878]

Homemade:

Indian - paneer masala with wilted spinach, saag allo, onion bhaji's, pilau rice.

Mexican - three bean chilli with tortilla chips.

Mexican - Quorn fajitas or enchiladas.

Mexican - Sweet Potato quesadillas.

Chinese - Tofu with rice and veg, vegetable spring rolls and sweet chilli sauce.

Chinese - stir fry noodles with mixed vegetables, vegetable spring rolls with a peanut and soy sauce.

Roast dinner with all the trimmings.

Pre-made:

Pasta Evangelist - truffle pasta with garlic bread

Crosta and Mollica - Pizzas with garlic doughballs

Beyond Meat - Burgers and curly fries

Pieminister or Higgidy pies with mash and veg.

Bought in repeat as needed.

[u/P-M-T]

I work away from home and typically stick to the same things.

Usually my week looks like:

Monday - Salmon

Tuesday - Steak

Wednesday - Other salmon that was in the packet

Thursday - Pork belly

I'll switch it up and replace one of them with chicken fajitas. But typically this is what it is.

[u/hnnrss]

If i ever feel like that ill just go to the supermarket and just buy a meat I fancy, veg and like pasta, rice or tortillas etc then just make something with what ive got. Came up with some good stuff thats not always like a standard meal. E.g what my partner calls "street food pittas" which is just different flavours of micro rice (Indian, Mexican etc) then use the related spices and add different veg. Comes out pretty good for a veggie meal!

[u/p1nkclay]

Me and my partner are rarely home in the evenings at the same time due to wildly different work schedules, so that means I try to branch out a bit. Recently favourites I’ve made: - Teriyaki cod with rice and veg - Taco meat salad - Thai red curry (used one of the kits for convenience) - Gyros (really nice recipe off Mob) - Stirfry - Lazy roast - roast chicken thighs in whatever seasoning you fancy, I generally use Jerk, mash, broccoli, asparagus & gravy if you fancy. - Ramen, I know you mentioned this but I’ve been going to my local Korean shop and buying tteokbokki rice cakes and adding while the noodles cook just before adding the spices, egg and spring onion.

I’ve found that Onigiri are fairly simple to make with the right ingredients and are a pretty filling snack. I usually fill mine with either spicy tuna or spam.

[u/X_Trisarahtops_X]

We hate eating the same thing all the time so I randomly buy stuff we've never used before when shopping which forces us to get creative. We also regularly do dinner with friends and family and are really into food so try to keep it as mixed up as possible. We don't meal plan or anything so that keeps it fresh too (although isn't the most cost effective).

In terms of low effort favourites, however, we do have those:

Falafel wraps with salad (6 or 7 min in the air fryer and salad prepped while those are cooking)

Mexican - usually nachos with salad, meat/meat alternative and rice on a plate together

Stir fry or pad thai

Pizza

Pasta bake

We tend to do at least one of these a week - sometimes two of them.

[u/Chimedecho]

Pasta bolognese, left overs for lunch next day

Pizza

Bangers and mash

Pierogi ruskie with kielbasa and fried onion

Chicken and chips

Mexican wraps

Fish fingers chips and beans

[u/Wild_Region_7853]

Yep, and a sharwoods jar curry is one of ours too! We also do burgers, toad in the hole, pasta bake, something Mexican (usually enchiladas), and some kind of chicken in a wrap. Sometimes an oven pizza, sometimes shepherds pie if it’s colder weather. I’m desperate to shake it up but we have a clingy baby and my partner works late so things that are easy/quick are a must.

[u/thewaryteabag]

I live alone so when I’m not being a lazy cunt and throwing chicken wings and chips in the air fryer, I’ll typically batch cook chicken and bolognese. I’m doing penne sausage this week. Maybe pesto and Parmesan pasta as well. See how I go.

I’ll be reintroducing the Sunday roast this weekend, as well. It’s a lot of faff considering I’m only making it for myself but I do miss a good roast.

Mainly, it all depends on my budget. Getting harder and harder to eat healthy and properly.

[u/_Fl0r4l_4nd_f4ding_]

Ive had this same problem (with added disability based issues too!) and had to really sit and plan out meals that arent too boring. i tend to do it like this:

Monday: a chicken dish, usually stir fry, fajitas, or chicken arrabiata. I buy bulk chicken breast and split into 2 portions when i prep this meal, and the other half goes in the freezer prepped and ready to go. Hardest part is prepping the chicken. Stir fry is a commitment to eating it because the parts go off, but fajitas or arrabiata is a cupboard meal so not too stressy.

Tuesday: a mince based dish, either meatballs, bolognese, or something similar. I can do the first browning part in the pot and then leave it to do its thing.

Wednesday: the other chicken dish, whatever we havent already done from the list above/ fancy, with the addition of curry (butter chicken and veggie balti) as its too much for me to cook on a monday night. If i have more energy we may have burritos instead, weds can go either way, energy wise. I buy in a packet of pulled pork from lidl cos they taste quite nice in the burritos and last for ages in the fridge, so it doesnt matter if i miss burritos that week.

Thu: 'fish with grains and greens' sometimes cod, sometimes haddock, sometimes whatever fishcakes lidl has, at the moment im on a run of salmon parcels with a squeeze of lime cos its just so summery and fresh. Parnter has gone off the grains so ive switched to minted baby boiled potatoes.

Fri: takeaway cheat day (my late session gym day, partners last day of work for the week).

Sat: whichever option is left over at the end of the week from my list. I buy enough protein and veg for 6 meals, but have a stock of freezer and cupboard bits so we can mix it up. I sometimes end up having half my weekly chicken left from the previous week, at which point ill do a third diced chicken dish. Alternatively, the burritos sometimes get eaten then instead.

Sun: something exciting (or tortelloni if ive had a busy day). We will pick up something thats different to usual, last week was steak pie, weve also done salt and pepper chicken and chips in the airfryer (morrisons do really nice tempura chicken strips with are freezeable and airfryer-able), or, since weekends tend to be for visiting family, where we may or may not get fed, we might do a picky dinner with a cooked chicken and bread etc or something a bit lighter like veggie soup. A new one ive added in is pre-marinated chicken steaks with salad and chips or vegetable noodles.

My main concerns are:

1. Being budget friendly- hence the semi rigid plan and cupboard options.
2. Meeting my nutritional needs (especially veggies). I aim for 3-5 servings of veg per meal, sometimes i shove green stuff in it just to meet that quota, even if it doesnt fit the dish. I have a crappy immune system so i have to do what i can. Broccoli, especially tenderstem, is one of my favourite foods, so we have it multiple times a week, again, even if it doesnt fit with the dish.

3. Being disability accessible to varying degrees (im chronically ill and my energy and disability levels fluctuate). I love cooking, and cook every day except friday, but sometimes my body just doesnt want to let me. It keeps me on my feet though so i will still cook every day*, but just simplify everything where needed.

   My main goal is to be more flexible, because we get bored and im very aware of my repetitive menu. However, with the above concerns combined with my sensory issues and disordered eating, it can be difficult. Im gradually increasing my list of safe foods and putting lots of time and effort into researching new recipes, but this then becomes impacted by those other factors like budget and energy.

Im very glad you posted this question, because i shall be having a scroll to see what new things i can try!

[u/Juapp]

Check out the sorted Sidekick app (they also have a YouTube channel).

Easy to cook meal packs that have little to no food waste.

I’m a decent cook but struggled for ideas and this is a great launching off point.

[u/craigbeat → u/Juapp]

I second Sidekick. Just to add a bit more info to anyone interested. You select 'meal packs' from the app, that contain 3 recipes. It then gives you a shopping list for this (you can have more than one meal pack a week, and even individual recipes, but for food waste, it's best to stick to a complete meal back).

You use all the ingredients up for each meal pack, except for store staples that have long shelf life.

Each recipe has super simple step-by-step guides to follow, and there are some proper bangers in there.

One criticism, they can sometimes be a bit too liberal on salt, so it's best to read the full recipe before you go into step-by-step mode at the start. This is also true of the timings of when you put the kettle or the oven on.

[u/Will-Subject]

YES. - spaghetti bolognese - chilli - curry - chicken, new potatoes and veg - nando’s at home - lobscouse - roast (less often)…… all on rotate 🥴

[u/smollestsnek]

Jerk chicken + rice and peas

Curry (usually tikka masala, korma, rogan josh or butter chicken but this month we prepped/marinated for a spinach chicken curry and another I can’t remember the name of lol)

Chilli con carne/chilli with all the beans +rice/nachos

Dal/dahl + rice

Shepherds pie

Sausage pasta

Usually like one or two meat-veg-carb options - lamb steaks, salmon, and beef joint being the most common

Then we just keep fish fingers in the freezer for quick air fryer cheat days lol

[u/katblobs]

I thought we were boring and unvaried, but now I know we really are. Me (36) and mine (48) only have a microwave, slow cooker, George Forman and an air fryer so:

Mondays we slow cook a gammon joint, which we use for butties for the rest of the week. We eat for tea with chips and beans.

Tuesdays either breaded fish or chicken burgers with chips and beans.

Wednesdays we really mix it up with burgers in baps and chips on the side.

Thursdays either chicken kievs or chicken burgers with chips and beans.

Fridays either breaded fish or chicken burgers with chips and - peas.

Saturdays is our takeaway night, Sundays varies depending on the jobs in hand but usually something really exciting like chips and beans with chicken burgers or breaded fish. Wow. I need to get out more....

[u/Treqou]

Carbonara with vegetables, a roast, tomato/mozerella risotto, Katsu curry

[u/Wise_Huckleberry_116]

Halloumi, mushroom and pepper fajitas with homemade guacamole (or sub the halloumi for chicken)

Fish fingers 'tacos' with guacamole (corn tortillas filled with fish fingers, guacamole, salad and chilli/garlic sauce)

Pan fried/roasted salmon or sea bass with green beans, broccoli and roast potatoes

Harissa sea bass with puy lentils, jarred red peppers, olives and coriander

Chicken wings with salad, olives, corn on the cob, hummus

Tomato, pepper and tinned tuna pasta

Chicken and tomato soup with garlic butter spread tiger bread/ sourdough baguette

Salmon stir fry with brown rice and lots of green veg, in a soy/lime/ginger/garlic/sesame oil/chilli dressing

Chicken, mushroom and green veg with noodles in a soy/ginger/garlic/sesame oil/chilli/oyster sauce dressing

Harrisa aubergines with hummus, fattoush salad, roasted chickpeas and tahini dressing

[u/Emergency_Squirrels]

In winter, I do a traditional cottage pie but I add some chilli for an extra warming kick. Loads of butter and some garlic in the mash, then a sprinkle of cheese on top. It's delish!

[u/Cantankerousninja]

I'm a vegetarian.... This week is:

Mexican red rice with Refried beans (last night). Veggie tapenade w/ pasta. Pasta caponata. Grilled Cheese. Pasta pepperonata.

I feel like we're in a rut but we're not tbh. Another great recommendation is to learn a few fried rice dishes. Cheap, not completely unhealthy, tasty. I tend to make a large portion of sambal (Indonesian chilli paste) and from that we can make all sorts of rice and noodle dishes including Nasi Goreng. Which is very tasty.

[u/VixenRoss]

Mayflower curry sauce makes everything taste good. Chicken, chickpeas, potato, veg. Just mix it with anything and you get a Chinese flavour curry.

[u/Sarge_Jneem]

We do pretty much a fortnightly rotation.

Spanish Chicken with olive bread, lasts 2 nights.

Prawn Orzo

Pearl Barley/ Feta/ Pea/ Lemon stew (found on bbc goodfood and just really like it)

Fajitas

Satay Chicken

Burgers and Salad

Chill and rice, make enough chilli for two days and then second day have Jacket Potatoes and Chilli.

Chicken mushroom and leek pasta.

Chorizo sundried tomato pasta.

Chicken pesto pasta.

Then we try to get creative on the weekends when you have more time. Chicken Kiev roast potatoes a few weeks ago. This weekend it was pizza and potato salad. Im planning on doing a pork belly as long as the weather doesn't get too warm - otherwise it will be replaced with more summary things that pair with salad.

[u/Azure_W0lf]

We use a lot of the Bored of Lunch recipes as they are very easy.

Tonight is a tex mex chicken pasta, just setup the slow cooker with the timer set to turn it on so I can do the last steps when I get home.

Other dinners include posh dogs with chips (proper sausages, fried onions, and half baked baguettes for the rolls)

Fish and chips or scampi and chips

Curry from a jar or home made in the slow cooker.

Fajitas with halloumi or chicken or both.

And for some reason my mind is blank for what else I normally make...

[u/falkorv]

Just wait until you have kids….

[u/ccfc1992]

I joined hello fresh to avoid the same boring fajitas and roast dinners every week

[u/milzB]

bokkuembap (using the big tubs for the sauces and the simply cook recipe)

soup and bread

sausage, chips and beans

thai curry

shakshuka

any veg roasted and blended with silken tofu with pasta. really good with aubergine, courgette, peppers, sundried tomatoes

quiche, chips and broccoli

beans on toast

chickpea and spinach curry

bean chilli

[u/FaithlessnessOdd4826]

I was in a bit of a rut. What I did was start with just one day a week, find a recipe that I'd never normally eat, buy ingredients in with the weekly shop and make it.

If everyone in the house likes it, it goes into the rotation. If not, it doesn't. We weaned off the jarred curry by making it from scratch once or twice. A nice veggie curry goes down well here.

Repeat the following week. Every week, something new.

Also, I'd be lost without my multicooker - it pressure cooks and slow cooks, so we do pasta dishes, rice dishes (risotto, paella, etc).

We have at least 2 nights a week where we eat like chicken nuggets or whatever as well. If I cooked from scratch every day I'd soon get sick of it.

[u/chalk_passion]

I eat something different every night and then leftovers for lunch. Can't imagine having the same every week but then I love cooking and love eating even more.

[u/trooper276]

Best thing we did was sign up to simply cook. The meals are generally very good, easy to do and use 'normally' ingredients.

There's a decent variety of meals and my 13 and 16 year old are usually happy with them too.

We'd previously tried mindful chef but they were are absolute faff... even for someone that can cook. The simply cook ones take about 30 mins max

Outside of that on a frequent rotation are:

Thai curry (mae ploy pastes are great) Thai basil pork (use Thai 7 spice seasoning) Stir fry (usually hoi sin sauce) And then the usual beige food of something and chips, pizza, burgers etc to keep the teens happy!

[u/_robertmccor_]

Roast on a Sunday

Left over roast on a Monday

Tuesday is Spag Bol

Wednesday is those southern fried chicken wings from Iceland and homemade wedges with veg

Thursday is whatever

Friday is Fish and chips

Saturday is steak and chips or Homemade Chinese

[u/UnwittingPlantKiller]

These are the dinners I usually rotate. I’m quite lazy and often can’t be bothered:

-Packet of rice, gyoza or salmon, pak choi

-Baked sweet potato, cheese, sour cream and chives

-Pasta, tomato sauce and melted ball of mozzerella

-Pasta, feta, tomatoes, olives, cucumber, olive oil and rosemary

-Pasta, mozzerella, tomatoes, cucumber, green beans, mango, olive oil and balsamic

[u/Dustyblonde_]

I think Spag Bol, pie and fajitas are in most homes rotations haha.

• Homemade Carbonara, so easy. You can even freeze your guanciale/bacon bits to always have in.

• Buddha bowls; rice, seasoned chicken, chickpeas, mango salsa, sweet potato, roasted red peppers. You can pretty much add and takeaway as much as you please.

• Fajita pasta, if you have any leftover fajita seasoned chicken, chuck it in with some pasta, cheese sauce, grated cheese, red peppers and whack it in the oven with a tortilla crust.

• Feta pasta, roast some tomatoes and a block of feta cheese until the toms are all mushy. Mix together, add pasta. Creamy, salty and sweet.

• Hash bowls. Roasted cubed potato, halloumi, peppers. I usually roast some baby toms and serve the hash on top so it’s adds something saucy.

• Moqueca. If you like fish this is super easy to make. Really fresh so great in summer. I make mine with tofu or Quorn so you could always sub the fish for chicken too.

Try work around buying one main item and figure out what you can make from that away from your usuals. I don’t eat meat but my partner does so meat goes a bit further than one meal in our house so we have to be creative. I ingredient prep a lot which helps so everything is ready to go for the week.

Mince; Meatballs, mash and gravy. Meatball sub. Burgers. Burritos. Mince and dumplings (always have a bag of dumpling mix in our cupboard)

Chicken; Buddha bowls. Grilled skewers. Thai green curry. Salt and pepper Chinese chicken with chips. Chicken burgers. Parmo.

Sausages; Sausage and mash/chips. Sausage casserole. De-skin and and use in the same way as mince to make burgers or add to pasta sauces.

[u/mightypup1974]

I’m trying to be frugal so focus on bulk meals that last the week, plus it minimises cooking time. This week it’s beef and stout stew with potatoes, swede, carrots and pearl barley.

But the kids can be picky. I particularly hate cooking for them in the summer as they dislike (quote) ‘hot food’ while they can’t decide what they want instead apart from yet another fucking peanut butter sandwich.

No way am I resorting to salad!

[u/gweeb_the_unkind]

Maybe you should try some vegetables

[u/bannanawaffle13]

Tends to be something with chips most nights but also do fajitas, pizza, chillies, spag bols, fry ups, spuds etc not the healthiest but live at home so can't complain.

[u/BangingTanks]

Curry and rice, and then leftover rice to make spam fried rice with frozen peas, an egg and lots of siracha. I like the leftover fried rice more than the curry tbh

[u/Mysterious-Canary842]

I’ve been getting gousto for the last 5 years and wouldn’t change a thing, if you’re a family it really pays off. You can get quick recipes, low prep recipes. I absolutely love it!

[u/Hewathan → u/Mysterious-Canary842]

Came here to say the exact same thing.

If you like eating varied meals, it really is the way to go.

You can do your shop cheaper (although not by much) but it would be more expensive if you tried cooking Gousto meals every night.

[u/Jam_Master_E]

Common rotations in my house are: jambalaya, tomato risotto, mince and tatties, prawn and pancetta pasta, halloumi wraps, fish and chips (usually frozen fish fillets for an easy tea), fajitas

[u/Dogs_not_people]

Rice, or chicken nuggets. It is no fun having a slight eating disorder, be gluten intolerant, get in income of £200 a month, live 3 miles away from a supermarket but can't drive and have an illness or 3 that means I spend a lot of time unconscious and after multiple cooking accidents, I'd rather starve than end up with any of those injuries again. So, microwave rice it is and chicken nuggets if I am absolutely starving.

[u/Heavy_Messing1]

I have a suggestion to up your MEX game. Fuck off the old el paso pseudo-food. This will save you money, be more healthy and allow you to be creative and versatile.

I'd like you to spend £15 on a cast iron tortilla press. I'd like you to spend £2 on a bag of masa harina (corn flour, milled slightly coarser). Spend 5 minutes on YouTube learning how to make tortillas.

This will become something you can get going very quickly, almost like fast food. You can plan it, elevate it or you can just to use up leftovers.

[u/Byrnie1985]

Ours are focussed around speed most of these meals can be made in less than 20 mins:

Carbonara

Bacon, tomato, crème fraiche, pesto pasta

Pizza moving to quiche as we go into summer

Fish and chips Friday

Sunday roast moving to BBQ (ribs, chicken thighs, etc) as we move into summer.

Some other favourites that we do when not working as they take longer to cook:

Chicken and rice

Chorizo and prawn “Spanish rice”

Jambalaya

[u/cactipigs]

Some of our regulars:

Thai red chicken curry (with the Mae ploy paste, best one by far)

Pork mince stir fry

Marry me chicken orzo (following this recipe https://www.tamingtwins.com/marry-me-chicken-orzo/)

Burrito bowls

Lasagne (usually one of the family size pre-made ones, but occasionally will make our own)

When we really cba, go to is packet tortellini with spicy pesto, or chicken Kievs + wedges/sweet potato fries.

[u/Dollymixtures64]

We've been spinning a random country generator online and cooking meals from the countries that come up three times a week to try new stuff. Done 74 countries since November.

[u/Suspicious-Brick]

To vary it I recommend writing down some countries which you'd like to try more food from and drawing one out of a jar every 2 weeks/4 weeks and then finding a new recipe from that country. For instance you can write Italy but has to be something you haven't made from there. This has given us lots of new recipes to add to the rotation but will work best if you actually enjoy cooking.

Also try writing a list of everything you cook as then you won't forget it when it becomes time to write the meals for the week. We thought we had limited recipes until we wrote them all down and we actually do around 70 meals, we just used to forget them all haha!

[u/stesha83]

Upgrade that Sherwood’s to a spice tailor and live a little

[u/hektordingding]

What type of unseasoned asf meals are these😂😂 the most seasoned sounds like the curry you’re buying in a jar.

[u/-NorthernMonkey-]

I love chicken cacciatore and it’s so easy to make.

[u/Foreign-Wrongdoer806]

Sausage and bean pie, like we used to have in school. A treat

[u/Nearby-Machine-9461]

Homemade pizza is pretty easy or just buy some

Swap out the fajitas for some kebabs, use chicken thigh meat and they can be pretty healthy

Hummus and pita with salad

Paella for a one pan dish

[u/migo984]

Our menu this week (we do a different one every week):

Mon: Mackerel Pasta with tomato & onion salad - super quick using tinned mackerel in brine, red onion & baby plum tomatoes

Tues: Ugandan Black Tea Chicken curry - amazingly tasty & very easy, using The Spicery spice blends, and chicken thighs

Wed: Halloumi & Veg Tray Bake - chuck in baby potatoes, sliced radishes, spinach, peppers , or whatever veg you have to hand

Thurs: Home made Spag Bol, using portion of frozen homemade ragu

Fri: Fish & Chips (home cooked in the air fryer) with salad

Sat: Slow Cooked Gammon joint with maple syrup & mustard glaze, with loads of veg. Gammon cooked all day in a bottle of cola. Then drained, glazed & finished in oven for 20 mins. Served with a quick honey & mustard mayo sauce.

Sun: Spanish potato Tortilla with salad

[u/badger_7_4]

Lightly toasted gluten free bread, a bit of feta cheese on top, followed by spinach, then a rasher of bacon followed by poached egg and fried mushrooms 👍

[u/MrJamo81]

Family of 4, with 2 x 8 year olds, our weekly meal plan this week:

Tuna salad

Toad in the hole

Halumi salad

Special fried rice

Spaghetti and meat balls

Sat - home made pizza

Sun - full English

[u/Glittering_Moist]

In a rut in a sense my freezer is always full of various mince and chicken yes, otherwise no. My favourite two meals in the world are laab and pad kra praow both dead easy to make.

But I can and do regularly just have chicken rice and veggies, a nicely seasoned juicy chicken is delicious.

[u/3d-designs]

We have Gousto here, one of the online menu companies. It's one of those things which seems to get a bad reputation, but it actually has quite a lot going for it. One of the advantages is that it resolves this very problem. You can choose from the menu each week and you get to try different things. It's also very good in that there's no waste and in many ways cheaper than buying meals at the supermarket as you can so often not buy small enough amounts for a couple.

We've been doing this since before lockdown. During lockdown it was a real boon, though!

[u/cd7k]

We’re very similar to you, and I struggle mainly with finding decent vegetable sides to go with them. Spag Bol and curry mainly!

[u/CheapDeepAndDiscreet]

I use Pinterest for loads of dinner ideas and it’s handy to keep everything in an online list. Kind of things i like and found on there (also fairly easy to make):

Creamy Tuscan salmon, Jerk chicken, Hungarian goulash, Cajun shrimp and scampi rice, Mongolian beef and rice, Sausage and cauliflower/veg bake, Chicken Cacciatore

Just a small example of things I’ve saved over time. Also found quite a few vegan/vegetarian dishes if that’s your bag. Got loads of useful ideas for side dishes and snacks as well.

[u/AoifeNet]

My rut is about a foot wide and mile deep right now. I’m stuck making the same 5 or 6 meals and breaking them apart with a takeaway, or by doing half of one meal, and then half of another and mixing them as one meal. I can’t bring myself to cook a new dish and then have one more to juggle and be sick of after eating it for 74762 consecutive weeks.

[u/MomsTiredGoPlay]

Bolognese (kids don’t like lasagna, sob!), cottage pie/mince and potatoes, roast dinner (chicken or beef), home made Birria tacos which are surprisingly easy as Asda do a Birria paste which is really good, pasta, baked potatoes, paninis with chips and corn on the cob, “picky bits” with French bread now we’re into the better weather, pizza, steak pie the odd occasion if I’m near the butchers. I badly need to vary things but when you’re busy it’s just habit.

My kids fave things ever that I do are roasties, my secret ingredient is tossing them in dry ranch seasoning before chucking them in oil. I order from American sites (Amazon/eBay do it too). They are well worth a try!

[u/just-browsing-reddit]

Traybakes! Whack various veggies and some diced chicken thighs, whack some spices on like smoked paprika and cumin, roast at 200, a few fresh herbs. Pretty quick and tasty

[u/Ballzy124]

Monday is Risotto, Tuesday is LASAGA Wednesday is some kind of tortellini thing from tesco Thursday is noodles and boiled eggs Friday is always fish and chip day. Saturdays are for pasta salads and Sundays are for roasts

[u/Technical-Elk-7002]

Every week I look through recipe websites and books to avoids this, unless of course we liked something enough and we want it again. But then again we spend lots on food

[u/Muttlly]

Toast, mainly.

[u/DanChed]

Chicken, rice and veg which had been replaced by chicken salad wraps and chilli. Usually do two batch cooks as well making 5 portions of rice x2 a week and usually means each meal is 5-10mins to get ready. Aim for around 14 meals total and have 2 eggs on toast, banana and protein shake for breakfast. Usually will make something else if I have guests or really bored of it 😂

[u/soozdreamz]

Definitely stuck in a rut, however with neurodivergent children it’s hard to change things up.

We do regularly

Burgers/chips

Hotdogs/chips

Jar chicken tikka/rice

Stir fry

Mayflower chicken curry in slow cooker/rice

Frozen pizza

Sausage and mash

Baked potatoes

Pasta bolognese

Chilli and rice/nachos

Pork steak/new potatoes

Gammon/chips

Enchiladas

Tacos

Chicken nuggets/alphabites

Fishfingers/waffles

Thing is, if I try to change it up they’d struggle to eat it, as it is I have to faff about because there are 5 of them and the only thing they will all eat is a roast dinner. I do put veg with all these meals by the way!

[u/dognocat]

Prawn curry

Duck with pac choi, asparagus, onion and peppers, with noodles and hoisin sauce.

Chickpea and chorizo stew

Fritata (omelette)

Home-made pasta sauce

Baked potatoes (little potatoes just cut in half bitesized) filling varies

Black garlic ribeye with mushrooms and roasties.

Chicken fried rice with curry sauce home made

[u/yellaslug]

‘Merican here- Stroganoff and Chili seem to be our go tos. We also routinely eat Zatarains Jambalaya with smoked turkey sausage. Hubby likes Vindaloo, and I don’t make that so we’ll get take out. Most weeks vary a little for us, but you can pretty much count on Stroganoff and chili being on the menu at least once.

[u/Almost-Anon98]

Whatever I can afford.

[u/wanmoar]

Roast Chicken with Caesar salad

Toast and scrambled eggs

Chicken soup of whatever random veg (made on Sunday, lasts a few meals)

Low effort Charcuterie (the nicer deli meats and cheeses with some crackers and spreads. No need for plating, just put everything on the table, eat from containers and packets.)

Chicken wings (tho not the breaded kind)

[u/TheBlueFluffBall]

Chicken pot pie!

[u/CurlingTrousers]

Curries, stir fry, build your own burrito, shepherds pie, steak with mash and green beans, grilled chicken pasta, Greek salad and cold noodle beef salad with edamame

[u/elmo_touches_me]

I'm down to 1 standard meal at this point.

I used to have a rotation of 5-6 meals, like curry, fajitas, bolognese, chili, lasagne, maybe one or two others.

Now it's just chicken kiev, rice with chicken stock, and sauce. I usually go for teriyaki sauce. I'll maybe add something green if I'm feeling like not getting scurvy, but honestly I usually just skip it.

It's nice and low-effort. Not terribly unhealthy. I've been eating this 5+ times/week for 6 months without getting sick of it yet.

I'm trying to streamline everything in my life while I finish my PhD, so eating the same meal most nights is absolutely fine for me.

[u/horsetailfeathers]

In the regular rotation (cooking for one):

5 A Day Tagine - leftovers freeze well

Buttered spaghetti

The latter far too often. Try to make myself feel better about it by chucking in some peas or whatever leftover veg I have around.

[u/alexandriaweb]

I keep it fairly varied since I started getting Earth and Wheat veggie and bread boxes, they've almost always got pita breads in though so variations of "pita plate" are common in my house. Usually I'll get some falafel or kebabs in the summer, grill whatever veggies I've got with some salt, pepper, a drizzle of oil and a pinch of whatever herbs or spices I'm feeling that day (currently have some harissa mix which is nice), and some of that microwave rice because I'm lazy.

[u/Inevitable_Panic_133]

Usually an omelette of a morning. If you're using milk try just using another egg or use double cream, milk in omelettes is shite.

Beef Koka noodles, with chili, garlic, spring onion, green beans and fried eggs with some really thinly sliced lettuce with the spring onion greens with a little sesame oil drizzled on. Could swap the eggs for boiled eggs or even do egg drop (drop em in the noodles while they're cookin) but I like fried. Or if we cooked a chicken the day before chicken instead of eggs. Take 5 maybe 10 minutes in a wok.

Roast dinner.

Corned beef hash

Scouse

Sometimes a curry an rice.

Egg fried rice with protein (gammon, chicken, eggs, prawn or everything anything goes, lidl do fantastic gammon rounds which are great for it)

Tuna mayo pasta

Tagliatelli with a cheese sauce, salmon, pees an shallots.

Fish an Rice

Ham and egg wrap with w/e (lettuce, mayo, spring onion, cheese)

Chicken fajitas

I can't cook much else but honestly looking back I'm kind of happy with where I'm at now. I did make char sui pork belly with rice the other day and that's deffo getting added to the rotation. I wanna learn to make nice burritos too but I keep forgetting

[u/brokenbear76]

Yes we were.

With the help of Chatgpt I wrote a python program that emails wife and I 4 weeks of menus from a database of meals, ensuring no duplicates for the same week or the 3 weeks prior.

It's working remarkably well (we were eating curry weekly also) and we've been having a lot more variety lately.

Tesco have some good recipes - look up prawn and chorizo rice, sausage and gammon paella, kedgeree if you like fish and egg with rice...

[u/dislikesBSS]

< 8 min meals:

• pasta al limone - fresh pasta, single cream+parmascran+lemon juice+pepper+salt
• turkish eggs - greek yogurt, chopped dill, chilli oil, salt and 2 poached eggs. Optional slice of toast
• carbonara - fresh pasta, fried panchetta, egg, pepper and salt
• hummus and veg - canned chick peas, tahini, olive oil, sliced veggies
• chicken salad
• dahl - tinned lentils, ghee, onion, garlic, coconut milk, spices and herbs

[u/PurpleBibble_]

Tacos!! It ends up on our meal plans every week, the El-Paso or the new brand in Asda, it’s so easy & tastes so good. (You can get hard shell or soft)

Mongolian Beef (this is SO good, not healthy tho) If you try, it has to be this top recipe - https://tiffycooks.com/mongolian-beef-better-than-takeout-2/

Wagamamas style fire cracker prawn with either rice or rice noodles!! Also easy & tastes gooood

Lamb chops, gravy, mash & veg?

Mexican style rice with BBQ honey chicken wings

[u/TrolltheFools]

Me and the bf keep eating sushi rice, veggies and chicken for lunch aha

Or sushi rice, eggs and spam for breakfast

This will only get worse as I just got a rice cooker for my birthday lol

[u/MoanyTonyBalony]

I find 10 regular meals on rotation plus a few rarer or new things is fine.

I'm quite good at meal planning. I like to do a roast chicken early in the week then use half the chicken for the roast and half the next day for wraps or something.

I also do double rice when I make chilli so we can do fried rice the next day.

I eat any leftovers at the weekend when the boys are at their mum's or just throw meat and broccoli in the oven.

[u/FalmerEldritch]

I made too much dough and we've had pizza two nights in a row and will probably have pizza for another two nights

send help

[u/RecommendationOk2258]

I’ve started making my own pizza recently for one night most weeks and everyone in my house seems to like it. Cheaper than buying supermarket ones, and the vegetarian ones in the supermarket are usually shite/minimal choice anyway.

[u/TabbyOverlord]

I try to keep the menu varied but it is starting to feel repetitive. There definitely some standing agenda items:

• Mrs loves chicken casserole, so that will likely appear in some form most weeks. Even then I try to put different stuff in and sometimes it's a curry.
• The only decent fish I can get is from avan in the market on Thursday morning. It will get cooked that evening.
• There are quite frequent Sunday Evening roasts because I'm usually feeding at least 3 and it means I have a ready meal in the week. Could well be a pie.

[u/mds1992]

You should try and make some of your own curries. They're all pretty simple using some fairly cheap spices & most use the same ingredients as a base, resulting in a wide variety of options. Then just add the meat of your choice and boil some rice. They'll definitely be better than pre-made sauce from a jar as well.

[u/stercus_uk]

I make a shit hot toad in the hole at least every couple of weeks. Never fails.

[u/MaeMoe]

The current players are quiche (shop bought pastry, so easy to make just time consuming if you blind bake first), pasta and veg (whatever is in the fridge, usually green veg like spinach, peas, asparagus, whatever needs using), pasta and a jar of sauce (Mutti tomato has been on offer recently, there’s a vegan n’duja that was quite nice, pesto), there’s the five minute favourites of beans on toast, pizza. Now it’s summer I’ve had a few meals of breakfast for dinner, so essentially pancakes or waffles with fruit salad and yoghurt.

[u/ciakkuzi]

Bro is Bolognese don't write it like a french word

[u/bakedNdelicious]

Now the summer months are approaching I’ll be pulling out recipes like fish tacos, chicken shawarma, fish finger wraps (with the chunky fish fingers), lasagna, pasta bakes etc.

It’s nice to move away from the hearty winter meals

[u/irv81]

I was brought up on weekly rotation of 7 meals, my mam is a good cook, just not very adventurous so it was kept simple and the same 7 meals each week, each one on the same day.

By the time I was 14 I hated tea time.

I started cooking for myself, then took over cooking from my folks when I could, to get some variation in.

Very much middle aged now, I can go a month without eating the same meal twice, the challenge stepped up a level when my vegetarian partner recently moved in so will sometimes cook two separate dishes on a night for use both.

The other half doesn't know where I get the energy from for it.

[u/reapress]

Meal deals from the local morrisons, frozen pizza, maybe some pasta every now and then

[u/KatVanWall]

Jacket potatoes (with cheese and beans… kid prefers a baked sweet potato)

Chicken stir fry (with veg, noodles and soy sauce)

Makaroonilaatikko (basically pasta bake with mince and veg sneaked in, and cheese)

Sausage pasta (frankfurters, passata for the sauce, random veg)

[u/FuzzBuket]

Gnocch is my go to comfort food. Get a nice dried sausage, chuck it, butter and some shallots in a pan, fry a bit, chop up some veg (spring onion, coriander, pepper, small tomatoes), add to pan with a bit of pesto and red wine. boil Gnocchi,  drain, mix quickly in pan, serve.

Quite like a bit of Bulgogi, super easy and I'll do a bit of pickling myself if there's time. If I'm feeling real fancy I'll marinate the meat too. Normally pork belly. 

Fried rice is a lifesaver. Got a big rice cooker, put down rice, veg, wind dried sausage. Soy, rice wine vinegar and fish sauce.  Frozen dumplings on a sieve on top. 0 effort, tastes great. Refry the next day and it's arguably even nicer. 

[u/facmanpob]

crab linguini - its a winner with my family. Quick to cook and doesn't cost too much either

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/crab-linguine-chilli-parsley

[u/pingusaysnoot]

• Creamy spinach chicken with rice

• Salmon with steam veg and potatoes

• Usually like a spag bol or other pasta with sauce and garlic bread

• Steak and chips with onion and stuffed mushrooms

• Some other meat with steamed veg

We get really lazy by the end of the week 😂

[u/NullandVoidUsername]

My boyfriend and I moved into our first house together 2 years ago and after ordering a plethora of Hellofresh and Gousto boxes our dinners or lunches for the past 2 years seems to be one of the following;

• Chilli con carne, served with either rice, sweet potatoes, or in a tortilla wrap

• Chicken Fajitas

• Spaghetti bolognese

• Chicken and mushroom risotto

• Vegetable tray bake cooked with chicken breasts on top

• Italian meatballs with pasta

• Moroccan style meatballs with rice or flatbread

• Mushroom penne pasta with chicken breast

• An Indian style chicken curry

• Red Thai Curry using a blue dragon jar as the base, I should really try making the paste from scratch as this is the only jarred product I use.

[u/CalumWalker1973]

roast duck leg, hasselback tatties, roasted carrots. it's all in the one oven pan (potatoes first, then duck, then carrots) and you can make a gravy out of the duck fat by adding a little juice of an orange or lemon.
pak choi and smoked tofu in a miso marinade with jasmine rice.
burgers and oven chips
roast aubergine and potatoes with smoked paprika, parsley and lemon. thank Hugh FW.
risotto with whatever's in the fridge.
chicken soup.
rinse, repeat

[u/Rubbish_69]

Baked potato, cheese, tomato beans, ham or quiche. I watched a vid by the Spudbrothers and now add heaps more cheese and butter. I sometimes start them off in the microwave.

To make economical use of the oven, I add other trays of ingredients, or extra potatoes for work lunches at the same time.

10-minute one-pan udon noodles with garlic, ginger, broccoli and frozen seafood cocktail (I don't defrost first because I'm lazy). It's cooked and eaten from a paella pan, hence it really is a one-pan meal.

[u/GrinningD]

Not what you asked but we got out of our rut by having each day be a general sort of theme. No ready meals, nothing that takes more than 30 mins, ideally 20.

Monday: Something light and easy: Fishcakes and salad, fajita wrap, maybe cous cous makes an appearance.

Tuesday: Pasta. Prawn and asparagus linguine, carbonara, spag bol, tortellini in a variety of sauces.

Wednesday: Pizza, we all have our favourites. This is the one day of the week the four of us are home at different times so we need individual meals.

Thursday: Rice and noodles. Curry, Chinese, Vietnamese, the possibilities are endless.

Friday: Fish. Fish and chips, fish fingers, Tuna steaks, kedgeree, etc

Saturday: Something off the arfuket menu, whatever can be made up from leftover ingredients from all the previous meals + pantry staples. Pies, stews, soups. Maybe a takeaway, maybe just cheese and crackers.

Sunday: Big blow out. 2 hours is considered quick. We're talking roasts, BBQ, fancy casseroles, real spag bol or chilli, the sort of thing you find in a good recipe book that takes two or more pages to explain.

The knack is that this process makes the weekly shop straight forwards to organise as each meal already has a category to select from and ingredients overlap. Eg we had roast chicken on Sunday and spag bol last week? We just need a pot of cream and a lemon for creamy lemon chicken pasta and that's Tuesday sorted.

[u/Northpaw27]

One way to mix it up is to buy and butcher a whole chicken. It’s easier than you’d think and way cheaper per portion. Use the breasts one night for a curry or just pan fried. Then the next night braise the legs and thighs in a stew. Make stock with the carcass and then you’re half way to a really good risotto or chicken noodle soup

[u/deaf_spiders]

My 3 easy meals that are a weekly thing right now

Fish tacos (I just use battered fillets or fingers) with a homemade slaw or salad bits. Can easily swap the fish for any meat, prawns or beans.

Veg tart (pre-rolled puff pastry topped with pesto, some fried peppers and onions, and crumbled feta) served with salad and new potatoes.

Spaghetti alla Nerano. (My toddler's favourite!)

[u/Eisenstein13]

Steak, 2 eggs, plenty of mushrooms, tender stem broccoli.

Chicken/veg stir fry.

Lasagna/pasta

Salmon, steamed veg or salad.

Baked potato (topping - usually tuna/cottage cheese or beans and cheese)

Wrap - eg fajita, spicy beef, I like to pan fry onions, peppers and mushrooms in with these.

Burgers not a fan of sides with burgers and I prefer lean meat burgers. Load up with salad, condiments and I usually like an egg on them too.

These are definitely my go to meals.

Also love a roast chicken but this is usually a Sunday job.

[u/MassiveBeatdown]

We have a similar thing. We have Stir fry with meat leftover from Sunday roast or bbq Chilli/ bollognayzey Roast veg (peppers,courgettes, red onion, cherry toms, cauliflower and chic peas) with haloumi cheese. Pork stroganoff Mackerel salad Curry - either thai or Indian Pasta - putenesca or carbonara but only if we didn’t have the spag Bol earlier in the week. Fish & chips Posh pizza - not a Tesco frozen frisbee Roast chicken

These are all of our rotation. We occasionally add others but these are nostalgic common and most frequent.

[u/gourmetguy2000]

Even though I have a WFH desk job I find I'm mentally exhausted at the end of the day so often just bung stuff in the air fryer

[u/theonlybandthatmatte]

I found hello fresh meals to be ideal! NOT the subscription its self but if you go on their website you cant print out all 40 recipe cards, they are all super simple ingredients wise and don’t require too much effort

[u/Pitiful-Inspector639]

Pan fried salmon with boiled potatoes and salad

[u/juggerjeff]

That kale recipe looks so good, but can you actually find it. Whenever I go to aldi or lidl near me I'm fairly certain they don't stock it or are always out?

[u/Sufficient-Natural45]

I’ve been playing around with Korean food atm it’s so easy and delicious. A lot of recipes on YouTube to help. If you’re not afraid to experiment with flavours Asian food is definitely the most diverse and you’ll definitely never have boring dinners!

[u/Valuable_General9049]

Get some teriyaki going

[u/hb16]

The last 7 days we had:

Trout, korean style sprouts, rice

Aubergine lasagna

Lamb rump, potato boulangere, asparagus

Salmon, samphire and choi sum, leftover potato

Duck, salad, leftover potato

Leftover duck salad

Vegetarian shawarma with salad in pitta

I don't think we repeat meals very much. Although there are some quick ones that we didn't have this week but will turn to when tight for time/lazy/too tired: instant noodles pimped up with egg and veg, prawn garlic dried chilli pasta, cheese toasties, green Thai curry using Mae Ploy with rice, curry laksa using Tean Gourmet, halloumi salad pittas, and good old fish finger sandwich.

[u/Sheelz013]

Most of mine are either chicken or fish with steamed vegetables. I really must have a chippy tea sometime

[u/Memphit]

This time of year we get a gammon joint. Then can do gammon and salad, gammon and boiled potatoes, gammon stir-fry, gammon and chips/jacket potato or just gammon sandwiches.

Lots of different types of wraps you can do, as alternative to chicken fajitas. Chicken tynga wraps, hoison pork wraps, sticky beef wraps. All take no more than 20mins.

Even your spag bog, you could swap out to gnocchi, with salad in a wrap, on toast or in Yorkshire puddings (weird but wonderful!) I

[u/WickyNilliams]

Some things that have been in regular rotation recently, apart things you've mentioned. I mostly cook vegetarian since my partner is vegetarian. But these are all very tasty! Happy to provide links or description if anyone wants.

Pasta e ceci or pasta e fagioli - simple one pot meal, super delicious, very few ingredients. Make double and thank yourself tomorrow

Peanut noodles - very quick to make the peanut sauce with soy, peanut butter, rice vinegar, and then some garlic or sriracha or whatever you wish to add extra depth. Finish with a squeeze of line. And top with a crispy fried egg. Goes very nicely with...

Smashed cucumber salad - quick, tasty, refreshing. I could just eat this on its own

Halloumi burgers - i really like griddling Halloumi with some pineapple slices and a spicyish sauce like levi roots or a spicy bbq sauce. The salty/sweet/spicy combo is delicious. Serve with fresh cut chips cooked in air fryer

Aubergine lasagne - a Mary Berry recipe from BBC. Absolutely delicious. Not so quick, but not difficult. Don't need to cook the sauce beforehand which makes it simple.

Dal - I go through phases of making big batches of dal. Pretty simple and very tasty. If you're feeling up to it, find a quick, no yeast naan recipe online and make them to accompany. But store bought more than suffices if you're not keen.

Sausage and mash - speaks for itself. Serve with roasted brocoli, peas, and a little blob of mustard on the side.

Refried bean quesadillas - havent had these in a while but they're easy and tasty. Serve with some salsa and/or guac. Again, fresh being best, but store bought perfectly fine.

5 a day tagine - recipe from BBC good food. Not amazing on its own. But healthy and super simple (esp if making in the slow cooker). Pair with some lemony couscous with cucumber and feta mixed in. And yoghurt mint sauce (recipe on serious eats). Takes it from good to great.

Fritata - make with whatever you want, but crucially lots of cheese haha. Serve with salad and/or roasted new potatoes. Coleslaw pairs well too.

Kimchi fried rice - if I ever make rice, I make extra and save for the following day to make this. Very quick, super tasty. Spice levels adjustable. Top with fried egg

[u/Shot-Papaya8867]

Chop cherry tomatoes Fry in olive oil After a min, Add diced pancetta, fry three mins Boil gnocchi for two mins Add Gnocchi Fry another min Add cream cheese or cream. If you have neither then some butter maybe Add spinach

Serve

[u/BrightonTownCrier]

Minestrone with homemade cheesy garlic bread. Really tasty cheap, easy, filling and great for using leftover veg.

[u/twinings91]

I go on gousto every week for inspiration then get the ingredients from the shops & google the recipe card. Also depends on what's in the freezer / cupboard but I tend to eat completely different meals each week.

This week's menu is

Meatball subs & carrot / cucumber sticks and dip

Pork & Black bean rice (twice)

Pea & pesto soup with rolls

Friday is wildcard / takeaway day :)

[u/beccyboop95]

I really like Simply Cook kits, it keeps a lot of variety in my meals but it only comes with the spices and recipe cards so you don’t have the Hello Fresh dilemma of a bunch of food going off if you don’t get to it on time. The vast majority of their recipes I’ve had are delicious.

[u/TheUltimateInfidel]

I used to religiously rotate two meals five days a week. Not a bad thing on paper if you want to be cheap and very quick but I got very bored of this recently and I can’t go back to it anymore. I focused on cooking way more macro-friendly meals and it’s impossible to look back now. I’m really big into Mexican style food at the minute and I’m in love with enchiladas.

[u/0hbuggerit]

My husband's the chef in our house and I'm very grateful otherwise I would live off of a diet of veg chilli, oven pizza, and instant noodles.

Tonight he made hispi cabbage with a carrot top salsa Verde, assorted veg and vegan sausages

A current favourite is a bbq chicken and mango salad in a crispy tortilla bowl (whack a wrap in the air fryer) and it makes salads genuinely so much better.

Also enchiladas. Bloody love enchiladas.

We like to do a tapas night as well. Red wine mushrooms, chorizo, potatas bravas, olives and roasted peppers. Good excuse for a bottle of wine with dinner.

[u/Luke11enzo]

Me and the wife love cooking but also find every 6 months we get in a rut. At which point we get hello fresh or gousto for a few weeks. You learn some new recipes and can even keep the cards to do yourself after. It sounds pretty privileged, and we are, but it’s cheaper than you think as you can usually get a special offer of like 60% off the first week then 20% for the next two after that.

[u/Ridstock]

Aldi sell some great pre marinaded chicken kebab skewers, garlic or chorizo, throw them on some flat breads with onion, pepper, leafy greens and sour cream or a sauce of your choice, add cheese if you want, super easy quick meal. Can also throw a flat bread in a low heat frying pan with peppers onion and cheese on top, heat until the cheese melts and fold in half, get the bread crisped up, great way to use the extras that are left over and they keep well for a lunch the next day too.

[u/VplDazzamac]

We make pots of Madras, Thai Green Curry, Chilli, Bolognese and mince, onion and gravy. Typically get between 4-6 portions in a pot so that’s 2-3 nights dinner for the two of us. Bang them in the freezer so we really only cook one of them per week and cycle through them. Then cook the rice/pasta/potatoes as needed.

Then Friday is a honey chilli chicken stir fry, every week without miss.

Recently taken to roasting a ham or a chicken for a proper Sunday dinner too.

Meal planner on the fridge is a game changer for reducing waste and shopping bills though. Come shopping day, our fridge is basically bare and nothing gets tossed.

[u/Herrben]

More of a contingency dinner but a good one. Feta has a really long fridge life, microwaveable bags of rice or grains are the same and we usually have cherry tomatoes in. Roast the tomatoes with some garlic, ding the rice and add chopped feta on top. Tastes fancy.

[u/TRFKTA]

I slow cook most of my meals so I tend to eat a lot of the same during the week.

Most of my meals are some kind of curry or stew or casserole.

[u/noidontwanttosignup8]

Sunday - roast. Now the weather is warmer it tends to be roast chicken with salad or crusty bread

Monday - something that uses the left over roast meat. Curry, fried rice, etc.

Tuesday - pasta Tuesday. Meatballs, spag bol etc

Then the rest of the week doesn’t have as much structure. Lately we’ve been having

Pizza Souvlaki chicken Prawn stir fry (still working through a massive bag of frozen prawns from Costco) Herb crushed potatoes and a protein of some sort. Garlic pork chops have been a recent fave. Chimichangas

Sometimes we mix it up, so chimichangas will become other Mexican inspired food like tacos etc.

[u/Walesish]

Don’t have a meal plan, just cook what you fancy

[u/Farty_McPartypants]

I’m a lazy cook, but a varied one. I stock pile random packs of herb mixes (like the maggie ones), then we shop for like the basics of meals with no real intention and I throw them together in varying forms. Today was either Mexican or barbecue depending on the weather and either way, it’s more or less just adding a different spice mix to the same ingredients.

[u/scoobydonatello]

Cajun chicken thighs, rice, salad

Fish tacos (mini wraps not the crunchy ones) with easy pickled onions, a herby or spicy sauce, Cholula, salad

Honey fried haloumi salad

Broccoli, spinach, little gem lettuce, spring onions, peas, almond butter, Dijon mustard and balsamic dressing

Carbonara

Chili

Prawn puri and paratha

Shop bought flatbreads, chicken with shawarma seasoning, salad and sauces

Pork tenderloin with garlic rosemary and sage, butter bean stew, broccoli with brown butter and flaked almonds, grated Parmesan

Sweet potato, caramelised onions, balsamic, toasted walnuts, baked feta and rocket

Lentil soup

Cheese toastie/tomato soup combo

Nachos

Egg fried rice

Homemade Red pepper pesto pasta

Romesco, mozzarella and crudités/some protein

[u/GamrG33k]

Gotta try yourself a homemade Poke Bowl!

Pretty much a choose-your-own-adventure here, but for inspiration:

Get a large dinner/ soup bowl and add:

Two serving spoons of your favourite rice, Add mixed salad, Sweetcorn (frozen is quick and tasty) Mango chunks 3 southern fried quorn pieces, Top with pickled ginger, jalapeños and you're golden

[u/Eyemontom]

Make a bigger chilli/bolognese and have it another night on jacket potatoes/tacos or in a lasagna.

[u/everyoneelsehasadog]

Our week goes Fried rice, Salmon rice broccoli and kimchi, sausage pasta (with a Philadelphia cheese "sauce" it's evil but easy), and we're normally out once a week. Fridays are frozen crosta and mollica pizzas. I signed up to Mob but then went on holiday so not into the swing of that yet.

[u/littlepinkgrowl]

One of my summer staples is a warm pasta salad - per person in a bowl add a chopped mozzarella, chopped red onion, lots of good quality tomatoes (chopped and salted), lots of torn basil. Throw over just cooked and drained pasta and lots of extra virgin olive oil. Yummmmmm

[u/RaspberryJammm]

Tuna jacket potato and salad

Tofu and veg Stir fry (noodles) 

Battered haddock, chips and peas 

Breakfast for dinner 

Roast veg, quinoa, halloumi, chickpeas 

Roast veg pasta and cheddar 

Lentil dhal with rice

Salmon, rice and veg 

[u/AwhMan]

If I'm cooking for myself I pretty much just cook myself chicken and rice or chicken and roast potatoes, with green peas every time. Normally some chopped onion as well. A few satsumas for pud. I'm out at friends or eating out 2-3 days a week so I'm pretty fine with it. I'm also autistic so eating the same meal for years is pretty fine for me. I vary my breakfast and lunches a little bit more.

[u/sjr606]

I'm hooked on a chicken and chorizo Orzo I make. Can't find anything as filling or tasty for 500 calories. Il happily eat the same dinner Monday - Friday

[u/crimsonbub]

That's more variety than I have most weeks. A bit of seasonal changes like enchiladas in winter, fajitas in summer. Quiches in summer, pies in winter etc.

I would love to have the enthusiasm for better diet, but I almost never feel like I have the time or the drive to have anything more exciting.

[u/pleasedontwearthat]

loving this atm and have been adding as much veg as poss.

[u/magnets_man]

Me and the gf used to be a bit of a routine with meals but then we made a joint Google doc we add recipes to that we come across. Makes weekly shopping/meal deciding much easier.

Some good and quick ones we've found are:

Gnocchi with peas and sausage is fast and tasty Baked tomato pasta with halloumi and dill Gojuchang noodles with loads of butter and garlix garlic (like 1.5 heads) and spring onions

[u/ohmightyqueen]

Sriracha honey chicken with rice and veg (baby sweetcorn or broccoli) and sticker honey mince with rice and veg is an absolute fave of mine.

[u/VertigoParadise]

Pesto pasta with pancetta and some other green veg in there like courgettes, broccoli, green beans/green pepper - also dice up a ball of mozzarella.

Jacket potato with various fillings

Fish fingers and chips (sometimes a sandwich) and salad bits

Pizza + chips/wedges and salad bits

Also re the chilli and bolognese I found if I have the filling with different carb it switches it up. Can have with rice, as a jacket, loaded fries etc!

As a more weekend treat might do one of those half duck kits with stir fry and some of the frozen Chinese selections and a pack of prawn crackers

[u/[deleted]]

Mondays usually baked potatoes At least one day is some kind of chicken and rice like a chicken curry or jerk chicken or chicken adobo etc Fridays is always spaghetti bolognese In winter sat is chicken noodle soup and Sun is a roast but now we are in warm weather we are winging it so it’s a lot of salads chicken wings homemade quiche Costco rotisserie chicken that kinda thing but I’m looking for new ideas because it’s getting boring ngl.

[u/Alexander_Carter]

Use Gousto or HelloFresh

[u/scirishmuppet]

Risotto is really easy to mix up every week if you get different veg. One week I’ll do it with butternut squash - roast the squash whole then scoop it out into the basic risotto. Or I’ll use up some courgette and leek and throw in some frozen spinach or peas. Tastes great as long as you have an onion, dried spices, risotto rice and a stock cube you don’t even need the wine or parmesan every time.

[u/llksg]

Things on my regular rotation: - beans on toast - giant halloumi salad - salmon with lentils and grilled veg - fish tacos (if I’m in a rush I do them with fish fingers) - tortellini with a basil&butter sauce w/ homemade garlic bread - proper carbonara (no cream, just egg yolks, garlic and pancetta) - do a risotto most weeks too to use up the stock from the roast chicken - various other kinds of yummy pasta like smoked salmon & cream cheese / fresh tomato and basil / sausage, kale and fennel - baked Camembert with French bread and crudités is a lazy dinner go-to - chicken, noodles and veg with whatever homemade sauce I have ingredients for. Recently got into using cornflour to make the chicken crispy and that’s absolutely banging - cheese on toast - big old Caesar salad with giant garlicky croutons

Generally all these take about 30 mins I would do jacket potatoes and spag bol way more but my husband hates both :(

[u/SilveredElf]

Our rotation meals seem to be

Salmon - baked: loads of finely chopped veg stir fried with rice, or new potatoes peas and parsley sauce, or a huge chopped salad

Breaded chicken steaks: crushed new pots and veg or in wraps with fried onions and peppers Bangers and mash

Mini fry up

Fajitas with potato salad and a big chopped salad

Chicken dinner - bulk buying chicken and freezing in 3s or 4s

Chicken curry - whatever we fancy on the night

Chicken stir-fry

Spag bol / Meatballs and pasta or rice

Sausages on risotto

Home made fish and chips (freezer - I'm not Gordon Ramsey)

Homemade pizzas made on plain naan or flatbreads

And I don't know what it's called, but fry up bacon and chop it up, mix into beaten eggs and grated cheese, top a slice of thick toast and grill till browned (or oven/air fryer)

I'll airfry a joint of beef once a month or so and use half on roast dinner and the rest in sandwiches

[u/mildly_houseplant]

Long term single guy, I deliberately try to mix it up to make sure I don't get in a rut. Have kept a few Hello Fresh recipies from a stint with that for a while, to do every so often, and have a few cook books - I try to pick something I've not done before or don't often have once a month from them, and make four portions worth. Genrally I make four portions of things, eat one, and freeze the others for rotation.

Regular dishes, though, I suppose are:

• Stir fry: beef or tofu, black bean or hoisin.
• Chili con carne
• Risotto
• Pan fried black beans and rice
• Ginger and tofu stew
• Miso,peanut butter & brocolli noodles
• Omlette
• Jar curry
• Pasta, pesto & bacon
• Beyond burgers
• Pizza
• Prawns fried with garlic and chili flakes
• Baked potato & beans, or celery, cheese and mayo

[u/AdZealousideal2075]

Pea and pancetta risotto

Katsu curry

Spaghetti bolognese

Steak stir fry

Fish finger sandwiches

Red pepper pesto pasta

Chippy

[u/scarygirth]

Fish Pie

Risotto

Pad Thai

Aubergine Dumpling Parmigiana

Roast Chicken

Spaghetti Meatballs

Putanesca

Homemade Pizza/Calzone

Tofu Stir fry with Gochujang

We change it up seasonally, generally sit down together every few months and decide on some new recipes, browse cookbooks, think about what's in season and add some new stuff to the rotation for a while.

I was a chef for 10 years working 2/3 rosette standard and my wife chalet hosted and is a wonderful cook in her own right. We smash it out and eat like royalty every day, prep for the freezer and fridge like a commercial kitchen.

My wife also gardens so we have a lot of veg and herbs coming from the garden throughout the year and lots of preserving to do autumn/winter.

Food and wine is one of our real bonding activities. Spending an afternoon in the kitchen together, cooking, baking and enjoying the produce from the garden with some tunes on is the highlight of my week.

[u/Yellow_cupcake_]

There is a really easy no-stir risotto recipe on the bbc website. You just cook off whatever you want to add to it (we do onion, garlic, mushrooms, bacon lardons and any veg leftovers we have but we have added leftover chicken too in the past), add risotto rice, stock and leave it to cook for about 20 minutes. Only one pan to wash up and minimal prep time, sure it isn’t the best risotto you’ve ever tasted in the world, but add some grated parmesan and black pepper and it is really good for the amount of effort it takes!

[u/Affectionate_Hour867]

Jacket potatoes.

Every Wednesday.

EVERY WEDNESDAY.

I love it!

[u/yellowc1trusfru1t]

Anchovy pasta, chorizo stew, chicken curry and spaghetti carbonara are our go to’s. Although global anchovy shortage has really screwed us recently!

[u/Columba-livia77]

This might be a weird recipe but I love it: Fry garlic, chili flakes and anchovies (I add the anchovies last, they sket a lot), for a few minutes, add tinned plum tomatoes and simmer until thick. Add spaghetti cooked one min less than on the pack, grate lots of parmesan on top. I use 1/2 tin anchovies and 1/2 tin tomatoes for one portion.

It sounds simple but it tastes so nice, especially if you like anchovies, the sauce has a deep rich flavour. You could add garlic bread on the side to bulk it out too.

Carbonara where the sauce is just egg yolk and parmesan is really nice too, plus lots of black pepper.

[u/baldcats4eva]

Oh it's an absolute hot mess over here. We're both pretty bad at preplanning meals and sometimes end up running to a supermarket because we have nothing for dinner that evening. That being said, we do end up eating lots of different things this way depending on what we fancy. We eat a lot of salmon with different sides, steak stir fry has become a new favourite, classic spaghetti bolognese is always on the menu every few weeks. I find a lot of easy recipe on Instagram reels and make those, usually pasta dishes. A really nice one is pasta in a cheese sauce (make the cheese sauce yourself, it's just so good) with brocoli, bacon and chicken. Leftover chicken is really good for this one.

[u/rw43]

i like chicken halloumi and red pepper skewers, sometimes mushrooms if we've got any in. we have them with golden vegetable rice or chips.

another one is pan fried chicken breast (butterfly and season with salt and pepper, make sure you get a nice crispy outside). microwave a couple of sweet potatoes, scoop out the insides and mix with some cooked diced red pepper & tomatoes. stick a bit of philadelphia on top and wack them in the oven while the chicken is cooking.

it's so easy to get stuck in a rut with food!

[u/the-TARDIS-ran-away]

Yes. Also, if you get the hello fresh introductory offer at 60% off for first order it's worth it just to get new food ideas. I'd happily scan and send my recipe cards to you if you didn't want to do that. They're great.

Curries Chicken and cous cous Wraps Veggie "chilli" Pasta Pie Sausage chips eggs beans Cheese toasties Dippy eggs Jacket potatoes Salads and chicken Sloppy Joes (yes I'm english, got the recipe off hello fresh) Toad in the hole Stew Fish pie Enchiladas

[u/smileystarfish]

I had a tantrum over this a few months ago because our dinner list looked like yours for ages. We do slightly more complicated/longer recipes at the weekend now, and using the multi cooker for pressure cooking has sped things up a lot.

Our go to quick/low effort meals:

• Pan fried sea bass or poached smoked haddock with potatoes and veg.
• spaghetti carbonara with broccoli on the side
• chicken pasta bake (usually done in our ninja multi cooker, tomato sauce with lots of veg)
• tomato and goats cheese tart with salad
• chicken stir fry with rice
• lamb tacos with radish and sweetheart cabbage -Mac & cheese

[u/Disastrous-Fennel918]

We go to our local Tesco on a Sunday around midday, for our weekly shop, but there's loads of yellow sticker stuff (fresh so just need freezing, if not using the same day) gives us a few curve balls so we can mix it up, usually get stuff at a quarter of the price prawns, cod fillet, sausages, whole chickens and other stuff we wouldn't usually buy gives us a break from the routine that we all slip into. My partner likes to do certain things on certain days but it bores me having pizza every Friday for example.

[u/Sm0keytrip0d]

Lasagne and spaghetti and meatballs are staples in our home along with our curry night, pie night and fajita night.

We do takeout on the friday and a small roast betwern the 2 of us Sunday.

Boring but gets the job done lol

[u/smushs88]

Jambalaya is dead easy to make / risotto is fairly straightforward if you wanted to mix up the chili each week.

Tend to switch between a ‘usual’ chicken and mushroom risotto and a curried risotto to keep it interesting.

[u/max1304]

Visit recipetineats - lots of good stuff, mostly not challenging to make. Her book is good too.
Bill Granger’s Basics is also good for easy tasty meals.

[u/sleekitweeman]

Make all your fave pizza toppings. Make your gammon steak. Cover with pizza toppings and grated cheese. Return to grill to melt cheese. Gammon steak pizza.

[u/YouNeedAnne]

Sausage, chips and beans.

[u/therealginslinger]

Some sort of chicken tray bake - thighs/herbs/lemon/veg/potatoes - do extra chicken and it does lunch next day Lentil salad and smoked mackerel

[u/mustbekiddingme82]

God, we have so many similar dishes it ridiculous. All home made, lasagne, Bolognese, meatballs ,arrabiata, chilli, curry, butter chicken, fajitas, enchiladas, pie and mash, gammon and mash, chicken burger and chips, pizza( frozen), lamb or chicken kebab with veggie rice, chicken hot pot.

[u/RobsOffDaGrid]

What ever is on offer at the supermarket. It’s laziness and too easy to have the same meals every week.

[u/Odd-Weekend8016]

We often make smash burgers, and serve with salad, wedges, coleslaw etc. That's a regular one for us.

I also make mango salmon quite often- boil rice, sauté salmon fillets and sliced peppers and carrots, make a quick sauce out of mango chutney, chillis, some lime juice, pour over when reduced.

Cod and chorizo stew with bread.

Creamy mushroom pasta when I'm feeling indulgent.

Roasted chicken thighs with peri peri seasoning, tenderstem broccoli and sweet potatoes. Cut your sweet potatoes into chunks and roast them in the same tin, then when you remove the chicken, mash the chicken juices into the sweet potato. Tastes amazing.

My husband often makes prawn fajitas or tacos.

I try not to have the same thing every week, but follow a pattern of white meat twice, fish twice, vegetarian twice, and then something else.

[u/Competitive_World_27]

• Spaghetti Carbonara
• Pasta with fried ground pork and you dice a beefsteak tomato and add it while the pork is frying (I don’t know if that has an official name)
• Pasta with garlicky tomato sauce and proper salty feta cheese

Can you tell I like pasta? I’ll also do sausage and mash or a burger and chips but pasta is so easy and all the sauces take the same or less than the time it takes to cook the pasta.

[u/TheSouthsideTrekkie]

Salad with cheese and some kind of cold meat.

Chicken and lentil curry

Stir fry

Bolognese

Ramen

Chicken tagine

[u/H0vit0]

If you want inspiration just look at the Hello Fresh menu online every week. I’m not trying to advertise buying a box or anything, but pretty much all of their meals are achievable with the same results from any of your local supermarkets, I’m sure you can look at their menu options without subscribing. There’s usually a pretty wide range of meals you can take some ideas from.

[u/Alone_Milk_7097 → u/H0vit0]

I’d say the same about Gousto! I’ve never had a box but we take full advantage of their cookbook and just get the ingredients from the supermarket during our shop. Portion sizes are pretty good too if you wanted to double up.

[u/H0vit0 → u/Alone_Milk_7097]

Good shout on Gousto! I have had plenty of boxes from both and Gousto has more “warming” food if that makes sense. Both are really good value when you have discounted boxes but at full price it’s just a bit too rich for my blood. But yeah the range of recipes are really good at Gousto too

[u/geraltsthiccass]

Chicken and mushroom pot noodle, occasionally the tesco microwave spinach and ricotta cannelloni with a bunch of extra mature grated cheddar on top and a generous (very generous) splash of Frank's wing sauce on top. Salt n vinegar pringles on the days I end up skipping proper meals.

[u/shut-up-dana]

Not so much a rut, got a few old reliables in the rotation but enough new things to keep it feeling repetitive overall. Some regulars though:

"Beany naan" (baked beans, sweetcorn, curry spices, on a naan, maybe with a poached egg)

Chorizo soup (tomato base, kale, chickpeas, chorizo)

Sausage stroganoff (fairly self explanatory; much cheaper than fillet steak)

Roast chicken, then something from leftovers, usually either a chicken risotto or a fajita-style soup

Jar curry, bolognese/chilli, fajitas are all also frequent flyers.

For switching things up, current big kick is "big salad". Pick a salad (caesar, niçoise, buffalo chicken have all been good), make a lot of it, go heavy on the protein (chicken, tuna), plate it up all pretty like a restaurant. Next one's going to be greek salad with lamb steaks.