Just like the title says. I hate cooking. I hate the time that it consumes and the mess you have to clean up. How can I save money on groceries when I hate cooking while still eating healthy? Frozen meals are too expensive and obviously so is eating out. Meal delivery services create too much waste in packaging. Would love to hear your ideas. Trying to save as much as possible.
I hate cooking but still want to eat healthy. How can someone like this save money on groceries?
byu/ShoeLace1291 inFrugal
Posted by ShoeLace1291
48 Comments
Well, those are your options. Gotta learn to like or at least tolerate cooking. We all have to do stuff we don’t feel like doing. There are a lot of things that can be cooked in bulk in a short amount of time and without making a big mess.
Like for like, restaurant and supermarket takeaways are no more expensive than cooking, where I live. I can save money by making food at home, but only if I give up a lot of the quality and variety.
But I usually cook a big pot of vegetable soup and a big pot of chili every month in the winter, and put portions in the freezer, so I can always heat up a pretty good, nutritious, hot meal at a low per-meal price, when I just want something quick.
In the summer, it’s a lot easier, because I can just eat a lot of fresh vegetables and a lot of fruit & yogurt smoothies.
You could do bento/lunchables boxes – buy basically prepared fruits and veggies (things like cherry tomatoes, baby carrots, snap peas, grapes, berries, bananas), and then pair them with laughing cow/babybel cheese, crackers, and deli meat/pepperoni. Also can do it with mini naan and dip, or
bagels, pepperoni and squeezable pizza sauce.
These last two options aren’t calorie conscious, but I’d still consider them healthier and cheaper options than eating out.
I do this for quick lunches and it’s cheaper than eating out, but satisfying because there’s lots of different flavours.
Frozen foods tend to be incredibly salty. If you can limit yourself to veggies, fruit that will help. For protein you are better off with canned items like tuna, beans and tinned fish.
Accept that life will include some parts that you hate. It’s likely that if you cook more you will learn things and ways of cooking that are less intense and have less cleanup. For example, a lot of things can be baked on foil in the oven. Or you can make a pot of foods that lasts for several meals. Accustom yourself to eating simple and inexpensive foods like oatmeal, lentils, beans and rice, tuna sandwiches, etc. I was feeling lazy this week so my lunches are crackers with cheese (I buy the slices and break them into quarters) with a side of grapes.
Here is one thing I do.
Brownup 3lbs of ground meat on day 1.
Season with salt pepper garlic powder and onion powder. Drain and remove most of the fat.
Use 1/3 of that meat for pasta with meat sauce by adding it to 1jar of Passata or pasta sauce and combine with 8 oz cooked pasta.
Day 2: add cumin, paprika and cayenne to the meat and make tacos with the 1/3 ground meat
Day 3 combine with 2 cans of beans, 1 can of diced tomatoes, diced onion and diced peppers (you can buy frozen fajita mix for that) with more chili powder for chili serve with tortilla chips
I do a lot of cooking, but I’ve been at it for a while so I have a lot of shortcuts. For example, for a sheet pan meal I put foil on the pan so cleanup is simple. I have my kitchen sorted so that I don’t have to search for anything, and almost everything is close to the prep area.
I have a farmhouse sink (I hate farmhouse sinks) and use an expandable colander that fits over the sink to wash and peel fruits and vegetables. And honestly, if I didn’t have a dishwasher I’d be cutting my steps down even further.
Sheet pan meals. One pan, infinite choices.
If you line the pan with foil, no clean up either.
Stock up on chicken thighs and legs, they go on sale often. They can handle higher temps without going dry. Also watch for pork tenderloin and sausages like kielbasa on sale. Divide them up and freeze. Or cook them then freeze.
Mini potatoes and most vegetables roast up beautifully. You can add a bit of oil and seasoning and just toss them around to coat right on the pan.
Use sauces like BBQ, shiracha, teriyaki to drizzle on for the last 5 minutes or when serving.
Here’s a couple recipes to get you started
https://www.mandyinthemaking.com/recipes
I love the Costco lentil soup, I’m in Canada but I’m not sure if you have the same one. Costco also has a quinoa salad that would last as a side for about a week, you could have that with their rotisserie chicken for a few meals.
Google “dump and go crockpot recipe.” You can make a meal by just dumping cans or bags of ingredients into a crockpot and walking away for 8 hours. Minimal dishes, lots of leftovers.
Some meals like sandwiches just need to be assembled.
Eat a lot of healthy prepackages snacks like canned fruit, bananas, canned chicken/tuna, carrots dipped in peanut butter, hummus, etc. I would avoid anything ultraprocessed. Most protein bars are just Snickers with better marketing.
If you absolutely will not cook, the alternatives are all expensive. Go to a takeout place and order lots of veggies, buy pre-cut produce,
Glad I’m not the only one that hates cooking.
Learn how to enjoy cooking. At least a bit.
Look into one pot meals, sheet pan meals, slow cooker meals.
Basically any meal that has less prep and hands off cooking time.
Check out Cooking in the Midwest on TikTok. Last night we made his King’s Hawaiian meatball sliders and they were so good! I’m 36 weeks pregnant and cooking is not on my to do list right now 🤣
What feels like “cooking” to you? Tossing together a salad, putting some peanut butter on toast, making brown rice in an instant pot, grilling up some meat, throwing some things on a sheet pan in the oven, pouring some boiling water from a kettle into instant oatmeal – do those all feel like cooking? If not, you can focus on the techniques you don’t mind as much. One-pot meals are very much a thing, and I find them really helpful.
You have few options here.
– Take a day and cook in batch and freeze. You will hate that day. It will be hard, you’ll have to clean up pretty often but after that day, you’ll be good for some times.
– There’s plenty of easy and fast meal you can do. Omelet come to my mind. Nachos too.
– There’s also plenty of recipe for a meal in a pot. Meaning you put everything you need in a pot or dish and just put it on the stove or in the oven. Not a lot of cleaning to do. Not much time to prepare.
– You don’t have to go all in “home made”. You want a pizza? Buy the pizza dough pre-cooked. Just put the ingredient you want on it. Done.
I would say start with one thing. When you getting good at it and find the more effective way to do it, try another recipe that looks similar. Play with the ingredients. One step at the time. Also, no one care you eat in the pot or let the leftovers in it in the fridge. You do what works best for you.
Giant baked potato
Giant sweet potato
Rice cooker from the thrift store. Find some rice cooker recipes you like. It’s really as simple as rice plus veggie plus protein plus sauces for flavor. Everything cooks in one small pot. Easy cleanup.
I love the Little Big Meals from Fresh Market and the Meal Kits/Blue Apron Meals at Publix.
I hate cooking.
I batch cook/meal prep stuff. Sunday is “roast a bunch of potatoes and/or vegetables”, then I eat some with rice throughout the week.
Some places sell the rotisserie chicken thing. Buy that, separate it into parts, reheat throughout the week.
Bagged salad can be about the same price as making it yourself.
Dump and go meals in a crockpot is the way to go! Tons of recipes on YouTube
I don’t like cooking either. It’s helped me to make several meals at once in one day simultaneously at the same time. This can take several hours. Save leftovers in fridge or freezer. (This way I’m only cooking once a week instead of daily.)
Finding more simple recipes also helped, like squash soup that just needs squash cooked then combined in blender with other ingredients.
Bagged salad kits and add a protein, like a boiled egg or frozen chicken patty.
Instant rice and instant potatoes are low effort prep and cleanup that can be mixed with veggies and/or spices to add variety. Sometimes it’s worth it to splurge on the precut ones at the grocers.
Meal plan and eat a lot of raw foods. You can have a lot of salads with no protein as those don’t require cooking. One of my cheat meals for days I don’t feel like cooking is bagged salad topped with rotisserie chicken. Even if you don’t cook though, you’ll often still have to prep especially if you get straight produce (like the cabbage, broccoli etc instead of bagged salad). Same with smoothies.
Other tips for minimal cooking: bake. For example, sometimes I’ll pick up some fish, either proportioned or have the fish guys clean and cut it. I’ll freeze it and when I don’t feel like dealing with cooking, I’ll throw a portion in some foil, sprinkle on some seasonings, fold it up into a little packet and pop it in the oven.
But honestly, I get away with cooking probably like twice a week because I love leftovers.just cook enough for several days and use my fridge and freezer judiciously.
Suck it up and batch cook. Lots of recipes out there depending on your taste
get an instant pot, some lentils/quinoa/beans/rice, easy parted chicken, and whatever bulk spices float your boat…. add some broccoli/mushrooms/peppers/carrots/tomatoes/potatoes/cabbage/chard, whatever’s on sale and/or in season and lazy you will be pressure cooker good to go. let it kick over to “stay warm” and time is your cheap healthy oyster. whoo. meal for now and flip the rest of the batch to meal prep containers and stack the fridge.
I love to cook but even I have “phone it in” days. Baked potato with cheese and whatever leftover vegetables in the fridge. Canned soup and whole wheat toast. Grilled cheese with pizza sauce, sliced apple on the side. Try to cover a few nutritional bases and give yourself some grace, ain’t nobody perfect.
Slow cooker? Set it and forget it recipes.
I like to cook because I love to eat. I’m afraid I’m disqualified because I’m not a healthy eater.
I prep ingredients that can become something else quickly or be eaten as is. Potatoes, rice, noodles, chopped lettuce, boiled eggs, etc. Also make popcorn and fire crackers. Make a giant jug of ice tea or lemonade
Sandwiches.
Think about what other activities you can pair with cooking like listening to music or podcasts, talking to the dog
Make sides in advance in bulk and freeze into single or double servings. I use souper cubes and it saves me so much time. I take time to cut up two whole chickens and prepackage them myself into two meals for me and my partner for meal times. The other half I can that day for “ugly chicken”. Really convenient for easy meals casserole, pot pies, chicken salads , lunch meat. And it saves a lot of money. I just spent 7$ for 3 pounds of thighs bone in when I normally spend 10$ for two whole birds at Costco. I slow cook the bones in a cooker for 12 hours with veggie scraps that my worms don’t get and can the stock. If no canner, use the souper cubes and bag them. Stock is getting way too expensive
I feel so sad when ppl don’t like cooking. It’s such a yummy habit to have. 🙂
I think sheet pans and crock pots are gonna work well for you. Or search “one pot meals” good luck on your journey and I hope cooking eventually brings you joy 🙂
Learn about a 12-15 easy recipes. You can eat the same meal two days in a row. Now you can repeat the same menu every month. Sheet pan dinners (cover pan with foil for easy cleanup), crockpot meals (use a crockpot liner for easy cleanup), and air fryer meals are all easy options for preparing meals.
If you have a freezer, when you do cook, make large quantities of things and freeze servings for yourself. I enjoy cooking, but I still don’t want to do it everyday. You’re not alone.
Twice a week I make a different one pot meal that is 4-8 servings. I portion them out and freeze all but one serving. I will usually eat that serving that night or the next day for lunch. Then I rotate through the meals in the freezer on days I don’t cook. I just pop it in the microwave.
Things that have helped me cut down on the actual cooking include using a crockpot, buying minced garlic in a jar. Precutting onions and peppers and store them in the freezer. Buying a rotisserie chicken or canned chicken. Using frozen veggies. Sometimes I use instant rice if I don’t feel like cooking.
r/lowspooncooking
Their resource section is great. Tons of sites, resources, and recipes for simple easy to put together meals.
WHy?
Not everyone cooks for a hobby, and not everyone even cooks at all. Slome people are fatigued, fighting pain, neurodivrgent or just looking to put together EASY MEALS.
Planning. Planning is the only thing I’ve found that saves money. You want spaghetti? Double the sauce, freeze half, boom! another dinner! You want soup?! Easy one pot meal, freeze some. If I’m gonna make myself one lasagne, why not make two and freeze the other??
Google “sheet pan meals” and you’ll find tons of meals that are delicious and really only require hucking stuff onto foil, seasoning and popping it in the oven! They’re so simple and very often what I do when I’m feeling lazy
Do you like to eat hot meals? Because some people don’t like to cook and don’t like to eat hot meals, they just want to have salads and shovel cashews in their mouth and that’s fine and dandy. But also I would get some simple things that are repeatable. Make a spice mix, get some bulk beans. Write down simple recipes. Prep your meals. It’s not fun but it works. It’s a chore, but you’ve gotta live.
There’s a phrase I use for situations like this. “I may not love ____(thing I don’t want to do), but _____(benefit) will make my life easier.”
An example: “I may not love cooking, but having the money it saves will make my life easier.”
I use that phrase for almost everything. It may not work for you, but something similar might. It shifts my thinking from “I hate this” to “this is necessary for a benefit i want.”
Also, make cooking as easy as possible, figure out a few staple recipes that are super simple, bonus if you get leftovers out of it, further reducing the amount of cooking.
Make big servings and eat it over several days. Freeze some things if needed.
Just boil some shit omg
Some kitchen appliances and gadgets help. I put whole potatoes in a crock pot for 4 hours on high for baked potatoes. Rice is easy in a rice cooker, just add rice and water and the cooker does the rest. You can throw in some veggies and chopped meat for a whole meal. Or make quinoa instead of rice..
I have a gadget called a rotator that peels potatoes and other produce with peels without much manual effort. Frozen berries and other fruit can just defrost in the fridge. Frozen veggies are usually already peeled and blanched so just need some heating up.
My go to meal is a reheated, crockpot baked potato with previously frozen veggies inside, cheese or cream cheese and maybe a prepared pasta sauce.
You don’t have to cook to eat! Sandwiches aren’t cooking. Salads aren’t cooking. Hummus, crackers, cheese, fruit, nuts, snacking veggies, smoothies, oatmeal aren’t cooking. As long as you have a carb, fiber, and a bit of protein on your plate you have a meal.
Crock pot meals, dump dinners, frozen pre-cut veggies… 🙂
I’m like this and I married a chef. 10/10 recommend.
Im like this too. I lived with my parents till i was 30. Moved out into my own place and my diet went to hell
I started doing this recently.
Oats and honey everyday for lunch
Serving of Broccolini/Corn (Raw)/Red Capsicum (Raw) with some for of protien (Chicken/beef) for dinner and soe carbs. Rice or Pasta
I also do a lot of bulk cooking. I cook 2kg of bolognese sauce with 3* mince from aldi. Its around $20 for 2kg of mince. You could do half that for bolognese and half that for burgers if you wanted.
Since I started doing this im feeling better about my diet