The Lazy Dinners Our Editors Turn to When Recipes Feel Like Too Much Work

When the concept of "girl dinner" appeared a couple of years ago, I was flummoxed. Why did the idea of a quickly thrown-together meal have a gender? Who among us has not stood in front of the fridge at midnight in our underwear trying to piece together a meal? 

At least once a week, after leaving the Serious Eats office later than I'd planned, my meal plan turns from firing up the oven to roast a chicken or fish and some vegetables or making a pasta dish to firing up the Whirley-Pop to make a bowl of popcorn for dinner. My fellow Serious Eats staff members are the same.

But, as people who write about food and develop recipes for a living, we have a few tricks up our sleeves to turn even the most desperate of thrown-together meals into something we're really glad to eat (e.g., not just popcorn, but popcorn with freshly grated Parmigiano). Here are more than a dozen ways we get by when we're just done with cooking but still need to eat. Turns out we all eat a lot of beans, eggs, cheese, and tinned fish.

10-Minute Channa Masala

This quick chana masala is a go-to for me. There is almost always a can of chickpeas in my pantry, and I can grab the tomatoes and heavy cream on my walk home from the train at the nice bodega on the block. I usually will just eat this for two days straight, feeling accomplished despite doing truly so little. – Amanda Suarez, associate director, visuals

Beans and Greens

Here’s one common need-food-now move at my place: a bowl of beans and greens dressed with olive oil and fresh black pepper. I try to always have some cooked beans in my fridge (screw modesty, I make phenomenal from-scratch beans), but canned works too when I've fallen off my bean routine. For the greens, it can be something like broccoli rabe that I blanch in a big batch and keep in the fridge, or a handful of arugula from a salad clamshell. That alone will feed you well and, when the components are good, be thoroughly delicious and satisfying. But of course you can add to it as the mood and your larder allow: diced avocado, sardines from a tin, sliced cherry tomatoes, whatever condiments you've got around.  —Daniel Gritzer, editorial director

Good Ole Grilled Cheese

Grilled cheese is the GOAT. It's what I make when I want something cheesy and comforting—fast. Ideally, I'd be dipping my grilled cheese in a bowl of tomato soup, but I'd just as happily eat it on its own.  —Genevieve Yam, senior editor

Seeded Toasts With Hummus, Pepitas, and Za'atar

As noted above, I find myself too tired to cook at least once a week. When I do, I am grateful that I almost always have good-quality hummus (sometimes homemade, usually from a local NYC shop) in my fridge and multi-grain bread in the freezer. I pop the bread in the toaster on the thaw setting, and when it's good and browned and crisp, I slather it with hummus. To make it a little fancier and more satisfying, I toast some pepitas in the microwave with olive oil and a spice blend like za'atar, then spoon the mixture over the toast. If I have some radishes, cherry tomatoes, or carrots kicking around, those go onto the plate too, for a remarkably satisfying (and healthy!) meal in under five minutes. —Megan O. Steintrager, associate editorial director

Quick Tortilla Española

Eggs are my go-to easy dinner. To bulk them out, I like to add potatoes (just prick 'em with a fork and microwave them for a few minutes until tender), sauté some onions in olive oil, add a dash of smoked paprika, and call it a tortilla española. Would a Spaniard agree? No sé, but it hits the spot for me.  –Grace Kelly, senior editor

Kitchen-Sink Quesadillas

My go-to midnight snack is a kitchen-sink quesadilla. To be clear, my "midnight snack" is more like 9 pm—there's zero chance I'm up willingly at midnight anymore. I don't always have bread around, but there's always a stack of tortillas in my cabinet or freezer, and melty cheese is nonnegotiable when I want something filling and comforting. Whatever's left in the fridge—roasted veggies, stray bits of chicken, a spoonful of salsa (I always have too many open bottles and jars)—gets folded inside and crisped until gooey and golden. —Leah Colins, senior culinary editor

Sardines, Bread, and Plenty of Olive Oil and Lemon

As someone who develops recipes professionally, sometimes the last thing I want to do at home is pick up a pan. My go-to late-night dinner is a tin of sardines, doused in good, bitter olive oil and plenty of lemon juice, sometimes topped with cilantro or chopped green chiles, and eaten with toasted sourdough or a warm pita. —Laila Ibrahim, associate culinary editor

Shakshuka Sauce Pasta

Two pantry ingredients make an unconventional but incredible dinner: jarred Mina Shakshuka Sauce and whatever pasta you've got kicking around. If you happen to have a little fresh Parmesan, it's great grated on top—but I've been known to eat the above two items straight out of the pot. They're perfect as-is. —Rochelle Bilow, editor

Pierogi, Sausage, and Sauerkraut 

Most often when I'm reaching for a frozen dinner on a busy weeknight, it's what my husband and I call "FroPi," aka frozen pizza. But sometimes I'm lucky and find a bag of pierogi in the freezer, and if I had the forethought to buy some kielbasa, I recreate one of my Lithuanian family's favorite meals: pierogi swimming in butter and onions, served alongside a split, seared kielbasa with a pile of saurkraut and a dab of mustard. It's warming, filling, and for my meat-and-potato-loving self, a true taste of comfort.  – Grace

Crispy Skillet Gnocchi

My go-to lazy dinner is packaged gnocchi, browned and crisped in a skillet, tossed with store-bought vodka sauce, such as Cucina Antica, and a few generous handfuls of spinach leaves (because greens) and whatever fresh cheese I have on hand (Parmesan or feta usually). It takes less than 10 minutes, and it's creamy, crispy, cheesy bliss. I could eat this every night and never get tired of it. –Elizabeth Laseter, manager, growth and content strategy

Leftover Rice With Kimchi and Avocado

I almost always have cooked rice in my fridge. It's super handy for whipping up speedy meals, like fried rice, grain bowls, or soupy rice ("pao fan" in Cantonese). When I don't feel like cooking, though, I zap some leftover rice in the microwave until it's warm, then top it with kimchi and some avocado slices. – Genevieve

Instant Noodles With Veggies and Egg

I I always have ready-to-go noodles, like A-Sha, in my pantry. When I don't have the energy to make an elaborate meal, I simply boil a pot of water, throw in a block of the air-dried noodles, blanch vegetables and poach an egg in the same pot, then toss it all together with the contents of the sauce package. It requires just one pot and takes only about five minutes—and it's delicious. –Jessie Yuchen, visuals editor