Quick, easy meals that'll break you out of the pasta rut on those 'I don't feel like cooking' nights

Picture this: you've just got home after an exhausting day, absolutely ravenous, but you'd rather eat a scented candle than cook anything involving more than a couple of steps.

For years, I was convinced there was only one solution on these 'I really cbf' occasions, and it came in the form of pasta. (That, or eggs on toast.)

Whether served with a jar of pesto or a tin of tuna and a handful of defrosted peas, or plain ol' olive oil and cheese, pasta has sustained me through many a tired weeknight. Anecdotally, I know this will be true of many people reading this.

Pasta with pesto and peas

However, I've been working my way out of this (delicious) rut and learning to rely on other pantry and freezer staples rather than mindlessly reaching for the rigatoni.

Last year, I found myself on a major tinned bean kick, and in 2025 the hero has been frozen dumplings, which I now ensure I always have in the freezer.

It doesn't take much to transform them into a satisfying meal: steamed and doused in condiments; cooked in stock for an easy soup; chucked in an oven dish with curry paste and coconut milk in TikTok's favourite 'dump 'n bake' method. All with veg, of course.

Feeling inspired (and, let's be real, very nosy), I decided to widen the net and find out what other people eat when they need a tasty low-effort meal.

Rice noodles in soup

For an expert opinion, I asked celebrity chef Alison Roman for the throw-together dish she'd recommend for someone who wants to stop defaulting to pasta.

Her answer: a soup using another staple supermarket buy, rice noodles.

"They cook in minutes and a broth can be tossed together with soy sauce and vinegar, plus a bit of greens and some ground meat or tofu. I do this often!" the Something From Nothing author said.

I then couldn't help but ask my colleagues for their staple weeknight meals, getting a range of answers. Read on...

"Aldi's butterflied boneless chickens. Put them in the oven and just serve with basic salad. Cheap, healthy, filling, and always leftovers!"

"Chicken breast, or salmon fillets, in the air fryer served with salad or veggies and rice – we eat this way too often."

"Wraps or quick tacos. We usually have some kind of protein, salad, cheese and wraps around. A quick sauce hack I recently learned is mixing Greek yoghurt with sriracha – much healthier than store-bought sauce and you can just make as much as you need."

"I always have a bag of frozen veg in the freezer, which I use to make stir fry. Just cook some chicken or beef or tofu, make a sauce – I do a glug each of soy, oyster, and chili sauce – and serve with rice or udon noodles."

Cooking skinless chicken breast with spices in an air fryer

"I do a fake fried rice where I put rice, frozen peas, and a can of tuna in a pan with some random sauce and maybe add a scrambled egg if I feel like it."

"Mi goreng noodles, but instead of using the seasoning and sauce packs provided, I mix up my own with soy sauce, peanut butter, sriracha and loosen it up with some of the noodle cooking water. I then add whatever veggies I have hanging around and an egg to make it a little more elevated."

"Saute up any onion, garlic and veggies I have on hand. Whisk some eggs in a bowl and pour in, then scamble it all together and serve with cheese and condiments of choice. It's not the prettiest meal but it's great in a bind."

"Spring roll bowls. Basically, cook pork mince with some garlic, add soy sauce, some honey, bit of oyster sauce, whatever takes your fancy. Cook vermicelli noodles according to the packet, and while that's happening, throw a bag of supermarket coleslaw mix in the pan and then let that cook down. Mix it all together, throw a few sesame seeds on top and ya done."

"Butter chicken. I use the Mingle seasoning packet and dinner is literally on the table in under half an hour. The best part is I can keep most of the things needed in the pantry, you only need cream – can use coconut cream if you have it on hand – and chicken, I've used thigh and breast and it works fine either way. Cook according to packet, let simmer for 20 minutes, and then a big packet of microwave rice. This is toddler-approved and always gets eaten."

"Breakfast for dinner – bacon and egg wraps, with the added bonus of loading up with anything else we have like spinach, mushrooms etc, making them more like breakfast burritos. It takes no time at all and always hits the spot."