What to Eat When You Don't Know What to Eat: 60 meal ideas
Written by Isabel Vasquez RD, LDN
Being at a loss for what to eat is a normal, human experience. We all experience times when we know we need to eat or we’re hungry, but we just can’t figure out what sounds good. And let’s be real. It’s hard to decide what to eat when you don’t feel like eating but you know you need a satisfying meal!
Sometimes, you may just be in a rut of eating the same things and not exploring new meal options, or sometimes you’re running low on energy and resort to takeout more than you’d like. In this blog, we share three tips to find something good to eat plus 60 meal ideas for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Practice gentle nutrition
Gentle nutrition is a non-diet approach to nutrition that incorporates pleasure, satisfaction, and health. It’s about making food choices that honor both your preferences and your health rather than forcing yourself to ignore your hunger and stick to strict meal planning.
Everyone’s needs will vary, but it’s generally helpful to try incorporating a source of carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber at meals. Each of these food groups offers different health benefits and nutrients. Plus, combining them helps promote balanced blood sugars, stable energy levels, and satiety.
Keeping these food groups in mind can help when you don’t know what to eat. Maybe you pick one food you’re in the mood for and then consider how you can add the other food groups to make a complete meal.
For example, maybe you have chicken in the fridge that’s going to go bad soon. Since chicken is a protein, pick a carb, fat, and source of fiber that would go with chicken well. Some ideas are rice (a carb), and a side salad (a source of fiber) with an oil-based dressing (a dietary fat).
Embrace convenient meals
Sometimes when you don’t know what to eat, what you really need is easy things to eat like comfort foods, low-prep foods, and leftovers. There may be a lot of stigma around convenience foods, but they can be a huge asset to your pantry.
Not all convenience foods are the same nutritionally, and either way, it’s okay if every meal isn’t the most nutrient-dense meal ever. You won’t make or break your health or nutrition in one meal. What’s most important is that you nourish yourself by eating something.
Convenience foods that can help when you don’t know what to eat include:
Microwavable rice and beans
Ramen noodles
Boxed mac and cheese
Frozen pancakes or waffles
Frozen meals or appetizers (Yes, I’m talking about Trader Joe’s!)
Pre-chopped fruit and veggies
Frozen fruit and veggies
Pre-prepped overnight oats
Pre-marinated meat
Adding these foods to your grocery list helps ensure that even when you don’t feel like cooking an elaborate meal, you can still eat something.
Challenge the diet mentality
As dietitians who help our clients embrace food freedom, one of the biggest things we work on with clients is challenging the diet mentality. The diet mentality impacts all of us in some way because of how diet culture-ridden our society is. However, we can become aware of the ways the diet mentality has impacted our mindset and work to separate from these harsh beliefs.
For example, maybe you think that cookies are bad and salad is good. This is a sign of black-and-white thinking about food.
However, there’s a time and place for both of these foods, and one is not blatantly good or bad. To take it a step further, you are not good or bad for eating one or the other. Cookies provide a different kind of nourishment and different benefits than a salad, and that’s okay.
Challenging these rigid thoughts about food can help you show yourself more kindness and expand your potential meal options. Part of why you don’t know what to eat may be that you really want foods that you aren’t allowing yourself to eat.
Allowing yourself to eat them can help you feel satisfied and move along with your day rather than undernourishing yourself or becoming obsessed with these foods.
Ideas of what to eat for breakfast
Breakfast can easily get repetitive, but there are tons of breakfast options out there if we take the time to brainstorm. Good news! We’ve done the brainstorming for you; here are a bunch of breakfast ideas for sweet and savory food lovers alike:
Yogurt parfait with a combination of yogurt, fruit, granola, nuts, and seed
Egg muffins (essentially egg omelets made in a muffin pan that can easily be frozen and reheated)
Toast with peanut butter and banana
Avocado toast with feta cheese and everything but the bagel seasoning
Smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel with onion
Turkey and cheese panini
Smoothie bowl
Chia pudding with nut butter and fruit
Overnight oats
Hot oatmeal topped with fruit and nuts
Frozen protein waffles or pancakes with fresh fruit
Oatmeal bake
Tofu scramble
Quinoa breakfast bowl
Huevos rancheros
Apple and goat cheese toast
Dinner leftovers (some people don’t consider this a viable breakfast option, but some people love it!)
Farina
Ideas on what to eat for lunch
Lunch can get stale when you’re in a rut of deli sandwiches or the same dinner leftovers. Here are some ideas to mix it up for lunch and restore your interest in food:
Tuna salad sandwich
Hearty snack box (e.g. hard-boiled eggs, cheese, crackers, apple slices, peanut butter)
Microwavable rice and beans with avocado
Pasta salad
Naan pizza
Bean and cheese quesadilla
Chili
Egg tacos
Egg salad sandwich
Taco salad
Turkey and cheese wrap
Chicken Caesar wrap
Southwest salad
Mediterranean sandwich (with hummus, veggies, olives, feta)
Avocado chickpea salad
Burrito bowl
Canned soup with rice or pasta
Ramen noodles with egg
Caprese sandwich
Grain bowl
What to make for dinner when nothing sounds good
If nothing sounds good for dinner, it may be because you’re cooking the same things over and over again. So when you can’t figure out what sounds good for dinner, here are 20 ideas to get the ball rolling and spark inspiration:
Slow-cooker barbecue pork ribs
Air-frier fish tacos
Ground beef burrito bowl
Buffalo chicken naan pizza
Frozen pizza with a side salad
Breakfast for dinner
Baked lemon pepper salmon with rice and veggies
Cod stew
Shrimp fajitas
Chicken fried rice
Veggie burgers with sweet potato fries
Boneless chicken wings with air frier french fries and celery sticks
Roasted pork loin with potatoes
Deli sandwiches
Sushi
Roasted whole chicken with potatoes and carrots
Greek-style pita sandwiches
Nachos
Grilled cheese and tomato soup
Boxed mac and cheese with frozen veggies
Final Thoughts
Not knowing what to eat is a normal human experience, but deciding what to eat when you don’t feel like eating can be tough. Having fresh meal ideas can help. So can destigmatizing convenience foods, ditching the diet mentality, and finding easy things to eat.
Don’t be afraid to stray from your standard meal plan and explore new meal ideas that could restore your interest in food.
For more support, we offer a 3-part registered dietitian-led masterclass on intuitive eating to help you improve your relationship with food, your body, and movement.
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