Don’t feel like cooking tonight? No problem. Too hot in the kitchen? I get you. You can skip cooking tonight with these cold dinner ideas and no-cook suppers. No take-out or reservations required.
Whether you grab a rotisserie chicken at the grocery store or throw together the ultimate snacky dinner, you can enjoy a great meal without breaking the budget or wearing yourself out.
Fancy dinners are to people in the ’20’s what restaurants were to people in the ’80s. Ahem.
I just might have borrowed a phrase from one of the best movies to watch on repeat during the 90’s. You’ll forgive my poetic license as I make the point: You don’t have to cook every night.
In fact having a few cold dinner ideas and no-cook suppers in your bag of tricks is perfect for when you’re busy, it’s too hot to cook, or you’ve just lost your mojo in the kitchen. It’s also pretty sweet to plan for a staycation meal plan.
Why It Matters
You should not feel chained to your meal plan or guilted into cooking every night. Food is fuel, after all. You can still enjoy great meals easily and affordably without getting all hot and bothered in the kitchen.
Years ago, reading The Kitchen Counter Cooking School was a huge boost to my own cooking journey. Its emphasis on cooking at home and focusing on the basics, yeah, even shopping the kitchen, was a great reminder that good meals don’t need to be complicated.
These cold dinner ideas are just the ticket to get dinner done.
Ingredients to Have on Hand
When you think of cold dinner ideas, you obviously want to be able to cook something in advance or buy it already prepared. Keep these ingredients in mind as you meal plan:
- fresh fruit and vegetables, even those that might already be washed and chopped, like salad greens, shredded carrots, and chopped fresh fruit.
- cheese that is sliced or shredded
- kefir, yogurt, and cottage cheese
- baguette, rolls, and bread
- crackers, chips, pretzels
- canned tuna, salmon, or chicken
- canned beans and legumes
- deli cold cuts, rotisserie chicken, pre-cooked bacon
- pre-cooked grains – check the freezer section
- frozen fruit
- pickles, olives, spreads
- eggs (both raw and hard cooked)
- nuts, seeds, nut butters
Meal Ideas
Make a snacky lunch or dinner.
Snacky meals are some of my favorites. They require very little prep on my part, but everyone loves mixing and matching their own combinations. In fact, everyone is so happy with this option, that I even serve it on Christmas, New Year’s, and most Sundays.
It can be dressed up or down so easily, making it top on my list for cold dinner ideas.
Consider these combinations of snack dinners:
- Hummus, pita bread, olives, a veggie tray, and a fruit platter
- Hard-cooked eggs, berry salad, and whole-grain rolls
- Apple and pear slices, almonds, cheese, fresh baked bread
- Sliced cheese and meats, mustards and other spreads, crackers, and in-season fruit
- Rice cake or whole grain bread with nut or seed butter, sliced fruit, and a glass of milk
Mix up favorite fruits and dairy.
While you might often consider fruit and dairy as a breakfast option, these combinations can pinch hit as cold dinner ideas. I’ve lost count of how many people have told me they had a smoothie and popcorn for dinner. It’s a thing, people!
Obviously, if you don’t do dairy, you aren’t going to load up on cottage cheese and yogurt, however, you get the gist that fresh, seasonal fruit with some add-ons can make a great meal.
- Cottage cheese, cut-up melon, whole wheat toast
- Yogurt, granola, fresh berries
- Smoothie or smoothie bowl with add-ons
- Fruit {and vegetable} smoothie, made with yogurt or protein powder
- baguette with butter and jam and cocoa or cafe au lait
Make a salad.
Salads are simple, cool, and delicious. You can easily assemble them with pre-chopped and pre-cooked ingredients, or take a few minutes to chop your own veg.
Consider these tasty combinations:
- Salad of sliced tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil leaves, and a drizzle of balsamic. Add baguette slices to sop up the juices.
- Tuna Salad, crackers, fresh fruit
- Mixed greens topped with chopped salsa vegetables, a can of black beans, and some shredded cheese (try Black Bean Taco Salad)
- Baby spinach with nuts, fruit, and cheese for toppings (This Spinach Salad with Oranges & Cranberries is great!)
Grab a rotisserie chicken.
The rotisserie chicken is God’s gift to harried home cooks. What a great meal prep shortcut! Most grocery stores and club stores sell them for about the same price as the uncooked chicken. Grab a couple birds and make any of the following combinations with the tasty meat:
- Chicken salad, crackers, fresh fruit
- Chicken salad sandwiches with veggie dippers
- Taco salad with chicken, chips and salsa
- Chicken and vegetable wrap, with hummus
- Cold roast chicken, side salads, and seasonal fruit
Make a sandwich.
Sandwiches combine the best of all worlds. With the right breads for sandwiches on hand, you’re set for all kinds of delicious combos, such as:
- Ham and swiss on sourdough rye bread
- Turkey and cheddar on whole wheat bread
- Roast beef and provolone on sourdough bread
- Egg salad on white bread
- Hard cooked eggs and vegetables in a baguette
Cold dinner ideas are some of the best! They can be delicious, simple, filling meals that don’t break the bank. Whether it’s the heat of summer when lighter meals are preferred or the dead of winter when you’d rather cozy up with that jammy bread and cocoa, these no-cook suppers are all good cheap eats.
Take it easy some night this week with a night off cooking.
This post was originally published on June 11, 2012. It has been updated for content and clarity.
Kathleen D
With it being so hot here all summer long I make your caesar salad on a regular basis. I also make a pasta salad with tomatoes, corn, and cucumbers.
Jessica Fisher
Sounds yummy!
Sam
I just did some googling (you’re the 5th result when searching “how to eat meals without cooking”, but you should be the first) and this was the most helpful!! you’re actually teaching the thinking behind, instead of just linking to “seared ahi tuna pine nut salad” among a list of 20 other recipes. THANK YOU THANK YOU.
Jessica Fisher
Thanks so much, Sam. Tell all your friends! 😉
Laura
Absolutely yes!! Tonight we will be eating a smorgasbord of this and that. Our favorite is a mix of veggies and greens with left over cooked chicken, bacon and hard boiled eggs with homemade ranch either made into salad or loaded on French bread. And probably corn on the cob too ?
Jessica Fisher
Sounds delicious!
Melissa in GA
Doing this tonite! Turned leftover BBQ chicken into chicken salad, serving with lettuce, tomato wedges, hard boiled eggs and crackers on the side. Monday we had steak salad a with leftover steak – so 2 no cook dinners for me this week!
Costco sells a package of what I call skirt steak for about $20. I marinate it overnight in a copycat recipe of Chilis fajita marinade. Hubs then does a quick sear on the hot grill. The three of us eat on that steak for several meals – usually 2 dinners and 2 lunches. It’s a tasty and versatile meat – eaten as is or in fajitas, tacos, quesadillas, salads, wraps or sandwiches.
Your snacky dinner is called a poo-poo platter at our house, lol. It can be any cheeses, spreads, bread or cracker, olives or pickles, veggies with dip, etc. so fun cause it’s always different.
Jessica Fisher
Sounds delicious!
(Except for the poo-poo part. LOL! What’s the story on that?)
Selena
Poo poo tray for 2. Lol a China restaurant has these,an it is just a mix of things
Pat
I love this idea and have been doing no cook meals at least once a week. We do taco salad with l/o taco meat, sandwiches and fruit and salads with veggies and whatever l/o meat we have. We have also done your tuna and pea pasta salad as a meal and I’ve also done that salad with chicken as well.
Jessica Fisher
Those are great ones!
Christine
Favorite movie. I could watch that on repeat anytime!!
Jessica Fisher
My roommate in college was really shy. We bonded over that movie and watched it every day for the first month at school. Drove everyone else nuts, but it was a good thing.
Alice E
My usual is the sandwich version, Either some sliced meat, a quick chicken salad or egg salad if I have hard boiled eggs. I often include a veggie type salad or marinated vegetable. My favorite is marinated green beans although I often add a can of white beans to the green beans for a quick bean salad. I just use Italian dressing for the marinade. If the weather is really hot I might cook the green beans or veg earlier in the day to have it available later.
Sometimes I just wimp out and fall back on fruit, sherbet of cookies to accompany the sandwich.
Jessica Fisher
I could eat sandwiches every day if my waistline could handle it!
Dominique
Thanks, Jessica! You’re helping me shed the guilt that I sometimes feel when making these simple no-cook suppers. Also, we live in the country and the power has been going out more frequently. I’ve added several of these to my no-power meals list. I appreciate all your hard work! It helps me take better care of my family!
Jessica Fisher
Nope. No guilt. Not today. It’s too hot for that!
Susan
It is 90 and we have no air. To me No-cook supper are a necessary. No oven, no stove top. These are great and much appreciated.
Jessica Fisher
Stay cool!
Stacy
I love all of these things, and I’m pretty sure my son would be fine with meals of this kind. However, my husband would not consider these to be meals. They would be appetizers, snacks or dessert. There are lots of nights when I would love to just serve some vegetables and cheese and be done. Alas. He also doesn’t consider salad to be a meal item, but an accompaniment.
Emily
I’m bookmarking this right now to make my days (and nights) easier! Especially with a new baby on the way and busy season coming again for my CPA husband, it’s not worth making a mess in the kitchen!
Dana
Great ideas. I don’t cook much in the summer because of the heat and lack of AC. But I think the fresh baked bread might count as cooking. 🙂
Jessica
Not if you buy it at the bakery. 😉
Denise
We recently went vegan as part of treating my husbands cancer homeopathically, and we do this a lot! There is so much other stress in my life that these kind of meals make my life soo much easier! And, honestly, little kids eat better this way (at least mine do) so if there is something they’re not really in love with, they dont have to eat a lot of it 🙂
Susan
When we grill chicken, I always grill a few extras to cut up and serve for no-cook meals. It works with salmon and grilled veggies too.
Jessica
Love doing that!
Nicki
Great list, and if our summer ever returns I will be sure to refer back to it – 9 degrees c here today!
My favourite quick and healthy meal at the moment is this raw pasta sauce, http://quirkycooking.blogspot.co.uk/2009/01/raw-pasta-sauce.html came across. I was a little unsure before trying it but everyone thought it was so good and it was super easy.
cherie
Great post – I just finished the book on your recommendation – it WAS great and I did rethink some of my already ‘basic, do it yourself’ kitchen things because of it. I need to sell my kids on this idea I think – maybe it’s the teen thing – they’ll eat meatless without much issue, but I have a breakfast food hater, and I have a salad hater [she eats it when served but would balk if it were the main meal LOL] – but it’s something worth making an effort for – fresh bread WOULD make a different for sure!
JessieLeigh
Fantastic list! Filing this away for the dog days of summer… 🙂
Hillary
I LOVE this post. If I thought I could get away with it, I would do this everyday. I suffer from rheumatoid arthritis and some days I just don’t have the energy in me.
We save these dinners for really bad RA days, and nights when the kids have sports.
Sue R
Thank you for this post! I often forget that I don’t have to turn out a four course meal every night. The simple meals are often the best because I still have energy left over to actually enjoy sharing a meal with my family, and we can eat them in a variety of places.