What to Cook Tonight — 20 Dinner Ideas When You Have No Plan
Can't decide what to cook tonight? Here are 20 dinner ideas for every situation — quick weeknights, using what you have, and impressing guests.
Decision fatigue is a real thing — and it hits hardest at 6pm when you're staring into the fridge with no plan. This list exists to end that. Twenty ideas, organised by situation, covering everything from a five-ingredient dinner that's ready in 10 minutes to something genuinely impressive that takes less than an hour.
Some are pantry meals you can make without shopping. Some are the kind of comfort food you'll be glad you made. A few will become regulars in your weekly rotation. Start wherever suits your energy level tonight.
When You Have 15 Minutes or Less
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The trick with fast dinners is having a well-stocked pantry. Eggs, noodles, canned beans, and a few sauces can produce something genuinely satisfying in under 15 minutes with zero shopping.
Classic Grilled Cheese Sandwich
The ultimate comfort food: golden-brown, crispy bread with gooey, melted cheese inside. Simple, quick, and satisfying.
Underestimated and completely reliable. Two slices of bread, butter, and good cheese — ready in 8 minutes and better than most things you could order. Add tomato soup alongside for one of the best low-effort dinners in existence.
Simple Chicken and Vegetable Lo Mein
A quick and easy version of the classic Chinese-American noodle dish, featuring tender chicken and crisp vegetables tossed with soft noodles in a light, savory sauce. Perfect for a weeknight meal for two.
Better than takeaway and ready in about the same time as delivery. Lo mein uses whatever vegetables you have, moves fast in a hot wok, and produces a genuinely satisfying bowl. The sauce is soy, oyster sauce, and sesame oil — easy pantry staples.
Classic Egg Foo Young
Fluffy, pan-fried egg patties filled with crisp bean sprouts and green onions, served smothered in a rich, savory brown gravy. A comforting Chinese-American favorite perfect for two.
A Chinese-American comfort dish that most people have never made at home — and should. Eggs, a handful of vegetables, and a simple savoury sauce. Ready in 15 minutes and excellent with leftover rice.
When You Want Something Comforting
Some evenings call for something rich and satisfying. These are the dinners you make when you want to feel genuinely cared for by your own cooking.
Neither of these takes more than 30 minutes, but both taste like they took more effort than they did. That's the hallmark of a great weeknight recipe.
Classic Fettuccine Alfredo
A rich and creamy Italian-American pasta dish featuring tender fettuccine noodles coated in a luxurious sauce made with butter, heavy cream, and Parmesan cheese. A comforting meal for two.
Silky, buttery, and deeply satisfying. Fettuccine Alfredo done properly — with good Parmesan and pasta water — is one of the most comforting things you can put on a plate in under 25 minutes. No cream required.
Authentic Spaghetti Carbonara (No Cream, Traditional Method)
The real Roman carbonara: silky, golden pasta coated in a luscious sauce made from eggs, Pecorino Romano cheese, guanciale, and black pepper. No cream, no garlic, no compromise—just pure Italian perfection.
The Roman version — no cream, no shortcuts. Guanciale, egg yolks, Pecorino, and black pepper. It sounds simple because it is. Getting the silky sauce right takes a bit of practice, but once you nail it, it becomes a regular in your rotation.
When You Want Big Flavour Without Much Work
These dishes deliver restaurant-quality flavour from pantry staples. Both are curry-based, which means once you've made them a couple of times, you'll have them memorised.
Keep a tin of chickpeas and a can of tomatoes in the cupboard and you're always one decision away from a genuinely great dinner.
Chana Masala
A flavorful and aromatic Indian chickpea curry, simmered in a spiced tomato-onion gravy. This vegetarian dish is quick to prepare and perfect for a comforting meal for two, served with rice or naan.
One of the best vegan dinners in existence. Chickpeas cooked in a spiced tomato sauce with cumin, coriander, garam masala, and ginger — bold, satisfying, and entirely pantry-friendly. Ready in 30 minutes and better the next day.
Chicken Vindaloo (Spicy Indian Curry Made Simple)
A bold and fiery Goan-inspired curry featuring tender chicken pieces simmered in a tangy, spiced vinegar-based sauce with warm aromatics. A flavorful and intense curry for two, best served with steamed rice to balance the heat.
A properly hot, tangy, deeply spiced Goan curry that puts most restaurant versions to shame. If you like heat and flavour, this is the best weeknight curry you can make at home. Marinade the chicken ahead and it's even better.
When You Want Something Light
Nourishing Detox Soup
A light, vegetable-packed soup designed to be cleansing and comforting. It features a flavorful broth with a vibrant mix of green vegetables and detoxifying spices, perfect for two servings.
For the evenings when you want something warm and nourishing but not heavy. Packed with vegetables, easy to adapt to whatever you have, and ready in about 20 minutes. Exactly what a light weeknight dinner should be.
12 More Dinner Ideas to Add to the Rotation
Worth bookmarking for future no-plan evenings:
- Shakshuka — eggs poached in spiced tomato sauce, ready in 20 minutes, requires almost nothing from the shops.
- Fried rice — the best way to use up leftover rice. Add egg, soy sauce, and whatever vegetables or protein you have.
- Quesadillas — tortillas and cheese, ready in 10 minutes. Add beans, leftover chicken, or salsa for a more complete meal.
- Pasta aglio e olio — spaghetti with garlic, olive oil, chilli, and parsley. Four ingredients, 20 minutes, genuinely Italian.
- Black bean tacos — canned black beans cooked with cumin and served in warm tortillas with lime crema. Done in 15 minutes.
- Soup and toast — a good homemade soup (tomato, leek and potato, or lentil) with crusty bread is a proper dinner, not a shortcut.
- Omelette — three eggs, butter, and whatever filling you have. One of the fastest complete meals in existence.
- Stir-fried noodles — any noodles, any protein, any vegetables. Oyster sauce and soy sauce make everything taste finished.
- Baked salmon with vegetables — season, oven at 200°C, 12 to 15 minutes. Almost no work, excellent result.
- Chickpea curry — tinned chickpeas, tin of tomatoes, curry powder, garlic. Ready in 20 minutes over rice.
- Jacket potato — not a compromise. With butter and cheese or chilli, it's one of the most satisfying low-effort dinners there is.
- Avocado toast with eggs — poached, fried, or scrambled. Fast, filling, and genuinely nutritious.
Have leftover ingredients and no idea what to make? Our leftover recipe generator turns what you have into a complete meal in seconds.
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The best dinner for tonight is the one you'll actually make. Start with what you have, match your energy level to the recipe, and don't overthink it. Grilled cheese is a perfectly good dinner. So is a vindaloo. This list has both, and everything in between.
Frequently Asked Questions
A grilled cheese sandwich takes 8 minutes. An omelette takes 5. Egg fried rice using leftover rice takes about 10 minutes. If you have noodles or pasta, lo mein or aglio e olio are both under 20 minutes. The fastest dinners are always egg-based or use pre-cooked carbohydrates like leftover rice or pasta.
Pantry staples go further than most people think. Canned chickpeas, tinned tomatoes, pasta, noodles, eggs, and dried spices can produce a proper dinner without any fresh shopping. Chana masala, pasta with garlic and oil, fried rice, and egg foo young all work entirely from pantry and freezer ingredients.
Match the recipe to your energy level. When you're genuinely exhausted, grilled cheese, a simple omelette, or beans on toast are perfectly valid dinners — nourishing and fast. If you have 20 minutes, pasta aglio e olio or a quick soup require almost no active effort. Save the curries and stir-fries for evenings when you have slightly more energy.
Start with your protein or main ingredient and work outward. If you have chicken, you can make a stir-fry, a curry, a pasta, or roast it. If you have eggs, you can make an omelette, fried rice, shakshuka, or carbonara. If you only have vegetables, a soup, a curry, or a pasta sauce all work. Our leftover generator at /leftover-generator takes this further — type in what you have and it generates a full recipe.
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