The “I’ll Figure Out Dinner Later” Problem
“I’ll figure out dinner later” sounds reasonable—until you’re home from work, hungry, and staring at ingredients you don’t have the energy to cook. A few small changes can make those nights much easier. Here’s how to plan dinner for the version of you who’s actually making it after a long day.
Maddy DiCioccio
10/4/20263 min read
When Dinner Becomes The Hassle
At 8 a.m., figuring out dinner later sounds reasonable and most just push it off til later. By 6 p.m., you’ve answered questions all day, probably have handled a few things that you weren't anticipating, and likely barely had a minute to yourself. Now you’re standing in front of the fridge, hoping something in there will become dinner without much involvement from you.
There’s chicken, but it’s frozen. Vegetables, but nothing you feel like chopping. Ingredients for a recipe you saved, but making it requires time you don't have or potentially another grocery trip.
So you snack while deciding...then order something. OR you put together whatever takes the least effort, which likely isn't the best option or most nutritious. That’s a familiar situation when you’re balancing work, workouts, relationships, and everything that needs to get done at home. Dinner becomes one more task at the end of a day that already had plenty.
Plan for how you actually feel after work
As a nurse and strength and conditioning coach, I understand the gap between knowing what you want to do and having the energy to follow through after a full workday. It’s easy to plan meals when you’re rested, have time to shop, and feel motivated. The more useful question is whether that plan still works on Wednesday evening when you get home late.
If dinner requires forty minutes, three pans, and a sink full of dishes, it might be a great weekend meal. For your busiest night, you may need something you can assemble in ten minutes. Before choosing meals for the week, look at your schedule. Which nights do you have time to cook? Which nights will you need leftovers, a freezer meal, or something quick? Give those busy nights an actual dinner plan instead of assuming you’ll find the energy.
Have a few meals you can make without a recipe
You don’t need a different dinner every night. A few meals you enjoy and know how to make can take a lot of thought out of feeding yourself. Try building around a protein, a carbohydrate, and a fat, include some vegetables or fruit, and a sauce or seasoning you like.
For example:
Shredded buffalo chicken, microwave rice, and bagged salad.
Chicken and black bean tacos with salsa and avocado.
Salmon, a microwave potato, and frozen green beans.
Ground chicken pasta with jarred marinara and spinach.
A rotisserie chicken sandwich with fruit on the side.
In the reality of life, these options are super helpful to consider; adjust portions to your appetite and goals. The main point is to have meals you can picture making even when you’re tired. Keep the ingredients for two or three of these on hand. That gives you a starting point when your original plan falls through.
If chopping vegetables is the part that keeps dinner from happening, buy them frozen or precut. If cooking rice every night feels like a chore, make a batch or use microwave rice. Rotisserie chicken, canned beans, bagged salads, and frozen vegetables can all make meals easier to put together. You don’t earn extra credit for doing every step yourself. Choose the shortcuts that fit your budget, taste good, and make your routine easier to maintain.
To add, if you're trying to reduce plastics or preservatives this might not be for you and you might need to consider bulk meal prep on the weekends. It is time consuming but again, everything comes dow to your goals.
Prep the part you usually get stuck on
Meal prep doesn’t have to mean spending your Sunday making identical containers for the whole week. Start with the task that causes the most trouble:
Cook chicken ahead if waiting for protein is your biggest obstacle.
Make extra rice if you’re always missing a side.
Wash produce if it tends to sit untouched.
Portion tomorrow’s leftovers before cleaning up dinner.
Even making two extra servings tonight can solve dinner on a night when you have less time.
Make takeout a decision you’re comfortable with
Yes, I just said that - unless you are a high level athlete, attempting to achieve a bodybuilding competition or need to "make weight" for something specific...some nights, you’ll order dinner. It is possible to enjoy it and move on. However, if takeout is happening more often than you want you have to get more specific about why. Are you buying groceries without choosing meals? Planning food you don’t enjoy? Getting home much later than expected? That answer gives you something practical to change. A stocked fridge might help more than another complicated meal plan.
Give yourself fewer things to figure out at dinner
You make enough decisions during the day. Having a few dependable meals ready to go means dinner doesn’t always have to start from scratch and it ultimately just makes your life a lot easier while the days pass by. This week, choose two easy dinners and one backup meal. Buy what you need, then match them to the nights you’ll need them most.
When you get home hungry and tired, you’ll already have an answer to “What’s for dinner?”