25+ Lazy Sunday Dinner Ideas (When You Don't Feel Like Cooking)

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Don’t feel like cooking? Don’t worry. This list of 25+ lazy Sunday dinner ideas will be sure to save the day!

Lazy Sunday Dinner Ideas (When You Don’t Feel Like Cooking)

Feeling lazy? Don’t know what to cook? No problem!

Over here we are a huge fan of easy dinners. From one-pot meals to sheet pan dinners – Let’s face it easy dinners make cooking so much more enjoyable.

Below you will find a list of 25+ easy dinner options for when you just don’t have the energy, time, or motivation to cook. Save these recipes for later use when you find yourself in a pinch.

So, What Makes A Lazy Dinner “Lazy”?

A lazy dinner is any dinner that doesn’t require much time, thought, or effort. This includes meals that have:

minimal ingredients
fast cook time (30 minutes or less)
minimal to no prep required
minimal watch time

Quick Tips For Turning Any dinner into A Lazy dinner

Did you know it’s really simple to make your favorite go-to dinners easy and fast?

Here are a few of my favorite quick tips for making dinner a breeze when I don’t feel like cooking.

Use a Crockpot –

Crockpots are a great way to cook dinner without much effort. Simply dump all of your ingredients into the crockpot in the morning and it’s ready to go by dinner time.

A plus side to crockpot cooking is that you don’t need to be around while it’s cooking. If you often feel too tired to cook by the end of the day making dinner in the crockpot is the way to go.

Pro tip: Use these crockpot liners for mess free easy clean up!

Use an Instant Pot-

Instant Pots (aka pressure cookers) are a game-changer to making food fast. Unlike a crockpot, pressure cookers don’t need all day to cook. In fact, they can cook a meal up to 6 times faster than cooking on a stovetop.

One of my favorite features with the Instant Pot is that you can saute food directly in it before pressure cooking. So, if you want to sear or cook your meat beforehand you don’t need a separate pan to do it in.

Pro tip: Use this cheat sheet for cook times, liquid ratios, temperature settings, and more for any meal in your instapot!

Use precooked meat-

Using pre-cooked meat is the way to go if you want to turn a regular dinner into a quick one. Some of my favorite ready to go meat options are:

Rotisserie chicken – It’s much cheaper to buy a rotisserie chicken and remove the meat yourself but recently I have seen lots of stores sell rotisserie chicken off the bone ready to go.
Precooked meatballs
Shredded chicken – I can often find packs of pre-cooked shredded chicken in the meat section like this.
Canned chicken
Steak strips

Use ready to go veggies-

Pre-prepped veggies are a must-have when it comes to making dinner quickly. You can easily find frozen and canned options for just about any vegetable but there are definitely a few that are an absolute must to keep on hand.

frozen bell peppers
jarred minced garlic
frozen diced onions – you can also find fresh pre-diced onions that can be helpful to use throughout the week.
Frozen avocados
Guacamole cups – I love using the individual portion guacamole cups for quick meals. No waste and no browning.
Frozen chopped spinach
Frozen crushed ginger cubes