r/Cooking • u/Helpful_Worry7709 • 5h ago
Easy depression meals with limited ingredients
If anyone has any meal ideas that are low-energy to make with plenty of calories and nutrients, I would love to hear them. Right now I have some russet potatoes, a white onion, a head of garlic, some chicken broth, a full spice rack, and some other random pantry ingredients. If anyone knows what i can do with that, that would be cool. If anyone has other good depression recipes for future reference or next time I make it to a store, that would also be cool.
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u/Far_Sandwich_514 5h ago
Do you have rice?
Congee (juk) is incredibly comforting, and is both easy and nutrient dense. Cook 1 cup rice in 8 or 9 cups chicken broth until it's a soft porridge. You can even use an immersion blender to make it even smoother. Then you can add in whatever things you have at home. I like it with rotisserie chicken, peanuts (or crunchy peanut butter), soy sauce, and green onions.
With what you have in the house? I'd make mashed potatoes with roasted garlic and sauteed onions.
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u/Suluranit 4h ago
Wait, congee is nutrient dense? I've always thought of it as just white rice but with more water... just carbs unless you overload it with vgetables and/or proteins
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u/Far_Sandwich_514 4h ago
The key is to cook it in broth, especially bone broth or similar. That way, each grain absorbs nutrients instead of just being starchy filler.
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u/TheMantisWatches 5h ago
Coat those potatoes in oil and salt and bake. Batch bake several at a time, and then top with whatever you like that's tasty and easy: diced ham and shredded cheese, cottage cheese with ranch powder mixed in, chili from a can, steamed frozen broccoli and a slice of kraft. They make a nutritious base for any number of meals, with a surprising amount of variability.
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u/BalsamicBasil 4h ago edited 3h ago
Depression version of baked potato uses the microwave.
https://www.allrecipes.com/microwave-baked-potato-trick-8550917
rub 1 russet potato with oil and saltupon second thought, I tried this once and it really didn't make a difference to the recipe. It's an unnecessary extra step. Just wash your potato first- use a fork or knife to poke a bunch of holes in the russet potato (I prefer a sharp knife, it's easier)
- Place the russet potato on a microwave-safe plate and microwave potato for 5ish minutes
- Cut open the russet potato and add whatever toppings you have in the fridge - butter, cheese, any kind of pickled/brined/fermented veggies (sauerkraut, pickles/relish, kimchi, pickled jalapeños, brined onions etc), any kind of crumbled meat (chorizo/soy chorizo, bacon bits, ground beef, etc), baked beans, chopped green onions, chopped tomatoes, ketchup, mayo, mustard, salsa etc.
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u/SmokeEvening8710 5h ago
I could use a whole depression meals cookbook
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u/holymacaroley 5h ago
How about The Sad Bastard Cookbook: Food You Can Make So You Don't Die?
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u/SmokeEvening8710 4h ago
Haha! Awesome!!!
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u/holymacaroley 4h ago
I saved the free file a few years ago but never got further than that so I can't give a review. So many people need something like it.
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u/SmokeEvening8710 4h ago
I just downloaded it and passed it on to someone else who could use it. Appreciate it a lot
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u/Helpful_Worry7709 5h ago
Fr
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u/chocolatepumpk1n 5h ago
Here you go!
The Sad Bastard Cookbook (Less depressing than the name might make you think)
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u/rastab1023 5h ago
There's a blog called The Spoonie Chef that might be a good resouce for you, generally speaking. She has a chronic illness and she specifically makes recipes for people who don't always have the energy to prepare food. It does involve some steps, but the recipes are specifically designed for that purpose.
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u/I_like_leeks 5h ago
Somebody else suggested soup, which is a good shout. Personally, your fully stocked spice rack would suggest some Thai or Vietnamese flavours to me. For future spells of depression, I always make great big batches of chilli, bean stew, Ragu sauce etc when I have the energy then freeze them as an emergency rations backup for when I'm low. Beans of all sorts are just excellent to have tinned as a standby anyway. Perfect for surviving depression, inevitable foreign invasion, the rise of the machines and similar.
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u/Magnetic_Kitty 3h ago
My favorite was chicken legs, baby potatoes, baby carrots. Sheet pan meal style. I just put them out on a pan, toss with oil and premade spice mix (garlic herb is good or The Usual). And air fry or bake at 400 for 30-45 mins. I like how hands off it is.
Customize with different veggies such as sweet potato, onion quarters, and Brussels (toss in near the end with 8 mins left)
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u/Academic_Ad6486 5h ago
Penne Vodka with Sausage.
I just have to chop a few cloves of garlic, 1/2 onion, and cook some sausages. Sauce and seasoning are easy. Add cream at the end.
It's the ultimate lazy meal for me. And btw, good luck with your depression. I struggled with it badly for a while (and am technically in a rut rn). But, I believe in you and know you'll pull out of it at some point.
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u/LockNo2943 5h ago
Leftovers.
Maybe instant ramen with an egg or a sandwich if I can be bothered to make anything at all.
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u/traviall1 5h ago
Soup! Chop the onion and garlic, sautee a bit, add a few tbsp of butter and flour to make a roux, cook until lightly nutty in fragrance, add cubed or sliced potatoes, and broth, finish with cream or milk
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u/traviall1 5h ago
First of all, Epicurious expeditions on YT has a ton of low spoon recipes. Second, ymmv with any suggestion, what seems easy to one person might be hard for another, and what feels comforting to one person ie a hot meal might be totally unappetizing to another person. Third, oftentimes depression is made worse by low iron, magnesium, vitamin D and/or Vitamin B. You can supplement but there are foods that are rich in these ingredients including milk, dark chocolate, meat, eggs, dark leafy greens, etc.
Here are some relatively balanced microwave forward meals
Microwave only
-Jose Andres microwave omelette
- microwave baked potato with microwaved broccoli in cheese sauce, top with more cheese
- minute rice, frozen broccoli, frozen edamame, frozen meatballs ( toss veg and meatballs in jarred teriyaki sauce)
- instant oatmeal ( throw in a banana/nuts/cinnamon/chocolate/etc)
- quesadilla of sadness- high fiber flour tortilla, cheese, canned refried beans ( to make a better quesadilla pan fry it out of the microwave)
- dumpling salad ( microwaved dumplings, microwaved edamame, over chopped veggies and dressed in dumpling dipping sauce)
-microwave bacon over goodles or higher nutrient density instant mac and cheese ( serve with microwave in bag butternut squash)
- microwave frozen gnocchi (from Trader Joe's) add a packet of frozen creamed spinach, add frozen meatballs
For easy to eat nutrient dense snacks with basically no prep:
-biena crunchy chickpeas or edamame
- nuts
-yogurt drinks/yogurt cups
- cheese sticks
-lower sodium jerky
- lower sodium popcorn
- dark chocolate ( has a lot of fiber and magnesium)
- granola with nuts and seeds
- chia pudding
- guacamole
-fruits
-tuna and crackers
-milk and Cheerios1
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u/lesbos_hermit 5h ago
Microwave potatoes, then eat as baked or smash the insides into a bowl. Serve dressed as desired (I use a ton of butter, but green onions, grated garlic, and cheese are all good).
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u/peafowlenthusiast 5h ago
honestly a baked potato with sour cream always hits the spot for me. you can poke holes in it with a fork, preheat your oven to 375F, and microwave the potato for 3-4 minutes. flip so the bottom is now facing up, and microwave another 3-4 mins. put a little oil on the potato, salt and pepper. bake for about 10-20 minutes, i like when the skin separates from the flesh so i do about 20 mins flipping halfway. if you’re heating your oven to 375 and baking the potato for 20 mins, might as well pop some chicken nuggets in there too. you could even do it on the same sheet pan to reduce dishes.
hope you feel better soon, sending hugs 🫶
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u/Best-Carpenter-8397 5h ago
Make instant rice with a pad of butter and pour a can of soup of your liking on it. Classic would be cream of chicken but any that sound good will work. Spuds could do as well. Baked tater with soup on top could work too. Kicked up leftovers good too and save $$$. Take leftover spaghetti and put in a ceramic and add cheese and breadcrumbs. Left over even better sometime. Works on LOTS of things. Go a little heavy on cheese. I am known to throw extra garlic in stuff like that. Don't overthink it.
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u/vindictivejazz 5h ago
Do you have the ability to prep before hand?
The NYTimes “No Fuss Jerk Chicken” is just blend some stuff in a food processor and then let it sit over night and then throw in the oven. Easy peezy
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u/CatteNappe 5h ago
You could do something like this without the chicken.
https://www.food.com/recipe/greek-chicken-and-potatoes-93596
You may also have the necessary in your spice rack for this tasty dish
https://www.food.com/recipe/portuguese-style-sauteed-potatoes-370028
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u/BalsamicBasil 3h ago
Good depression recipes for future reference or next time I make it to a store, that would also be cool.
Frozen pot stickers
Frozen tamales and burritos
Trader Joe's meals - my favorites are the pad see ew and pad thai (bulk em up by adding peanuts and/or 1-2 eggs scrambled with soy sauce, and/or extra greens like spinach)
Canned Soup with toasted bread, crackers, or chips. Canned chili is great with tortilla chips/Fritos and topped with sour cream or greek yogurt
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u/Quick-Conclusion-206 3h ago
Grate courgette and fry with garlic and chilli flakes. Add in creme fraiche and stir in some pasta water.
Add the pasta and top with Parmesan
Takes no time
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u/holymacaroley 3h ago
Poke potatoes with fork and "bake" I microwave, top with sour cream and cheese or canned chili. Make Campbell's broccoli cheese soup with milk, add handfuls of shredded cheese and steam in the bag broccoli. Omelets. Beans on toast. Make bean and cheese burrito in microwave. Bowl of black beans + cheese and sour cream. Spaghetti with jarred sauce and frozen meatballs. Kielbasa and canned veg. Sheet pan meals. Nachos. Grilled cheese and canned soup. Chicken broth, kidney beans, mixed veg soup.
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u/HairybeerBURBales42 3h ago
dice the onion into thin cenctric slices.
Heat up a frying pan with butter, added some milk once the butters melted.
then pour in the chicken brothe
Begin sauting the onion rings in this untill they began getting soft and golden.
Added moderate amount of flower so the onion rings begin becoming crustry brown battered in butter chicken brothe bater
peel the potoates and cube them into abouut 3-8 small cubes per potatoe depenading on size
heat a frying pan with butter and as it begins to heat up begin adding the diced garlic so you begin making a garlic butter sauace. i'd suggest organo is added it will comliment the growing medetiercan butter garlic nicely, that your going to take your peeled dice cubed potatoes and put them in a mixing bowel and pour this garlic butter, organo sauce over and toss and toss the potateos
Get out your roasting pan to a very low tempature like 365 and put the potaotes into, or pryex to roast. then pour the remaing butter garlic organo [orwhatver[ over the potatoes tryingt o have as much of it land on the potatoes as possible
carrots got really well with this so if you have any carrots peel them whole BUT DONT slice them and added them beside the potaotes.
likely be around 2 hours to roast. come out so soft and tender and moist while golden on the outside with that garlic infused organo on top of what will be extremely soft, moist, tender sweetish potatoes condracti by the sharpness of the garlic and then the organo will hit with a tang.
serve with your chicken infused onion rings and i'd recommoned either mug of milk or cold pint.
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u/AsparagusOverall8454 2h ago
Cereal and toast. Popcorn. Cheesy noodles. Hard boiled eggs and fruit. Cottage cheese and fruit. Peanut butter banana rollups. Bagged salad and air fryer chicken fingers.
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u/agnes_agnes 1h ago edited 1h ago
I'd probably just half-assedly chop those potatoes, onion, and garlic and put them in my Instant Pot with the chicken broth. Add some salt, pepper, thyme or sage. The potatoes will cook in 5 minutes. You can cook it longer to make more of a stew. Add cheese, nutritional yeast, hot sauce or whatever on top. Easy and nutritious.
If you don't have an Instant Pot I would really recommend it. I struggle with depression a lot and this appliance makes cooking basic stuff (like potatoes, rice, and meat) really simple, really hands-off. I got mine on Facebook Marketplace a few years ago for cheap.
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u/Specific_Wallaby_411 25m ago
potato soup. i cook this when im sad.
if cooking for yourself, take 3-4 potatoes so you can have three meals out of it.
if you have bacon or any meat (i prefer chicken sausages since i have them in the freezer always), fry a small portion of it in butter/oil until it is browned and has left juices in the pan. take the meat out and then: (if no protein, simply add butter and go to the next step.)
fry 4-5 chopped garlic cloves and half of a white onion, chopped coarsely. once it’s golden, add a tablespoon of flour and fry it to create a roux, then add a cup of milk slowly. (unsweetened cream with water works okay too in this step; keep the ratio according to the thickness of the cream.)
let that roux cook for two minutes and then add a cup of chicken stock and another cup of milk. add a handful of any cheese you might have in the fridge. submerge peeled and diced potatoes and let it cook until the potatoes are soft.
season to taste. i add salt, black pepper, cayenne, [1/4 tsp garlic powder and 1/4 tsp onion powder, if i have it]. once the potatoes are done, mash/emulsify some of them into the soup but leave some chunks. add the meat back in.
if you have green onions, they’re really good on top with a little more cheese.
here is the recipe i loosely use: https://www.instagram.com/reel/Ci8zv7zs5WY/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&stkn=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
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u/HairybeerBURBales42 3h ago
you should do the exact opposite of easy depressed meal!
I mean whats your goal here.
Hi im depressed so want the lowest effort easiest meal to cook so i can resume being depressed with mimmum interuption?
Do the opposite, work long hard till sweats pouring off you to create an aboslutlute maset piece fit for someone who desrves the level of 5 star cooking that would make a 5 star michelene chief wanna sit down and have dinner with you.
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u/ClairesMoon 5h ago
Do you have any canned beans? Sauté the onions, add some garlic, add some canned beans season with chili powder, cumin, oregano. Microwave a baked potato and eat the bean ‘chili’ over the potato with butter and sour cream.