Super Easy Food Ideas for When You're Depressed, Stressed, and Don’t Want to Cook

Let’s be honest. Self-care is hard when you’re overwhelmed, overworked and your brain doesn’t work. If you’ve ever stared inside a fridge full of food going bad and lamented the meals you were supposed to make when you were feeling okay or got frustrated looking at supposedly easy recipes that dont work on a single brain cell so you give up on food for the night, then this post is for you.

I’m sharing my list of foods and/or meals that helped me during my worst moments. These are meant to be very low effort, easily prepared, budget-friendly, and/or are (generally) nutritious. I also included nonperishable options for the folks who need to get ahead of their mental health lows. All you need is a few mason jars and the ingredients listed. This isn’t a definitive list, but hopefully it will get the gears turning for ideas of what you can and can’t do for sustaining yourself during the hard times.

Disclaimer: I’m not a doctor or nutritionist—just a human sharing what helped. Listen to your body and consult a professional if needed.

Recipes:

Easy Nutritious Banana Spread

This is a super easy and flexible meal option. I found this recipe online a while back that was intended for making breakfast wraps, but Ive found it works great as a spread overall!

Bonus points if you eat it with fruit and vegetables.

Ingredients:

2 bananas (Ok if softer)
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1/2 cup Peanut Butter
Honey

How To Prepare:

Mash up the banana with a fork and mix the ingredients together until it’s consistent and smooth.

You can portion this to your preference and flavor. I like to make mine in proportional thirds (so equal amounts banana, Greek yogurt and peanut butter). Honey is just for flavor so one squirt or a teaspoon is fine. An alternative to honey is to use vanilla-flavored Greek Yogurt.

Benefits:

Easy protein meal with bonus potassium

Improved Ramen

I’m including this not for its nutritional value, but for the fact that, let’s face it, if you’re broke and don’t have many options or don’t have a lot of energy, ramen is a common go-to that’s accessible to most people. Let’s take this classic staple and give it a twist.

Ingredients:

Ramen noodles
Additive Seasoning Options: Lemon Pepper, Cajun Seasoning, or another seasoning favorite
Additive options: Hardboiled egg, chives, bacon flakes, hot sauce, vinegar

How To Prepare:

Boil water, add ramen to a bowl, and let sit until cooked. Add seasoning of choice and additive options. While this recipe may seem pretty obvious, when you’re eating the same foods over and over, variety can make a difference when you’re in a bind. The idea is to get creative and see what else is laying around the kitchen.

Benefits:

To be perfectly honest, the health benefits of ramen not that great, but it’s better than going hungry.

Easy Oatmeal

This may not work for those with an aversion to odd textures; however, it’s a really easy option to meal prep when you do have the energy. Great for keeping stored for long periods of time, so you don’t have to deal with food going bad every week.

Ingredients:

Oats (1 1/2 cups)
Protein powder (optional)
Sugar (Optional)
Cinammon (1 teaspoon)
Granola
Raisins

How to Prepare:

Throw these all together into a mason jar (portioning as desired) and give it a shake. Add boiling water to the desired consistency, cover, and let sit for 2 minutes.

Benefits:

Adds fiber and protein to start off your morning, which helps with digestion and energy later in the day. Even better if you choose to not add sugar.

Easy Chia Seed Pudding

Once again, if texture is an issue, this one is out. However this tasty snack can double as a breakfast or a snack. Plus it’s vegan! (If you care about that sort of thing).

Ingredients:

3 table spoons Chia seeds
1 cup Coconut milk (oat milk, almond milk or other alternatives is fine).
1 table spoon Maple syrup
A splash of Almond extract (optional)

How to Prepare:

Measure out your chia seeds and throw all of the ingredients into a mason jar. Shake it or stir it to make sure all of the ingredients are mixed. Put it in the fridge and stir it after a few hours. Then leave it overnight and you’re good to go! Dont worry if you forget to stir though…the consistency just wont be great. At least you’re eating! Just make sure to limit how much you eat at first to see how your body handles it.

Benefits:

This one is a nutritious powerhouse. Not only does this help with digestion and weight management, but it also provides omega-3s, which can greatly support your mental health throughout the day.

Simple Trail Mix

Honestly this isn’t even a real trail mix recipe. It’s throwing a bunch of things in a jar or baggies to help you eat and it doesnt go bad. However, if you want to expand to better mixes when you’re feeling less crappy, more power to you!

Ingredients:

Pretzels Sticks
Nuts or Seeds (Such as walnuts, almonds, or pumpkin seeds)
M&Ms

How to Prepare:

Throw all three ingredients together in a bag or mason jar. Boom.

Benefits:

This is low on the nutritional value, however if you gotta trick your brain into eating nuts or some other healthy stuff, chocolate and variety is a great way to go. If you have some peanut butter on the side for the pretzels, that can give you a bit more nutrients.

Pasta With Sauce

I know this sounds basic, but it’s a great budget friendly option that you can mix and match to change up with flavors. I like having a stock of sauce packets

Learning how to cook pasta is one of the basics of cooking. If you’ve never done it, there are plenty of YouTube videos out there that can help. Make sure you dont sit down while making this one. What makes this nutritious is whatever you cook along with it.

Ingredients:

Pasta (Spaghetti, rotini, shells, etc)
Pasta Sauce: tomato, alfredo, or your preference of premade packets
Nutritional options: mushrooms, sausage, pre-cooked chicken,

How to Prepare:

Cook the mushrooms, sausage, or additives first in a separate pot. (If you are feeling feisty, throw in some chopped garlic or onion to flavor them). Once thoroughly cooked, add the sauce and lower the heat to a simmer. Cook the noods in boiling water and strain. Finally, throw the pasta into the pot with the sauce and additives and let cook for a good five minutes before taking off the heat and enjoying.

Benefits:

Depends on what you add to it. Pasta and sauce alone is an okay choice for depression, but shouldn’t be a long term choice. I consider the ability to mix and match for ease and budget the main benefit to this dish.

Foods:

Fresh Foods:

Banana – Easy to eat, portable, and good for your gut and muscles.
Apples – Also easy to eat, portable, good for the gut and
Organic milk with added Omega 3 – Im adding this one because organic milk lasts longer in the fridge and the omega-3 bonus is good for the brain.
Blueberries – Great for supporting mental health. My therapist recommended to me to eat them in the morning to support brain health throughout the day.
Fish – Fish oil has done wonders for my mental health. Im not even exaggerating. Eating fish helps with so many other areas of your body, like your heart health and [insert]. If you’re on a budget, break out the canned stuff.
Eggs – No matter how you prepare them, these guys are great for supporting your mental health and getting your daily protein in.

Storable Foods:

Soup – Premade, easy on the stomach, and lots of varieties to choose from. If you’re on a budget, canned works great, however getting some fresh made from the store or even in glass can pick up the quality and increase nutrients.
Egg Drop Soup – Not quite the same as premade soup, but you have the same idea.
Protein shakes (sparingly) – While this is not meant to fully replace meals, it is however, a better alternative than not eating at all. Drink it with
Beans – Great for the body and mind, plus you can fart at people to keep them away from you.
Rice (made with a rice cooker) – A rice cooker is a game changer for this one. It’s a lot less likely to ruin the rice and rice is a cheap, easy staple.
Peanut Butter/Nut Butters – Easy add to any meal to increase nutrience quality
Quinoa – It’s really healthy and easy to prepare like rice. However, it may upset your stomach if you’re sensitive.

General Tips/Advice:

Make sure you have protein in the morning to get you through the day. You will sustain your energy better when you start off with something to work with.
If you can throw a bunch of nutritious things in a blender (spinach, banana, yogurt, berries etc), it will help a ton, especially if you’re anxious and struggle to eat
Avoid fast food (if you can) or eat sparingly – it will slow down your body and keep you feeling crappy for longer
Count to three before giving up. Take a breath, then try counting to five if you still want to give up.
Be patient with yourself.
Eat when you can – but eating consistently is preferred
Set timers while cooking incase you get distracted or lose focus
If you want to start meal preppring, be patient and start with non-perishable goods first.
When all else fails…beans and rice can get you through anything, especially with seasoning.

Links To Basic Cooking Videos & Other Useful Resources:

Depression and overwhelm impacts us in all different kinds of ways. Share your tips and tricks on how you kept yourself eating during the low times in the comments below!