What Should I Cook for Dinner Tonight? How to Decide in Under a Minute
Cooking dinner isn't the hard bit. Deciding what to cook is. Most of us spend longer staring into the fridge than we do at the stove. Here's a way to decide in under a minute, and a way to stop having to decide at all.
Three Questions That Narrow It Down
When you're stuck, it's usually because there are too many options. Cut them down by answering three things:
- What have I got? Start from your ingredients, not a craving. That rules out anything that needs a trip to the shops.
- How much time and energy do I have? Fifteen minutes and exhausted gets a very different answer from an hour and in the mood.
- What have I had lately? Skip the last two or three dinners so you don't get bored.
That usually gets you from a long list down to two or three real options, and picking between three is easy.
Let an App Do the Narrowing
Running through that in your head every night is what wears you down. Bhansa already knows what's in your pantry, so it suggests meals you can make right now. You can narrow them down by how much time you have and the cuisine or diet you feel like.
Give meals a thumbs up or down and it learns. It stops suggesting things you never make and shows you more of what you like, so deciding comes down to picking from a short list.
Or Just Ask
If even tapping feels like too much, ask Mira, Bhansa's assistant: "what should I make for dinner?" She'll suggest something. With Premium, you can keep asking her questions while you cook, like what to use if you're missing an ingredient.
Decide Once for the Whole Week
The easiest way to never ask "what's for dinner?" again is to answer it ahead of time. Make a weekly plan in one go and every night is sorted. Not feeling one of the meals? Swap it with a tap and the rest of the week stays as it is.
In Short
Working out dinner doesn't need to be a nightly battle. Start with what you have, think about how much time you've got, and don't repeat last night. Or let an app do all three. Bhansa is free to start on iOS and Android.