Easy, No-Cook Meals That Still Satisfy

Making dinner nearly every night can get exhausting, which is why sometimes we just want to throw a few things together without having to heat up the oven or dirty any pans. But it can be difficult to find a no-cook meal that is still filling and satisfying. To gather some ideas for satisfying no-cook meals, Daily Meal spoke with an expert: Jessie-Sierra Ross, a former ballerina who is now a cooking and home entertaining author, TV food segment creator, and food and lifestyle blogger on Straight to the Hips, Baby.

Firstly, Jessie-Sierra is a fan of what she refers to as "eats-like-a-dinner salads," which are, essentially, very filling salads that consist of ingredients that either require no preparation or can be prepped ahead of time. She notes that these salads can even be mixed together in advance, minus the dressing, so they're all ready to go come dinnertime.

Jessie-Sierra continues, "Flavorful combinations like baby greens, sungold cherry tomatoes, mint, dill, rinsed canned chickpeas, feta cheese crumbles, purple onion, and a bit of leftover grilled protein, all tossed with a tangy champagne-vinegar dressing, is an amazing quick weeknight dinner." You can take Jessie-Sierra's general ingredient list and swap out what you don't like for whatever you have available in your kitchen. For example, swap out the feta for goat cheese, or the mint for basil, and so on. If you want other specific recipe ideas that are similar, you can check out Daily Meal's kale, mango, and avocado salad or our spinach salad with tangerine-rosemary vinaigrette.

Jessie-Sierra Ross has another satisfying salad idea for dinner — and it involves burrata. She explains, "Creamy burrata salad with melon and honeyed nectarines is a forkful of heaven! Mixed with ripe cherries, tomatoes, watermelon cubes, cantaloupe slices, and tons of fresh herbs, this dish is a great alternative to turning on the stove!"

Again, feel free to pick and choose which ingredients you want to include in this burrata salad. Maybe you don't have any cantaloupe slices at home, so you add extra watermelon instead. Or, maybe you want to swap out the cherries for strawberries. You can even add in slices of prosciutto or any leftover cooked meat you have, such as chicken or steak. And if you want to try a dressing for this salad, you can't go wrong with a simple Italian vinaigrette or, if you want a sweet tanginess, you can even go with a honey lime vinaigrette.

Another idea Jessie-Sierra Ross has for a filling, no-cook dinner is what she refers to as "fancy toast." The most obvious choice is, of course, avocado toast – which, yes, you can enjoy at dinnertime and not just first thing in the morning. The cookbook author suggests using sourdough bread for the avocado toast, topped with Himalayan salt and dried chili flakes. And if you want to add a fried egg on top, despite it not being the morning, no one is stopping you — it will make it even more filling, after all.

But fancy toast doesn't stop at avocados. Jessie-Sierra suggests, "[Make] a creamy feta and Greek yogurt spread with marinated tomatoes, cucumbers, and diced beets." If you like the idea of creamy feta, then you may also want to try some variation of ricotta toast with toppings such as roasted tomatoes, dried fig, or even something a little more unique like roasted grapes. Drizzle with honey to finish or top with fresh herbs.

You can even make a fancy version of peanut butter toast that will fill you up. Spread peanut butter over your preferred bread, then top with granola, thinly sliced apple, and honey. Or, you can go with a classic pairing: Lox and cream cheese. Complete the lox-cream cheese toast with sliced cucumber, chopped dill, and salt and pepper. Add a side salad, and that's more than enough for a great no-cook dinner.