My most common fridge-clearer seems to be chili (or chili-like stews). Also, scrambled eggs or omelettes, fried rice, and pasta with sauteed whatever.

I've made creamy goat cheese pasta with grilled (or baked) asparagus so many times and the recipe is so simple. Found it on Everyday Food. Delicious and easy!

http://nicoledula.com/recipes/creamy-goat-cheese-pasta-with-grilled-asparagus

black beans and rice with grilled chicken, stir-fries with whatever veggies are in the fridge.

Our go-tos are eggs, chili (or chili-like stews), and quesadillas/burritos (tortilla, cheese, beans, rice, and whatever else might be in the cupboard or freezer!).

Agreed on the chili. We also do soups with whatever's around, refried beans (touched up, of course!) and corn tortillas, sandwiches (we have a great bakery down the street). Stir-fry is always on the agenda.

Pasta carbonara.

funny, never make chili as a go-to meal. Our is fish tacos with black beans and a non-mayo cabbage slaw. Yum!

Pasta and frittatas are my go-to's. They are reliable and easy to pull together in a pinch.

Oh, I always love seeing what people's go-to dinners are! Mine is whole-wheat spaghetti with roasted broccoli, a little olive oil, and parmesan. It's so easy, I eat it at least once a week in the winter time.

Pasta with homemade tomato sauce or stirfry or chickpea cutlets.

PopTarts

French green lentils, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper. Sometimes I add a bit of meat to it, such as a slice of bacon or sometimes 1/2lb of sausage if I have it on hand. Variations include adding tomatoes, fresh chard or spinach, and/or potatoes.

canned chick peas + poached egg. and whatever 'add-ons' we have in the fridge.

A ton of roasted veggies in a bowl, or eggs scrambled with tomatoes.

Risotto, stir-fry, pasta with simple sauces I can make while I get other things ready.

Tuna salad, no mayo, on toast with avocado. Cheap, fast and healthy

I love that my zesty tuna casserole (yummier and more rich in flavor than it sounds, soooo good, drool) can be made with all pantry ingredients. Egg noodles, tomato paste or soup or sauce, Worcestershire sauce (thank you spell check) and canned tuna. Plus spices, breadcrumbs etc...it's a great fallback.

Beyond that just leave me some flour, and I'll clear out the fridge with a delicious gourmet pizza! No tomato anything in the house? White potato rosemary pizza in a flash!

Pretty much every soup in the Moosewood Cookbook is a standby, especially in the winter.

Risotto! I always have Parmesan on hand and I usually have some broth or a can of tomatoes and then I just throw in whatever veggies or meat I have.

pasta with any combination of sauteed veggies with balsamic vinegar, garlic and a veg protein source (beans, faux chicken, faux sausage, tofu); eggs - fried, scrambled, or in a frittata with veg, potatoes, and bread; mac and cheese - homemade or boxed; polenta with veg and protein in balsamic and oil or tomato sauce; or the "concoction" as I call it - my partner mixes pasta with protein source and salad veg and anything else on hand and tops it with ranch dressing (which i hate) - my version usually includes leftover pasta, tuna salad, and salad veg.

We made various pestos throughout the season, and froze them in an ice tray. Now, when we have those zero-effort nights we can have pasta with curly cress pesto and feel like it's something special.

In reality though? Grilled cheese w/ tomato.

Roasted red pepper and goat chevre omlette with a simple salad. It's filling, quick, delicious and hot! That's all I need :)

Lol @RobBob, thanks for throwing that in there. No apologies, no explanations...just PopTarts :)

I have similar go-to meals as listed above and I'm going to have to fall back on one of these no-brainers tonight, since it's 4:30 and there is no dinner plan in sight. Gah, Mondays.

Chicken fajitas!! With red & green peppers, onion, avocado, salsa, cheese, and gluten-free wraps! :)

trader joe's frozen chicken verde burritos or chickenless nuggets and quesadillas. or spaghetti and bottled pasta sauce.

Our ol' standby is a salad. I dump out a plateful of spinach leaves, then clean out the fridge and/or pantry. Toppers include meats (including canned, eg. tuna), beans, fresh vegetables(!), cheeses, olives, tortilla chips....I often feel like I'm taking the easy way out, but my husband and I love them. Tonight, I'm shaving off remnants from yesterday's ribeyes, plus using the last of the feta.

Thanks, RobBob, for the PopTarts idea. I'll see how they taste with Ranch dressing.

My stand-by meal is a quiche-- I use a frozen pie crust (shh, don't tell) and just add in whatever ingredients I have lying around. Bake for 25 minutes and you're ready to eat. So simple, but it always feels a little fancy!

When I for reals have zero energy or inspiration, it's a grilled cheese or ramen. My husband, who likes neither, will have a frozen chile verde burrito or frozen potstickers.

One level up is the fridge clearers: fried rice or pasta and red sauce with whatever vegetables I can chop and saute in the time it takes to cook the pasta.

I like the quiche and kitchen sink salad ideas a lot.

If I say cereal, will everyone judge me? :/ I love my Cinnamon Life! Ok...If I have a little more energy, I throw together a kitchen sink omelet. Usually includes cilantro, onions, beans, milk, cheese (shredded Romano if I have it), maybe even a little rice. Delish!

Brown rice mixed with warm red kidney beans and fridge cold feta...the outside of the feta will start to melt and its yummy.

Pork or chicken cutlets over pasta, fried rice, pasta fagiole

Puttanesca or carbonara. Can be tough choosing between prostitutes and coal miners, though.

can of pinto beans, drained and rinsed, cooked with garlic, red pepper and olive oil. Finish with half a lime and lots of fresh basil leaves. Delicious, cheap, healthy and FAST.

pasta with peas, frozen meatballs (always have the trader joes turkey kind in the freezer) and cheese; brown rice topped with spinach, egg, and avocado; or pancakes.

grilled chicken breast in a pita bread with avocado, mayo and tomatoes...so yummy
pasta with tomatoe sauce or any kind of sauce really
steaks with mashed potatoes
thai style curry with veggies, chicken and coconut milk

Totally brain-off meal? Mixed vegetables with an egg on top. Call it a low-carb carbonara, though I am not low-carbing it.

I try to make sure there are frozen servings of casseroles and meatloaf (make them in muffin tins, perfect for single servings!) so I always have an alternative to the siren song of the take-out burrito (not that I always resist...)

Pasta, of course: like to serve it with herbs and cannellinis: http://thesweetest3.com/?p=2043

tomato soup if it's just me and my boy, pasta with tomato sauce if it's last minute guests. Same ingredients, just stretched a little bit farther.

Vegetable tarts. Beans (usually garbanzo) with mushroom, tomatoes and sometimes bacon. Also cereal.

Summer: pasta with pesto
Winter: chili or beef stew
Fall: Risotto with whatever vegetable is lying around the fridge (I always, luckily, have arborio, parmesan, butter and chicken stock... that plus scallions, or mushrooms works every time)
Spring: salade compose: chickpeas, tuna, hard boiled eggs, 1 poached fresh vegetable, vinagrette over the whoel thing

Carbonara any time of the year, curry shrimp in the summer (we keep shrimp in the freezer almost all summer for quick meals) Stew and quiche in the winter.

Also, breakfast for dinner (pancakes, waffles, bacon eggs etc) is another easy favorite that we are always ready for

Pasta with a red sauce, mac and cheese with tuna and peas added, or quesadillas.

Yellow rice with pigeon peas (arroz con gandules). We could eat it every day.

Pastas, eggs, something with beans/lentils, bean tacos.

do all of you work 40+ hours a week? It's all I can do to come home and microwave mac & cheese or fry an egg. On the weekend, I love to cook. But on weeknights, forget about it. I would like to do healthier, yet still simple, dinners like chicken and snow peas stirfry with rice or pureed soups, but I just don't find them as satisfying after a stressful day.

I may have just diagnosed myself as an emotional eater. Crap.

Tonight's was a good example: tomatoes and a leek, cooked in a tablespoon of chicken broth, then topped with Asiago cheese. Dessert, though: a couple of scoops of really good cookie dough ice cream. I must have a sweet tooth.

I want to eat at your guy's house ;)

Blueberry pancakes, Spinach + 'whatever can be salvaged from the fridge' salad, Pistachios/Cashews and a few chocolate chips, or veggie burgers.

Okay, in reality, busy nights (like tomorrow - class from 9:30 to 9:30, and thence an hour or so to get home) tend to be leftover nights, or freezer club nights. Though now that it's getting into the season for soups and stews, I'm trying to get in the habit of putting together a meal in the slow cooker the night before, and having my partner turn it on sometime around noon. (It's not that he can't cook; it's just that we'd eat sandwiches, albeit many different kinds, every night if I left him in charge of planning our meals.)

But, if I absolutely must cook after a long day and I'm starved, I go for fried rice with lots of garlic and ginger and chiles, or stir-fried greens and an egg with some polenta or toast.

Generally, though, I'm all about having leftovers.

Our go-tos are the skillet mac and cheese I grew up with and tacos with scrambled eggs, feta and avocado! Both are easy, don't require thinking or many ingredients, and tasty enough that I could eat them weekly!
http://theweekendgourmande.wordpress.com/2010/01/10/favorite-mac-and-cheese/
http://theweekendgourmande.wordpress.com/2010/02/23/tacos-de-huevos/

-Tofu coconut curry stir-frys
-Pasta with some olive oil with a little cheese, garlic and whatever veggies are in the fridge (and in the summer, prawns)
-Salad with nuts, random veggies and my favourite Austrian vignette
-Beans and veggie filled corn tortillas
-Chickpea curry
-Open-faced sandwiches of some sort usually involving avocado and/or cucumbers... which is the case half the time when my boyfriend is working nights.

Beans and rice, if I've thought the crock-pot through. That's the true meal of champions, IMHO.

Also--a quick veggie side, beans (see above), and some kind of grilled meat. Easy, and hardly any dishes.

Homemade macaroni & cheese, risi e bisi, beef and potato hash, ziti, tacos or burritos

You all eat so much better than I do!

My go-to meals: burritos (with freeze-dried beans, reconstituted, with left-over brown rice, and any veggies). Or waffles and fried eggs. Or grilled tuna and cheese sandwich.

Absolutely breakfast tacos, pasta with homemade pesto from the freezer, meat+vegetable+rice/couscous/etc, Grilled cheese and canned tomato soup, chili, Velveeta shells and cheese, or if all else fails....take out.

Homemade chicken fingers with hand cut fries. Hubby inhales those in minutes, sometimes before I even have my plate!

CEREAL! I can eat it breakfast, lunch & dinner. My husband calls me the "Cereal Killer". :)

Fish filets popped in the oven for 8 minutes, meanwhile cooking a quick bag of brown rice, & a steamable bag of broc. in the microwave. Tasty dinner in about 20 minutes.

An insanely, delicious, and 20 minute taking Taco salad.

Lentil stew with sauteed onion and garlic; a spice mix of curry, cumin, turmeric, and a pinch of cayenne; and whatever veggies are around (usually tomatoes, carrots, spinach, etc.). Sometimes we throw in chickpeas too. It's so versatile - anything goes!

Honestly, if it's not takeout, then it has to be super easy.
Usually tuna melts, fried rice (if there is any rice leftovers) Greek couscous salad, or an omlete.
If I am not too tired then I will have the energy to make pasta with a red sauce and a protein mixed with odds and ends from around the kitchen. Chili and curry is always easy to throw together. Pasta carbonara if there is left over bacon from weekend brunch.

Chili, scrambled eggs and toast, chicken parm, any kind of roasted veggie, and tuna melts.

breakfasts: greek yogurt with honey and whatever fresh fruit i have on hand. ALWAYS good. nuts and/or dried fruit are always good add-ins too

lunches: greek salads are so easy and always delish. dressed w/ tzaziki if I have any on hand. mmmm.

dinner: in the summer, i love to make a big batch of gazpacho to keep in the fridge for whenever hunger strikes. throw a little feta on top and you're good to go

in the winter, i will cook up a huge batch of ratatouille and eat it all week, and freeze some individual portions for later. will do the same with some variation of this pasta sauce recipe as well, which is just so damn good: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/whole-wheat-spaghetti-with-swiss-chard-and-pecorino-cheese-recipe/index.html

also, lasagne bolognese. takes a ton of time, but once you have a big one made, you are set for the week (or more if you freeze some pieces for later).

let's just say my freezer and i are good friends :)

Tuna with canned diced tomatoes with thin spaghetti pasta.

Extra lazy days call for chili and steamed rice.

Boil 16 oz pasta, mix with one package of Boursin Cheese, add enough pasta sauce to coat everything. My kids love this.

Chili Mac, if I'm planning ahead. Mac and cheese or spaghetti and (canned) sauce when I didn't plan ahead for dinner.

Thai-style curry with whatever veggies need eating...a portioned leftover that I froze for nights like that...sometimes just a head of broccoli, steamed whole, and then held in the left hand while I pull florets off with my right, munching and watching a movie.

Sauteed veggies--usually onion, bell pepper, and zucchini, plus sometimes whatever else is on hand (e.g. mushrooms, corn). These can go into pita pockets, hoagie rolls, or tortillas, with or without cheese. My SO makes pasta with parmesan and lots of black pepper.

If I'm smart, I make chili or soup on the weekend and then eat it all week long.

And if I really can't bear the thought of cooking, Amy's frozen burritos are very good.

Some combination of canned beans, kielbasa, and vegetables; homemade mac 'n' cheese (easier than it sounds, although it does dirty two pots); soup (favorite is green onion and potato), grilled cheese and tomato soup; tomato chickpea onion soup (canned goods are a godsend); black beans, spanish rice, and corn; apples'n'onions and sausage; etc.

But really? LEFTOVERS! And if I'm really lazy? I'll pick up a loaf of french bread and some high quality butter from Adam's on the way home and just eat that.

If I'm totally beat (because yes, @st@cy, over the summer I worked about 50+ hours per week with no weekends) I'm calling the local pizza place or heading to Panera. Not gonna lie. But cooking at home is so much cheaper, I sometimes just suck it up, like last night. I'm broke right now, so I made homemade mac 'n' cheese. Just needed flour, butter, a little milk, some cream cheese, salt, and pasta. Cheap and filling and delish.

the real truth? yogurt. Trader Joe's chocolate yogurt. If my husband's home, then grilled ham or turkey and cheese. And sometimes those Beddar Cheddar polish sausages and mashed potatoes. Please don't tell my mother. I'm pretty sure she'd march right down here and tell me something about cruciferous vegetables and a multi-colored diet and an apple a day.

My favorite comfort easy food is brown rice with an egg lightly scrambled in it with salt and butter...more butter if I need more comfort. Other go-to meals are pastas I make up with whatever's on hand, a "sushi bowl" in warmer weather (brown rice, pickled ginger, avocado, and maybe tofu, sesame seeds and tamari sauce), a cold salad I can keep in the fridge for a couple of days (lentils with shredded carrots, red peppers, pecans, currants, and green onions, and a maple balsamic vinaigrette, for instance), pasta with a fried egg on it is an easy go-to meal if we've got nothing else. My husband usually resorts to hummus and toast if left to his own resources.

@St@cy - I work 40+ hours, so I do a lot of my prep work on days when I'm not so tired. I chop stuff up ahead of time, try to plan out my meals and save specific portions of leftovers. If I'm really pooped, I bribe myself to cook by turning on netflix and doing all the fiddly prep work at the coffee table. Planning my meals out on the weekend so i know I have everything and don't need to think about the menu helps the most though.

My big standbys on lazy days are:

1)Open face sandwich w/ cheese, dried basil, sea salt and tomato or broccoli
2) fried rice w/ leftover veggies/meat or just eggs
3) scrambled egg & feta in a tortilla w/spinach hidden inside (I make up packets of frozen blanched spinach ahead of time and just throw one in) Sometimes hot-sauce as well.
4)In the fall, puree cooked or frozen pumpkin, cooked onion and cook it in equal parts milk for a creamy soup that's a mojor comfort food. I sprinkle w/roasted pumpkin seeds if I have any left from roasting ahead of time.

or if I can cook and leave that day

1) onions, my leftover veggie freezer bag and frozen homemade stock in the crock pot for veggie soup

2) rice, milk, honey, almonds, raisins and spices for a creamy rice pudding that's surprisingly healthy and feels like a major desert for dinner meal.

Stew with whatever vegetables I have, beans or Tofurky sausages, cheese, and sometimes a starch.
In the summer, garbage salad or Greek salad.
I try to make lunch my main meal, so dinner is often just a snack.

My favorite quick meals are eggs in purgatory, egg/bean/cheese/avocado/whatever tacos, ramen with added greens and a poached egg, and pasta with simple marinara sauce and some kind of vegetable on the side, usually roasted. Then there are also the kitchen-sink salads (again with a hard-boiled egg...) or basic sausage-vegetable-pasta dishes. I guess what I'm saying is, I eat a lot of eggs, especially when I'm not in the mood to plan out a real dinner!

Lentil soup, pasta with butter & parmasean (and broccoli if I have it), simple vegetable soup with defrosted pesto and rice and beans.

I don't have a pantry, and my kitchen is too small to keep too much at one time.

Eggs in any form. I'm of the philosophy that if you put an egg on top of it, it's a meal. Omelettes, frittatas, a fried or poached egg on top of any vegetable or starch (i.e. a microwave-baked potato/leftover rice/tortillas). Cheapest and yummiest protein around. Can't beat 'em.

Tacos: refried beans, cheese, tomatoes salsa and avocado in a corn tortilla, heated up on a cast iron skillet. A bowl of grits in the microwave. A cup of brown rice in the rice cooker. A pot of coffee. Cheap, easy, reasonably healthy, and really yummy. My family has this meal at least twice a week.

Hey, I'm a Texan, OK?

Take-out! They make pretty good turkey burgers around the corner... :)

Soup...or what we call "stone" soup which means whatever is in the pantry. Usually pasta sauce based or broth based, lots of beans, alphabet pasta, canned chicken or ground beef and any frozen veggies. Sometimes we throw meatballs in the soup because we keep a lot of frozen ones on hand. I'm curious to try a savory bread pudding, though...

My go to is French Onion soup. It can be super simple - onions, beef broth, bread and mozza or you can fancy it up with thyme, red wine or beer, crusty bread and a variety of cheeses.

A fried egg sandwich. I eat it for a meal at least four times a week. It's just...perfect. Yum.

Sometimes I just cook a whole package of bacon and eat it, too. Or a package of breakfast sausage links.

I like breakfast foods. Hah. My cholesterol should be a lot worse than it is.

But if I'm feeling healthy (which, honestly, doesn't happen too much) I'll chop up an onion, halve a few leeks and big shallots and cut some cabbage into big chunks. Toss with olive oil and salt and roast them until they submit to almost-burnt roasted perfection. Top with mayonnaise or tamari/honey/siracha.

Get a rotisserie chicken on Sunday. You can eat part of it then with some pasta or potatoes and a veg. Make chicken quesadillas (chicken, pesto, cheese between two small tortillas and pressed on a panini machine) on Monday. For Tuesday simmer the carcass in the crock pot, remove the bones, add a little bullion and throw in a little of the pasta or potatoes and veg you ate on Sunday. Three days, one chicken. Very easy especially when you get home and are too tired to fuss with what to have for dinner.

makeshift soupy asian noodles: soba or udon noodles in a dashi-miso broth, with the dried mushrooms and seaweed i keep on hand, japanese tofu, maybe another vegetable like spinach or bean sprouts if it's in the fridge, and often a dash of sriracha on top to swirl in among the noodles.

Pasta! It's always in the pantry, and sauce is always in the fridge/freezer.

Easy spaghetti (cook a half-pound of meat, add half a jar of sauce or half a can of tomatoes, while boiling the pasta - throw in some garlic powder. It's not fancy (can always add an onion, real garlic, other veggies) but you can't beat how easy it is and pretty nutritious too.

Toss some rice in the rice cooker, set the oven on "bake" and toss in a frozen chicken breast. Again, super easy. Microwave some veggies or pull lettuce or spring mix out of the fridge for salad. (Can go fancier, but just lettuce is fine with us if either of us is tired).

Eggs and toast are pretty quick/easy too :)

Spaghetti. Really, just whole wheat pasta with jarred sauce. If my fiance is home, I'll microwave some frozen broccoli. If not, maybe I"ll throw whatever veggies are in the fridge into the sauce, but maybe not.

if I am resorting to this, my fiance usually knows to just offer to pick up chinese. It means I've had a bad day.

Asparagus + tomato + egg + lemon pepper + heat, and some muenster or mozzarella cheese if I have some. Yum.

I love this post - and all the amazing comments - and am now going to try and increase my repertoire of "no brainer" dishes to some of the ones above!

Mine are (mostly asian influenced):

- Fried rice
- Asian minced pork dish
- Tired Veg Soup (both me and the veg!)
- Any kind of grilled meat atop of a bed of grilled eggplant and rocket
- Chicken Piccata (I love the pioneer woman's recipe)
- Asian style steamed fish on any noodles I have, made in 7 minutes in the microwave
- tins of tuna or chickpeas can combine or go solo as meals with some condiments!

Loving this thread!

Easy : ) Pasta with sauteed peppers, onions, artichoke hearts and garlic. Lots of good Parm. Mmmm...want some right now.

Spaghetti with meat sauce, salad and garlic bread would be number 1 followed by tacos with all the fixings and refried beans. Either meal takes less than 30 minutes. You can count on that every week at my house and we never get tired of it. For those nights when I am too lazy to boil water or turn on the oven - tuna out of the can with crackers and sharp cheddar OR grilled cheese sandwiches.

Most definitely - chopped-up chicken sauteed in minced garlic, soy sauce, white vinegar, bay leaf and pepper, then serve it on rice. It's a really simplified version of adobo, and it's great.

I use whole grain wraps to make quesadillas--i eat this several times a week with a little side salad of spinach.

I add onions, mushrooms, sometimes sliced meat from the deli, fresh herbs.

Very versatile and fairly healthy!

Risotto style orzo.

I got the recipe from Whole Foods about 2 years ago and have since been eating it at least once a month. I used their recipe as just a starting point. Last night I made it with leeks, scallions, baby bellas, green pepper, celery, carrots, and tomatoes. Also, the vegetarian Better Than Bouillon makes the meal. I once made it with a different broth and it was not as delicious.

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/1924

Interesting question! I go through cycles.
5 years ago, I was on a chicken stir fry kick or those potstickers from trader joes with a salad
Now, if I had to answer, I'd say it's usually grilled cheese or a BLT (although I add mustard and avocado).
But in reality my go - to is probably...nothing. If I didn't plan a recipe or meal out, then it's fend for yourself night: weather it be PB&J or yogurt or fruit or hummus and pretzels, haha. Otherwise, I try to meal plan on the weekends so that I am always trying a new recipe out during the week

I have two standby dinners - salad with baby spinach (always in the fridge) and whatever else I can find to throw in it, and pre-cooked udon noodles in chicken broth, with some sort of protein (meat if I have some already cooked, a poached egg or tofu if I don't) and vegetable (snow peas are good).

My favourite stand-by lunch is corn thins or crackers with cheese and tuna, add a tomato and some pickles on the side. Takes about the length of time it takes to slice the cheese...