Carbonara, because I nearly always have some lardons / bacon in the fridge, and usually have eggs and cheese too. Sauce is ready in the time it takes to cook the pasta, and it feels like a real dinner despite not really needing much prep.

Lazier? Instant noodles, with extra spices and a big spoonful of peanut butter. Makes it richer, creamier and keep nds 'satay' like. Also feels like there's a modicum of nutrional value. If I'm feeling virtuous I'll add some frozen / tinned sweetcorn or peas.

I air-fry six chicken nuggies, cut them into bits, and mix them with half a cup of mashed potatoes.

Easy and yummy, filling, and only approximately 400-500 calories.

Frozen burrito :(

Total prep time AND ready to eat within 15-30min.

Get a bowl
Make a "sauce" with plenty olive oil, basil, garlic
Slice tomatoes in quarters (about the size of cherry tomatoes) and throw them in a bowl
Let it rest for min. 30min or as long as you want to. No upper limit.
Add hot spaghetti (al dente) and stir until everything is well coated.

Edit: Expanded and added more precise instructions.

pasta

A good curry is incredibly easy to make nowadays. Patak's and Pasco make great curry bases. You just fry a big dollop of the base, then chuck in some chicken and either water or coconut milk.

Combine that with basmati from a rice cooker, and you've got restaurant quality food for 3 minutes of work, and some waiting

Bonus- your entire house now smells like curry 🤤

I like pouring baked beans over French fries. I put apple sauce on top of I have any. Slightly less lazy I'll make Mac n cheese instead of fries, but fries cook on their own.

Minute rice, yogurt and sweet chilli sauce mixed together.

Some broccoli or cauliflower florets steamed in the microwave (salt, pepper, butter, tsp water, in a bowl, covered with a plate, nuc for 2 mins) and draped with a slice of cheese.

Frozen wraps are the bomb. Take seconds to thaw and the possibilities are endless. Put on it whatever, and it is good.

Mac & Cheese with a can of tuna. Usually either Kraft Deluxe or Velveeta Shells and Cheese and usually white/albacore tuna. Sucks that shrinkflation has made the cheese packets watered down so much that it's no longer tons of sticky cheese and that the cans of "solid" tuna are now only mostly solid pieces with added filler. But it is still a decent tasting, simple meal.

Popcorn, whatever fruit I have at home, glass of milk. Comes out to 500+ cal easily.

@toomanypancakes

Least effort: essentially snacks, but somewhat filling and can get the job done
- string cheese (proteiny, and fun to pull apart like you're still a kid. Why can't adults have fun too?)
- cut up fruit
- those seaweed snacks

Toast or a toasted bagle / english muffin with peanut butter on it.

Toasted bagel with cream cheese, a canned protein, like salmon or smoked oysters, and capers. Super easy, and it also feels fancy. It's helped me out of a rut on more than one occasion

One can of no beans Hormel chili, one can of black beans, rinsed and (somewhat) dried. Mix in a big bowl, microwave until hot, add sour cream and shredded cheese, and use it like dip with tortilla chips. If you're good at rinsing the beans, and your microwave doesn't suck, you can have this ready in 5 minutes. And the only dirty dishes to deal with are a single large bowl, and a spoon.

Another thing I tend to eat a lot when I get home from work in the morning and don't want to do anything, is literally just a bunch a wheat thins, a block of pre-sliced sarento cheddar cheese, and a container of sliced pepperoni from the deli. Takes like 2 minutes to grab those while I'm waiting for the bus home from work. Fuck ton of sodium, though. Same with the chili, I guess.

Can of soup.

Redbul. Or Alcohol.

if "prepping something beforehand" and "throwing stuff in a pan and just let it sit for a couple minutes untouched" is still fine:

I've been doing big batches of japanese Gyoza in the last couple weeks.

I make a whole kilo of them beforehand, freeze them and just put them in a pan for a couple minutes when I want a quick dinner.

I love gyoza. prepping them takes a bit of fiddling around, but once ready, they hold for a while in the freezer

Bread or cereal

Avocado toast or peanut butter toast. I guess technically there is some sort of cooking involved there but it is minimal...

Bread.

I only cook if there is someone else in the house who needs to eat. My meals are either family meals or leftovers, toast, cereal, toaster waffles. Occasionally a cheese quesadilla.

Or, more commonly, nothing. Unfortunately, there arent many "lazy" meals I could use to feed the whole family, which I am obligated to do at least twice a day, most days. Sometimes I can get away with re-using leftovers as the foundation of a new meal.