What to cook when you don't know what to cook
A worked example with a box of eggs and three real recipes, from a 30-minute pasta to a kedgeree for five.
By The Scullery team · Written
When you don't know what to cook, a list of thirty dinner ideas rarely helps. It gives you more to choose from when the problem is choosing. Make the field smaller instead: start with what you already like, then one ingredient, then three recipes you can compare side by side.
Start with what you already like
Look at your own recipes before anyone else's. A favourite is a safe answer, and it costs no reading. If you keep a list of things to try, look there next; those recipes were saved by someone in the house who wanted them.
In Scullery, the library search has Favourites and To try filters. If one of them gives you a dinner, you're done.
Then pick one ingredient
If nothing appeals, choose the ingredient that most needs a purpose. It might be the end of a box of eggs, half a bag of spinach or a pack of mince that's on its date. One ingredient turns "anything" into a question you can search.
A worked example with eggs
Say you have six eggs and not much of a plan. Here are three recipes from our discovery pages that use them, and they show how different "something with eggs" can be:
- Pasta Carbonara (from Tastes Better From Scratch): 30 minutes, serves two. It uses one egg and two yolks, with pecorino and pancetta or bacon.
- Crustless Quiche, Ham and Cheese (from RecipeTin Eats): 40 minutes, serves six. Five eggs, cream, ham and a cup of grated cheese.
- Kedgeree (from RecipeTin Eats): 45 minutes, serves five. Three hard-boiled eggs, smoked haddock or cod, rice and curry powder.
Now compare them on the things that matter tonight. For two people on a weeknight, the carbonara is quickest and already serves two. The quiche makes leftovers for lunch. The kedgeree feeds a family but needs smoked fish, so it suits a day when someone is passing the fishmonger or the supermarket counter.
The recipes didn't change; the question did. Each page keeps its original source and shows the ingredients, so you can judge it before saving a copy.
Then shortlist and choose
Three candidates is enough. Put them in front of whoever is eating, ask which they'd have, and let the cook decide. In Scullery, save a copy of any discovery recipe you want, add the three to the household Shortlist, and everyone can say yes before someone picks. How to decide what to cook for dinner sets out that step, and Start where you are explains why we begin with the kitchen you have.
If the problem is that nothing sounds good, rather than having no ideas, read can't decide what to eat for dinner?
Common questions
What should I cook when I have no ideas?
Start with something you already know you like, or a recipe you saved to try and never made. If neither helps, pick one ingredient that needs using and find three recipes built around it.
How do I stop scrolling recipes for ages?
Give yourself a number. Stop when you have three candidates, then compare them on time, servings and what you would need to buy.
What can I make with eggs for dinner?
Plenty: carbonara, a crustless quiche, kedgeree, an omelette or a frittata. Which suits tonight depends on how many are eating and what else is in the fridge.
Keep the recipes you like in one place
Scullery is free. Save recipes from anywhere, keep a To try shelf and put three on a shared shortlist when nobody has an idea.
