These Are the Best Cheap and Easy No-Cook Foods, According to Reddit.
Maybe you live in a hotel room without a microwave for a while. Or maybe you’re spending the day somewhere where you can’t easily buy takeaway food, but there’s a grocery store nearby where you can have lunch and snacks. What are your best bets? This question has come up a few times on our favorite Reddit thread, r/EatCheapandHealthy , and here are some of their suggestions. I’ll add a few of mine along the way.
Whole fruits and vegetables
Bananas, oranges, and apples can be eaten fresh and will keep for a while at room temperature (at least a few days). Peaches, apricots, berries, grapes, and kiwis require a little more attention to maturity and are best stored in the refrigerator, but they are still a great option.
Many vegetables can also be eaten raw: peppers, cherry tomatoes, green peas, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and celery are all classic vegetable trays. The only problem is that the most delicious sauces need to be refrigerated. If you polish the sauce container in place, no problem. Otherwise, consider peanut butter, or just eat it plain.
Nut oils
If you have peanut butter and something to smear it on, you are a golden man. My husband and I had trouble getting affordable food on our honeymoon (we were in a country where restaurant food was expensive) until we thought about going to the grocery store and getting a loaf of bread and a can of peanut butter.
Peanut butter is also a staple of food aid programs that provide low-income children with meals they can cook and eat themselves without the help of a kitchen or adults. Spread this peanut butter on bread, crackers, bagels, muffins, apple slices, bananas, or be a rebel and eat it with a spoon. If you don’t have a refrigerator to store a jar of jam, take some honey – it will last for a year without a refrigerator .
Besides peanut butter, don’t forget that you can buy almond and cashew butter, or even sunflower seed oil if you can’t eat nuts.
Salad in bags
This is another way to eat instantly, and several Reddit users have confessed that they have been known to eat a salad set straight out of a bag. Just pour the dressing and filling right in there and add some tuna, tofu, or other protein source if you like.
Food bags
In addition to the obvious tuna bags, there are often shelf-stable bags containing ready-to-eat foods such as lentils, beans, and rice. They are often meant to be microwaved or simmered in a pot of water, but check the labels – many of them are safe to eat without any preparation. If you don’t like full spoonfuls of warm lentil stew, try scooping it up with slices of bread.
canned food
The canned food is already cooked, so if you don’t mind eating it at room temperature, you have plenty of options. Try a three-bean salad or a corn and bean salsa , or make your own cold salad with vegetables of your choice and store-bought dressing.
Cheeses and cured meats
Why not make yourself a small cutting board ? Hard cheeses, cured meats like pepperoni, and many types of pickles stay edible for a long time at room temperature—which is why they were invented in the first place. Officially, hard cheeses should not be kept out of the refrigerator for more than four hours, but some cheeses may last longer . If it starts to look disgusting, throw it away.
trail mix
Continuing the theme of using shelf-stable foods for their original purpose, Trail Mix is another genius product that, frankly, we could all be eating more of. Typically made with nuts and dried fruit, trail mix keeps for months in an airtight bag, contains decent amounts of vitamins and fiber, and doesn’t require refrigeration or cooking. If you’re really short on cash, you can buy two raw ingredients and make the cheapest and most classic blend: GORP (good old raisins and peanuts).