Changed jobs recently and been working a lot to make up the difference. My usually go to, if not Uber or conbini, is cookdo (if I have time to fry everything up), gyoza, or just the pasta/curry boil packets.
Any other things? Anyone know any grab and go breakfast options?
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Overnight Oats.
You put some oats, some milk in a tupperware box, leave it overnight and boom there you go.
You can put stuff like fruit, chia seeds, protein powder, yoghurt or peanut butter in it, basically just whatever you want within reason.
I eat them sometimes 5 times a week, the cost is very low.
Peanut butter sandwich and a banana.
Fried egg and cheese sandwich, with tomato and lettuce if I have energy to cut it up.
Cheese sandwich or grilled cheese. Ready to eat salad in a bag and instant soup.
Sandwich made with ham or roast beef slices bought at the store.
Most mornings I have bread with some jam and a coffee made with coffee base and milk.
Basically, I always keep bread in the house because I can throw a variety of things on it to make meals that look similar but taste different and are easy to make.
Make five or six cups of rice on Sunday, divide it into single serving sizes, wrap each serving in plastic wrap, and put them into the fridge. Microwave each day and eat with (or mixed with) miso soup.
Roi Thai curry boxes. Just chop some veggies and it’s done
Oyakodon is really quick to make
Hard boiled eggs
Scrambled eggs and peanut butter
If your main goal is quick and cheap foods, what I did was prepare rice then get those microwavable frozen foods.
Hamburg/Karaage/Spring rolls + cherry tomatoes/cucumber + frozen vegetable pack
This was what I did before when I was lazy to cook and wanted to eat cheap.
Oats, it’s my go-to, either overnight or a quick blast in the microwave. Add cinnamon, banana and some maple syrup. Perfect breakfast to start the day and since oats are slow-release energy, it will keep you full for 12hrs.
I’ve worked out this meal costs less than ¥200 per day.
Stay away from the combini stuff, cost vs healthy calorie ratio is just not there. Find the cheap local veg market in your area, stock up once a week on your preferred fruit and veg.
Seijo Ishii – great lunch meals, pastries for breakfast
Crisp Salad Works – order via app and pickup
Udon + miso. Done 👌🏾
Huel: shake and drink, done. Not very tasty. But healthy.
Base Food: Eat some Base Food bread, done. Not very tasty. But healthy. (Edit to make it clear: I’m referring to Base Food bread, which is nutritionally complete “fake” bread, similar to Huel).
Sukiya: quick, cheap, and some menu items are very nutritious. Plus it’s tasty. I have no idea how they can keep it that cheap. Breakfast is also really good for 420 yen (used to be 380 until a couple of months ago…)
I personally meal prep on the weekends.
I season and freeze chicken and fish, so I can just defrost it as I need, pop it on the air fryer and have fresh cooked meal in 20 min. A side salad and it works for me👍🏻
Don’t forget fibre. Your colon will thank you later in life. I usually get Yellowtail off cuts for about ¥380, 500g for head and bones I think. I steam it with cabbage, bean sprouts, mushrooms, and onions. With packet of かつおぶし and a little soy for flavor. I also add some Muay Thai sauce I get from Kaldi, for a delicious flavour after reheating before eating. It’s good enough for a few days. I also premake small portions (baby’s arm size lol) of brown rice and freeze them if I really need carbs.
I go to the closest grocery store an hour before closing and stock up on half price meals for the following day
Hey friend. If you’re a full zombie in the morning like me, getting a cheap breakfast on the morning commute is essential.
I suggest hitting up なか卯(Nakau). They’re open around 7am, they’re everywhere, and best of all, they have a fairly solid (and cost effective) breakfast selection.
Another place for a cheap, brainless breakfast (with a drink bar??) is surprisingly Gusto. Come for the egg and toast, stay for the ambiance.
And of course, Yoshinoya has a breakfast set, the lowest price being under 400 yen, I think. On more than one occasion I have zombie stomped myself there & hit up the JR in no time.
You can make your food at home for less, of course, but yes. Enjoy.
I do a lot of crack an egg into rice with some soy sauce or pour green tea over rice, maybe with salmon. Also I’ll just put some soy sauce and green onions over tofu and eat it with rice. I’m also a major natto eater myself. My boyfriend will cook mapo tofu because he can buy the premade packs at the super market and it’s super cheap with tofu and rice, but I’m personally too lazy for even that. 🤣
Breakfast – Banana and Yogurt
Lunch – 200 yen School lunch
Dinner – Pasta, Kimchi Rice, Curry (which you can have with potatoes to “spice” things up a bit) or Yakisoba with salad and purin.
Remember veg is cheap, don’t skip it. Good luck!
Stir fried vegs, add eggs and sliced aburaage/atsuage for proteins. To save time, buy precut vegs and aburaage.
Pre-cut vegetable for 野菜炒め is 100 yen a packet, one egg is 30 yen, one pack of sliced aburaage is 80 yen. Seasonings: One teaspoon ウェイパー, a dash of oyster sauce, pinch of sugar and finish with sesame oil. Usually done in under 10 minutes, makes two or three servings. Serve with rice.
Including rice (cooked or microwave, cooked is cheaper) it’s less than 300 yen a serving.
I liked going to the supaa late at night so I can get all the bento half off or for really cheap.
Get yourself an air fryer, magic salt, and some chicken breasts. Cut the chicken breasts in half, one half + some rice = lunch. One pack of 2 breasts is like 400 yen! That’s 100 yen per meal + rice cost!
Lunch these days I have a Costco hummus cup, cucumber and carrot sticks to dip, salad chicken and some cheese. Very quick to make in the morning. Just cut up the veges. Try to bring at least some semblance of decent eating to my life (yes, yes, salad chicken, I know, but it’s a trade off between convenience and slight shittiness and salt).
I can barely do conbeni or even supermarket bentos any more. They depress me more than a can of baked beans, which is easier, cheaper and healthier.
Yoghurt pot for breakfast
I meal prep a bunch of chicken breast with some sauce, some veggies from a mix bag of vegetables and microwave rice. Usually a 300 yen pack of chicken lasts about 3 days.
Depending on the day, dinner is something from a Konbini or some kind of meat, veg or noodles quickly pan fried with sauce. Nothing fancy but I get more veggies, protein and carbs
Those readymade curry bags are awesome.
The cheap ones are like ¥80 and taste decent. There are tons of fancier options around ¥300 / ¥400 such as thai red curry, butter chicken, keema, cheese curry, massaman, etc.
This + a pack of microwave rice = ¥200 meal. Ready in 2 minutes, decently tasty and decently healthy.
Mapo tofu is my favorite cheap and quick dinner. Buy minced meat in bulk when it’s cheap, portion it and freeze for later. Fry the meat, add the sauce, add tofu, and you’re done. Buy the big wholesale size bottles of sauce to save some money.
Cup noodle, cup noodle, strong zero.
You can mix up the order a bit for variety.
Strong zero
Onigiri
Protein bread
Natto for breakfast, protein shake with chia seeds for lunch, and I use a frozen meal delivery service (nosh, not super cheap but reasonable and fast. too much sodium, though) and some extra veggies for dinner.
Boring answer but imo onigiri is the perfect breakfast.
Instant curry, I basically live on it those weeks when I’m feeling run down. My fav is S&B and if I want I put some frozen vegetables in to bulk it up. I also love the pre portioned rice packs for low energy days, but they’re prolly not the most cost effective. Honestly a rice cooker with a timer was a game changer bc I can set it way ahead of time and it’s ready when I wake up or get home and don’t have to worry about it.
For lunch I often make a rolled omelet and slap that in a sandwich with condiments or choice and a tomato slice if I’m feeling energetic lol.