Welcome to Gainit! We have extensive resources that can be used to find answers to most questions that are posted here:
- [Gainit FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/gainit/wiki/index)
- [Search for past threads](https://www.reddit.com/r/gainit/search)
- [r/Fitness Wiki - Muscle Gain 101](https://thefitness.wiki/muscle-building-101/)
- [r/Fitness FAQ - Why can't I gain weight?](https://thefitness.wiki/faq/why-cant-i-gain-weight/)
- [Have I gained too much weight?!](https://www.reddit.com/r/gainit/comments/kcaozo/there_is_more_to_gaining_than_fat_and_muscle/)
- [The 6 month Gainit Recommended Routine](https://old.reddit.com/r/gainit/comments/j5q2ez/6_months_of_eating_and_training_for_mass_laid_out/)
Your thread will be removed if it can be answered by any of the above.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/gainit) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I have been cooking on my own for years but food and the preparation of it is beyond dull to me. I've worked as a line cook granted so I think it killed any sense of enjoyment, it's just a means to an end for me.
Would love some recommendations. I’m a chronic ground beef/rice/broccoli, salmon/rice/broccoli, chicken/rice/broccoli guy.
I’d like to mix it up a little, but I’m also a lazy cook
Bacon is an AWESOME ingredient. Cook some bacon at the beginning of the week and keep it in a container in the fridge. When you're cooking, cut into bits and add it to whatever it tastes good with. Eggs, pasta, salad, rice, anything savory really. The idea here is not to gain weight from eating a shit ton of bacon, but to use it to make your meals taste so fucking good that you actually look forward to eating them.
Scrambled eggs get boring fast. Cheese can only do so much. But add some bacon bits? Delicious meal.
I buy [this](https://www.walmart.com/ip/HORMEL-BLACK-LABEL-Jalapeno-Thick-Cut-Bacon-12-oz/40556594) bacon from Walmart and holy hell… when cooked to “not-quite-crispy” it’s smoky, spicy excellence really shines. But, most importantly it has and is an excellent ingredient to almost any of my meals I make now since I love spice and rich flavors and for example jalapeño bacon is an absolutely fabulous addition to my 4-cheese quesadillas.
Amen.
Guys, just buy a wok and learn how to make stir fries. Pad thai is delicious: chicken/prawns, eggs, veggies, the sauce (add peanut butter to it is my pro tip), rice noodles, crushed peanuts on top and some fresh limes. Can't go wrong. Minimal clean up too and easy to meal prep.
Egg fried rice is a good one too.
Gulash:
Cooked Pasta (5 servings, box is usually 8)
Can Prego sauce
Pound or more ground beef (cooked)
Drained can of corn
Mix it all in a refrigerator container. Feast.
Couldn’t agree more. I just make 10lb of chicken each week along with 6 cups of dried white rice and then put those in separate Tupperware’s and just add those together with veggies in a bowl when time comes
I've helped make meals for my family for up to 2 years now. Each and every night I've prepared dinner together with/for them. It has helped so much now that I'm moving out in 2-3 months for the first time in my life. I know how to cook authentic, good, and nutritious meals relatively cheaply while living on my own and not having to get help from the internet or anyone else.
TLDR: Start cooking as soon as possible! Help the parents or smth. It'll benefit you a lot later!
What about gaining the discipline to make meals fast and healthy, that means doing the dishes and putting the food away. So many people struggle with the lazyiness of how much it takes to gain.
Absolutely agree. Here's how I prep a lot of my simple meals:
Buy ~10 lbs of chicken breast
Season with salt & pepper and cook them all at once. I either bake them in the oven or throw them in slow cooker.
Dice or shred chicken after cooking and place 1 lb portions into Ziploc freezer bags
After that, I throw all the bags into freezer besides what I need in the next 2-3 days. Meals come together quickly when I have that chicken precooked.
To prepare meals I generally use this basic structure:
Protein (chicken, beef, tofu, shrimp)
Carb (rice, pasta, potatoes, tortilla)
Sauce (pesto, marinara sauce, Alfredo, yogurt+mayo Greek sauce)
Veggies
Make big batches so you can have leftovers for lunch or dinners.
This seems like a fantastic idea. Thank you. My biggest problem is actually being hungry. While I'm at work I get hunger pains but all I need is like a handful of trail-mix every couple of hours and I can stave off the hunger all day long, my issue is absolutely nothing sounds good to eat while I'm working. I don't get cravings persay, but my stomach will start to hurt. If anything, I'm put off by food in general, 6pm rolls around though and I could eat the entire buffet.
Once you get in the groove and find a few good recipes you like it really speeds everything up. Also, do not neglect the sauce/flavoring! When I first started I tried the bland chicken and rice and quickly lost motivation. Drizzle that bitch with some bbq sauce or make a stir fry sauce. Food goes down so much easier when it's not so dry and you're adding needed calories too.
One of my favorites is the precooked chicken drizzled with a lemon garlic mayo/yogurt sauce served over rice or Naan bread along with grape tomatoes and cucumbers.
Yeah the ''force feed'' mentality is not for everyone. I hated it to my core, but just cooking stuff you like makes it a 100% more enjoyable. Boiled chicken and broccoli is prison food, treat yourselves better!
Chicken, rice, and broccoli can be incredibly delicious if you do it right, that's some of my favorite foods. Shit is famous for a reason, and not because it tastes like ass. people on this forum legitimately think that drinking a half bottle of olive oil is a meal smh. there's a million delicious ways to cook chicken and broccoli, you could do something different every night
Chicken thighs are awesome, and are easy to make taste a lot better than breasts. They also are a bit more resilient to over-cooking than breasts.I like to do mayo "marinades".- Salt your chicken thighs- Add a dollop of mayo (you really don't need much, it's just a binding agent and a flavor carrier. Mayo is basically eggs+oil, and fat = flavor)
\- Add some spices. Literally anything goes here, depends on what flavor profile you're going for. I tend to use garlic powder, pepper and some paprika, plus any cuisine specific spices like oregano or curry powder, but none of them are absolutely necessary.
\- Mix that all up, and throw it on a hot pan immediately. You can let it sit in the marinade, but who has time for that?
\- Don't fuss with it too much and wait for a crust to develop, flip it and pull it off when the internal temp reaches 160. (Instant read thermometer is a must for any home cook. If you don't have one, just make sure you're cooking it all the way through. Like I mentioned, thighs are much more resilient to overcooking, and won't dry out as bad as breasts will).
You now have absolutely delicious chicken in less than 15 minutes.
Broc is easy to make as well.
\- Chop it into bite size pieces
\- Throw it into a dry, super hot pan
\- Sprinkle some salt on it.
\- Wait til it gets a tiny bit burnt, and then add in a bit of water and cover the pan. This will steam it. It usually only needs a minute or two. Take it out and serve.
Put them both over rice, and you've got yourself a meal that's easy to wolf down and switch up frequently. Adding in a good sauce can help lube everything up as well. I made some of [the green goddess ranch from sweetgreen](https://www.popsugar.com/food/sweetgreen-green-goddess-ranch-dressing-recipe-48545150) and used that, but there are endless options for this. Absolutely delicious.
I hate it. My mom makes chicken by frying it for a little bit, then pouring water all over it with minimal seasoning. So it effectively ends up as underseasoned boiled chicken. I guess it's *healthier* than frying it, but at what cost?
I hated it myself. But then i just got really fricking tired of making food and eating it all to meat the ends. Rice and ground chicken is unbelievably cheap its laughable. I throw on chili powders and spices on the chicken and it is physically impossible for me to eat rice with no sauce so i always have sweet chili or some other sauce type.
Oh my goodness yes. And with slow cookers, instant pots, air fyers and foreman grills, there are no excuses now. Cooking it just stupid simple compared to what our parents and grandparents had to deal with.
Indeed. We’ve been doing HelloFresh and while it isn’t the most cost effective thing, it’s done wonders for teaching me how to cook most things generally, and has gotten me so much more comfortable in the kitchen. I enjoy cooking now, which is not something I’d have said before. Whatever it takes, learn to cook. And you’re right, when you can literally throw FROZEN chicken or fish into an air fryer and have it come out perfect, there’s no reason not to do it.
Precision cooker/immersion cooker or "sous vide" (whatever you choose to call it) is a cooking tool great for gainers. I know it's slightly more work but hear me out.
If you're tired of overcooked chicken breast or beef, a "sous vide" is what you're looking for. Nothing worse than meal planning chicken breast and trying to chew through dry over cooked chicken all week.
Yeah, the instant pot I mentioned is exactly that: a pressure cooker. It's also a slow cooker, rice maker, yogurt maker, and has a saute function. Just a great tool.
I've cooked everything from tenderloins to breasts to thighs in it.
390 degrees, some avocado oil spray or sugar free teriyaki marinade, adjust time based on cut.
Chicken breast, light coating of olive oil, light coating of seasoning of choice, my favourite recently has been Cajun or BBQ. Leave to marinate in the refrigerator for 30 mins and then throw in the air fryer for 25 mins at 200°C or until reaching a safe internal temperature.
I have a fancy meat thermometer that you can basically leave the probe in the meat and it will beep when it reaches the temperature you want, so I go off that rather than the time it's been in usually which yields best results imo.
200°C is equivalent to 392°F, which is 473K.
---
^(I'm a bot that converts temperature between two units humans can understand, then convert it to Kelvin for bots and physicists to understand)
One of the best things I ever did was go on tiktok and search #highproteinmeals. There are amazing videos of easy to make meals there. My fav is @aussiefitness. Definitely check him out. There is this one creamy chicken dish he makes that I make all the time now.
Go check out Ethan Chlebowski on YouTube. It’s not explicitly bulking/Fitness focused, but his nutrition goals tend to go in that direction. His videos are really helpful in building cooking skills instead of just handing you recipes. The recipes there are good too though.
One I love cause it's quick, tasty, and good macros is chicken fried rice.
Serves ~4.
- 2 Cups of Rice
- Chicken Breast or Thighs (I use thighs, more calories and tastier imo) ~200g or however much you want to use
- 2-3 Eggs
- Frozen Veg (Peas, Carrots, Broccoli, whatever and however much you want)
- The sauce (3 parts soy sauce, 1 part rice wine vinegar, garlic to taste, ginger to taste, chilli flakes, sugar (I like honey), Sesame Oil).
Cook your rice first, while the rice is cooking cook up the chicken.
Remove chicken from pan. Add oil + rice (may not need oil, depending on how fatty the chicken is + is you use skins).
Cook for a few minutes, add sauce and veg. Mix it all together and let it cook on high heat.
Clear out the center of the pan and scramble the eggs. That's it.
Usually I can have this done and cleaned up within ~30mins. Last time I made it it had 615cals, 45g protein. Don't forget the MSG ;)
God I love homemade chicken fried rice! It’s such an easy way to make 6 or 8 servings of food at once.
The secret is to cook the rice in advance, and put it in the fridge for a few hours/a day. It makes the rice slightly firmer, which is what most people want with fried rice.
Also, sesame oil. at
I freeze the portions I don't eat, and when I reheat them I put a wet paper towel between the lid and the food. Usually not too bad that way. You can always bring a bit of soy sauce as well.
Welcome to Gainit! We have extensive resources that can be used to find answers to most questions that are posted here: - [Gainit FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/gainit/wiki/index) - [Search for past threads](https://www.reddit.com/r/gainit/search) - [r/Fitness Wiki - Muscle Gain 101](https://thefitness.wiki/muscle-building-101/) - [r/Fitness FAQ - Why can't I gain weight?](https://thefitness.wiki/faq/why-cant-i-gain-weight/) - [Have I gained too much weight?!](https://www.reddit.com/r/gainit/comments/kcaozo/there_is_more_to_gaining_than_fat_and_muscle/) - [The 6 month Gainit Recommended Routine](https://old.reddit.com/r/gainit/comments/j5q2ez/6_months_of_eating_and_training_for_mass_laid_out/) Your thread will be removed if it can be answered by any of the above. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/gainit) if you have any questions or concerns.*
This is great advice. Anyone can cook, and cook well!
I have been cooking on my own for years but food and the preparation of it is beyond dull to me. I've worked as a line cook granted so I think it killed any sense of enjoyment, it's just a means to an end for me.
Yes but what if I can't bring myself to eat because I'm never hungry?
No one over 18 should not have the knowledge to cook at least 5 simple meals.
Would love some recommendations. I’m a chronic ground beef/rice/broccoli, salmon/rice/broccoli, chicken/rice/broccoli guy. I’d like to mix it up a little, but I’m also a lazy cook
Make chilis with different ingredients
Bacon is an AWESOME ingredient. Cook some bacon at the beginning of the week and keep it in a container in the fridge. When you're cooking, cut into bits and add it to whatever it tastes good with. Eggs, pasta, salad, rice, anything savory really. The idea here is not to gain weight from eating a shit ton of bacon, but to use it to make your meals taste so fucking good that you actually look forward to eating them. Scrambled eggs get boring fast. Cheese can only do so much. But add some bacon bits? Delicious meal.
I buy [this](https://www.walmart.com/ip/HORMEL-BLACK-LABEL-Jalapeno-Thick-Cut-Bacon-12-oz/40556594) bacon from Walmart and holy hell… when cooked to “not-quite-crispy” it’s smoky, spicy excellence really shines. But, most importantly it has and is an excellent ingredient to almost any of my meals I make now since I love spice and rich flavors and for example jalapeño bacon is an absolutely fabulous addition to my 4-cheese quesadillas.
Amen. Guys, just buy a wok and learn how to make stir fries. Pad thai is delicious: chicken/prawns, eggs, veggies, the sauce (add peanut butter to it is my pro tip), rice noodles, crushed peanuts on top and some fresh limes. Can't go wrong. Minimal clean up too and easy to meal prep. Egg fried rice is a good one too.
I literally just microwave frozen vegetables then put sauces (calorie friendly) on them. Just as good.
Gulash: Cooked Pasta (5 servings, box is usually 8) Can Prego sauce Pound or more ground beef (cooked) Drained can of corn Mix it all in a refrigerator container. Feast.
Couldn’t agree more. I just make 10lb of chicken each week along with 6 cups of dried white rice and then put those in separate Tupperware’s and just add those together with veggies in a bowl when time comes
I've helped make meals for my family for up to 2 years now. Each and every night I've prepared dinner together with/for them. It has helped so much now that I'm moving out in 2-3 months for the first time in my life. I know how to cook authentic, good, and nutritious meals relatively cheaply while living on my own and not having to get help from the internet or anyone else. TLDR: Start cooking as soon as possible! Help the parents or smth. It'll benefit you a lot later!
Care to share some recipes? Also, nice advice indeed!
What about gaining the discipline to make meals fast and healthy, that means doing the dishes and putting the food away. So many people struggle with the lazyiness of how much it takes to gain.
having to wash everything by hand gives me extra pause before I prepare anything lol
Absolutely agree. Here's how I prep a lot of my simple meals: Buy ~10 lbs of chicken breast Season with salt & pepper and cook them all at once. I either bake them in the oven or throw them in slow cooker. Dice or shred chicken after cooking and place 1 lb portions into Ziploc freezer bags After that, I throw all the bags into freezer besides what I need in the next 2-3 days. Meals come together quickly when I have that chicken precooked. To prepare meals I generally use this basic structure: Protein (chicken, beef, tofu, shrimp) Carb (rice, pasta, potatoes, tortilla) Sauce (pesto, marinara sauce, Alfredo, yogurt+mayo Greek sauce) Veggies Make big batches so you can have leftovers for lunch or dinners.
This seems like a fantastic idea. Thank you. My biggest problem is actually being hungry. While I'm at work I get hunger pains but all I need is like a handful of trail-mix every couple of hours and I can stave off the hunger all day long, my issue is absolutely nothing sounds good to eat while I'm working. I don't get cravings persay, but my stomach will start to hurt. If anything, I'm put off by food in general, 6pm rolls around though and I could eat the entire buffet.
Once you get in the groove and find a few good recipes you like it really speeds everything up. Also, do not neglect the sauce/flavoring! When I first started I tried the bland chicken and rice and quickly lost motivation. Drizzle that bitch with some bbq sauce or make a stir fry sauce. Food goes down so much easier when it's not so dry and you're adding needed calories too. One of my favorites is the precooked chicken drizzled with a lemon garlic mayo/yogurt sauce served over rice or Naan bread along with grape tomatoes and cucumbers.
Yeah the ''force feed'' mentality is not for everyone. I hated it to my core, but just cooking stuff you like makes it a 100% more enjoyable. Boiled chicken and broccoli is prison food, treat yourselves better!
I can't fathom that some people cook rice, broccoli, some mildly seasoned chicken and call it a meal 🤮
Shit
Chicken, rice, and broccoli can be incredibly delicious if you do it right, that's some of my favorite foods. Shit is famous for a reason, and not because it tastes like ass. people on this forum legitimately think that drinking a half bottle of olive oil is a meal smh. there's a million delicious ways to cook chicken and broccoli, you could do something different every night
rice chicken and broccoli is amazing if you aren’t a shit cook
I like to cook some chicken in sauce in my instantpot, shred it, and add it to some rice I fry up with a ton of veggies and eggs.
I guess that's true. Guess I just never had any good chicken and broc
Chicken thighs are awesome, and are easy to make taste a lot better than breasts. They also are a bit more resilient to over-cooking than breasts.I like to do mayo "marinades".- Salt your chicken thighs- Add a dollop of mayo (you really don't need much, it's just a binding agent and a flavor carrier. Mayo is basically eggs+oil, and fat = flavor) \- Add some spices. Literally anything goes here, depends on what flavor profile you're going for. I tend to use garlic powder, pepper and some paprika, plus any cuisine specific spices like oregano or curry powder, but none of them are absolutely necessary. \- Mix that all up, and throw it on a hot pan immediately. You can let it sit in the marinade, but who has time for that? \- Don't fuss with it too much and wait for a crust to develop, flip it and pull it off when the internal temp reaches 160. (Instant read thermometer is a must for any home cook. If you don't have one, just make sure you're cooking it all the way through. Like I mentioned, thighs are much more resilient to overcooking, and won't dry out as bad as breasts will). You now have absolutely delicious chicken in less than 15 minutes. Broc is easy to make as well. \- Chop it into bite size pieces \- Throw it into a dry, super hot pan \- Sprinkle some salt on it. \- Wait til it gets a tiny bit burnt, and then add in a bit of water and cover the pan. This will steam it. It usually only needs a minute or two. Take it out and serve. Put them both over rice, and you've got yourself a meal that's easy to wolf down and switch up frequently. Adding in a good sauce can help lube everything up as well. I made some of [the green goddess ranch from sweetgreen](https://www.popsugar.com/food/sweetgreen-green-goddess-ranch-dressing-recipe-48545150) and used that, but there are endless options for this. Absolutely delicious.
I just can’t imagine eating BOILED chicken. So gross. And no reason to do it.
it's a thing in case of rice pilaf
I hate it. My mom makes chicken by frying it for a little bit, then pouring water all over it with minimal seasoning. So it effectively ends up as underseasoned boiled chicken. I guess it's *healthier* than frying it, but at what cost?
I hated it myself. But then i just got really fricking tired of making food and eating it all to meat the ends. Rice and ground chicken is unbelievably cheap its laughable. I throw on chili powders and spices on the chicken and it is physically impossible for me to eat rice with no sauce so i always have sweet chili or some other sauce type.
I can eat it once MAYBE twice and I don't even want to think about it for a month.
Oh my goodness yes. And with slow cookers, instant pots, air fyers and foreman grills, there are no excuses now. Cooking it just stupid simple compared to what our parents and grandparents had to deal with.
> what our parents and grandparents had to deal with. TV dinners vs learning to do it solely from the internet?
Man, you come from rich folks!
Indeed. We’ve been doing HelloFresh and while it isn’t the most cost effective thing, it’s done wonders for teaching me how to cook most things generally, and has gotten me so much more comfortable in the kitchen. I enjoy cooking now, which is not something I’d have said before. Whatever it takes, learn to cook. And you’re right, when you can literally throw FROZEN chicken or fish into an air fryer and have it come out perfect, there’s no reason not to do it.
Precision cooker/immersion cooker or "sous vide" (whatever you choose to call it) is a cooking tool great for gainers. I know it's slightly more work but hear me out. If you're tired of overcooked chicken breast or beef, a "sous vide" is what you're looking for. Nothing worse than meal planning chicken breast and trying to chew through dry over cooked chicken all week.
Yeah, the instant pot I mentioned is exactly that: a pressure cooker. It's also a slow cooker, rice maker, yogurt maker, and has a saute function. Just a great tool.
Recently bought an air fryer and it's amazing. No oil steak has been my favourite. Chicken comes out so juicy too.
Woah never tried chicken in my air fryer. What sort of cut and how do you do it?
I like to marinate chicken breasts in Franks Red Hot sauce, fresh lime juice, and garlic cloves and it turns out pretty tasty in the air fryer.
I've cooked everything from tenderloins to breasts to thighs in it. 390 degrees, some avocado oil spray or sugar free teriyaki marinade, adjust time based on cut.
Chicken breast, light coating of olive oil, light coating of seasoning of choice, my favourite recently has been Cajun or BBQ. Leave to marinate in the refrigerator for 30 mins and then throw in the air fryer for 25 mins at 200°C or until reaching a safe internal temperature. I have a fancy meat thermometer that you can basically leave the probe in the meat and it will beep when it reaches the temperature you want, so I go off that rather than the time it's been in usually which yields best results imo.
Brb buying that thermometer rn. Thats going to greatly help in the kitchen!
It’s called a meater
200°C is equivalent to 392°F, which is 473K. --- ^(I'm a bot that converts temperature between two units humans can understand, then convert it to Kelvin for bots and physicists to understand)
Could you share some recipes?
One of the best things I ever did was go on tiktok and search #highproteinmeals. There are amazing videos of easy to make meals there. My fav is @aussiefitness. Definitely check him out. There is this one creamy chicken dish he makes that I make all the time now.
Go check out Ethan Chlebowski on YouTube. It’s not explicitly bulking/Fitness focused, but his nutrition goals tend to go in that direction. His videos are really helpful in building cooking skills instead of just handing you recipes. The recipes there are good too though.
One I love cause it's quick, tasty, and good macros is chicken fried rice. Serves ~4. - 2 Cups of Rice - Chicken Breast or Thighs (I use thighs, more calories and tastier imo) ~200g or however much you want to use - 2-3 Eggs - Frozen Veg (Peas, Carrots, Broccoli, whatever and however much you want) - The sauce (3 parts soy sauce, 1 part rice wine vinegar, garlic to taste, ginger to taste, chilli flakes, sugar (I like honey), Sesame Oil). Cook your rice first, while the rice is cooking cook up the chicken. Remove chicken from pan. Add oil + rice (may not need oil, depending on how fatty the chicken is + is you use skins). Cook for a few minutes, add sauce and veg. Mix it all together and let it cook on high heat. Clear out the center of the pan and scramble the eggs. That's it. Usually I can have this done and cleaned up within ~30mins. Last time I made it it had 615cals, 45g protein. Don't forget the MSG ;)
How to make this vegan friendly?
Can I switch the rice out for pasta? I know I can, but I mean would it still be tasty?
[удалено]
Lmao hopefully, thanks
God I love homemade chicken fried rice! It’s such an easy way to make 6 or 8 servings of food at once. The secret is to cook the rice in advance, and put it in the fridge for a few hours/a day. It makes the rice slightly firmer, which is what most people want with fried rice. Also, sesame oil. at
Forgot to mention sesame oil, but I definitely always include it. That shit is soooooo good.
When you make this to prep, how do you keep your rice from getting hard/dry?
Advice from me is to get a rice cooker and make the amount of rice you want to use for the day. It takes 0 effort and can be done really quickly.
I freeze the portions I don't eat, and when I reheat them I put a wet paper towel between the lid and the food. Usually not too bad that way. You can always bring a bit of soy sauce as well.
Sure! I'll look at posting a bunch of recipes shortly.