Eating Lazy, Cheap, and Healthy-ish

Canned Beans

In terms of food that could be considered a "cheat code," canned beans are my choice for the very top of the list. 

Technically edible straight out of the can (but recommended to rinse and heat them), a decent source of protein and fiber, multiple servings per can, and goes on pretty much any dish. Can be put into soups, burritos, salads, on rice, and will basically always work. There's also a ton of bean varieties, so I think there's a high likelihood you could find one that tastes good to you! My current favorite are chickpeas, they just have a very nice neutral taste that go with everything, but I also recommend black and pinto beans.

There are a few caveats, though. First of all, unlike some other things on this list, it's generally not something to be eaten by itself! It certainly can be, but I doubt it would taste very good.

Second, there are tons of canned beans that will add a ton of other stuff that makes it a lot less healthy. Most will have high sodium (this is why you rinse them, to reduce the salt that comes from the liquid), and something like canned baked beans will have an entire list of ingredients, like added sugar. Generally, you should look for canned beans with just ingredients like "beans, water, salt," otherwise it loses a lot of the health benefits.

Raisins

I think raisins taste great and are a great snack! Straight out of the box, they can be eaten by themselves, added to basically anything (e.g. salads, oatmeal, baked goods, etc.), are sweet, and have pretty decent nutrition, including fiber and potassium. I've tried a lot of dried and preserved fruits (even stuff like freeze-dried mangoes) but I have not found a single thing even close to the consistent tastiness and versatility of raisins.

The main caveats are the high amounts of sugar (which are NOT usually from added sugar, but I know this can still be a problem for some people), even if it does make it tasty, and the chances of added oil. Multiple brands will add oil to their raisins to make them less sticky, which makes it more convenient to eat them, but they're usually unhealthy vegetable oils. So, I recommend finding the brands that only have raisins in the ingredients list.

Bananas

In terms of easy healthy snacks that are relatively filling, bananas are up there. Super cheap, can be put into tons of recipes if you want to put in the effort, and have a pretty good nutritional spread (comparable to raisins -- good source of fiber and vitamins, but has a bit of sugar). 

Sardines

I LOVE sardines. Lots of people might not like the taste, but if you can handle it, it's a great source of protein from something cheap and with a great shelf life. The exact nutritional value might depend on what it's canned with -- try to stick with healthier oils (which make it taste nicer), or just get sardines in water and/or salt. However, they might lean on the higher end of sodium either way.

The main drawback of sardines (other than the taste) is the fact that they don't really go with everything. Technically you can eat them straight of the can, but I usually eat them with rice, sometimes with a bit of mayo. While a lot of other proteins can be tossed on pretty much anything, I would be very hard-pressed to eat something like sardines with pasta. I've also tried a few other canned fish like tuna, but I got tired of them pretty quickly.

Canned Veggies

Canned veggies can technically be eaten straight out the can, but they usually don't taste amazing even if they're cooked. I would actually recommend frozen veggies more, but they would belong in a later section since they need to be heated. I'm not having a separate section for frozen veggies though, so I'll just compile my thoughts here.

Veggies are WAY cheaper than I expected, and from my quick research, it's not too complicated to find canned/frozen veggies that still hold a decent amount of the nutritional value. For canned veggies, I usually look for things like corn/carrots/peas/green beans, while for frozen veggies I usually look for stuff like broccoli/cauliflower. These can be tossed with basically any protein for a well-rounded meal! Just make sure to look through the ingredient list, because canned veggies will often have a lot of sodium or preservatives or sweeteners added, which can make the nutritional value considerably worse. Still, a great way to have easy access to veggies at any time, in my opinion.

Bread

Do NOT bother with sliced bread. They'll have a much longer shelf life, but are super processed and not very healthy at all. I generally look for bread labelled as French Bread (though I'll also give a shout-out to sourdough, even if I haven't had it much), and it's a TON of bread for very little money. If you're worried about shelf life, pretty much any bread can be frozen just fine, and cooked in a microwave or toaster without thawing.

Bread generally does not have very impressive nutritional value (though from my understanding it's pretty much just empty calories at absolute worst), and will usually be for being paired with other food on this list. It's notable for being one of the few types of carbs that don't require any preparation whatsoever when bought (as opposed to e.g. rice, pasta, etc.), if you possibly group things like naan and tortillas with it. As for myself, I usually just eat bread as a snack between meals, but it's a very nice snack with jam or peanut butter, even if their nutritional values aren't incredibly impressive either.

Tofu

I've been very impressed by tofu. It's technically a processed food, but seems surprisingly nutrient-dense and lacks stuff like cholesterol that's common in other sources of protein. I also expected it to be a lot more expensive due to its reputation as a common vegetarian option, but prices tend to actually be very low.

The downsides are that it's only technically edible out of the box (NOT very tasty, I recommend cooking it in a pan or something) and the fact that it tastes very plain by itself, usually requiring some type of sauce to go with it. However, if you can work with it and find yourself enjoying it, it's a very versatile food that works with a ton of dishes and cooking methods.

Cereal

Most cereal is full of sugar and other unhealthy ingredients, but some of them can be a decent source of fiber and other things. You'll have to do lots of reading, but it'll generally be the ones focused on grains. Cereal can store for pretty decently long with several servings in a box, and you just need to throw milk on it to eat (which depending on your tastes, isn't even required!). It's been a comfortable between-meal thing for me. Can't say no to Panda Puffs, after all...

Sausages

Sausages are not quite the pinnacle of healthy food, but I've been pretty impressed by how decent some of them are in terms of ingredients. The main reason I buy them is the taste and convenience of preparation as a protein, though -- while sausages generally taste better when cooked on a pan, some of them have microwave instructions and taste decent when cooked in one, so they get to be in this tier.

However, this will take a good bit of checking ingredients. Many sausages will be full of salt, preservatives, and a ton of other weird ingredients to improve taste or shelf life, so be sure to do some thorough searching when you're at the grocery store. The picture above (Applegate's breakfast sausage) is probably my favorite one so far, which can easily and quickly be microwaved from frozen and has a very minimal ingredients list.

Oatmeal

Lots of oats and oatmeal can be prepared simply by throwing water on it and putting it into the microwave. Oats have a lot of health benefits, though a lot of instant oatmeal will have tons of sugar added to make it taste better. I eat them anyway, but if you want to be able to stand plain oatmeal, you have a ton of options for stuff to throw into it, like the previously mentioned bananas/raisins, or sweeteners like honey.

Tea and Coffee

Most people need caffeine in one way or another, and tea (I mainly get tea bags) and coffee (I've only bought instant coffee) can go for very cheap. Both have a sizable list of health benefits and are worth mentioning for that alone, while only really requiring hot water which kettles are convenient for. 

There aren't that many drinks I can fully recommend (maaany drinks in America are full of added sugar), but tea is wonderful and not all versions have caffeine.

Rice

Similar to bread, white rice does not have a super impressive nutritional profile, but it's way too versatile to even remotely consider leaving off my list. Want to get a full meal? Throw beans on the rice. Throw veggies on the rice. Throw canned sardines on the rice. You can throw basically any protein and veggie on rice, and it'll work and taste great. 

I personally prefer short grain rice, and there's definitely types of rice that can be microwaved (which allows this to be moved up a tier), but since I haven't experimented/read much into them, I'm keeping them here for now. They can be cooked on a stove, but I use a rice cooker which I find easier and more convenient -- cleaning the inside only requires a quick wipe-down, or it can usually be put into a dishwasher too. 

Salmon

I think salmon is usually seen as a relatively fancy fish, but since there's multiple types (with some cheaper than others), you can actually get salmon for a decent price. Since it's more work than I usually have energy for, I generally get them frozen in larger sizes and cook them in the oven all at once, before refrigerating the leftovers. I also don't cook them in any way fancy -- just covering it in some oil, tossing salt on top, and putting it in until it's done. Compared to some other meats, salmon is very easy to tell if it's done: if it flakes apart easily and doesn't have raw, soft pink-ish meat in the center, then it should be done. I've never had to measure the temperature myself.

Technically, salmon should be able to be microwaved, but I would not recommend it, especially if it's frozen.