Beat food fatigue: Small changes to elevate your weeknight dinners

Spag bol is a fixture in most people's weekly dinner routine - but if you're ready to zhuzh things up, read on. Photo / 123rf

There’s a moment, usually around late August, when it hits: the food fatigue. It’s cold, it’s dark and somehow you’ve cooked the same four meals on loop for the past six weeks. The usual solutions – try a new recipe, try a meal plan, buy a new cookbook – feel too ambitious. You want something easier. Something that doesn’t involve reinventing dinner, but nudging it out of autopilot.

Here’s the good news: you don’t need a whole new repertoire. A few small switches – a different base, a new sauce, a fresh topping – can lift you out of the rut without requiring more effort, money or mental load.

This is your guide to refreshing dinner at the end of winter, using what you already know, like and probably have in the fridge.

Most of us rotate through a surprisingly small repertoire of weeknight meals – and they tend to look the same, season after season. Maybe it’s: pesto pasta, sausages with veg, and one sad stir-fry; or the classic three mince dishes - tacos, spag bol and nachos; or the reliable roast chicken, again – because you know the kids will eat it. These meals aren’t bad. In fact, they’re probably efficient, family-approved and fast. But when the predictability starts to wear thin, even reliable dinners lose their appeal.

Roast chicken is always a winner but switch things up with a new baste - harissa perhaps or pomegranate molasses and serve it with a change of carb. Photo / Babiche Martens

Dinner ruts don’t happen because we’re lazy – they happen because we’re tired, busy and dealing with too many small decisions. Grocery prices have also made it harder to experiment. A $7 packet of herbs or a failed new recipe feels more frustrating than inspiring. And for those cooking for fussy eaters, the motivation to try something different is often outweighed by the need for peace at the dinner table. The key isn’t guilt – it’s gentle curiosity. Small changes, not reinvention. Here are our top seven tips.

1. Swap the base, keep the rest

Most of us default to one or two “safe” foundations: rice, pasta, potatoes, wraps. But changing the base can make an old dinner feel brand new.

- Try couscous, polenta, pearl barley, vermicelli noodles or even toasted sourdough with your Bolognese sauce

- Turn your traybake into a grain bowl

- Swap mash for roasted spuds or smashed chickpeas

- Use naan or roti instead of rice with curry

Try: This dhal with crispy onions and naan bread recipe.

It’s a five-minute rethink that doesn’t change what you’re cooking – just how it’s built.

Add a squeeze of lemon, some chilli and coriander to a store-bought and enjoy with warm naan bread and a fried onion topper, for a change. Photo / Babiche Martens

2. Rebrand the dish

Call it a “bowl” and suddenly it’s more exciting. A few examples:

- Leftovers on rice = grain bowl

- Wrap fillings on toast = open sandwich

- Pasta + lemon + greens (and parmesan of course) = spring pasta

Sometimes you don’t need a new recipe – just a new name and a bit of lemon zest.

3. Add a condiment you forgot you had

Flavour fatigue is real. Adding one bright thing can make all the difference – and most of us have a neglected jar or bottle that could change the game. Try:

- Chilli crisp, sriracha, pesto, harissa, curry paste

- Pickled red onion (keeps for weeks in the fridge)

- Lemon or lime juice

- Tahini with yoghurt

- A dash of vinegar in anything that feels “flat”

Your fridge door is probably full of small upgrades just waiting to be rediscovered.

Chilli crisp, like Rose's, turns simple into sensational. Photo / Supplied

4. Focus on toppings, texture and crunch

This is an easy way to make dinner feel “finished” rather than just fuel. Try:

- A handful of crushed corn chips on top of chilli con carne

- Toasted seeds or nuts over roasted veg

- Croutons or crispy chickpeas for texture

- Fried shallots or garlic for depth

It’s the restaurant trick that works just as well at home – and makes the same old soup or stir-fry feel special.

5. Put one new thing in your trolley

Some of the best dinner breakthroughs come from small, low-risk supermarket impulse buys – the kind you forget about until they save you midweek. Try:

- A jar of romesco or red pepper pesto – toss through roast veg or spread on wraps

- Tinned mackerel or salmon – great mashed with lemon, herbs and capers on toast

- Frozen dumplings or gyoza – turn into a 10-minute meal with a side of greens and soy dressing

- A bunch of dill, mint or chives – instantly transforms eggs, potatoes or even two-minute noodles

- Feta, halloumi or labneh – use as a topping for roasted pumpkin, salads or grain bowls

- Cooked beetroot – toss with lentils, yoghurt and herbs for a five-minute salad

- Gochujang or miso – add to sauces, soups or traybakes for depth

You don’t need a plan. One fresh idea can ripple through a week’s worth of meals.

Try: This Middle Eastern-inspired spiced rice with halloumi and yoghurt tahini sauce recipe.

Halloumi and a mix of tahini with yoghurt are both fantastic flavour bombs. Photo / Assortment

6. Change how you assemble, not what you cook

Sometimes the rut isn’t the food – it’s the format. You’re bored of stir-fry with rice? Put it in a wrap. Pasta again? Bake it. Traybake fatigue? Put it all in a warm salad with dressing. Same ingredients, new format = less boredom.

7. Make peace with the rotation

Of course, there are weeks when even small changes feel like too much. That’s fine. There’s a reason we return to certain meals again and again – they work. If cheese toast and tomato soup gets you through the last blast of cold, embrace it.

But when you’re ready for something new-ish, not new – these tweaks are your way out.

Herald contributor Nikki Birrell has worked in food and travel publishing for nearly 20 years. From managing your kitchen to cutting costs, she’s shared some helpful advice recently, including how to prep your barbecue for summer grilling, gourmet hacks for elevating budget ingredients and what toppings to choose for different crackers.