To ask what British people have for dinner usually

A lot of traditional British/English food takes more time to prepare: roast, cottage pie, fish pie, stews etc. I'm more likely to do it at the weekend or when there's less on.

This week we've had:
Sausages with greek veg tray bake: roast veg, lentils, feta and sweet potato
Prawn stir fry, rice, chicken gyozas
Indian takeaway: mixture of tandoori, korma, tikka masala, veg curry
Beef stew with lots of veg, herbs and garlic

A lot of traditional food was made to make the most of what there was, so roast dinner and the next day cottage pie or bubble and squeak from the leftovers etc.

I don't think there is a typical British stereotypical menu anymore for dinner. This week so far we've had Enchiladas, Fish pie (DP and kids anyway), Ramen bowls with soup dumplings and bao buns and Thai red curry. Tonight we're having home made spicy pumpkin and sweet potato soup. I tend to try new things I see online a lot and if they go down well, they go on the list.

The kids sometimes see Tik Toks or YTs of food and ask to try them.

I don’t know anyone that eats their main meal at lunchtime

Who even has time to cook at lunchtime?

Unless you have a staff canteen at work, are retired or eat out it wouldn't be practical.

I usually have 'cold' things for lunch ie sandwich, wraps, salad etc

'Hot' things for dinner usually around 5-7pm

For example this week we had

Indian Takeaway on Saturday night
Roast dinner on Sunday (typical Brit there!)
Monday I made beef in black bean sauce with noodles
Tuesday I made red Thai curry
Wednesday I made bbq ribs and fries
Thursday was spaghetti bolognese and we'll probably have the left overs of that tonight too!

I don’t know anyone that eats their main meal at lunchtime, even my elderly mother and her friends eat their hot meal in the evening. Exception being weekends and meals out.

Sundays we might have a bigger breakfast at 10-11ish and main meal at 4pm ish and then that’s it.

Our eating habits vary wildly now the kids are at uni. When they are home the usual meals are:

Fajitas
Traybakes eg chicken/salmon/sausages and veg inc potatoes/sweet potatoes
Tacos - beef or salmon w guac/mango salsa, slaw
Roast (some winter Sundays)
Chicken gyros/souvlaki w tzatziki & flatbreads
Curry/Thai curry
Burritos

When they are away we mainly eat omelettes, roasted fish, jacket potatoes. No meat in general and much simpler as CBA!

We eat supper at about 7ish whether they are home or not.

You will have to update us on what you made! 😁

Dinner / supper is at 7ish and

stir fry
shepherds pie
veggie curry
casserole
pasta and sauce

We eat 7 ish. Depending on what else is on.

Recent meals:
Butter chicken
Chickpea & kale curry
Tofu vegetable stir fry
Steak, sweet potato, salad
Lentil & kale soup with garlic bread.

We eat dinner at about 7pm. Examples of ours - last night fresh pasta, with Olive oil, pine nuts and Italian cheese. Tonight was cod, chips and mushrooms. Tomorrow will be home made Minestrone soup. These are typical meals for us.

I would think the most 'British meal' would be a toss up between pasta, curry, beige food out of the freezer and a takeaway! Somehow it's not racist to enjoy other cultures cuisines whilst simultaneously trying to chuck them out - as long as some of them remain to prop up the NHS, serve yummy food etc!

British and mainly eat international meals and hardly eat 'British meals'. Always have a hot meal though

My ex from Cornwall ate rabbits and eels. Much is regional.

Traditional British meals I sometimes make are panhaggety, Welsh rarebit, cauliflower plus other vegetables cheese, crumbles and apple or pear cake.

Most British people I know are vegetarian, as are we.

We eat spaghetti, macaroni, fusilli or penne with tomato-based sauces and grated cheese on top.

Also, vegetable soup (e.g. leek, onion, carrot, courgette, swede or sweet potato, parsley, etc.).

Nobody I know makes the elaborate meals made by people here on Mumsnet, because we don't have anything like the energy or free time. At least twice a week we have pizza or veggieburgers.

I eat a lot of international food. Spaghetti bols, lasagne, pizza, curry, fajitas, mexican - you also can't beat a good picky tea.

British cakes and puddings are excellent though.

Tbh the only “British” meals I make are roasts and fish pie (both of which are elite!). Everything else is mainly different types of fish which I’ll do with veg and a carb, traybakes with loads of veg and chorizo because it’s easy, Mexican foods, paellas, risottos, different types of curry’s, stir fry, pizzas from fresh dough, gyros, pastas of many descriptions. Oh and I make banging chips which can go with all sorts.

Lazy meals that require no prep to minimal prep usually jacket potatoes, salads, quiche, soup….

We eat our main meal in the evening around 7pm. Almost always hit, unless having something with salad (eg homemade quiche, cold roast chicken) in the summer.

We eat a wide variety of different dinners, recent ones include (virtually all homemade):

Macaroni cheese with pancetta and cherry tomatoes
Lamb tagine
Sweet & sour chicken with rice
Shepherds pie
Fish pie
Schnitzel and potato salad
Various roast meats with roast veg
Chicken curry
Cod and pea curry
Spaghetti bolognese
Goulash meatballs (Delia Smith recipe)
Spanish style chicken and vegetable bake (hairy bikers recipe)
Moroccan chicken and rice, or Basque chicken and rice (both Delia Smith recipes)
Salmon and broccoli pasta bake
Various casseroles, chicken, pork, apple & cider or lamb

I could go on forever. I think most British people eat a wide variety of different cuisines, not just traditional British food.

Some meals we've had recently-

Halloumi flatbreads

Salmon with rice and broccoli

Teriyaki tofu with sticky rice, edamame beans and cucumber

Veggie sausage tray bake with roasted veg

Mushroom and leek risotto

Tofu stir fry

Lunch and supper are interchangeable depending on business, but Sunday lunch is the main day on which a large hot meal is normal mid afternoon. Otherwise, supper is the hot meal.

Mid-week suppers:
Lamb chops, veg and new potatoes
omelette, toast and salad,
spaghetti bolognese
macaroni cheese (homemade with béchamel sauce)
Baked chicken
Stir fried veg and noodles

pasta, pesto, peas and prawns
a stew / casserole left to cook slowly

Slightly more time-consuming so weekend hit meals:
Chicken pie in a deep dish with pastry only on top. The kids and I use the left over pastry to decorate it with leaves and flowers. China blackbird in the middle.

A joint of gammon (ham) with homemade gravy, veg and potatoes (great for cold sliced ham afterwards)

pudding:
stewed fruit in season with cream or yoghurt (strawberries / plums / apples) - I grow a lot of fruit.

fruit crumble
yoghurt
fresh fruit

@irregularegular I've started having my main meal at lunch but I batch cook so it's just a microwave job really

"Traditional" British food is very meat and two veg based meals so, chicken, boiled potatoes and peas type dinners. DH grew up on these as his DF wouldn't eat "foreign" food. Apparently his DM convinced him to try pasta once but he insisted that it not come with any sauce, so their meal consisted of fried mince (no garlic or onion or herbs, of course) and plain boiled pasta. Thank goodness times have changed and thank goodness I've managed to expand my DH's palate!

So far this week our meals have been:

• chicken curry
• roast chicken, roast potatoes and all the trimmings
• pork meatballs in a chive sauce with homemade chips and green beans
• tomato/chipotle minced beef pasta with spinach
• seasoned chicken breasts with a jacket potato
• venison steaks in a red wine sauce with homemade chips again

DH doesn't like fish and is still quite anti-non-meat dinners, so I'd prefer a bit more of that kind of variety, but at least I'm not on boiled potatoes every day! I'm working on him!

For us, we both work, so dinner tends to be late at around 8pm. At the weekends we eat around 7pm.

When I was a kid we tended to eat hot meals at lunchtime then have sandwiches in the evening or, my favourite, crumpets on the fire on a Sunday evening! My mother is originally from Germany though, so not sure if the middle of the day meals thing comes from her side of the family. Many of our meals as kids were pretty German originated. I didn't realise until I went on a package holiday and ended up in a hotel predominantly aimed at German tourists and was delighted with the food options! 😂

BBC Good Food website will give you lots of ideas https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/

I think of shepherds pie as typically British food

Cheese omelette,chips/potato wedges and peas or baked beans.
Fish and chips and peas.
Mac and cheese chips or garlic bread,peas or baked beans.

Today I had southern fried chicken and pineapple pizza paninis, with vanilla cheesecake.

Yesterday I had home made orange chicken, with white rice, broccoli and duck spring rolls. Victoria Sandwich for dessert.

Another favourite is Buttermilk chicken burgers, with pineapple chutney and cheese, with sweet potato fries, onion rings and salad. With an M&S tiffin.

Tomorrow we are having ribeye steak, with garlic mushrooms, potato fritters and green veggies. Desert may be strawberry pavlova.