It feels like we just cooked dinner yesterday; we have to do it again already?
It’s the chore that never ends. We need to eat and feed our families, but nobody says we have to spend hours in the kitchen.
We’re giving you permission to embrace simplicity with 41 easy dinner ideas for any busy night.
Realistic Easy Dinner Ideas
Our easy dinner ideas are different from the recipes you might find elsewhere.
When we say easy – we mean EASY!
You won’t find “parmesan crusted lemon pepper salmon zingers” or other fancy dishes on our list.
We’re going back to the basics with simple, easy dinner options that are realistic for nearly everyone.
Bon Appetite!
Turkey Burgers
Ground turkey is cheaper and healthier than ground beef but makes the same delicious burgers!
Burger night is a staple in our home. Prepping the patties takes less than 10 minutes, and cooking them takes about 20 minutes. While the patties are cooking, cut up some lettuce, tomatoes, and onion for some vegetables, and pop some frozen French fries into the oven for a perfect side.
Tacos
Tacos exploded in popularity recently, partly because they’re so easy and versatile. You can stick with the traditional ground beef browned in a pan with taco seasoning, but you can also mix it up for unique dinner ideas.
Consider swapping the beef with turkey for healthier tacos or pan-frying diced potatoes for vegetarian potato tacos.
Heat up a package of Knorr’s Spanish rice for easy sides and toppings.
Taco Casserole
After taco night, I always combine the leftovers in a giant casserole pan to make a taco casserole.
Add a can of black beans and some frozen corn to the leftover rice and meat, cover with cheese, and add some ripped-up tortillas to the top. Bake for about 30 minutes for an easy and waste-free dinner.
Nachos
Did you know you can bake store-bought tortilla chips in the oven?
Grab your favorite brand and spread them on a foil-covered flat baking pan. Dump some fixings, like canned beans, chili, and salsa, on top, then cover with shredded cheese and bake until hot.
Serve with a garnish of sour cream and guacamole.
It’s not the healthiest dinner, but everyone will love it.
Stir Fry
Stir-frying is an easy, healthy dinner option. Sauté your favorite vegetables in a frying pan until tender. Use your rice cooker to make a side of rice.
Diced chicken breast, ground turkey, or tofu are great choices if you want protein.
The best stir-fried veggies include broccoli, green peppers, onions, snap peas, celery, and cabbage, but you can experiment with your favorites.
Hot Dogs
Hot dogs are perfect for nights when you absolutely don’t want to cook. But don’t boil them – pop them in the oven for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees instead. Use a flat baking pan covered with foil.
Warm the buns for a minute as well.
They will be the best home-made hot dogs you’ve ever had without a grill.
Mac & Cheese with Fish Sticks
My favorite childhood dinner remains macaroni and cheese with fish sticks.
When I was a teenager, my brother and I had to fend for ourselves for dinner every Thursday night. I grabbed our favorite blue box mac & cheese, baked some frozen Vande Kemps fish filets, and warmed up frozen green beans for a perfect meal.
He always washed the dishes afterward.
Salad
Salad is a wonderful choice for an easy weeknight dinner. It takes less than 20 minutes to gather your favorite veggies and chop them into bite-sized pieces.
The best salad vegetables include lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, and sprouts. For protein, add sunflower seeds or walnuts; for a burst of sweetness, add fresh fruits like blueberries or sliced apples.
If you don’t think your salad will be filling enough, slice some chicken breast and sauté it in a frying pan until thoroughly cooked. It makes the perfect salad topper.
Pork Chops and Applesauce
Bone-in pork chops are relatively cheap compared to other meats and easy to cook. Soak them in a saltwater brine for about 30 minutes, then pop them in a frying pan until they reach an internal temperature of at least 145 degrees. You can cook a little longer to taste.
While the chops cook, prepare a packet of Knorr’s long grain and wild rice. It pairs perfectly with pork. Serve with a side of applesauce.
Baked Chicken
If you have time but lack energy, throw some chicken breasts in the oven. Sprinkle them with a bit of salt, pepper, and your seasonings of choice (I like lemon pepper or rosemary garlic), and bake them at 350 degrees until the internal temperature reaches at least 165 degrees. Although it usually takes about 30 minutes, the exact time can vary.
While that’s cooking, throw some frozen veggies in a saucepan for an easy side.
Pasta Dishes
Pasta is one of the easiest things to make, and it’s so versatile. Fill your pantry with a variety of pasta noodles and sauces so you always have something available on busy nights.
I love spaghetti noodles with Prego’s traditional sauce, angel hair pasta with any Alfredo sauce, or rigatoni with vodka sauce.
It shouldn’t take more than 30 minutes to heat up any variation of this classic.
Corned Beef & Cabbage
Dust off your crock pot and fill it with corned beef. Cook the corned beef for about eight hours, adding some potatoes at the 7-hour mark and cabbage for the last 30 minutes.
Although you typically only find corned beef around St. Patrick’s Day, you can buy a few and freeze them for easy dinner ideas all year long.
Steak with Veggies
When money isn’t an issue, steaks make a perfect meal. A high-quality steak costs big bucks, but it’s easy to make.
Sear the steak at high heat for about 10 seconds on each side, then transfer it to a pan on low heat until it’s done to your liking.
Pair your steak with green beans or asparagus and mashed potatoes.
Tuna Salad Casserole
Tuna salad casserole puts a unique twist on traditional pasta dishes. My family always made it with shell noodles, which worked perfectly because the tuna and other ingredients often got stuck inside the noodles.
Much like revenge, tuna salad casserole is a dish best served cold, so let the noodles cool before adding all the fixings.
We always made it with Mayonnaise (Hellman’s real Mayonnaise), celery, onion, olives, salt, and pepper, but it’s a versatile dish with lots of options. If you have picky eaters, do what my dad did and put all the veggies in a separate bowl to let the kids mix in only what they want.
Always serve tuna salad casserole with Ritz crackers.
Chili
Crock pots are a busy parent’s best friend. You can throw a ton of stuff in the pot and ignore it for the rest of the day.
Crockpot chili is easy. All you need is beans, veggies, and browned meat.
I like to use fresh beans, so I soak them overnight, but canned beans work just as well. I usually only add onions, green pepper, serrano peppers, and garlic as vegetables, and I use ground turkey rather than ground beef to make it a little healthier.
For spicier chilis, add chili pepper and jalapenos. For mild chili, skip the serranos. Spice to taste.
Chili Cheese Fries
If you make a big pot of chili, you’ll probably have leftovers. Use them to create your favorite chili-based meals.
Bake some freezer fries and top them with reheated chili and a little sour cream. Heat up some hot dogs and toss chili on them.
Baked Potatoes
With the proper fixings, a baked potato can be the basis for an entire meal. Bake a few large russets and create your own mini-potato bar with tomatoes, chili, sour cream, cheese, bacon bits, and anything else you think would taste good on a potato.
Let your family create their own masterpieces with the different variety of toppings.
Stuffed Peppers
My mom always dreaded making stuffed peppers, complaining about how hard it was. But I’ve long since learned that she made it far more complicated than it needed to be.
Saute chopped veggies (I like it with peppers, carrots, onion, and garlic) in a frying pan with your meat of choice (I prefer ground turkey over ground beef). Add a can of tomato sauce and two cups of cooked rice, and stir until everything looks consistent.
Slop most of it in a casserole pan, but leave enough out to fill your peppers, which you’ll lay on the top. Sprinkle with cheese and back for 30 minutes to an hour for a delicious meal everyone will love.
Replace the rice with quinoa for a healthier (and faster) version.
Pulled Pork with Mac & Cheese
You do not need to spend hours smoking pork to make pulled pork sandwiches. You can get a tub of pre-made pulled pork at your local grocery store.
Follow the directions to heat it up, then put it on your favorite bun to enjoy! Serve with Velveeta mac and cheese.
Quesadillas
Cheese quesadillas are so easy to make they should be criminal. All you have to do is put a tortilla in a pan, put shredded cheese on top, fold, and flip until the cheese melts. Garnish with sour cream, pico de gallo, or guacamole for a quick and easy dinner.
But it’s easy to enhance the quesadilla too. If you need a heartier meal, sauté diced chicken until fully cooked, then add the meat to your tortilla with the cheese. Chop up some green peppers and onions for vegetables.
For a delicious (albeit unhealthy) spin, sprinkle some extra cheese on the outside of the tortilla and cover the frying pan until it melts just enough to stick. Then flip it over and let the cheese fry on the bottom of the pan for a few seconds. The crispy fried cheese covering adds a tasty twist to an old classic.
Korean Beef & Broccoli
Korean flavor sounds complex, but it’s mostly just a mix of soy sauce and brown sugar. For an easy, flavorful dinner idea, steam some rice and saute ground beef in a frying pan with garlic and sesame oil. Then, combine half a cup of soy sauce, half a cup of dark brown sugar, and a teaspoon of ginger powder and mix it in with the beef.
Pour the beef over the rice and top with cooked broccoli. (To make it easy, you can use the frozen, chopped broccoli from your grocery store’s freezer aisle!)
BBQ Chicken
Chicken is always an easy dinner idea, but it’s often a little bland. To give it a kick, add your favorite BBQ sauce.
Adding BBQ sauce works for any cut of chicken, and you can bake it or cook it on the stovetop—whatever is easiest for you.
Veggie Wraps
For an easy dinner idea you don’t have to cook, consider veggie wraps.
Chop up your favorite veggies (I like to use cucumbers, tomatoes, onion, green peppers, and a little romaine lettuce in my wrap) and toss them in a small amount of olive oil with cayenne, salt, and pepper.
Next, grab your favorite pre-made wrap, and slather hummus on as the protein base. Toss your veggie mix on top for a healthy, delicious dinner.
Sloppy Joes
Sloppy joes help you mix up the flavors in your weekly dinner rotations. Grab a can of your favorite sloppy joe mix and sauté with ground beef for an easy yet different weekly dinner everyone will love.
Loose Meat Sandwiches
I personally don’t enjoy sloppy joes, but I do like mixing up my burger night by making loose meat sandwiches. It’s almost a sloppy joe without the joe sauce, but I pan-fry the bun just slightly in the grease for crispiness and mix the meat with shredded cheese and mayo to help it stay together. It’s a little greasy but oh so delicious.
Rice & Beans
Rice and beans are one of the most traditional easy dinner ideas. They’re also cheap, so they’re a perfect option for any budget.
Steam your rice in a rice cooker and heat up a can of your favorite beans to enjoy a hearty meal.
Roast
Roasts are easy to make. All you have to do is pop the meat in the oven. Then, surround your roast with potatoes and carrots in the cooking pot, and your veggies will be ready, too!
The biggest downside is that roasts take a while to cook, so you must be home for 2-3 hours to watch the oven. This is an easy dinner idea for folks who work from home and busy stay-at-home parents, but not so much for people who have long days at the office.
Cooking times and temperatures will depend on the type and size of roast you choose.
Grilled Cheese
The ultimate comfort food is also easy to make. For the best-grilled cheese, fry both sides of the bread in butter, not just the outside (the inside shouldn’t be as crispy). Experiment with different cheeses to see which is your favorite.
Pair with a can of tomato soup for a warm, easy dinner that makes everyone happy.
Breakfast for Dinner
Short-order breakfast foods like eggs and bacon have all the nutrients we need for dinner. Consider other breakfast foods like omelets or French toast – they’re all easy to make, and your family will enjoy the whimsy of breakfast for dinner.
Enhanced Ramen
Top Ramen costs less than 50 cents per package, but it’s not that filling. However, there are tons of ways to transform a lunchtime snack into a meal fit for a king.
Add a cup of frozen veggies and an egg while cooking for a creamy soup, or add fresh onions, garlic, celery, and carrots for a gourmet meal. Drain the noodles and saute them in a frying pan with egg and veggies.
The possibilities for transforming your ramen into a traditional dinner are endless.
Sausage Lentil Mix
Brown a package of ground Italian sausage in a frying pan. Add ½ cup lentils, ½ cup rice, and 1 cup chicken stock. Stir, cover, and simmer for about 30 minutes.
You’ll have a delicious medley of rice, lentils and sausage. Garnish with a little chopped tomato.
Crock Pot Chicken Fajitas
Place a chicken breast in the bottom of your crock pot, then cover it with a jar of your favorite salsa. Add a half cup of water of chicken broth and some sliced onion and pepper, and cook for 6 hours.
You’ll have juicy shredded chicken perfect for fajitas.
Add a can of your favorite beans to the crock pot for a heartier meal.
Baked Fish
Fish is expensive, but if you have money and no time, it makes an easy dinner. Salmon and tilapia both bake well, and you can add any seasonings you wish to taste.
Finish it off with a cup of rice and some steamed vegetables.
Sheet Pan Fajitas
One-pan meals make the easiest dinners. Slice your favorite fajita meat into strips (either chicken or steak works, but the cooking time will vary), then surround it with sliced onions and peppers. Bake until the meat is fully cooked and the veggies are tender.
You’ll have everything you need to fill your tortilla.
Fried Rice
Fried rice makes a perfect meal by itself. You can add nearly anything to fried rice to taste – from vegetables to meat, egg to tofu.
The trick to great fried rice is making your rice the day before, and letting it cool/dry in the refrigerator. If you make the rice the day of, it’s too wet, and your fried rice will get gooey.
Sandwiches
You can’t go wrong with sandwiches for dinner.
Grab your favorite cold cuts and fresh breads to make a smorgasbord of sandwich ideas. Add lettuce, tomato, cucumbers, and sprouts to get your daily veggies in, and pair them with chips, pickles, or fresh fruit.
Sausage & Kraut
Polish sausage and sauerkraut is my go-to cheap, easy meal. Buy a jar or bag of pre-made sauerkraut, drain, and dump into a frying pan. Add chunks of Polish sausage to the mix, and cook until everything is hot.
It makes a perfect meal by itself, but I love throwing it on a bun with mustard for a delicious Polish sausage sandwich.
Permission to Make Easy Meals
The last few items on our list are the easiest dinner ideas of them all.
I know society tells you that you must be super mom and prepare homemade foods all the time, but listen. There’s no shame in taking the easy route to feed your family and yourself.
Keep some of these staples on hand for those nights when you just can’t put together a meal.
Frozen Meals
Frozen meals save so much time and energy. We also keep a frozen pizza in the freezer for nights when we’re too tired to cook.
But frozen meals can be heartier, too. Try the frozen family lasagna or pot pies for easy dinner ideas, or consider frozen chicken tenders or the Bird’s Eye frozen meals in a bag if you have a little more time.
Canned Meals
As a child, I survived on Chef Boyardee and Dinty Moore. Canned ravioli, beef stew, chili-mac, and Spaghetti O’s were staples at my house.
These canned meals are quick and easy, and kids love them. They may not be the healthiest meal options, but your kids will have full bellies on the nights when you don’t have the energy to make anything else.
Boxed Helpers
There’s a reason Hamburger Helper catapulted to popularity – it’s easy! There’s nothing wrong with grabbing a box of something that makes preparing a delicious meal simple.
Most grocery stores feature a wide variety of meal helpers, from the aforementioned Hamburger Helper to the infamous Shake & Bake and everything in between. Check your local store for pre-made kits that come with everything you need except the meat.
Rotisserie Chicken
If you need to grab an easy dinner on your way home from work, skip the fast-food restaurant and grab a fresh rotisserie chicken from the grocery store instead. Add carrots and French bread to make it a full meal.
Make Dinner Easy
Dinner comes every day, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. Embrace simplicity with our easy dinner ideas to save yourself time and energy.
You deserve a break too.