These healthy dinner Ideas will help feed your family FAST on busy weeknights! You'll love these quick and easy recipes.
What's in this Post
Why You'll Love These Weeknight Dinner Recipes
Here are just a few reasons why you'll love these recipes:
- They're healthy and delicious.
- They're made from simple ingredients you can easily find in the grocery store.
- Most come together in 30 minutes or less (or can cook in the slow cooker all day while you're at work).
- A lot of them can be made in one pan so you won't have a sink full of dishes at the end of the night.
- You can make and freeze some of them ahead of busy days or seasons.
How to choose quick dinner ideas
Knowing what to make for dinner is probably the toughest part of dinner itself. Either you don't know what you're craving or you're worried it's going to take too long. Well, never fret with these strategies!
- Pick recipes that have ingredients you already have on hand at home – this way you reduce food waste. Have a ton of carrots? Look up carrot recipes! Want to do something with that chicken laying on the counter? Maybe look up some chicken pasta or casserole recipes.
- Use Pinterest to discover last-minute recipes and hone in on your cravings, whether you're in the mood for a bit of sweetness or a bit of saltiness. You can use it as both a visual search engine or just browse your home feed for inspiration!
- Keep a list of all your usual go-to dinner recipes for easy access when you're running out of inspiration. This way you know you'll get to eat something you like, but don't have to think too much about what that is.
- Use Instagram and search specific hashtags like #lowcarb #broccoli or #groundbeef or even just #recipes to find new Instagram accounts and browse their recipes for ideas.
- Choose recipes with ingredients that you can prep ahead of time! With my meal planning app Dinner Prep Pro, I provide prep ahead instructions to do on the weekend so that your healthy meals can be made in a flash during the week!
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Recipes with 10 ingredients or less
One of the best ways to cut back on the time you spend on making dinner is to limit the number of ingredients needed to make the meal. Below are some delicious dinner recipes that are made with 10-ingredients or less, all without sacrificing on any of the flavors. Most of the dishes below are low carb options too since grains take the longest to prepare and cook besides proteins – trust me, they're perfection!
Stuffed Poblano Peppers {Low-Carb}
Creamy Cauliflower “Mac” and Cheese {Low Carb}
Easy Sausage, Peppers and Onions {Skillet Meal}
French Onion Chicken Skillet
Hasselback Baked Caprese Chicken
Jalapeno Popper Hasselback Chicken
Sheet pan dinner ideas
Here are some of my fave sheet pan recipes below to get you started – they make such great dinner ideas! The recipe for sheet pan dinners is simple – throw on some veg like bell peppers or sweet potatoes, a protein like chicken, some sauce for flavour and stick it all in the oven! I've also got a super handy round up of more sheet pan dinners right here on the blog if you'd like to check out more of them.
Sheet Pan Pesto Chicken Meal Prep Bowls
Sheet Pan Sausage and Vegetables
Sheet Pan Chicken and Asparagus
Sheet Pan Bruschetta Chicken {Low Carb}
Sheet Pan Balsamic Chicken
30-Minute Sheet Pan Rosemary Chicken
One pot pasta recipes
Making dinner in one pot is a great way to minimize your cooking time, and most of the pasta recipes below do just that! Pasta is just an overall great dinner idea because you get in your protein, carbs and veggies all in one meal simmered in a delicious tomato or cream sauce, as opposed to having to make separate side dishes. Plus, who doesn't love a big bowl of delicious noodles? If you want to add in even more protein, throw in some shrimp, chicken, ground turkey, ground beef or basically any protein option of your choice.
Lighter Shrimp Pasta Primavera {30-Minute Meal}
One Pot Spicy Penne Arrabiata
Instant Pot Chili Mac and Cheese
Instant Pot Bruschetta Chicken Pasta
Whole Wheat Summer Pesto Pasta {One-Pot Meal}
Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta
Easy stir fries and skillet dinners
Stir fries and skillet meals are some of my favourite healthy dinner recipes – they're so easy to make and are super customizable. I've listed some low carb dishes below where you have the option to cook the rice separately, and I've also got some chicken teriyaki bowls where the rice cooks alongside the chicken and veggies. These easy dinners come together in a flash! And if you're looking for more skillet meals be sure to check out this other skillet recipes post with more ideas!
Kung Pao Shrimp {30-Minute Meal}
30-Minute Sesame Chicken Rice Bowls
One Pot Chicken Teriyaki Bowls
Skinny Easy Chicken Marsala Skillet
30-Minute Italian Chicken Skillet {One Pan}
Easy Cashew Chicken {30-Minute Meal}
Mix and match dinner ideas
Mix and match dinner recipes are an easy dinner idea where you basically throw together whatever you have lying around in the fridge by mixing and matching different ingredients. It's a great way to reduce food waste while still eating a low calorie meal! Things like buddha bowls, burritos, tacos in corn tortillas, salads, lettuce wraps, burgers, loaded fries, healthy nachos, etc. are great starting points for last-minute dinner ideas.
Tequila Lime Chicken {Applebee's Copycat}
PF Chang’s Chicken Lettuce Wraps {Copycat Recipe}
Easy Thai Basil Chicken Recipe
Meal Prep Individual Taco Pizza
The Best Carne Asada Fries {Loaded Fries}
Greek Hasselback Chicken {Low-Carb}
Instant Pot Chicken Tinga Tacos
Cheesy Grilled Foil Potatoes {Potato Nachos}
Freezer meals
Another great dinner idea is to rely on freezer meals. Whether it's a dinner recipe you've made already and frozen, or just some large Ziploc bags full of frozen ingredients and sauces, freezer-friendly recipes can take a lot of stress off of dinnertime! I usually make something like pasta, a protein-rich soup with black beans, or a savory stew ahead of time and freeze in small glass containers. From there you can reheat in the microwave for 7-8 minutes, stirring halfway through.
Homemade Hamburger Helper {One Pot}
Slow Cooker Peanut Stew {Gluten-Free + Vegan}
Super Easy Mini Vegetable Lasagna Cups
Easy Baked Turkey Meatballs
Super Easy Mini Chicken Pot Pies
Easy Chicken Pasta Bake {Freezer Meal}
Crockpot recipes
Have dinner cooking in your crockpot all day for the EASIEST dinner ever! You can usually prep this the night before and have it cook overnight or while you're at work. The flavors will simmer together all day so you'll have a yummy dish to enjoy later. From delicious meatballs to chili stuffed with beans, there are plenty of crockpot options to choose from!
Lighter Crockpot Swedish Meatballs
Slow Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala
Creamy Crockpot Beef Stroganoff
Slow Cooker Lentil Curry
Slow Cooker Tuscan Sausage and Kale Soup
Easy & Healthy Slow Cooker Chili
Instant Pot recipes
Whip up dinner using your pressure cooker – like the slow cooker, it's mostly a hands-off cooking process. Dump everything in and cook on high pressure. The main difference? The Instant Pot cooks everything FAST! You're looking at a 20-30 minute cook time from preheating to releasing the pressure, and everything comes together in one pot to minimize clean up. =
20-Minute Instant Pot Chicken Burrito Bowls
Instant Pot Cream of Mushroom Chicken
Instant Pot Teriyaki Chicken and Rice
Instant Pot Honey Sesame Chicken Noodle Bowls
Instant Pot Barbacoa Beef {Chipotle Copycat}
Instant Pot Sweet and Sour Pineapple Chicken
Instant Pot Chicken Pad Thai
Easy Instant Pot Pepper Steak
Meal Prep Tools
- Grab some glass meal prep bowls to pack up your meals.
- Butcher Box, conveniently delivers a variety of meats to your door frozen.
- A rice cooker is invaluable for saving time, and it cooks other grains, too!
- If you don't have a slow cooker, this crock pot is super helpful for cooking hands-off!
- Here’s the Instant Pot I use.
- Use these Ziploc bag holders if you're preparing freezer meals.
- Freeze and refrigerate leftovers in round glass microwave-safe bowls with lids.
- **Get my full list of tools here**
More FAQs
The best thing you can do to ensure you can put dinner on the table fast each night is to prep ingredients beforehand. It's what I have you do with my meal planning app, Dinner Prep Pro! Learn how to food prep in one hour on the weekends – it's a great shortcut that'll help you save time and motivate you to stick to your meal plan, even if you're feeling lazy. Chop up your veggies and proteins, make any sauces and cook any grains ahead of time (like quinoa, rice or riced cauliflower).
Cooking on a budget doesn't mean sacrificing on flavors. These cheap dinner ideas are all around $10 for four servings and make the most out of pantry goods and cheaper cuts of meat, in addition to plant-based protein options like black or white beans, chickpeas and more.
The last thing you need at the end of a busy day is a fight at the dinner table. If you've got some picky eaters in the your household, try these kid-friendly dinners. They're real crowd-pleasers!
It's recommended that you should eat dinner four to five hours after lunch. So, if you eat lunch at noon, you should eat dinner around 5:00 P.M. This might not always feasible depending on your schedule, though, but you should make sure to eat your dinner at least 2-3 hours before you go to sleep so you can digest your meal properly.
Skipping any meal, including dinner, can be bad for your health. It can lead to nutrient deficiencies or cause your metabolism to slow down. If you're concerned about weight loss, it's much better to eat a lighter dinner than none at all. Go for protein-packed breakfasts like an egg white frittata and dinners like salmon or chicken breast.
Make a meal plan for weekly dinner ideas
I think meal planning is really the only way to go when you're trying to keep on track with dinner ideas. I will usually fill in 5-6 days' worth of meals in a meal planner and account for my schedule that week when planning everything out. You can use some of the dinner prep strategies above when making out your meal plan for the week ahead. Having everything on paper helps you stay on track!
And if you need some help coming up with ideas in general, be sure to check out my Start Here page to learn how to best use my blog to help with meal prep! Or check out my easiest ever 30 minute dinner ideas to get started.
More resources for easy weeknight dinners
52 Easy & Healthy Dinner Recipes for Busy Weeknights
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb extra-lean ground beef or ground chicken
- 2 small yellow onions, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 celery stalks, diced
- 1 red pepper, diced
- 6 cups beef or chicken broth
- 1 786 mL can finely diced tomatoes (if you can't find finely diced, use an immersion blender to roughly blend them for a second or twice – you still want some chunks but you want it to be in between a dice and puree)
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 lb dry rotini pasta (4 cups of dry pasta)
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/4 cup parsley, chopped optional
Instructions
Stovetop Instructions
- In a large deep skillet, heat olive oil over med-high heat. Add onions and garlic, sauteeing for 2 minutes until fragrant. Add ground beef and cook until browned, another 2 min. Add celery and red pepper, sauteeing for another 2-3 min.
- Add dried basil, oregano, salt and pepper, sauteeing another 30 seconds before adding broth and diced tomatoes. Stir to combine, then add dry pasta and bring to a boil, cooking on medium heat and stirring occasionally for about 15 minutes until pasta is completely cooked and most of the liquid is absorbed.
- Stir in sour cream and cheese, then remove from heat. Top with parsley (optional), then serve and enjoy!
Instant Pot instructions
- Add olive oil to Instant Pot and turn to saute mode. When oil is hot, add onions, garlic and ground beef, breaking up with a spoon and sauteeing for 4-5 minutes until browned.
- Add in remaining ingredients in order that they are listed except for sour cream, cheese and parsley, adding in pasta last.
- Cook on high pressure for 3 minutes (Instant Pot will take about 15 minutes to preheat then cook the 3 minutes). Do a quick release of the pressure, then stir in sour cream and cheese, garnishing with parsley. Serve and enjoy!
Comments & Reviews
Melisa Alexander says
you have great ideas, they’re very delisous
Susan says
Do you have a chicken fajita recipe that you cook in aluminum foil? I thought I saw it on your Facebook page. The recipe included rice and tortillas.
Taylor Stinson says
I just have a sheet pan version, not a foil pack version. Hope this helps 🙂 http://girlonbloor.com/the-best-sheet-pan-chicken-fajitas/