Tired of fancy meals with a long ingredient list? Here are 20 easy family dinners with just a few ingredients each to add to your menu!
You know those nights – you haven’t had time to go to the grocery store yet, your pantry shelves are looking pretty empty, and your fridge is even emptier. Instead of grabbing takeout tonight, let’s get creative and come up with an easy meal with what you have in the kitchen!
Tell me if you can relate: I feel so much pressure for every meal to have a protein, vegetable, and starch. Like, we can’t just have one thing for dinner, it has to be a combination of things. So I’ll make hashbrown casserole and feel like I still need to also make a salad to go with it. Or when I make spaghetti, I feel like I have to have a green veggie, like peas or green beans. Do you get hung up on this too??
The reality is, it is perfectly fine to just have a main dish for dinner!! Skye, repeat after me: It is OKAY to have a main dish for dinner. I don’t need a three course meal for every meal. I’ll stop stressing over it!
I wanted to share a list of meals with you guys that are go-tos in our house plus some other ones I’ve found on the internets and think you’ll love too!
Easy Family Dinners
First here are some of our easy dinner ideas! I can’t really call these actual recipes because they are too easy – most are just a combination of really easy to find and store ingredients!
1. Meatball subs – Cook frozen meatballs + jarred sauce on the stovetop until warmed through. Put them in toasted hot dog buns and sprinkle whatever cheese you have on top! Done! Cook extra meatballs & sauce – you’ll see why later!
2. Hot dogs & macaroni and cheese – the ultimate bachelor meal. Chris would eat this every night if I made it! (So would Jett honestly!)
3. BBQ Chicken quesadillas – cook frozen (or fresh) chicken breasts in the slow cooker. Once it is cooked through, remove and shred, drain off half the liquid (save it and freeze it!) and then add in your favorite barbecue sauce and cook for another 15-30 minutes. Slap it between two tortillas with whatever cheese you have and serve!
4. Spaghetti & meatballs – use your leftover meatballs from sub night, cook some pasta, combine and serve! If you’re feeling fancy, slice the meatballs in half, throw it in a casserole, top with cheese, and bake at 350 for 30 minutes until it is bubbly and delicious. Just be sure to undercook the pasta just a tad so it doesn’t get mushy in the oven.
5. Hawaiian meatballs – Combine frozen meatballs, barbecue sauce, and either orange juice or orange marmalade in the slow cooker. Cook on low for 4 hours until cooked through and the sauce is reduced. Serve over rice. You can also use chicken or pork chops instead of meatballs.
6. Frittata – A frittata is just a fancy word for baked eggs with some stuff thrown in. This is a great meal to wipe out random leftovers! Have left over sausage, bacon, roasted veggies, etc? In a big bowl whisk 2-3 eggs per person, add in a big splash of milk, salt, and pepper. Put whatever fillings you have in a baking dish, pour the eggs over, sprinkle with cheese, and bake at 400 for 30 minutes or so, until the middle is set. Serve with salsa!
7. Magic soup – My friend named this magic soup because I used to make it to cure whatever ailed us. Whether it was a broken heart or a hangover, this soup always did the trick! Brown a lb of hamburger meat and drain off the excess grease. Season liberally with salt and pepper and garlic powder. If you have an onion, chop it and add it. If not, no worries! Add in a can of green beans, a can of corn, a can of peas, a can of sliced carrots, and a can of condensed tomato soup. Let simmer for an hour, adding water if it gets to thick. So easy and turns out SO good!
8. Tortizza – This is exactly what it sounds like: pizza made on a tortilla. Smear some marinara, spaghetti, or pizza sauce on a tortilla. Top with cheese. Bake at 425 for about 8-10 minutes. Done! Add in other toppings if you have them. You can roll it up and eat it like a burrito or slice it and eat it like a pizza. Jett loves to help with these too so let the kids make their own.
9. Creamy Salsa Chicken – Combine a jar of salsa or a can or Rotel tomatoes and 3-4 chicken breasts in your crock pot. Cook on low for 6 hours or high for four. Shred and stir together, then add in the cream cheese and cook for another 30 minutes on low. Stir to combine. Serve over rice or chips with a little shredded cheese. (Thank you Alina for sharing this recipe with me!)
10. Sheetpan Nachos – This is another great way to use up leftovers! Whatever kind of meat you have leftover dictates the theme (Hawaiian chicken nachos, BBQ Chicken nachos, Meatball Sub Nachos, Creamy Salsa Chicken Nachos…. you get the drift!) Just spread a single layer of chips on a sheet pan, sprinkle with meat and cheese (and whatever else you might have) and toast under the broiler for a few minutes. Serve it family style outside if you can!
And if none of those sound good tonight – here are a few other options for you:
Ritz Cracker Chicken Casserole from Diary of a Real Housewife
2-Ingredient Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken from Gimme some Oven
Five Ingredient Crockpot Tex Mex Chicken from Hello Spoonful
Five Ingredient Slow Cooker Chili Mac from Balancing Home
Pizza Casserole from Eating on a Dime
Five Ingredient Potato Soup from Gimme Some Oven
Cracked Out Tater Tot Breakfast Casserole from Plain Chicken
Slow Cooker Pesto Mozzarella Pasta from The Magical Slow Cooker
Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole from Spend with Pennies
Cheesy Instant Pot Enchilada Pasta from Bake Me Some Sugar
Ham and Macaroni and Cheese Soup from The Food Charlatan
If I’m being honest, I’m tired of hearing “what is for dinner” because I’d like for someone else to decide that for me right now lol!! I hope this post helps you pick a few new easy meals for your family for a couple of weeks and takes the pressure off of you to make it a three course, fine dining experience!
What are your favorite family meals? Share them in the comments below!
