Easy Weeknight Dinner Ideas
The first two recipes: try these easy weeknight dinner ideas to make your life easier on busy days.
Have you ever looked at the clock on a busy day and it read 5:00? Maybe even 6:00? “That is why the kids have been getting cranky!” you realize. How it went from 2:30 to 5:00 or 6:00 in what felt like 10 minutes is a mystery.
So now, what to do about dinner? If you had a meal planned, it may be too late to prepare it and there aren’t enough leftovers to feed everyone.
Don’t panic. Here are some easy weeknight dinner ideas that come together so quickly, they’ll be done before you would have time to get take out or have a pizza delivered.
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Tuna three ways: Tuna salad/tuna sandwiches/tuna pasta with fresh fruit on the side
Open a few cans of tuna, (however many cans you need to feed your family). Mix the tuna with mayonnaise and relish. You can add some salt, pepper, and mustard if you like.
This tuna mixture can be used to make three different meals. Choose which one your family will like best, or you can put all the various foods on the table and each family member can choose what they want to eat.
Tuna salad
Serve the tuna on lettuce for a salad.
Tuna sandwiches
Serve the tuna in a sandwich. You may enjoy cheese or tomato slices in your sandwich with pickles and chips on the side.
Tuna pasta
Mix the tuna with pasta for a tuna pasta salad.
Serve any of these dishes with fresh fruit on the side.
Easy Tortilla pizzas*
Flour tortillas make a great base for these do-it-yourself easy pizzas.
Take out as many tortillas as you need. Spread pizza sauce** on top of them, then top with grated cheese. If you want to add any toppings, you can. Toppings that are not too heavy (like pepperoni or sliced olives) work the best.
There are a few different ways you can cook these pizzas. You can cook them on a plate in the microwave, on a rack in the toaster oven, or on a baking sheet in the oven. Bake at about 350 degrees until the cheese melts. This will only take a few minutes; they will be done quickly!
*If you don’t like tortillas or have a difficult time finding them where you live, sourdough bread or a nice loaf of french bread cut in half lengthwise can also be used to make great pizzas.
The bread can also handle heavier toppings (like pineapple chunks) more easily.
**Pizza sauce is not necessary to have on hand. You can use pasta sauce instead or create your own sauce by adding Italian seasonings to a can of tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes.
(Handy hint: flour tortillas freeze well and thaw quickly, so you can buy them on sale and freeze them so you always have some on hand.)
The third recipe: get this easy weeknight dinner started before breakfast and enjoy the rest of your day without thinking about dinner.
Getting dinner started at breakfast time is always a great feeling! Here is one simple recipe you can start in the morning and enjoy for dinner.
If you don’t have one, a crockpot is a great investment to use for cooking. It saves time in cooking and often in meal preparation as well, since crockpot recipes often come together quite easily.
Easy Shredded BBQ Chicken
This crockpot recipe is easy and is always a big hit at home and with friends.
Place boneless chicken breasts (frozen or thawed) in a crockpot. Use as many as you need to feed your family or as many as can fit in your crockpot so you will have leftovers. Add your favorite BBQ sauce, and cook on low until the chicken has cooked through. Optional: add one chopped onion.
Unfrozen chicken takes about four to five hours. Frozen chicken will take about 8 hours. When done cooking, shred the chicken and leave in the crockpot to stay warm and so the chicken to soak up more of the sauce.
Serve BBQ chicken as the filling in sandwiches with fruit, chips, pickles, or a salad on the side or serve as is with potatoes, vegetables, or bread on the side.
Do you need some more easy recipe ideas?
One of our go to favorite recie books is The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Food from My Frontier by
Try out some easy weeknight dinner ideas to make your life easier.
Whether you are a beginner at cooking, on a budget, eating healthily, or just looking for some quick, new ideas for your family meals, try out these simple and affordable easy weeknight dinner recipes.
Do you have a favorite quick and easy weekday dinner recipe? If you want to share, you can post it in the comments section.
Happy cooking!
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