33 Easy Family Dinner Ideas

Do you frequently experiment with novel and exciting family meal preparation methods? In that case, you are not the only one.

During the week, it can be difficult for many active families to find the time to prepare meals at home.

Finding time to prepare dinner can be difficult for many people because they have to fit it in around their jobs, children’s after-school activities, and everything else.

Thankfully, things don’t have to go that way at all. Even if your household only has a short amount of time each day to spend in the kitchen, you can still prepare nutritious meals together.

Here are a few simple dinner suggestions that won’t require much of your time or effort and are perfect for active families.

1. Bean Soup

Beans are considered a staple food in many different cultures and diets worldwide. They are an easily accessible, inexpensive, and nutritionally sound source of protein that can be found in a variety of foods.

Consider making a bean soup if you’re looking for a recipe that’s both speedy and straightforward to put together using beans.

You can make bean soup by starting with dried beans and cooking them from scratch, adding the cooked beans to a pot with some water and seasonings, or using canned beans.

Making bean soup is an excellent way to use leftovers and other ingredients around the house.

You can prepare a large pot of bean soup at once and then have it as a quick and straightforward meal for several days.

2. Pasta And Grain Salad

Pasta and grain salads are examples of easy casserole dishes that can be prepared in a short amount of time and with little effort.

You can use whatever kinds of pasta, grains, and vegetables you like in your salad if you want to call it a pasta and grain salad. A salad consisting of pasta and grains can be prepared in fewer than thirty minutes.

To schedule a salad with pasta and grains, begin by cooking some pasta, either a quick cooking pasta such as rotini or a long cooking pasta such as farfalle (see also ‘26 Tasty Farfalle Recipes‘).

While the pasta is cooking, chop up and sauté some vegetables such as mushrooms, bell peppers, tomatoes, and onions.

When the pasta and vegetables are finished cooking, combine them in a large casserole dish along with some oil and some grain.

To complete the meal, finish it off with some vegetables, dressing, and cheese.

3. Rotisserie Chicken

Due to its ease of preparation, rotisserie chicken from the supermarket provides busy families with a reliable option for a dinner that can be ready in a matter of minutes.

A rotisserie chicken can be consumed on its own, or it can be utilized in the preparation of a variety of other dishes, including tacos, sandwiches, salads, and many others.

Rotisserie chickens are a good option for this situation if you are looking for simple dinner ideas that busy families can make use of.

On the other hand, since you want to keep your sodium intake manageable, you should carefully monitor the amount of sodium the chicken contains.

4. Rice & Beans

This delicious meal consists of three foods that are both nutritious and simple to prepare. Beans are high in protein and fiber, whether you choose black beans, pinto beans, or a combination of the two.

Beans, rice, and vegetables can be on the table in minutes. Beans, rice, and vegetables are three simple foods to adapt to your family’s preferences and needs.

It can be made without meat, with vegan or vegetarian ingredients, or with meat.

Personalize the beans, rice, and vegetables to make a dish that is uniquely yours by adding any herbs, spices, or other ingredients that come to mind.

Beans, rice, and vegetables can be prepared in a variety of ways. Both stovetop cooking and rice cooker (see also ’23 Easy Recipes For Your Rice Cooker‘) cooking are viable options.

A rice steamer can also be used to cook rice. You can quickly prepare the beans and vegetables by sautéing them in a skillet or making a microwave dish.

It is simple to prepare the beans, rice, and vegetables ahead of time and then reheat the dish when ready to serve.

5. Teriyaki Chicken Stir-Fry

Stir fry is a meal that can be prepared quickly and easily at home. A meal consisting of stir-fried ingredients can be prepared in minutes.

You can make a complete and balanced meal by preparing a stir fry with vegetables and chicken. Suppose you have children who are picky eaters or who have dietary restrictions.

In that case, a stir fry is an excellent way to ensure that they receive adequate nutrition while simultaneously adjusting to eating various foods.

It is simple to adapt stir-fries to the preferences and requirements of your family.

To illustrate, if you are cooking for a vegetarian family, you can substitute tofu for meat in the dish. You can use chicken, pork, beef, or shrimp as the meat in your stir fry if you want to add some protein.

If you are looking for simple dinner ideas for families constantly on the go, you can also include rice in a stir fry.

6. Steamed Veg

Steamed vegetables are a very healthy and time-efficient dinner option, making them a good choice for families with picky eaters.

They are also an excellent way to get some veggies for a child who is new to eating them. You can use almost any variety of vegetables on hand to make a delicious bowl of steamed vegetables.

You can also put some rice in the dish if you desire. If you want the bowl of vegetables to have a bit more flavor or protein, you can add some soy sauce, sesame oil, a drizzle of olive oil, or some chopped nuts or seeds.

Other options include adding some heat to the tables by mixing in some chili flakes, cayenne pepper, or pepper flakes. Doing so will give them more flavor.

7. Rice & Veggies

If you have leftover rice (see also ‘26 Simple To Make Leftover Rice Recipes‘) from the day before, add it to a stir fry or other dish with some steamed vegetables for a quick and easy dinner.

You can make a stir fry, a bowl of steamed vegetables, or a bowl of rice and vegetables into a quick and easy meal by adding a bit of soy sauce, sesame oil, and other ingredients.

A bowl of rice (see also ‘28 Rice Bowl Recipes To Liven Up Your Diet‘) and vegetables can benefit from adding other elements, such as edamame, tofu, mushrooms, onions, and peppers if you happen to have them lying around the house.

Making dinner using a bowl or stir fry like this is a fast and straightforward way to get the meal on the table.

8. Meatball Sliders

You can prepare meatball sliders on a day when you have a little bit of extra time to spare. Mixing ground meat such as beef (see also ‘13 Recipes For Delicious Ground Bison Dishes‘) or pork, bread crumbs, an egg, salt, and pepper will allow you to make meatball sliders.

After that, you can roll the meat into small balls and cook them in the oven or a frying pan.

When they are finished, you can place them on a roll or in a slider bun, along with some tomato sauce and cheese, and serve them to the customer.

Ideas for quick and easy dinners (see also our favorite Saturday dinner ideas) are precise about what busy families need.

9. Chilli

Traditional and comforting, chili is a dish that can be prepared in a short amount of time.

You can make chili by browning ground meat, onions, and peppers in a pot and then add a jar of tomato sauce, a can of beans, and a can of diced tomatoes.

In addition to that, you could put in some spices like cumin, paprika, chili powder, cayenne pepper, or cilantro (see also ‘28 Delicious And Refreshing Cilantro Recipes‘).

Making chili is a great way to use up whatever you have lying around the house because it is quick and easy to prepare.

You can make a large pot of chili and have it as a quick and easy dinner option for several days after you have made it.

10. Chicken With Cheese

Use of any leftover chicken and your homemade meatballs can be put to good use by preparing cheesy chicken.

You could make a meatball sub with the leftovers, or you could eat them by themselves. Both options are good.

It is recommended to cook the chicken in broth with a low sodium content and then add the cooked chicken to the sauce.

The sauce will contribute to the creation of the ideal consistency for your meatballs. Cheese can also be included, but it is entirely up to personal preference.

11. Soup With Chicken And Tortillas

You could use chicken that has already been cooked, or you could use chicken breasts that have been broiled to make a simple and speedy soup.

Put it into a pot with tomatoes, celery sticks, carrots, onions, bell peppers, and brown rice. Also, add some stock.

After that, you can combine all the ingredients by stirring some shredded cheese and an egg. If you are not planning on eating chicken burritos or tortillas, this recipe makes excellent use of any leftover chicken (see also our favorite dutch oven chicken recipes).

12. Chicken And Rice

This recipe for chicken and rice baked in the oven has won the favor and affection of people worldwide.

Less than ten minutes of preparation time are required for the buttery garlic rice and the juicy seasoned chicken thighs baked together in the same pan.

During the cooking process, the rice picks up a tonne of flavor from the chicken juices it absorbed. It’s almost the same as cooking rice in homemade stock.

13. Quesadillas

A quesadilla is a traditional food from Mexico that consists of a tortilla that is typically filled with cheese, and occasionally meats, spices, and other ingredients as well, and that is then fried on a grill or stovetop.

A tortilla made of maize is utilized in preparing this dish. However, a tortilla made of flour can also be used.

To make a complete quesadilla, you need to start with two tortillas and sandwich a layer of cheese between them.

The term half refers to a single tortilla that has been stuffed with cheese and folded into the form of a half moon.

Colonial Mexico was when the quesadilla first appeared in culinary literature.

People have been experimenting with different kinds of quesadillas for a very long time, which has led to the dish’s development throughout its history.

Quesadillas are a standard item on the menus of Mexican restaurants located all over the world.

14. Sloppy Joe Bake

A sloppy joe is a sandwich that typically consists of ground beef, onions, tomato sauce or ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and other ingredients.

The dish’s recipe was first documented in the early twentieth century in the United States.

Toasted Deviled Hamburgers, Chopped Meat Sandwiches, Spanish Hamburgers, Hamburg a la Creole, Beef Mironton, and Minced Beef Spanish Style are some sloppy joe-style recipes from the early to mid-twentieth century.

These recipes go by several different names. Sloppy Joe Sandwiches, Bakes and so forth made with stewed beef are also famous in a variety of other culinary traditions.

Jia mo, a dish from China’s Shaanxi Province, is made with flatbread topped with a stewed pig, beef, or lamb. The word is served on a bed of baigimo.

The Indian dish keema pav is made up of a bread roll called a pav (see also ‘24 Recipe For Fresh Indian Breads‘), which comes from the Portuguese word PO and refers to a soft roll made in the country-style tradition that is stuffed with keema, which is minced, stewed, and curry-flavored beef.

15. Shepherd’s Pie

Shepherd’s pie, also known as cottage pie and in its French iteration as hachis Parmentier, is a savory meal consisting of minced beef covered with mashed potato and baked. Other names for this dish include cottage pie.

The meat utilized can either be raw or freshly minced, but it must have been previously cooked.

Beef and lamb are the typical choices for meats. Even though some authors believe that a shepherd’s pie should contain lamb or mutton and a cottage pie should have beef, the two English names have been used interchangeably since they came into usage in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The terms were first employed.

16. Burritos

Mexican and TexMex cuisine’s version of a burrito originates in California and is a flour tortilla wrapped cylindrical meal filled with various ingredients.

To help them stick to one another, the tortilla can be roasted or cooked to soften and make it malleable.

Burritos are typically eaten by hand because of their tightly wrapped nature. When eaten with a fork and knife, burritos can also be served wet, i.e., slathered in a delicious and spicy sauce.

17. Pork Chops

A pork chop is a piece of meat from the upper region of a pig’s body. More specifically, it comes from the section of the pig’s body that extends from the hip to the shoulder.

They are available in a wide range of shapes and sizes and are regarded as one of the most famous pieces of meat obtained from a pig.

Chops may be prepared in various ways and can either be cooked in a thicker form or cut very thinly. This has to be one of the most versatile and loved dishes throughout the USA.

18. Meatloaf

From the 1880s to the late 1870s, Not only was the meatloaf a safe refuge for leftovers but also a repository for spices that belonged to the chef’s culinary forebears.

Because it allowed home cooks to stretch expensive protein farther than it might otherwise go, meatloaf became a cornerstone in the diets of many Americans during the Great Depression.

This allowed more people to be fed less meat, which in turn allowed the economy to recover more quickly. Meatloaf was a staple of American homes for many years and is still extremely popular today.

19. Sliders

Miniature versions of a hamburger are called sliders. The term slider first appeared in the 1940s, when sailors in the United States Navy began referring to miniburgers as sliders due to the enormous amount of grease they contained.

The burger could be devoured in as few as one or two bites and vanish into thin air. White Castle, a renowned American fast food chain restaurant, is credited with being the first establishment to invent the slider.

The tradition of serving low quality, low cost, and greasy miniburgers at White Castle, which made the chain famous in the first place, continues to this day.

20. Tacos

The taco is a part of Mexico’s cultural and gastronomic richness and is delicious. Many different types of meat and vegetables are used in these dishes.

Some examples include the classics like al pastor and chile Rellenos and the more unusual ones like grasshoppers and avocado.

A gluten-free person’s dream comes true. The taco offers a wide range of options to please even the most discerning palates making it perfect for the family and friends to enjoy.

21. Beef And Broccoli

An American meal known as beef and broccoli consists of chunks of flank steak that are stir-fried with broccoli and seasoned with a sauce reminiscent of Chinese cuisine and is produced by combining oyster sauce, soy sauce, and cornstarch.

The dish is traditionally served with rice.

Although the meal is not historically Chinese, it is thought that the first versions of the word were created by Chinese immigrants who had landed in San Francisco.

Although the cuisine is not traditionally Chinese, it does include Chinese influences.

22. Chicken Teriyaki

Chicken teriyaki is a dish made in the Japanese culinary technique of teriyaki, in which food is boiled or grilled in soy sauce, mirin (see also ‘10 Mirin Substitutes‘), and sugar.

This sauce is known as teriyaki sauce. This results in a sweet and sour glaze being applied to the chicken, transforming it into the ideal chicken meal for supper.

It’s juicy, delicious, and sure to provide you with a healthy dose of nutrients to help you create a well-rounded meal.

It provides a fantastic taste of savory flavor that keeps the teriyaki sauce from overpowering you. As a result, you can enjoy both the primary and side dishes without focusing on a single taste.

This well-known vegetable has a lot of untapped potential, especially when served alongside a succulent chicken meal like teriyaki chicken.

Rice is an essential component of many cuisines around the world, and Japan is no exception.

Because rice is so important in Japanese cooking, it’s only natural to pair classic Japanese dishes like teriyaki chicken with a heaping helping of fried rice.

23. Vegan Mac & Cheese

This is an excellent option for those who want a vegan version of mac and cheese. It is vegan friendly because it is created from plant-based materials. The recipe has just six ingredients and is pretty simple to prepare.

Cooked macaroni, vegetable broth, nutritional yeast, vegan butter, garlic, and salt are all needed to make vegan mac and cheese.

More broth may be added to the vegan mac and cheese to make it creamier. Other vegetables, such as broccoli or cauliflower, can be included.

24. Salmon

Salmon is one of the most preferred seafood dishes due to its versatility and high protein content making it the perfect meal for friends and family.

We have gathered this flexible collection of mouthwatering salmon dishes that will delight the most fish lovers (see also ‘The Perfect Foods To Serve With Fish‘), starting with a sweet-spicy marinade for grilled salmon and ending with spicy smoked salmon sushi recipes.

25. Ground Beef

The shelf life of ground beef in the freezer is between three and four months, so keeping a supply of this essential component on hand will serve you well.

The following is a collection of simple ground beef slow cooker recipes that range from substantial comfort foods like meatloaf and meatloaf to soups and stews that have been lightened up.

You’ll want to have these recipes on hand for those hectic weeknights and busy family schedules.

26. Boneless Chicken

These are not only economical but also extremely adaptable and difficult to overcook.

Here are fifty-one alternative methods to prepare boneless chicken thighs for quick and easy weekday meals. If you picked up a box of boneless chicken thighs at the grocery, refer to this list.

Because chicken thighs may be prepared successfully using such a wide variety of cooking techniques, this article includes recipes for the slow cooker, air fryer, oven, grill, stovetop, and more.

27. Casserole

You may make a casserole out of virtually any ingredients you like. Spaghetti, pizza, and even French toast are just some of the dishes that lend themselves particularly well to being reimagined as casseroles with a little bit of ingenuity and imagination.

The following is a selection of traditional recipes that have been reimagined as one-dish marvels with the purpose of simplifying midweek supper preparation.

28. Lasagna

A time-honored recipe for one of the foods that is celebrated all across the world. Homemade lasagna is the epitome of the greatest comfort dish.

This lasagna dish is perfect for any night of the week when you want to have a dinner party (see also ‘33 Dinner Party Recipes‘) with your loved ones.

A huge, warm, and cozy embrace concealed beneath layers of spaghetti, tomato sauce, white sauce, and melting cheese.

29. Meatballs

It is traditional for this Italian meatballs dish to be prepared with a combination of beef and pork, but we also enjoy switching back and forth between the two kinds of meat on occasion to add a new dimension of flavor to the dish.

In order to achieve a larger variety of textures, you might also try substituting ordinary breadcrumbs with panic breadcrumbs for a texture. These are not only tasty, but the perfect family meal.

30. Pulled Pork

The pulled pork recipe (see also ‘24 Best Pork Belly Recipes‘) that will make your life a whole lot easier. There is no need for complicated quantities, and with only a few simple ingredients, you may have a deliciously smoky barbecue.

With so many different possibilities this really is a versatile dish that’s a sure hit for any family meal time.

31. One-Pan Spaghetti

A unique take on the classic dish of pasta with spicy sausage. Making use of the water used to boil the pasta helps the sauce adhere to the pasta, which in turn gives the dish more body.

A sauce that is as smooth as silk, pasta that is cooked to perfection, and only one pan to clean making it the quick, easy and tasty.

32. Chicken Fajitas

A unique take on the classic dish of pasta with spicy sausage. Making use of the water used to boil the pasta helps the sauce adhere to the pasta, which in turn gives the dish more body.

A sauce that is as smooth as silk, pasta that is cooked to perfection, and only one pan to clean making it the quick, easy and tasty.

33. Beef Hotpot

Using this recipe, you can get the most out of a bag of ground beef (see also ‘23 Delicious Ground Beef Soup Recipes You Need To Try‘) by making this hearty dinner.

It is quite adaptable, as there are a number of different versions that may be used, and the best way to have it is directly from the bowl with a spoon and some crusty bread.

Another thing that will be a hit with you, your family, and your friends is this.

Conclusion

And that wraps up today’s detailed article on the top 25 dishes for families. As you can see, some of these are staples to households and families throughout the country, not just in the USA.

With many of these authentic and original recipes having rich and deep roots dating back thousands of years, it’s safe to say they have stood their test of time.

Not to mention the unbeatable saving on grocery expenses as most of these delights are made from cheap and healthy ingredients, making them perfect for a growing family.

Simple, adaptable foods include beans, rice, and vegetables: quick-cooking beans, rice, and veggies. Rotisseries Easy-to-make stir fry. Steam vegetables for picky eaters or dietary restrictions. Ingredients stir-fried quickly.

Options include stovetop and rice cooker. Easy stir-fries are family-friendly. Quickly make dinner with leftover rice and steamed vegetables.

Meatball sliders are made with beef or pork, bread crumbs, an egg, salt, and pepper. Chilli uses leftovers quickly and comfortingly.

Leftover chicken (see also ‘28 Recipes For Leftover Rotisserie Chicken‘) and meatballs go into cheesy chicken. Add broth-cooked chicken to sauce. If you aren’t making burritos or tortillas, use leftover chicken (see also ‘Leftover Chicken: 30 Mouthwateringly Simple Recipes‘).

Quesadillas are cheese-filled tortillas. Recipes appeared in early 20th-century American cookbooks.