Quick and Easy Dinner Recipes

OK, y’all asked and I am delivering! A post dedicated to quick and easy dinners with little to no prep. Yeah, sometimes you can prep to save time and I will give you those tips, but it’s not always necessary. 

Life is getting back to busy and the last thing I want to do after a long day is spend a lot of time on dinner. I have talked to friends that are back in sports with their kids and trying to avoid fast food, back at work full time and exhausted when they get home or just looking to change it up for dinner. 

For this week’s post, I also reached out to my expert contributors, my mother and sister. My mother, a true expert at quick and easy dinners for a busy family. I am the youngest of four children. Four children in the span of five years. We all played sports and were involved in a million extracurricular activities. Can we say BUSY? My sister has taken after my mother and is a pro at quick and easy meals! She’s the mother of three and balances a full-time job, a toddler and multiple kid activities with grace. 

So, are you ready to find out what’s for dinner this week? Keep reading, there is a lot to choose from. This post is full of healthy meals, family-friendly meals, kid-friendly meals and some tried and true favorites. 

Quick and Easy Meal List

• Easy Beef Enchiladas — 4 ingredients. That’s it. Easy to throw together. Here’s a tip to save time: brown your beef the night before you are going to make this dish. It will make it even easier and faster to throw together. Make it low-carb by using the low-carb tortillas I love (Mission brand carb balance). Serve alone or with rice.
• Ravioli Bake — Another 4 ingredient meal! It is easy to keep these ingredients on hand. Think of it as a variation of lasagna but WAY easier to make. I use cheese ravioli. The kids love this dish. Serve alone or with garlic bread.
• Smoked Sausage and Potato Skillet — Quick and easy skillet meal. Add a side of steamed broccoli or green beans and you have a complete meal. You could even sub out the potatoes and cook asparagus or zucchini in the skillet with the smoked sausage. Smoked sausage is a favorite in this house. Cheap, easy to make and delicious!
• Fajita Chicken Casserole — I’ve eaten several variations of this recipe. It is a favorite of ours! The most time consuming part is cutting up the peppers. To save time, cut the peppers and onions in advance and store in an air-tight container in the fridge until ready to bake. Serve over rice or with tortillas.
• Chicken and Zucchini Casserole — This meal uses rotisserie chicken, which is a huge time saver! Keep this in mind for future meals that call for shredded chicken. If you don’t have time to cook the chicken, buy one already cooked! OK, I would also use Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. If I had the time, I would sub the cream of chicken soup and make my own.
• Chicken Stir Fry Ramen Noodles — This is a favorite at my sister’s house and I have put it on my meal plan this week! With most recipes, the time consuming piece is chopping the protein and veggies. To save time, chop the night before and keep in the fridge until ready to cook.
• Tacos — You have two options here, chicken or beef. One requires prep to save time and one really doesn’t!
  • Chicken tacos: Put 1-2 chicken breasts in the Crockpot with a jar of salsa in the morning. Cook on low for 8 hours. Shred when you get home or right before dinner! Serve over lettuce, with soft or hard shells and all the other taco fixings to your liking.
  • Beef tacos: This is one thing that I do prep ahead of time. Usually the night before, I go ahead and cook the taco meat. I put a little extra liquid in the skillet when adding the seasoning. Don’t let all of the liquid cook off. You want to keep some of the liquid for storage so the meat doesn’t dry out. Store in an air-tight container (I use glass) in the fridge. Reheat in the microwave for dinner! Dinner on the table in less than 10 minutes!

I have several recipes that I have shared in my round-ups that will fit this “quick and easy” requirement. I will round those up in a list for you here, too, so you don’t have to go searching! 

Recipe Round-up from Previous Posts

• Baked Spaghetti — I shared this in my December Recipe-round up. To make it a quick and easy meal, make it ahead of time and store in the fridge until ready to bake. You can see additional notes in that post!
• Mexican Chicken Bowls — A variation to the tacos above, we sometimes have “burrito bowls” at home. This recipe is also linked in the December Recipe-round up post.
• Easy Chicken Tacos — Can you tell we love Mexican cuisine? This recipe uses rotisserie chicken for a huge time saver and I am here for it!
• Chicken Stir Fry — One of my favorite easy, healthy meals. I use frozen veggies to save time. Cube your chicken up before you put it in the fridge of the freezer. You can have this meal ready in no time!
• Italian Pasta Skillet — I love a good one pot meal and this one stays in rotation for us! I also love sneaking spinach in a meal for my kids.
• Easy Chicken Enchiladas — This recipe is a HIT with everybody I share it with. You can also use rotisserie chicken for it OR cook your chicken in the crockpot and shred.
• Chicken Tender Sliders — If you have children, add this one to the list! Serve it with salad, chips, veggies and dip and a fruit.
• Crockpot BBQ Chicken — I am adding this to my meal plan this week! We have a really busy week and I need all the “set it and forget it” I can get.
• Instant Pot Lasagna — If you have an instant pot, this is a great quick and easy meal. I would cut the cheese in half!

OK, so you are ready to meal plan. Don’t forget to write it down and make a list before you go to the grocery! If you are stuck on how to meal plan, check out my meal planning post HERE. I also have a few examples of weekly meal plans HERE, HERE and HERE. 

If you have a quick and easy meal that I didn’t include on the list, share it in the comments below! Us busy moms (and dads) have got to stick together and help each other out! 

Stay safe and well, 

Angie