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If you need to get dinner done – here are 30 quick meal ideas for dinner. Perfect for nights when you have sports, book club, or just need an easy win!
30 Quick Meal Ideas for Dinner
If you are TIRED of fast food or concession foods each night at the ball field and are looking for easy and quick meals to put together on nights when the kiddos have games – here are 30 quick meal ideas for dinner! Some of these can be taken along with you to eat in the car, but the majority of them are quick to make – sometimes you basically just have to warm it up (and they AREN'T all sandwiches or slow cooker meals!).
These meal ideas are easy to whip up and are perfect for busy nights or weekends. And as a bonus, most of these are fairly inexpensive and you may even already have most of the ingredients on hand.
Remember that not all of these on the go food ideas will be for everyone. Use this as a guide, but as always, make it to your families preferences and needs.
30 Quick and Easy Meals for Busy Nights
This is one of my FAVORITE PPP meals to whip up quickly. Not only is it a freezer meal that you can have made up in advance, but even if you’re making it in the moment, you can have it put together in under 5 minutes.
Allow it to bake as the kids are showering, throw some veggies in the steamer and garlic bread in the oven, and your dinner will be done!
**Side note** You can EASILY make this as a meatless meal by omitting the chicken!
The Incredible Baked Oatmeal is great to take along WITH you for snacks or breakfast (think 7 am tournament weekends – yikes!). It travels well and can be heated up in the microwave or eaten cold. Plus – you can customize the ingredients for picky eaters or sensitive stomachs.
Meatball Subs
Use Shannon’s Homemade Meatball recipe in the crockpot OR grab a bag of frozen meatballs, throw in the crockpot with some spaghetti sauce and let it simmer all day long. Or if your family likes sweet meatballs you can try this BBQ and Grape Jelly sauce too!
Serve with some apple slices, some sub rolls and parmesan cheese and dinner will be DONE as you’re walking in the door.
This is another recipe that can be made ahead of time as a freezer meal OR it just takes a few minutes to throw together. You can even put these together cold and separate as deli meat sandwiches as you’re in the car on the way home.
Keeping this one simple and customizing with what your family prefers will be a big WIN for this one!
Tacos
Whether it’s walking tacos, taco meat made ahead of time in the slow cooker, or a taco salad – this is a perfect way to have the main star of the show prepped ahead of time (use our meat thawing tip and storage tip) so that dinner can get done QUICK.
Nearly ANY of our slow cooker meals could make it on this list, but this is definitely one of my favorites to whip up quickly. I edit the original recipe a bit as I don’t use bacon due to my daughter being a vegetarian, so I start with the potatoes, onion, celery, and broth into my pressure cooker (versus using the slow cooker). I cook all of that for about 5 – 6 minutes in the pressure cooker, release the pressure, and then continue to add the flour / half & half mixture and then the cheese. We top with cheese, sour cream, and green onions (and it takes just about 15 minutes from start to finish)!
Chili
Like tacos, there are a million different variations of chili you could use, but as long as your family is a fan, you can’t go wrong! If you’re looking for some good recipes, you can try our meat lovers chili, turkey chili, or white chicken chili.
We are BIG fans of slow cooker Mississippi chicken and beef around here! It’s a slow cooker meal, so everything is prepped and done ahead of time. You can eat the meat on it’s own, throw in a burrito, over rice, or even over instant mashed potatoes. SUPER versatile and delicious!
You typically can’t go wrong adding macaroni & cheese together for a meal for kids. Add in some tuna or beef and you’ve got a meal with some protein that can be done in a pinch. We also like adding in peas with ours for some veggies!
Homemade Pizzas
There are SO many ways to make variations of mini homemade pizzas, and most take less than 10 minutes to whip up. Serve with some veggies, fruits, and a salad and you have a quick meal.
- Mini Veggie Pizza – Cook biscuits (buy the refrigerated version to make it easy – you could even make these ahead of time!) and then top with cream cheese and veggies
- English Muffin Pizzas – Cook up english muffins and top with sauce, cheese, and any toppings you want
- Tortilla Pizzas – Grab your favorite tortilla, top with cheese, sauce, and toppings then bake in the air fryer or oven
- Crescent Roll Pizzas – This one takes just a few minutes but you can’t go wrong with a crescent roll!
Another easy one to have ready to go in the slow cooker so it’s almost all done when you get home. Grab some cole slaw from the store to top your joes, throw some baked potatoes in the microwave and enjoy dinner! You can use our recipe to make your own sauce, or just grab some old fashioned Manwich 🙂
Chicken Breast and Cream of Soup
I know, I know – it doesn’t SOUND very appealing. But throw some chicken breasts in the crockpot and top with your favorite “cream of” soup and then let it cook on low. Serve over rice and a bag of steamable veggies and you have a quick and easy meal!
Quesadillas
Similar to tacos, this is one that can be whipped up really quickly and can be customized to what your family likes AND what you have on hand. A rotisserie chicken or pre-cooked meat (even meat made in the crockpot) will make this one go SUPER fast. Have a vegetarian? Black beans, corn, and cheese is DELICIOUS cooked up in a quesadilla with some seasonings.
Taco Chicken
I’m not sure the “official” name of this meal, but simply take chicken, beans, corn, and salsa and cook on low in your slow cooker. Once you get home, shred your chicken using two forks, a mixer, or whatever you prefer 🙂 Add in a block of cream cheese and let it warm throughout.
Serve over rice, in a tortilla, or even on its own. SO GOOD!
Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup
There’s nothing like a classic soup and sandwich to get a meal done quick. We have this delicious crockpot tomato soup recipe you can use, but if you’re in a pinch, you can definitely use Campbell’s too (did you see they have a GRILLED CHEESE SOUP coming out too?!).
And I’ve not ever met a kid who DOESN’T like grilled cheese for dinner 🙂
Spaghetti
Spaghetti is a favorite in our house and can be made up SO quickly – especially if you’re making it meatless! Even if you want to include meat, as long as your meat is thawed it will only take a few minutes to cook up – OR save yourself that step and pre-cook the meat or cook it in the slow cooker while you're out. Dinner will be done before the kids are done with their after game showers.
Chicken Bowls
Think Chipotle style on this but at home. Prep your chicken (or steak or veggie meats!) ahead of time, so that is already done for you. Grab some instant rice, a few cans of beans, cheese, sour cream, and salsa. Warm up your meat once your home and set everything out buffet style. If you don't want to just throw things together and would like to follow a recipe, these Cilantro Lime bowls are always a hit!
Eggs or Egg Scramble
Eggs are so versatile and sometimes I forget how much my kids like them! You can do a simple meal of just eggs and cheese or make it as elaborate as you’d like with meats, veggies and specialty cheeses. This is great to have to use up what’s in the fridge too!
Chicken Nuggets and Fries
Not the most elaborate meal, but there is NOTHING wrong with throwing some tenders and fries in the air fryer and calling it a night. Serve with a salad, fruit, or their favorite veggie and call it done 🙂
Our stroganoff recipe is made with beef, however, you could make this with chicken as well. LOVE this one because it is hearty and pretty much done for you as you walk in the door!
These are PERFECT to make up ahead of time and you can keep them right in the freezer until you’re ready to eat. Again, this one is so versatile as you can use the meats and fillings that your family likes.
Breakfast for Dinner
You can make this one SUPER simple. There’s nothing that says you even need to make the pancakes or waffles from scratch. Grab a frozen box of waffles, some banquet turkey sausage, and cook up some eggs and enjoy!
Adult sized homemade lunchables
This is SUCH a fun idea (even if you aren’t short on time!). Skip buying the premade packages at the store and instead grab some meat, cheese, and crackers and make yourself a meal that’s quick (and can be grabbed on the go if you need too!).
Sheet Pan Recipes
Add your vegetable of choice and meat of choice to a sheet pan, season with your favorite seasonings, and place in the fridge until you are home. Cook it up and dinner is ready.
Team member Ashley loves doing sheet pan fajitas – use chicken or steak, peppers and onions with fajita seasonings then bake. You can serve it over rice or with tortillas with salsa and guacamole as your toppings.
This one is especially great in the fall, but can be used any time of year. Depending on your kiddos tolerances this one might fly or not – but it’s really delicious if they like beans and corn in soups!
Baked Potato Bar
You can cook up your baked potatoes in the crockpot and then serve with whatever variety of toppings that you would like. These BBQ stuffed potatoes are a hit too!
Stir Fry with Rice
Grab your wok or a big pot, cook up your meat and veggies and serve over a bed of instant rice. If you want to get fancy, take a peek at the grocery and grab an assortment of seasonings or sauces to cook the veggies and meats with.
Make your own wrap
Have flour tortillas, a variety of meats, cheese, and veggies on hands. Grab some fun deli sauces and let everyone make their own wrap. You can serve this one hot OR cold! Our ham and cheese pinwheel recipe uses pizza dough and they're SO GOOD!
Chicken Salad Sandwiches
Cook up some chicken breast earlier in the week or grab a rotisserie chicken from the store. Add your favorite ingredients for chicken salad (grapes or NO?) and have on hand for a quick dinner. Keep it simple with sandwich bread or add an extra flair with croissants. You can serve with salad, fruits, or a pasta salad to round out the meal.
BLTA’s or BLT Sandwiches
If you cook your bacon ahead of time, BLT’s or BLTA’s can be a quick and satisfying meal. Red Robin used to have a BLTA (bacon, lettuce, tomato, avocado) sandwich that was served on a croissant and it was SO GOOD. Serve with your favorite side and enjoy a quick and easy dinner.
Do you have any other quick and easy dinner ideas you tend to use for busy nights? Drop them in the comments – we'd LOVE to add them to our list!
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