Quick Dinner Ideas

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On those busy weeknights, you need some amazing Quick Dinner Ideas to get you through. Here is a list of my favorite fast dinners.

Last week on Instagram we talked about Quick Dinner Ideas when you’re in a pinch and just yesterday, we talked about meal planning! I’ll be doing a post NEXT Tuesday about the meal planning, so today is the Reader’s Digest version of what we talked about last week.

Listed below are the ideas I could remember off the top of my head for meals when you need dinner on the table FAST. Some have links to actual recipes, and others are just descriptions. Hopefully its enough guidance to get those creative juices flowing so you can have a jumping off point for your speedy dinner needs.

1. Crispy Chicken Ranch Wraps–since I always have chicken fingers or nuggets in my freezer more often then not, I throw them into a tortilla with a little ranch dressing, lettuce, tomato and cheese. Makes for a quick and yummy meal 🙂
2. Fish Tacos–So I have three fish taco recipes on my site thus far (one, two and three). Two of the three call for fish sticks and the other is a baked fish with seasoning. ALL are so tasty and you can top it with pretty much whatever you have on hand. Highly recommend the slaw from this recipe OR the Baja sauce from this recipe. Basically, use what you know your kids would eat.
3. Roasted Chicken Sausages and Veggies-I love Aidell’s Chicken Sausage, cutting them into large chunks and placing on a sheet pan and then filling the rest with veggies. Things like baby carrots, onion, broccoli, asparagus, peppers, potatoes, butternut squash, really anything your little heart desires. Toss everything with olive oil and Mrs. Dash (plus a little salt) and bake at 450 for 20-30 minutes, flipping everything half way through. Roasted sausages never tasted so good!
4. Ramen will get you places!! I love love love using Ramen in recipes because it cooks so so fast and when paired with a ton of veggies, I don’t feel so guilty for serving it to my kids. This Stir Fry and this chow mein will blow your minds.
5. Pasta Sauce!! Browning a little ground beef, adding in very finely cut veggies plus a jar or two of store bought marinara with a little sprinkle of basil, oregano, salt and pepper…HEAVEN! And ready to go in 30 minutes or less. (While it simmers, cook your pasta.) Obviously the longer it cooks the more delicious it becomes, but a little extra sprinkle of basil can trick you into a longer, slow-cooked flavor 😉
6. Homemade Alfredo is BOMB. Not healthy in the least but ready to eat in 15 minutes or less if you don’t have hungry children pulling on your pant legs.
7. Lettuce Wraps of any kind are very quick to pull together because it’s basically cooking an Asian-inspired meat mixture and throwing those into pieces of lettuce. (That was an awful description, I realize.) This is my latest recipe for lettuce wraps. My husband and I adored them.
8. My Guilt Free Fried Rice is quite a quick meal to throw together and DARN TASTY.

So, that should pretty much cover it! And don’t forget: when in doubt, TAKE OUT. So glad we had this talk.

If I’m missing anything or if you know of a recipe of mine that is super quick to pull together, be sure to leave a comment below!

Have a great day!! xo