40 Easy Family Dinner Ideas for Busy Weeknights

Chili Mac and Cheese combines the best of two beloved dishes for a truly outstanding yet quick-to-make comfort food. Make this one-pot meal on a weeknight for an easy, filling meal in under 30 minutes!

The whole family will love this fresh pasta primavera dish with roasted salmon and English peas.

Instant Pot Beef Stroganoff is a classic comfort food that’s quick and easy to get on the dinner table. You can even start with frozen beef! 

While the rice is cooking in the rice cooker, you can make these sweet, delicious salmon filets. Dinner is served in under 30 minutes.

This Walking Taco Casserole recipe is an easy weeknight meal that has all the flavors of tacos with the crunch of corn chips, too. It’s a favorite with our family (and especially me since it’s so quick and simple to make)!

Serve up one of your favorite take-out meals in less time than it takes to go pick it up. So good you'll want to add this to your weekly rotation!

This easy Instant Pot Jambalaya is the BEST! It has chicken breast and Cajun sausage for a wonderful flavor, and you can easily add shrimp. All your Jambalaya questions are also answered, so don’t miss this one.

Step up your gnocchi game (without all the extra time) with this fast and easy skillet recipe that the family is sure to love.

Make an extra batch of fried rice on the weekend, then use leftover chicken to whip up this easy fried rice recipe for a quick weeknight meal.

These easy veggie burritos are fresh, healthy, and delicious, Make a few extra to have on hand for lunch tomorrow!

Make a batch of this Instant Pot pulled pork and use it for multiple meals -- pulled pork sandwiches, tacos or quesadillas, or throw it on top of a baked potato. We even love ours crisped up in the pan and scrambled into eggs for breakfast.

Five ingredients, one pan, and ten minutes of prep. Need we say more?

This Instant Pot Mississippi Pot Roast has just a few extra ingredients which makes the best version you’ll ever try! Serve it sandwich style, or with your choice of potatoes.

Add left-over chicken to this couscous salad and serve it with bread for a quick and easy dinner with all the deliciousness of a Caprese salad.

This easy recipe for Szechuan Gourmet Beef Pasta is a family staple and a reader favorite. Flavorful ground beef and pasta make it easy to skip the takeout and still keep weeknight dinners delicious! So much simpler than traditional Szechuan Beef and just as flavorful.

Leftover rotisserie chicken is the hero making this mouth-watering white chicken chili an easy weeknight meal that the whole family will love. We serve ours with cornbread and honey butter.

This easy sausage and broccolini sheet pan meal is fast, and easy to customize. Toss everything in the oven and dinner is ready in 20 minutes!

Kick your grilled cheese up a notch with this easy recipe for a fun, comfort-food style weeknight dinner.

This easy Southern Brunswick Stew recipe is a great way to use leftover meat and it’s on the dinner table in about half an hour!

A fun and healthy twist on mini-pizzas, take this basic recipe and let the family customize each to their liking.

If lasagna is a dish you avoid unless you have several hours to devote to it, then this easy Instant Pot Lasagna recipe will change your mind!

If you love Instant Pot lasagna but want to swap out the noodles for veggies, try this quick and easy recipe.

Tacos are always a hit, and they are usually a pretty quick meal to get on the table. These use ground chicken, which we use a lot in our house.

Ten minutes to dinner? Yep! Avocado Pasta is one of the simplest pasta dishes you can make. Try it tonight for a flavorful, easy dinner!

We're adding a second beef stroganoff recipe because we love it. Also, this variation is with ground beef and is made in one pot. Super easy. Super quick. Super delicious.

This Fresh Broccoli Rice Casserole with Chicken is cheesy, hearty and has a ton of flavor and crunch from the buttery cracker topping!

It'll taste like it's takeout from your favorite Italian spot. Everyone loves ravioli and this meal will be on the table in just 20 minutes.

This simple and healthy Salsa Chicken cooks in just 30 minutes with only one pan to clean!

One-pan oven baked chicken thighs with potatoes and your side, plus a technique that easily allows for a different flavor chicken for each member of the family (and it only takes a minute)!

A spin on takeout beef and broccoli, chicken and broccoli stir fry is always a hit.

This Corn Casserole with Chicken and Rice is delicious, healthy and easy to make even on a busy weeknight!

This Pad Thai with shrimp recipe cooks up quickly for a take-out inspired dinner.

This Italian Garlic Chicken Skillet with olives, rosemary, onions, and mushrooms is the perfect dinner for the entire family. 30 minutes is all you need.

Make this even quicker by prepping a batch of pancakes on the weekend to use for meals during the week. We let them cool, throw them in a Ziplock bag, and put them in the fridge for the kids to heat and eat.

This pot roast recipe uses a chuck roast, then adds balsamic and Dijon for an amazing flavor twist. Make it in your slow cooker or the Instant Pot for a complete and delicious comforting home cooked meal with minimal prep time.

This calls for Italian sausage, but we've also used a jar of marinara and frozen meatballs to make quick and delicious meatball hoagies.

Got 5 minutes and some leftover steak? Then you’ve got time for this seriously delicious Faux Pho recipe. This recipe is for two servings, so if you're cooking for a family you'll want to double the recipe.

I started making this a few years ago and my daughter still requests it on the regular. We actually used to make it Whole 30 style with no butter, cream, or cheese and it was equally outstanding.

No canned soup. No draining potatoes. So simple and flavorful. Instant Pot Potato Soup is the best thing you’ll make in your pressure cooker! Serve it with garlic bread or a salad and you've got a hearty meal in minutes.

This Italian Sausage Stew has just 6 ingredients but so much flavor! Complete step one, then throw everything in the slow cooker and dinner will be ready when you get home.