5 Easy Weeknight Dinner Ideas for Families
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School is about to start, so time will be at a premium. This year my kids are not overlapping any subjects, so I’m sure our school days will take a little longer than usual. Add in that the first few weeks of school can take longer until we get into a good routine and I have almost no free time during the week. Needless to say, easy weeknight dinner options are a necessity.
I made a list of our favorite 5 easy weeknight dinner options. Everyone in my family will happily eat any of these options. We have a few food allergies, so all of these recipes happen to be gluten-free and dairy-free. Don’t worry though, these recipes are still crowd-pleasers even if you don’t have food allergies.
When time is really short I add all of these to my weekly meal plan. We buy grass-fed beef an entire cow at a time, so I always have beef in stock. I place an online grocery order through Prime Now or Harris Teeter for all of the other ingredients.
I will gladly pay a tip and service fee to save time grocery shopping! Honestly, I end up saving more than the fee because there are no impulse purchases.
Easy Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free Weeknight Dinner Options
1. Tacos
Tacos only take a few minutes to come together and everyone in my family loves them. They end up on our dinner rotation even when we are not super busy.
Most of the ingredients are always in my house thanks to a chest freezer, decent sized pantry, and a Costco membership. We buy a ginormous tub of taco seasoning at Costco and it lasts months. The pantry is always stocked with corn tortillas and salsa. Add in a little shredded lettuce and we have everything needed for tacos.
I usually serve with fruit and veggies sticks.
Tacos also freeze really well. I almost always make a double batch and freeze the extras.
2. Chicken Cobb Salad
A deli rotisserie roast chicken, hard boiled eggs, and pre-cooked bacon make this easy weeknight dinner a snap to get on the table.
I put out dishes with shredded lettuce, diced roast chicken, cucumbers, halved cherry tomatoes, bacon crumbles, shredded cheese (for those not dairy-free, and avocado slices. Everyone makes their own salads with whatever they want.
I love this dinner option because I can just place one grocery order and have a quick reasonably healthy dinner ready just a few minutes after delivery.
3. Sweet and Sour Meatballs
Full disclosure, on first glance these meatballs are not exactly quick. It does take 30-45 minutes to prep the meatballs and sauce, plus a bit of time in the oven. I do that part first thing in the morning while the kids are waking up and eating breakfast.
By the time we are ready to start school the meatballs are out of the oven. I transfer it all to my slow cooker and cook it on low until diner time. This lets the flavors meld together
I usually serve this with a side salad.
4. Burgers
Burgers cook really fast on a counter-top grill. This dinner comes together so quick that I don’t even start cooking until my husband comes home from work.
We use beef, but burgers are equally good with ground turkey or chicken. I just sprinkle each patty with gluten-free Worcestershire sauce (check labels, not all brands are gluten-free), salt, and pepper.
5. Slow Cooker Korean Beef with Instant Pot Rice
Slow cooker meals are a great way to get dinner on the table quickly. They are perfect for busy weeknights! A few minutes of prep in the morning turns into a delicious meal by dinnertime.
This slow cooker Korean beef recipe is a family staple. Everyone in my family loves it, so it is in my dinner rotation frequently.
At lunch time I throw brown rice into my instant pot. It doesn’t take very long to cook, but will stay perfectly warm while I finish our school day. By the time our school work is finished and my husband is home, dinner is completely ready.
Having quick dinners that everyone in my family actually enjoys relieves meal time stress. I know that with a few simple ingredients and a couple of minutes I can have dinner on the table.
These meals also save us money because we don’t need to order out because there are no dinner plans.
Want to have tons of quick and easy meals at your fingertips? Check out MyFreezEasy! This freezer meal planning service provides the menu, the shopping list, and the instructions. It is quite possible to have 10 delicious meals prepped and in the freezer in less than an hour.
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