Andrea Dekker

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30 Easy Dinner Ideas You Can Make in 30 Minutes or Less

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30 easy dinner ideas

I’m a huge advocate for planning simple meals.

I don’t particularly love the process of meal planning. However, I know my day, my life, and my kitchen run a lot smoother (and my family and I are a lot happier) when I take 10-15 minutes to plan our meals for the week.

If you still haven’t jumped on the meal planning bandwagon (or if you fell off and want to jump back on) I hope this post will motivate you to give it a try again — or try it for the first time.

Keep reading for 30 of our family’s favorite easy dinner ideas that can all be made in 30 minutes or less.

easy weeknight dinner

How I Plan Our Meals

I currently plan 7 easy dinners and breakfasts each week, jotting them down in the top corner of my “planner notebook”.

my planner notebook

I usually try to plan one dinner from each of the following categories:

  1. Italian
  2. Mexican
  3. Meat & Potato
  4. Soup, Salad, and/or Sandwiches
  5. Casserole
  6. Leftovers or Pizza
  7. Sunday Night Movie Night = a giant charcuterie board
easy slow cooker chili with cornbread and salad

For breakfast, I double up some of the days as I make enough pancakes and waffles for 2 days, and I always keep a few boxes of cereal in the pantry if we are rushed for time.

Here’s an example of our weekly breakfast menu:

  1. Baked Oatmeal + fruit
  2. Pancakes + eggs
  3. Pancakes + sausage
  4. Egg McMuffin Sandwiches
  5. Waffles + eggs
  6. Waffles + bacon
  7. Cinnamon Rolls + yogurt parfaits
easy baked oatmeal for breakfast

My goal is to create my meal plan by Sunday afternoon, serving meals I already have the ingredients for on Monday and Tuesday, and assuming I’ll get to the store by Wednesday if we need anything else. 

NOTE: Here’s a link to ALL my meal-planning posts — read up if you want more inspiration! 

family dinner around the table

How I benefit from planning easy meals each week:

Meal planning is far from my favorite weekly to-do, but it’s one I will continue faithfully doing for the foreseeable future as it saves me so much time and sanity (2 of my most valuable resources).

Here are a few more benefits of meal planning:

  • It eliminates the need for multiple trips to the grocery store (saving me time, money, and stress).
  • It drastically reduces wasted food as I have a plan for everything I buy (we rarely ever throw food out).
  • It saves TONS of money and calories on less-nutritious fast food.
  • My days run so much smoother because I don’t need to scramble at the last minute to prepare food for hungry people.
  • I can answer my children’s daily “What’s for dinner?” questions without saying “I don’t know” over and over again.
  • I don’t spend time or mental energy thinking, planning, or wondering what I could make for breakfast and dinner.
  • I am able to easily get breakfast on the table by 6:30 am and dinner on the table by 5:00 pm. 
  • I am able to plan meals that work for each day (a quick grab-and-go meal if we need to head out or a bigger meal if we have more time).
family enjoying a simple meal at the table

As I mentioned several times above, I plan EASY MEALS — nothing fancy, nothing super time-consuming, nothing with hard-to-find ingredients, and not even always totally “from scratch”. 

Just simple, (mostly) nutritious foods our family eats well.

These easy dinners are perfect for busy weeknights as many of them can be prepped ahead of time and just shoved in the oven when you walk in the door. 

Our Favorite 30-Minute Meals

To help simplify my meal planning process even more, I created a list of more than 30 EASY meals I can make in 30 minutes or less (all using ingredients I commonly have in the house.)

I’m sharing that list today in hopes that it will help you simplify your meal-planning efforts too!

easy dinner ideas for busy families

Easy Italian Dinner Ideas:

I almost always have pre-cooked sausage, ground beef, and shredded chicken in the freezer, so Italian meals are super quick and easy.

Just heat up some sauce with frozen meat while I boil the noodles, add a salad and fruit, and dinner is served! 

Here are a few more of my favorite easy Italian meals!

1. Any type of pasta or zoodles with jarred sauce, this semi-homemade sauce, or this vegetable marinara sauce.

2. 10 Minute Homemade Lasagna

3. Pizza Pasta with Noodles or with Spaghetti Squash

4. Frozen Pizza or take-and-bake pizzas from the deli

5. Stromboli (you’d have to make or defrost the dough ahead of time to make this in 30 minutes)

6. Muffin Tin Pizzas

7. Mac & Cheese – this 5-minute slow cooker method or just from a box

SIMPLE SIDE DISH OPTION

delicious stromboli dinner
easy homemade lasagna with lots of veggies

Easy Mexican Dinner Ideas:

I try to keep a few containers of our favorite slow cooker refried beans and taco meat in the freezer. And I always have a container of this mild taco seasoning ready for quick Mexican meals (something our whole family enjoys). 

I also have lots of cheese, sour cream (or plain Greek yogurt), onions, tomatoes, lettuce, tortilla chips, and our favorite tortillas in the house nearly all the time, so Mexican foods are an easy win when it comes to simple meals on busy weeknights! 

These are some of our favorites:

8. Refried Bean and Cheese Quesadillas

9. Beef or Chicken Quesadillas 

10. Chipotle Pulled Pork Enchiladas (I often have these in the freezer, so I literally just pull them out, add sauce and cheese, and shove them in the oven)

11. Triple Layer Taco Pie

12. Taco Casserole

13. One Skillet Mexican Rice Casserole

14. 3-Ingredient Mexican Chicken

15. Fiesta Chicken Salad

SIMPLE SIDE DISH OPTIONS

easy dinner quesadillas
simple dinner of Mexican casseroles

Easy Breakfast (or breakfast-for-dinner) Ideas:

Breakfast for dinner is one of our family’s favorite meals. It’s such a frugal dinner option that’s easy to prepare — win, win!

16. Pancakes, puff pancakes, or hearty oat pancakes

17. Waffles — we use this Belgian waffle maker

18. Omelets — with any meat, cheese, and veggies we have on hand

19. Baked Oatmeal

20. Baked French Toast Casserole

21. Ham, Egg, and Cheese Sandwiches

22. Toast, eggs, and any type of breakfast meat we have on hand

23. Breakfast burritos

SIMPLE SIDE DISH OPTIONS

easy french toast casserole
whole grain oat pancakes are an easy dinner idea

Easy Soup Dinner Ideas:

It has taken a while for my kids to truly start to enjoy soup, but I’m happy to report that soups are now on regular rotation in our weekly meal plans. 

24. Chicken Noodle Soup 

25. Ham and Potato Soup

26. Taco Soup

27. Refried Bean Soup (an older recipe — I now make it with my homemade refried beans)

28. BBQ Chicken Chili

29. Tomato Soup + Grilled Cheese

SIMPLE SOUP SIDE DISHES: 

tomato soup and grilled cheese
easy chili recipe

Easy Sandwich Dinner Ideas:

I’m not always a huge sandwich fan, but the recipes below are ones I REALLY like (along with the rest of my crew!)

30. Easy Pizza Sliders

31. Pizza Sandwiches 

32. Chicken Salad Sandwiches (or wraps or on lettuce)

33. BLT sandwiches 

34. Ham and Cheese Baked Sandwiches 

35. Chili Cheese Dogs

36. Grilled Cheese for a Crowd

37. Burgers or brats on the grill (we almost always have frozen hamburger patties and brats in the freezer)

SIMPLE SANDWICH SIDE DISHES: 

easy sandwich meal
easy chili cheese dogs

Thanks to a bunch of pantry staples and my list of easy dinner ideas, I don’t have to wonder “What’s for dinner?”, scramble to the store at the last minute, or opt for fast food!

I’d say that’s a win in my book!

What are your favorite easy meals?

cooking dinner

Reader Interactions

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Comments

  1. Erin says

    I love this post. My family loves your baked sandwiches and broccoli bacon salad. I’m wondering what are YOUR favorite meals? What are your wow meals to serve to guests too? Love your blog

    Reply

  2. Karen S. says

    Thank you Andrea! This post is so invaluable, and much appreciated. I need to get out of my rut of making the same thing over and over.

    Reply

  3. JJ says

    My kids love your stromboli and pizza sliders!!! Your sugar cookie recipe can not be beaten, either!!! My daughter will say, “Is this a recipe from the lady on the blog?” I am eyeballing your marinara recipe. Oh, and they absolutely loved oven roasted sweet potatoes. I did the sheet pan like you shared, and wow! A huge hit with my four kids!

    I had collard greens for the first time when I was yesterday years old. We went to a free gardening class, and my kids harvested different vegetables. I did NOT want to try them(I know!), but I found a simple recipe where you roll them up, slice them into ribbons, and saute with olive oil, garlic powder, and fine sea salt. 2 out of 4 kids liked it. I was shocked that I liked them. I’m trying to have a growth mindset when it comes to food. I love that you have an entire compilation of 30 min meals!

    Reply

    • Andrea says

      oh good — so glad you have a few favorites on my blog 🙂
      Also, I tried collard greens a few years ago and surprisingly didn’t hate them like I though I would!

      Reply

  4. Rhonda Mullin says

    I get on a kick to find new recipes once in a while. This week I made a few from Taste of Home (found online): cauliflower soup, slow-cooker jambalaya (used more shrimp, less green pepper, and way less cayenne/pepper sauce, to suit our family’s taste), and slow-cooker lasagna. All of these are easy to reheat during the week, as my kids get into soccer season and have to eat early or late after practices.

    Reply

  5. Christy says

    Quick fettuccine Alfredo… boil noodles… in a large pan melt a stick of real butter. Add garlic and onion(fresh or dried) add Italian seasoning or Cajun seasoning. Add flour for thickening. Add creme or you can use creme cheese, ricotta cheese if you have partial containers opened in fridge. If you don’t have creme. Half n half or whole milk will work. Add Parmesan or Asiago cheese at the end of cooking. Good in some chicken or cooked sausage or leftover reheated steak and any veggie you like

    Reply

    • Andrea says

      I actually made this tonight (very similar) and put it already cooked chicken and broccoli. It’s one of our kids FAVORITE meals!

      Reply

  6. Christy says

    Easy chicken pie… store bought pie crust. Canned chicken. A little flour for thickening. Salt, pepper, garlic powder onion powder (any seasonings you like) chicken broth. You can add canned, frozen or fresh veggies if you like. Some times I’ve added shreddded cheese and or a little milk.. as a side use the rest of the box of broth with water. Boil and add cut up biscuits for dumplings.

    Reply

    • Andrea says

      Hi Ron,
      What an amazing husband you are! I think any of my 30-minute meals would be a great place for you to start.
      Also, consider making grilled sandwiches (just like a grilled cheese but with meat too) as a standby — we always have sandwich stuff in the house and it’s a quick and easy meal that doesn’t require much prep work or clean up!

      Reply

    • Martha says

      I mostly make 30 minute or less meals. Once you get a few recipes your family enjoys, put them on repeat and add more recipes as you have time. Never have used a recipe from this site that we all did not love!! Most are super easy and fall within the 30 minute from start to on the table!! Andrea has the best advice for every age and life stage!!!

      Reply

      • Andrea says

        Aww… thanks so much Martha! And yes, I couldn’t agree with you more — just find a handful of recipes your family loves and continue rotating them with different side dishes or with a few variations.

        Reply

  8. Jenny says

    These are some great ideas! It could see a family through a YEAR, I bet, adding in a few special holiday meals! I’ve never had a problem planning meals or menus, as long as I do it in advance, but waiting to decide and then shopping at the last minute is not a good idea, because everything seems hard, nothing sounds good, and the cost will be so much higher than if planned ahead. Some blogs seem to feature people who eat the same 5-10 or so main courses, over and over, with exactly the same side dishes or they get so fancy that it’s unrealistic. Yours work really great- simple, varied, delicious!

    Reply

  10. Brandie Curtis says

    THANKS SO MUCH for this!
    I bookmarked it so I can reference it easily.
    My family and I always LOVE your recipe’s and used them quite often over the years I have followed you!

    Reply

  12. Meghan says

    I pretty much always have to have 3-5 meals I can make at any time. It’s a weird security thing 🙂
    Breakfast burritos
    Quesadillas with whatever leftovers we have
    Hash browns, eggs, and turkey sausage skillet
    Spaghetti and meat sauce
    Sloppy joes
    Turkey kilbasa and Hashbrowns
    Frozen ravioli layered with Prego and mozzerella cheese and baked
    Hamburgers and baked beans
    Pancakes, bacon, and fruit

    None of these meals are a first choice, but they are a better alternative to pizza or eating out.

    Reply

  13. Aa. says

    I myself am in the proccess of making this same list.

    My personal favourites are pasta (tuna and tomatoes, clams pasta, pasta with chicken and brocooli, ravioli and carbonara are the fastest and we love them), ranch eggs, breakfast dinner, finger fish with steamed broccoli, sandwiches and a version of chilli that we like.

    We always have ingredients for at least 3-5 of these foods and it is a life saver to have them noted on a list so I can look over it when I am short on time.

    Reply

  14. Carrie says

    Your baked ham & cheese sandwiches are DEFINATELY on my “go-to-meals” list. Also, we are getting a Meijer store this year & I’m soooo excited since you have spoken so highly of it. 🙂

    Reply

  15. Erika says

    My go to meals are spaghetti and meat sauce, tuna salad sandwiches, fried egg sandwiches, black bean quesadillas, english muffin pizzas, bean tostadas, waffles or pancakes and eggs. Soft tacos or burritos with whatever we have on hand, grilled cheese and tomato soup. Another favorite that we like every week or two is what we call “Squee” brown ground turkey or beef, then add chopped onions and shredded green cabbage and if we have any other veggies we need to use, I’ll add those too-usually peppers or mushrroms. Usually we will eat this over buttered noodles and everyone will season it to there liking. Just make sure you cook cabbage very well or else your tummy will get a little bloaty feeling. 🙂

    Reply

    • Andrea says

      Your list sounds very similar to ours! And for the record, my all-time FAVORITE go-to meal (since I was a little kid) has always been spaghetti and meat sauce. I could literally eat it for breakfast (and honestly, sometimes I do!)

      Reply

  16. Roxanne says

    I try to keep some thawed chicken breasts in the fridge at all times. They’re so versatile and there’s a lot of different directions I can take them as long as I have at least a half hour to prep them- I can bake them with whatever sauces, seasonings or toppings I have on hand; I can cube them or slice them and use them in pasta dishes, soups and stir-fry; or I can shred them and use them in more ethnic-type dishes. We also always have frozen veggies in the freezer (yay for microwaves!) and if we can slice up some fruit to go with it, then I call it “good enough” and dinner is served 🙂

    Reply

  17. Tracey says

    This is JUST what I needed today…I think you are a mind-reader!!! So often I’m struggling with ash everyday challenge, I check in here, and it turns out you’ve addressed that very thing.

    Thank You!!!

    Reply

  18. Meg says

    Thanks for the ideas! We try to eat as much “real food” as possible, but many of your ideas can be adjusted accordingly. Great, simple way to keep that daily “what’s for dinner???” feeling at bay. 😉

    Reply

  19. Debbie W. says

    Great list Andrea! Some of these are my go-to meals too, but you have several that I never thought of. I think this list will really help me in my efforts to improve my own meal planning/meal prep. Thanks!

    Reply

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