Never wonder what to make for dinner again with our ultimate list of 79 Best Dinner Recipes! We have everything from chicken, pasta, soup, vegetarian and vegan dinners, and one pot wonders for you to choose from!
The best fact of life is that we need to eat every day. The most stressful can be choosing what to make and eat. You can end the search for a dinner option here with our biggest list yet. Whether you’re looking for an impressive dinner party meal or you want something simple and easy to get on the table any night of the week, we’ve got you covered!
Our Best Easy Dinner Recipes – Perfect for Busy Weeknights!
On a busy weeknight, you need a meal that’s ready fast and takes minimal prep work. These recipes are our favorite low-prep meals that taste amazing with little effort. You don’t have to settle for takeout or bland meals on busy weeknights with this list of ideas!
- Pasta with Vodka Sauce is one of our favorite easy dinner ideas! With just a few ingredients and less than 30 minutes, you can ave a piping hot and delicious bowl of pasta ready to go!
- Mongolian Beef is a quick, delicious, and better-for-you version of the popular takeout dish! The whole thing takes 15 minutes to make and pairs perfectly with steamed rice and veggies.
- One of our regular go-to’s is Cacio e Pepe. It’s incredible how much flavor this sauceless pasta holds. We love adding protein to the pasta like shrimp or chicken, and serving it alongside a simple salad.
- If you want to mix things up while maximizing flavor, our Kimchi Fried Rice is the perfect dinner idea! It’s packed with protein, and we love stirring in a handful of spinach to sneak in some extra greens. Leftovers are even better the next day, so you’ll want to make enough for lunch the next day!
- Our Garlic Butter Lamb Chops take only a few steps and less than 15 minutes to cook. You’ll love how delicious, flavorful, and tender this lamb is! We love serving this easy dinner recipe with simple roasted baby potatoes and roasted vegetables.
- This Romesco Sauce Rigatoni is one you’ll want to keep in your back pocket! The ridiculously delicious sauce comes together by blending roasted red peppers, herbs, and almonds, then tossing it with cooked pasta. Don’t skip the buttered breadcrumb topping, though, it adds an incredible pop to the whole dish!
- Our Shrimp Scampi has buttery shrimp that we love to serve with crusty bread, so you can sop up any extra garlic butter sauce. Serve with some lemon wedges on the side for a refreshing garnish.
- Pistachio Crusted Pork Chops are one of our favorite dinner ideas when we have just a little more time but still want to keep things simple. We love the texture and flavor pairing of the crusted pistachios with the pork chops…so good!
- For a simple, all-in-one dinner, whip up a pan of our Fried Rice! You can add any protein you’d like or keep it simple with just eggs for an easy vegetarian weeknight dinner.
- These Panko Crusted Lamb Chops look so elegant and delicious it’s hard to believe they take less than 30 minutes from start to finish. This tender lamb coated in a crunchy herb breading goes great with a fresh side salad and mashed potatoes.
One Skillet, One Pan, One Pot Dinners For Easy Clean Up!
What’s the worst part of cooking dinner at home? If you said the dishes, we agree. That’s why we love these one-dish meals that bring maximum flavor with minimal cleanup!
- Beef Stroganoff is a 30-minute dinner we love. Savory beef smothered in a creamy, tangy sauce and tossed together with soft egg noodles makes this dish the ultimate easy comfort meal.
- When you can’t decide between tacos or pasta, make our Taco Pasta Skillet! All the flavors of a delicious ground beef taco are tossed together with cavatappi pasta, piled into a skillet, and baked until the cheese is melted and gooey. You can top this pasta with as many or few taco “fixins” as you want, but sour cream is a must!
- Our creamy Tuscan Chicken is a reader favorite! It’s super quick and easy to make, absolutely delicious, and can be served in a variety of ways! We love chopping the chicken, adding some pasta, and tossing everything together. We also love serving this dish over a bed of steamed rice or mashed potatoes. The options are endless!
- One Pot Fettuccine Alfredo is a dinner that everyone (even the kids) will love. It’s simple to toss together and uses only one pot from start to finish. Add some chicken or shrimp and stir in some spinach or mushrooms for a complete meal!
- Sheet Pan Chipotle Chicken Nachos could be an appetizer, but we love them as an easy one-pan dinner! There’s nothing better than piling a bunch of tortilla chips and toppings onto a single sheet pan and calling it a night! We love this nacho recipe just a little more than others because we don’t just melt cheese on the chips. We drown everything in a delicious white cheese sauce! You can even use rotisserie chicken to cut down on your cooking time.
- Who doesn’t love Chinese takeout for dinner? Our Cashew Chicken is loaded with so much flavor we recommend doubling the recipe so you have lunch the next day too!
- If you love Indian food but have always been intimidated by making it at home, Butter Chicken is the dish to start experimenting with! You will be shocked at how easy it is to make, and we guarantee it’ll become one of your go-to dinner recipes!
Chicken Dinner Recipes
Chicken dinners don’t have to be boring, especially when you can choose from any one of our incredible dinner recipes featuring chicken as the star!
- Our Honey Garlic Chicken has a sweet and sour flavor that’s completely addictive. We love serving this dish over steamed rice with roasted broccoli on the side.
- We’re making Spatchco*ck Chicken at least twice a month, if not more. It makes enough to use as three meals, which makes it the perfect meal prep dinner. Serve it with some roasted vegetables and a side of mac and cheese and call it a day!
- Our Loaded BBQ Chicken Salad is a hearty dinner salad that’s filled with so many delicious ingredients like bbq chicken, creamy black beans, crunchy jicama, bright tomatoes, sweet corn, and so much more!
- We couldn’t be more obsessed with these Chicken Lettuce Wraps! They’re low-carb, but incredibly satisfying with mushrooms, chicken, bamboo shoots, and water chestnuts all dressed in a savory salty sauce.
- Crispy Chicken Thighs in Creamy Mushroom Sauce never disappoints! The skin on these thighs gets incredibly crispy, the meat stays super moist and juicy, and the creamy mushroom sauce is made with yogurt, not cream, for a lighter but equally delicious sauce.
- Garlic and Ginger Braised Chicken is another flavor-packed dinner recipe that has earned its place in the regular dinner rotation. The chicken soaks in all the delicious garlic, ginger, soy sauce, and brown sugar for some of the most incredible chicken you’ll ever taste.
- Our Baked Nashville Hot Honey Chicken Sandwich is the perfect recipe for those times when you are in a bit of a rut. Juicy chicken breasts are covered in a crisp and flavorful coating and baked for a healthier chicken sandwich.
- These Honey-Chipotle Chicken Burrito Bowls are perfect for an assemble-yourself type of dinner. If you have picky eaters on your hand, this recipe is great because people can build their own bowls with the abundance of toppings we recommend including!
- Our Parmesan Dusted Air Fryer Chicken Wings are coated in a delicious dry coating and air-fried to perfection for a crispy and juicy wing everyone will love.
Pasta and Noodle Dinner Recipes
Everyone should have a pasta dinner at least once a week (in our opinion)! Our roundup of pasta and noodle dishes has no shortage of flavors and cuisine, so you’re sure to find your next favorite, no matter your taste!
- Our Cajun Shrimp Pasta Recipe is everything we love thrown into a decadent pasta dish with plump, buttery shrimp, a creamy sauce with a kick, and bright cajun flavors! It’s pretty unconventional, but that’s one of the reasons it’s one of our favorite pasta dinner ideas.
- We love our hearty Bolognese Sauce tossed with pappardelle. It’s a simplified version of the classic but with all the delicious flavors you’d expect. Our recipe makes enough to feed 6 to 8 people, and it makes the best leftovers!
- These Garlic Noodles are simple to make and filled with so much umami goodness. While you can eat them on their own, throw some broccoli florets and chicken into the mix to make it a complete meal!
- Cacio e Pepe Pasta Pie is another carb-loading dinner we adore. We took our favorite caio e pepe pasta and baked it for slice after slice of delicious cheesy pasta flavor.
- Our Chile Oil Garlic Noodles are full of flavor and so simple to make. Eat plain or add a protein like tofu, chicken, or beef and a veggie. Either way, this noodle recipe is a real winner!
- When we realized how easy it is to make Chow Mein we couldn’t believe it! This popular takeout noodle dish can be customized exactly how you like it and enjoyed on its own or with your favorite protein.
- One of our favorite Thai dishes is this Pork Pad See Ew. The slightly chargrilled flavor that comes from caramelizing the noodles in the savory-sweet garlic sauce adds a special element to this dish you can’t find anywhere else!
- We love a good stir-fry dish, and our Singapore Noodles with Shrimp hit the spot every single time. The combination of curry-infused noodles, sautéed shrimp, snow peas, and bell peppers make this a complete and delicious meal.
- When craving pasta but also wanting something simple with maximum flavor, we turn to our Capellini with Garlic, Lemon, and Parmesan. It’s the deliciously low-maintenance diner idea that everyone loves!
- This Garlic Lemon Pasta is the perfect example of when simple is best. In just 20 minutes, you’ll have a deliciously flavorful pasta dish to eat on its own or pair with diced chicken or sauteed shrimp!
The Best Soups To Eat For Dinner
Soup doesn’t just belong on the lunch menu, especially when it’s this hearty with this much flavor. Enjoy any of our soups or stews for an easy dinner that can be enjoyed all week long.
- Broccoli Cheddar Soup is so hearty and one of our favorite chilly-weather soups to enjoy! All you need is a handful of basic ingredients and 30 minutes to whip up a batch of this weeknight soup.
- Our Creamy Chicken and Farro Soup is a rift from Chicken and Wild Rice Soup. We love the pop of texture the farro provides in this ridiculously delicious and creamy soup!
- Spicy Red Curry Noodle Soup with Shrimp is super cozy, warming, and packed with bright flavor. We like to switch it up occasionally by swapping the shrimp with shredded chicken or even tofu for a simple vegetarian-friendly, healthy dinner idea.
- This Loaded Baked Potato Soup has all the toppings you love to pile on your baked potatoes, wrapped into a creamy and hearty soup.
- Our Corn Chowder tastes incredible when fresh, but gets even better the next day. If fresh corn isn’t in season, frozen works just fine, so you can enjoy this hearty soup for dinner all year long!
- Cheese-filled pasta in soup?! Sign us up! Our simple Tortellini Soup is hearty and filling, but the broth-based soup adds an element of lightness that we love.
- Our Hearty White Bean and Kale Soup is a broth-based soup filled with creamy white beans, torn kale leaves, cubes of ham, and diced white sweet potatoes. Want to make this a vegetarian meal? Just leave out the ham!
- Budae Jjigaeis an inexpensive kitchen sink type of Korean stew with deep, rich flavors. It’s packed with protein from spam, lil smokies, and tofu, all simmering in a spicy hot pepper sauce.
- Creamy Tomato Soup is a classic childhood soup that we’re happy to continue to make and eat. It gets a significant upgrade as the fresh tomatoes are roasted to perfection, adding a deep richness to this soup. Pair it with your favorite grilled cheese sandwich for a bit of comfort and nostalgia.
- Clam Chowder, especially when served in a crusty bread bowl, is a surprisingly easy dinner recipe for the family to enjoy.
- Our Zuppa Toscana is a hearty broth-based soup piled high with Italian sausage, bacon, potatoes, and kale, then topped with shaved Parmesan and crushed red pepper flakes.
- Chicken Noodle Soup is another soup that can double as a hearty dinner. We love making a big batch over the weekend to enjoy throughout the week, especially on chilly nights.
The Best Healthy Dinner Recipes
Looking for something lighter and healthier to serve for dinner? These recipes are packed with vegetables, protein, whole grains, and other goodness for a meal that tastes amazing and will have you feeling just as good!
- Pozole Verde with chicken is one of my favorite healthy, quick, and easy dinners to make all year long. It’s a flavor-packed soup that’s loaded with vegetables and tastes even better the next day, making it a great soup for meal prep.
- Our Turkey Zucchini Lasagna Roll-Ups are the perfect low-carb dinner version of our more classic lasagna sheet-filled version, but equally as delicious. Swapping turkey for beef and loading on the zucchini makes this a lighter and nutrient-rich dinner.
- Soba Noodles with Shrimp is not only an easy dinner recipe but a recipe you can also enjoy for lunch. Make sure to follow our little trick to help keep the dish saucy and prevent the noodles from clumping up.
- We love a good Buddha Bowl with all the veggies, whole grains, and ridiculously delicious cashew cream sauce. This dish is a vegetarian and vegan dinner recipe that everyone can get on board with!
- Our Turkey Bolognese with 50/50 Spaghetti and Zucchini Noodles is for when you’re craving that big, hearty bowl of pasta bolognese but also want to try and keep things just a little lighter. The 50/50 pasta-to-zucchini split will satisfy your pasta cravings without weighing you down.
- Our Spicy White Bean Chili is a lighter take on the more classic thick, tomato, and spice-based chili. We still load ours with beans but give it a more soupy vibe with the broth base and shredded chicken. It’s a great healthy dinner idea that makes incredible leftovers!
- We have a soft spot for delicious falafel, and our Falafel Salad Hummus Bowls always hits the spot. They’re simple, filling, delicious, and healthy!
Easy Dinner Ideas the Whole Family will Love
Is dinner a family affair? Our family-friendly dinners are perfect for adults and kids alike, so everyone can sit down and enjoy a tasty meal and good company.
- Browned Butter Fettuccine Alfredo is an extra savory and nutty version of a classic fettuccine alfredo. It’s such a simple swap from regular butter to browned, but it takes this dinner to the next level! Everyone will be running back for seconds.
- Chicken and Dumplings are our go-to cozy, comfort food to feed our families and ourselves. With fluffy dumplings swimming in the creamy chicken soup, everyone loves this classic winter meal!
- Our Honey Garlic Cauliflower will make even the pickiest meat eater happy, and you’ll feel good knowing that your family is being fed a vegetable-heavy meal!
- Our Oven Baked Chicken Thighs deserve a spot in your regular dinner rotation. Once you try them, you’ll agree! It’s such an easy dinner to make, and the chicken is infused with the most delicious honey mustard flavor. Serve it with some roasted potatoes and broccoli for a complete meal your family will be asking for again and again.
- If you’re looking to spice things up from the typical weekly dinners, try our Korean Beef Bulgogi. Thinly shaved ribeye steak is marinated in a sweet and savory sauce and grilled or sautéed to mouthwatering perfection. It’s a dinner idea that will keep everyone’s tastebuds excited and wanting more!
- Swedish Meatballs over Mashed Potatoes is an incredibly comforting meal filled with mini flavor-packed meatballs, nestled into creamy, buttery mashed potatoes and swimming in a savory gravy.
- If your family loves fast-food fish sandwiches, give them a real treat by making our Filet o Fish at home! The flaky fish and light crispy breading is better than anything you’ve ordered through a drive-thru and make the best sandwiches.
Baked Pasta Dinners
Pasta is great, but baking it adds another element of heartiness that we love. Serve any of our favorite thick and creamy baked pasta dishes to cozy up on a cool night.
- Chicken Alfredo Lasagna Roll Ups are delicious carb-filled spirals that are incredibly delicious and are perfect for meal-prepping as they freeze incredibly well.
- Our Baked Ziti is a cozy dinner idea that we love making on busy weeknights. This dish uses store-bought sauce to make it even simpler and quicker to toss together. We recommend making two – one to enjoy now and one for the freezer for a night you just don’t have time to cook!
- We couldn’t have a baked pasta section without including our Sausage and Kale Baked Gnocchi. The soft and pillowy gnocchi swims in a cream sauce balanced out by the salty turkey sausage and hearty kale. Use your favorite store-bought gnocchi, or make your own!
- Chicken Tetrazzini is a deliciously retro dinner recipe with spaghetti, shredded chicken, mushroom, and peas tossed together in creamy bechamel and baked until everything is bubbling and hot!
- Our Baked Turkey and Mascarpone Stuffed Shells are ultra-rich and creamy and balanced out with the sweet and acidic tomato sauce. It’s a stuffed shell dish everyone will love!
Vegetarian and Vegan-Friendly Dinner Ideas
While we have a few vegetarian dinners sprinkled through our list, these vegan and vegetarian dinners are some of our most popular dishes for those who skip animal products. But don’t worry, we’ve packed so much flavor into these dinners, anyone will love them!
- This Vegetable Loaded Vegan Korma is truly a dish for everyone! We love the bold flavors, smooth and creamy texture of the sauce, and wide variety of vegetables it features. Serve it over a bed of steamed white or brown rice and a side of grilled naan bread.
- Our baked Buffalo Cauliflower is a vegetarian-friendly version of the incredibly popular buffalo chicken. While we love snacking on these little bites, we also love eating them for dinner over a salad or putting them into tacos or in a grain bowl. So many possibilities and easy dinner ideas can be made with this recipe.
- Spaghetti Squash and Broccoli Alfredo is a lower-carb, vegetarian0-friendly, vegetable-heavy dish that’s as healthy as it is flavorful. This meal will satisfy all of your creamy pasta alfredo cravings without the pasta!
- We love our Mini Swedish Meatballs so much that we decided to make an equally delicious vegan version! Our Vegan Swedish Meatballs over Mashed Potatoes and Gravy are just as good as the meat and dairy version but slightly healthier. It’s a vegan dinner idea that we promise even non-vegans will love.
- Our Roasted Chickpea Stuffed Sweet Potatoes are a simple and filling dinner that you’ll feel good about. Just don’t forget the cilantro cashew sauce– it takes this meal to a whole new delicious level!
- With so many meat alternatives out there these days, we wanted to go back and highlight an old classic and favorite of ours, our Spicy Black Bean Burgers! These black bean patties have so much flavor, a great ‘meaty’ texture that will satisfy any burger craving. You can also crumble it for vegan ground “beef” and toss it into tacos.
Date Night Dinners
Need an elegant dinner idea to serve for date night? These fancy-ish dinners take a bit more time to put together, but the outcome is so impressive, full of flavor, and completely worth the extra effort.
- Our Roasted Rack of Lamb with Rhubarb- Sour Cherry Gastrique dinner recipe sounds way more complicated than it is, we promise. While there are a few different components to this dish, it’s all very well worth it for the tremendous flavors this easy and elegant dinner has.
- Chicken and Tarragon Poached Yolk Stuffed Ravioli is our go-to for a fancy-ish dinner we all love. Cutting into the giant ravioli and seeing the oozing yolk will impress everyone. Your guests won’t be able to resist the creamy chicken and tarragon filling too! It’s one of our favorite special occasion dinner ideas to make!
- We like to think of our Beef Ragu over Polenta as a mix of a comforting and elegant dinner recipe. It’s not something you would make all the time, but it’s well worth the time it takes to braise and simmer into a soft, savory sauce. Don’t have the time but want to make this dish? We’ve included instant pot instructions to cut down on cooking time!
- We love this Capellini with Smoked Salmon Cream Sauce. It’s such an easy dinner recipe to make that’s also incredibly delicious. Throw a little caviar on top, and you’ve instantly fancied up a simple dish!
- Maple Balsamic Roast Duck is definitely an indulgent, special occasion dinner recipe that yields super crispy skin and juicy meat. Replace your turkey or ham over the holidays with this roast duck for an impressive holiday meal.
- My parents request I make them this Seared Scallops over Roasted Butternut Squash Purée recipe almost every time they’re in town. The perfectly seared scallops are salty and delicious and pair well with the creamy squash puree. Add the “couldn’t be easier to make” pickled mustard seeds to almost any dish for an instant flavor boost!
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