Figuring out what to make for dinner isn’t always easy. This mega list of easy dinner ideas is just what you need to get inspired and ready to get a healthy meal on the table in a hurry!

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I have a confession to make that may or may not surprise you.

Sometimes…I don’t want to cook. I don’t want to think of food to eat. I don’t have anything planned. I just don’t.

The struggle is universal, even for food bloggers and cookbook writers.

I have been working on this mega list of easy dinner ideas since January, back when I first had an idea to do a month long series on healthy changes families could easily make in the kitchen. That series fizzled out a little, but I have still been plugging along at this list and creating printables that would best serve us all.

My goal with this list, and more largely within the This Pilgrim Life platform, is to help you feel confident and capable EVEN WITHOUT A RECIPE. 

I’ve been worked towards this goal for years, showing you how easy it can be to cook from scratch and eat homemade foods. Showing you a tour of my kitchen, demonstrating countless recipes on Facebook, and bringing you alongside snippets of my day cooking and prepping on Instagram has been to this end– that you would be inspired to stock your kitchen with simple ingredients and turn them into nutritious meals with little fuss and in little time.

What you will find in this Mega List of Easy Dinner Ideas ::

• A video explanation of the printables and how to use them
• A huge list of recipes and ingredients to put together a variety of simple meals
• Detailed ways to make the most of these resources going forward

I am in the middle of finishing our school year, my cookbook is about to release in less than two weeks, and I have two crazy wonderful toddlers ruling the roost right now. But I have hopes and dreams of a summer video series that puts feet on this list and further equips you to cook from scratch with confidence.

Until then, check out the copious amount of videos I have already done, utilize the video highlight bar on Instagram, and feel free to message me or email me with questions (or just happy hellos). I love to hear from y’all.

Easy Dinner Ideas Mega List

• Pizzas & Such
• Tex-Mex
• Fried Rice
• Soup
• Pasta
• Breakfast for Dinner
• More Quick Recipes

Pizzas & Such

Use a simple thin crust pizza dough to make dozens of variations of pizza-esque dinners with whatever sauces and toppings you have on hand.

My Simple Thin Crust Pizza Dough comes together in less than ten minutes and requires very little rising time. It is a foolproof recipe and one you’ll turn to again and again.

I use this one dough to make several different recipes. Obviously pizza, but also twisted breadsticks, stromboli, and calzones.

We top our pizzas with whatever sounds good or whatever is around in the fridge needing to be used up. I’ll list a bunch of options below, but really the sky is the limit! Try something new and find a new favorite.

SAUCE OPTIONS ::

• Marinara/traditional pizza sauce (I like to keep marinara sauce made-up ahead of time and on hand in the freezer. When I don’t have any marinara made and we want a quick tomato sauce, I will puree a can of tomatoes and bring it to a simmer on the stovetop with a couple teaspoons of sugar, oregano, basil, and garlic powder. Add a pinch of salt, and simmer 5-10 minutes and you have a super easy, tasty pizza sauce).
• Extra-virgin olive oil & herbs :: As easy as it sounds. Drizzle on a little oil, add a pinch of salt and pepper and herbs of choice (fresh or dried). This option is definitely the easiest and one we often use.
• Best ever ranch :: ranch makes a great pizza sauce, especially when it’s the best ever ranch.
• 5 Minute pesto :: an easy and HEALTHY break from the normal. We love pesto on pizzas, and in twisted breadsticks.
• Easy Alfredo sauce :: Make Alfredo sauce in ten minutes or less: melt a tablespoon of butter over medium heat in a small saucepan. Add a tablespoon of minced garlic, and cook for one minute until garlic is fragrant. Whisk in 1 tablespoon of flour. Slowly whisk in 1 cup whole milk and increase heat to medium high. Stir frequently as the sauce thickens. After 5-10 minutes, when the sauce has thickened, reduce the heat to low and stir in 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese. Remove from heat and let cool.

TOPPING IDEAS ::

Keep a handful of these on hand for quick pizzas, etc!

• mozzarella cheese
• cheddar cheese
• chopped bacon
• spinach/super greens
• sliced peppers/onions/mushrooms
• olives
• Italian meats
• artichokes
• roasted chicken (make ahead and freeze)

RECIPES ::

• Simple thin crust pizza dough
• Barbecue and caramelized onion pizza
• Garlic infused olive oil pizza with bacon and prosciutto 
• Three cheese & spinach twisted breadsticks 
• Easy homemade strombolis
• Buffalo chicken pizza
• Pesto pizza with ricotta and mushrooms
• Spinach & bacon Alfredo pizza

Tex-Mex (Rice/Beans/Seasoned Meat)

Tex-mex type meals are amazing because the components are super easy to prep ahead of time, and because they are really easy for everyone to customize their own plates with the toppings.

When you plan for a Tex-mex type meal, think about what your base for the toppings will be. A few simple options are RICE, LETTUCE/SALAD GREENS, TORTILLA CHIPS, and TORTILLAS.

You can top your base with whatever you want, but here are some easy, homemade options…

TOPPING IDEAS ::

• Amazing fresh salsa
• Restaurant-style salsa with lime & green chiles
• One-minute guacamole
• Instant Pot Greek yogurt (we use this as a sub for sour cream)
• Sautéed onions and peppers
• chopped lettuce
• pico de gallo
• shredded cheese

RECIPES ::

• Sheetpan nachos
• Easy tortilla pizzas
• Instant Pot brown rice (the recipe is included in the list of must-have Instant Pot recipes)
• How to fry taco shells at home

Fried Rice (White/Brown/Cauliflower)

Fried rice is one of our favorite quick and easy dinner ideas. You can make the rice ahead of time and freeze it for even faster prep.

I like using brown rice for our fried rice, but you could also use white rice or cauliflower rice.

We always have frozen corn, frozen peas, and onions on hand so I know that our fried rice can have at least each of these even if we do not have many other options.

FRIED RICE ADD-INS ::

• chicken/pork/venison cut into strips
• frozen peas and corn
• diced onion
• grated carrot
• sesame oil
• soy sauce/liquid aminos
• ground ginger/garlic powder

GET THE RECIPE FOR FRIED RICE IN 30 MINUTES

Soups

Since getting an Instant Pot, I have not made soups in anything else. I always try to keep homemade chicken stock on hand (sooooo easy to make and saves a bunch of money). As long as I have stock on hand, I can figure out a soup to make with what we have on hand.

I think of soups in two categories– blended or meaty. Typically, we have blended soups at lunch or with a hearty bread or side for dinner. Blended soups are also great for serving a variety of veggies, or using up veggies that are past their prime in your fridge

Meaty soups are definitely more fit for dinnertime in our home. I will usually serve them with a pan of cornbread, a loaf of one-hour French bread, or cheesy drop biscuits.

BLENDED SOUPS

• Extra green broccoli cheese
• Honey carrot
• Butternut squash apple
• Creamy tomato

MEATY SOUPS

• Sausage & kale
• Chicken noodle
• Chicken salsa
• Sweet creamy gnocchi
• Spicy sausage & lentil
• Hearty chili (at the bottom of this freezer soups post)

Pasta Ideas

As long as you have dried pasta on hand, you always have an easy dinner in reach. Pasta is inexpensive and the variations are endless.

While I do enjoy making and eating fresh pasta, it’s not something I can do often in the season of life I am currently in. So I try to always make sure I have a variety of types of dried pasta in my cupboard.

Some of my favorites to keep stocked are:

• angel hair
• fettuccine
• orzo
• Israeli couscous
• elbow macaroni
• bowtie/farfalle
• dried cheese tortellini

Like pizzas, pastas can be tossed with the simplest of sauces and be delicious. Make an easy sauce and grab whatever meat and veggies you have on hand, then toss it all together in a bowl. Voila! Dinner is served!

SAUCE OPTIONS ::

• Marinara Make and freeze ahead of time so you’ll always have some on hand.
• Extra-virgin olive oil/butter & garlic :: Heat a pan over medium heat, add the oil or butter (or a combination of both) and sauté freshly minced garlic for a couple of minutes. Add to hot, cooked pasta.
• 5 Minute pesto :: delicious with cheese tortellini or on noodles.
• Easy Alfredo sauce :: Make Alfredo sauce in ten minutes or less: melt a tablespoon of butter over medium heat in a small saucepan. Add a tablespoon of minced garlic, and cook for one minute until garlic is fragrant. Whisk in 1 tablespoon of flour. Slowly whisk in 1 cup whole milk and increase heat to medium high. Stir frequently as the sauce thickens. After 5-10 minutes, when the sauce has thickened, reduce the heat to low and stir in 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese. Remove from heat and let cool.

MIX-IN IDEAS ::

• Rotisserie/roasted chicken (buy, or make-ahead at the beginning of the week)
• chopped bacon
• crumbled sausage
• spinach/greens
• peas/broccoli/asparagus
• roasted tomatoes

RECIPES ::

• Instant Pot Macaroni with Bacon and Peas
• Fettuccine with Sausage & Blistered Tomatoes
• Instant Pot Beef Stroganoff
• Instant Pot Creamiest Ranch Mac’n’cheese
• Lighter Instant Pot Blackened Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo

There are lots more easy pasta recipes for the Instant Pot in my cookbook too! 

Breakfast for Dinner

Breakfast for dinner may be one of the first ideas suggested when someone asks for easy dinner ideas. It’s a classic option. Most breakfast options are simple and quick, plus they are almost always well-received by the family.

Because I’m weird and like to make sure we have veggies with every dinner, even breakfast for dinner, if we do not have a frittata with vegetables in it, I will usually make a green smoothie to drink with whatever we are having. My husband is also weird and has to have a protein with dinner (actually, that’s not weird), so even if we have waffles or pancakes, we will always also have a breakfast meat too.

IDEAS & RECIPES ::

• Back pocket pancakes
• Bacon/sausage/ham
• Easy frittata
• Saturday morning waffles
• Biscuits with jam/apple butter
• Blueberry orange breakfast cake
• Grits
• Raisin, date, walnut muffins
• Nutty blueberry muffins
• Healthy homemade banana bread
• Amazing 30 minute cinnamon rolls

Even More Quick Dinner Ideas!

I did call this the MEGA list of easy dinner ideas, so I have a handful more ideas and recipes for you. Be sure to SAVE this post so you can come back to it when you need easy dinner inspiration!

EASY DINNER RECIPES ::

• Instant Pot meatloaf and mashed potatoes
• Tastiest easy sliders & roasted carrot fries
• 30 Minute Instant Pot barbecue chicken
• Whole chicken and sides
• Loaded baked potatoes (in the Instant Pot, pour in a cup of water, set in the trivet, and then place the potatoes on the trivet. Cook on high pressure for 15 minutes for small potatoes, 20 minutes for large. Let the pressure naturally release).
• Sheetpan roasted sausages/chicken & root veggies
• Stuffed peppers
• Black bean & spinach egg rolls
• Salad with ridiculously easy Instant Pot chicken breasts

How to make the most out of this mega list and printables:

• Save this post as a quick button on your phone. Click the options next to the address and select “Add to Home Screen”. This way you will have quick access to the list and the links to all the easy recipes.
• Print the Easy Dinner Ideas printable, then add it to your planner or laminate it and keep it in your kitchen.
• Print the Essential Staples List and use it to stock your kitchen with ingredients you can use to throw together super simple, healthy dinners in a flash. Pin this post so you can print off more copies as needed, or laminate one master copy to use and wipe clean.
• Make sure you are subscribed to my newsletter so I can let you know when I update the list with great new recipes and ideas.
• Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and/or YouTube so you can catch when I share quick cooking demos to show you how to make fried rice in less than thirty minutes, how to cook ground beef for tacos completely from frozen, and so on.

Like easy meals? Want to learn to cook more from scratch? You’ll love my new cookbook!

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