33+ Easy Family Dinner Ideas

Choosing a dinner recipe can be one of the most difficult parts of your day. With hundreds of options to choose from on our dinner category page, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by options, especially when they all sound delicious!

Table of Contents

1. Quick Dinner Ideas (under 30 minutes)
2. Easy Crock Pot Dinner Ideas (fast prep, slow cook)
3. Instant Pot Dinner Ideas (30 minutes and under)
4. Air Fryer Dinner Ideas (half the time as baking)
5. Dinner Casserole Ideas (prep then bake)
6. Dinner Ideas for Special Occasions
7. How to Make Sheet Pan Fajitas
8. Easy Family Dinner Ideas – Sheet Pan Fajitas Recipe

We’ve done the hard part! Fresh, new recipe ideas gathered in one place, and all you have to do is scroll through and decide which ones look the most delicious.

These are easy family dinners that are popular on our site because they are quick to make and everyone loves them! The last thing you want is to work all evening on a new recipe after a long day to have someone say “ew”. These dinners are tried and true favorites!

From meals ready in under 30 minutes, to dinners in the Crockpot, we’ve got you covered for endless nights of yum!

Quick Dinner Ideas (under 30 minutes)

Make healthy, quick meals that everyone will enjoy. With simple ingredients and minimal time spent (less than 30 minutes), you can be eating GOOD and saving money, too.. frequent trips to restaurants adds up! Spend less time in the kitchen and more time with your family.

#1 Sheet Pan Fajitas (recipe below)

You’ll never make fajitas the same way again. This oven method makes cooking and clean up so much easier! Sheet Pan Dinners are just the best. Simply pick your fajita ingredients, cut and place on the baking sheet, and let the oven do the rest. While you wash your knife and cutting board, an amazing meal is cooking itself!

#2 French Bread Pizza

Dinner can be done in a snap! Buy a loaf of French bread and top it with all of your favorite pizza herbs and toppings like garlic, mozzarella cheese, mushrooms, and fresh basil. A fun twist on your traditional pizza, this comes together faster because you don’t have to wait for raw dough to cook. You’re just waiting for bread to get crispy and cheese to melt. Customize your pizza with different meats and vegetables.

#3 French Dip Sandwiches

This meal seems fancier and more complicated than it really is. The sandwich is your typical roast beef and cheese, and the Au Jus comes together in 5 minutes with two ingredients. You’ll enjoy the rich, cheesy, meaty, and oniony flavors of the sandwich and dip. The savory taste is delicious!

#4 Lemon Spaghetti

This is a kid favorite! The bright and cheesy lemon pasta pairs well with vegetables like zucchini, asparagus, and broccoli. Salad also goes well with this fresh meal. It’s super simple to make and can easily enter your weekly rotation.

#5 Walking Tacos

There’s something so simple and fun about eating a ‘taco’ out of a chip bag. Everyone loves the whimsical, funny way these are served. The main ingredients are ground beef and a mini bag of chips. The toppings are all customizable and totally up to you. Kids love to fix up their own special toppings.

#6 Hawaiian Haystacks

Build your own plate with ingredients that call to you! From creamy chicken, to fresh tomato, to pineapple, to shredded cheese, to bell pepper, to shredded coconut, this is a family classic that you might love too.

#7 15 Minute Beef and Noodles Skillet

In 15 minutes, you could have this hearty, cheesy, beefy, pasta meal. This is one of those dishes that you’ll want to always keep the ingredients of for nights where you are too tired to cook or think. Hero to many, best friend to some.. this beef and noodle skillet is always there when you need it.

#8 Creamy Cajun Shrimp Pasta

For a classy night in with a time restraint, this is your meal. Creamy and decadent with just a little kick, it’s reminiscent of something you would get in a nice restaurant (but for less than half the price). Replace shrimp with chicken, and you have another delicious option.

Easy Crock Pot Dinner Ideas (fast prep, slow cook)

I think we can all agree, the Crock Pot is a life saver. The idea of fixing and then quite literally forgetting is amazing. To put something in the Crock Pot in the morning and come back to it at dinner time and find that it is cooked to completion, wonderful. It saves time, headache, and creates a great dinner! Thank you Universe, thank you. These are some of our favorite Crock Pot meals. They are all warm and cozy.

#9 Crock Pot Lasagna

Have warm, comforting Italian food in the comfort of your pajamas with this crock pot recipe. Put everything in the crock pot, including the uncooked noodles, let everything cook, and you’ll have a delicious, flavorful dinner with hardly any effort! And leftovers!

#10 Crock Pot Cashew Chicken

No fuss, all yum! This meal with transport you to your favorite Chinese restaurant, with crunchy cashews and well seasoned and tender chicken. All you have to do is throw it in the crock pot! Serve with steamed rice and veggies and you have an delicious dinner.

#11 Slow Cooker Chicken and Rice Soup

Fill your home with the simmering aromas of herbs and chicken as this meal cooks itself. Feed your stomach and your soul with tender chicken and rice and warm yourself from head to toe! Imagine coming home after a long, cold day to a cup of cozy soup waiting for you.

#12 Crock Pot Sweet and Sour Meatballs

With homemade meatballs, pineapple chunks, and a tangy sweet sauce, the meatballs simmer in yummy sauce all day, allowing them to soak up all the tenderness and flavor. We’ve made this family favorite dozens of times and we keep coming back for more!

#13 Crock Pot Steak and Gravy

With only 3 ingredients, this tender and flavorful dish is the perfect thing to make on busy days. The steak melts in your mouth after cooking all day. This easy recipe is a must try! It’s even better with potato or pasta and a veggie.

Instant Pot Dinner Ideas (30 minutes and under)

The Instant Pot is another life-saving kitchen appliance for those of us who love good food, but don’t have a lot of time. Pressure cooking usually takes about half the time as baking time in the oven or simmering time on the stove. Most recipes can be adapted to work in the Instant Pot, but figuring it out can be a little tricky, and not all ingredients cook the same. These meals are family-tested and approved for the Instant Pot, guaranteeing a dinner you’ll love.

#14 Chicken Alfredo

Everyone’s favorite dinner, now made in half the time! The cool thing about this meal is that you throw everything in the pot and let science do the work. Maybe science is a strong word. Whatever ‘pressure cooking’ falls under, I call it science! Maybe even magic!! No matter what you call it, it’s delicious!

#15 Beef Stroganoff

Make tender, flavorful beef, and delicate, delicious pasta in a fraction of the time it normally would take. The sauce is savory and perfect! This meal is a family favorite. The flavors and textures are rich and interesting. Try it!

#16 Easy Apricot Chicken

With only 5 ingredients, this recipe comes together quickly and tastes delicious. The chicken is tender, sweet, and savory. It is a versatile dish that can be used any way you can imagine. Have it over rice, in a salad, shredded, in a sandwich, or with vegetables! The flavors lend to so many options.

#17 Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Pork cooks up quickly to become tender and and flavorful shredded pork perfect for sandwiches! Great for dinner, a gathering, leftovers, and more! Shredded pork is delicious not only on a sandwich, but over rice, on top of a salad, in a lettuce wrap, and so much more. Now that you aren’t spending hours tending to this pork over the stove, you have time to get creative!

#18 Instant Pot Meatballs

This is the easiest way to cook meatballs. No browning or sautéing, just roll the raw meat into balls, throw them in the instant pot, and take a nap, you deserve it. They come out perfectly every time! With a depth of flavor, the browned meatballs are ready for pasta and sauce!

#19 Instant Pot Gumbo

An explosion of flavor, this gumbo is full of sausage, chicken, shrimp, and spices. A hearty soup, this is a perfect meal to serve over rice or with a thick hunk of bread. Savory and spicy, you’ll love the strong flavors that tingle your nose.

Air Fryer Dinner Ideas (half the time as baking)

Our fast and easy air fryer recipes make using an air fryer a no-brainer! Air frying is healthier than deep-frying because it uses way less oil, yet the food still comes out crispy and delicious. Somehow, things come out quickly and crisply without having to heat your whole oven or get the fryer out. Once your start using an air fryer, you won’t go back. You’ll start finding excuses to use it for every meal. And you can. Start with these recipes!

#20 Air Fryer Salmon

Faster than making it on the grill or in the oven, cooking your salmon in the air fryer makes it not only quickly, but cooks a flavorful and flakey fish, as well. Because air flows all around the salmon as it’s cooking, you don’t even have to worry about flipping it. It takes about 10 minutes to cook. Imagine, you could be eating a good, healthy dinner in 10 minutes!

#21 Air Fryer Teriyaki Chicken Bowls

Looking for a go-to weeknight dinner? Look no further. This flavorful, tender chicken is packed with flavor. A great meal for kids to enjoy also, these bowls have delicious vegetables that taste great! With minimal thought and almost no effort, you could have a dinner on the table that everyone is going to enjoy.

#22 Air Fryer Chicken Tenders

Get crispy, crunchy, chicken tenders that are full of flavor in about 20 minutes! A perfect dinner, or delicious chopped into a salad, these tenders taste like they’ve been fried, but without the disgusting chore of actually frying them and filling your home with the smell of oil. Who doesn’t love chicken tenders?

#23 Air Fryer Hamburgers

Craving a burger but don’t want the hassle of firing up the grill? Air frying a burger makes a delicious, juicy patty that you can customize any way you want and enjoy with all the sides you would a grilled burger (we’re talking watermelon, chips, potato salad). Inside the air fryer, hot, forced air works to cook the burger while keeping the inside juicy and the outside tender. You can’t beat that. And burgers in 20 minutes in a WIN in my book!

#24 Air Fryer Steak Bites

Some say steak has to be cooked on the grill for the right flavor. I say they haven’t tried this recipe. Put your perfectly seasoned steak in the air fryer, and unlike a grill where you are getting your eyebrows burnt off by the flames, you get to walk away. But not for too long! This recipe only takes 5 minutes in the air fryer! So come back and grab your steak, it’s time to dip it in garlic butter and experience heaven.

#25 Air Fryer Pork Chops

Make juicy, tender, flavorful pork chops in the air fryer in 15 minutes! By making the pork chops in the air fryer, cooking them at a high temperature for a shorter period of time, they retain their juices and therefore their tenderness. No more dry, tough pork chops for you!

Dinner Casserole Ideas (prep then bake)

What comes to mind when you hear the word casserole? If you are thinking of some grungy tuna noodle thing in the very back of the fridge, think again! Casseroles can be flavorful and delightful, ready to feed a family with the pickiest of eaters. Casseroles have been around since the dawn of time (pretty much) and there’s a reason for this! They can be prepared beforehand and then baked when you are ready. As they bake, a salad can be prepared, homework can be done, TV can be watched. Take everything you know about casseroles and throw it away with that tuna noodle thing. Prepare for a new dawn of delicious casseroles.

#26 Homemade Enchiladas

This recipe hinges on the homemade enchilada sauce which only takes minutes to make, but makes a huge difference in the taste of your enchiladas. Once you’ve made that sauce, you’ll never go back. The perfect potluck meal, make extra batches and freeze them! You never know when you’ll be craving enchiladas, and to have the power to just whip a tray out of the freezer? You’re a superhero. Especially good with our black beans and Mexican rice!

#27 Breakfast Casserole

Breakfast for dinner just got more delicious. Customize to perfection and then add sour cream on top. This meal is also great for holiday mornings with a lot of hungry mouths to feed. Everyone gets a plate! Family reunion who? You’ll be the breakfast hero!

#28 Thanksgiving Leftover Casserole

This is what we make with all the leftovers from Turkey day! All of the flavors combine deliciously to create a fun casserole that refreshes the taste of the food you ate yesterday, somehow. Customize and add to it with other things in your freezer you might be wanting to get rid of.

#29 The BEST Tater Tot Casserole

Versatile and loaded with beef, cheese, and childhood memories, Cheesy Tater Tot Casserole is the perfect mid-week meal. Dump everything in the casserole dish and bake. Nothing fancy to it. But the flavor? Out of this world good. Savory, creamy, and potatoes. The potatoes. Tater tots are speaking their own language and I’m listening.

#30 Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole

Comfort food at its finest. Creamy, savory, moist, warm, cheesy. It’s that classic casserole that you scoop out and it’s a pile on your plate and you dig in and you wish that pile of food on your plate would never get any smaller, that you could just keep eating forever. You can, make it tomorrow night. Simple ingredients combine to create a classic dish that reminds us all of our childhoods. Dig in.

#31 Homemade Mac and Cheese

Three cheeses, broiled tomatoes, and a crunchy Panko topping take this childhood favorite up a notch.

#32 Frito Chili Casserole

Frito Chili Casserole is the perfect comfort dinner. Delicious layers of crunchy Fritos, Southwestern chili, and lots of gooey cheese make for a winning kid-friendly weeknight meal!

#33 Spaghetti Casserole

This Spaghetti Casserole, also known as Million Dollar Spaghetti Casserole, is truly the ultimate comfort food. With tender pasta, savory meat sauce, creamy cheese, and melted bubbly cheese on top, it embodies warmth, comfort, and satisfaction.

Dinner Ideas for Special Occasions

Dinner

25+ Sunday Dinner Ideas

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Dinner Ideas

Christmas

Christmas Dinner Ideas

Easter

Easter Dinner Ideas

Having the in-laws over for dinner? Inviting friends over for the holidays? We have more ideas for those times you want to prepare something extra special. The majority of these recipes are still easy to prepare, but it will take a little more time and planning to add some fancy sides and even desserts.

• Sunday Dinner Ideas – There is nothing better than gathering the family around the table for a delicious, traditional Sunday dinner, and these dinner ideas are perfect for warming hearts and filling hungry tummies.
• Thanksgiving Dinner Ideas – A classic Thanksgiving meal is at your fingertips with these mouthwatering Thanksgiving Dinner Ideas. Choose from any of these simple recipes below for your complete holiday feast.
• Christmas Dinner Ideas – Ah Christmas, the season of family, tradition, gifts and good food. Create a beautiful and memorable Christmas dinner for your loved ones with these delicious recipes.
• Easter Dinner Ideas – These traditional Easter dinner ideas are sure to make your family Easter dinner a big success. You can’t go wrong with any of these tried-and-true recipes.
• Halloween Dinner Ideas – Make your Halloween night extra spooky this year by trying out one of our fun Halloween Dinner Ideas.

To sum up, we hope you enjoy these dinner ideas that taste great AND save you time. For more meal planning fun, don’t miss our 33+ Easy Breakfast Ideas and 33+ Easy Lunch Ideas!

How to Make Sheet Pan Fajitas