Easy Dinner Recipes: Quick Weeknight Meals, Chicken, Pasta and Soups

Getting a good meal on the table after a long day should not be a project. This guide gathers our favourite easy dinner recipes in one place: quick weeknight meals, chicken and pasta dishes, comforting soups, flavours from around the world, sides and snacks, plus lunch ideas you can take to work.

Quick weeknight dinners

• Dinners ready in 30 minutes or less: one-skillet mac and cheese with broccoli, ravioli and sausage skillet and meatball soup
• Dinners you can make in under 20 minutes: BBQ salmon sheet pan dinner, cauliflower gnocchi and naan pizzas
• Fast dinner recipes: shrimp, leek and spinach pasta, spicy salmon with bok choy and baked pecorino chicken
• Quick and easy dinner recipes: stromboli, chicken taco melts and tortilla soup
• Delicious dinner recipes: homemade chicken nuggets, crab fettuccine and lentil and sausage stew
• Yummy dinner recipes: stuffed shells, taco pasta and pesto parmesan chicken
• Dinner ideas for your loved ones: caprese chicken roll ups, one-pan enchilada pasta and BBQ beef stuffed potatoes
• Dinners to impress your family: blackened tilapia, pesto penne with shrimp and creamy lemon garlic salmon
• Weekend dinner recipes: lasagna roll ups, glazed ham and stuffed pork loin
• Dinner ideas for gourmets: pancetta pasta and cauliflower gnocchi
• Meals for food lovers: shrimp scampi zoodles, sweet potato toast and eggplant pizza bites
• Easy dinners for kids: cheeseburger cups, popcorn chicken and salmon fish sticks
• Gluten-free dinner recipes: stuffed peppers with quinoa, skinny orange chicken and chicken pot pie

Chicken recipes

• Mouth-watering chicken recipe ideas: mozzarella-stuffed chicken parm, chicken fajitas and creamy lemon parmesan chicken
• Five ways to prepare chicken: cheesy bacon ranch, caprese and antipasto stuffed chicken
• Chicken casseroles for every day: chicken broccoli bake, poppy seed chicken and harvest casserole
• Quick chicken recipes: oven-barbecued chicken, a fried chicken sandwich and chicken cobb salad
• Favourite chicken recipes: buffalo chicken potato skins, General Tso’s chicken and slow cooker honey garlic chicken
• Chicken lunch recipes: paprika chicken and rice, slow-cooker paella and a Greek gyro skillet

Pasta, rice and pizza

• Fast pasta recipes for dinner: one-pot chicken pesto pasta, skillet baked ziti and vegan carbonara
• Recipes for pasta lovers: green olive shrimp pasta and lemony artichoke linguine
• Pasta salad recipes: Tuscan tortellini, bruschetta and pizza pasta salads
• Budget-friendly pasta recipes: tuna pasta salad, cherry tomato pasta and cream cheese pasta
• Easy homemade pasta sauces: red sauce, pesto and aglio e olio
• Seafood spaghetti
• Risotto recipes: chicken and bacon, spring asparagus and baked vegetable risotto
• Different ways to cook rice: coconut, toasted, turmeric yellow and Mexican red rice
• Recipes with red beans and rice
• Simple ways to make better pizza: dough, a pizza stone, sauces and cheese

Soups

• Soup recipes everybody loves: carrot ginger, French onion, miso noodle and lentil soup
• Comforting soup recipes: butternut squash, chicken, broccoli cheddar and lentil vegetable soup
• Easy cream soup recipes: cream of broccoli, mushroom, chicken and potato soup

Flavours from around the world

• Easy taco recipes: spiced chicken, blackened salmon and grilled shrimp tacos
• Mexican food recipes to try at home: migas, churro chips and pineapple-serrano pico de gallo
• Tortilla filling recipes: pinwheels, potato wraps and chicken tortilla wraps
• International meal recipes: burrito bowls, Mediterranean tacos and sausage polenta
• How to make Spanish paella: types of paella
• What to serve with couscous: vegetable couscous, lamb and beef tagines and couscous salad
• Instant Pot beef recipes: hamburger soup, Korean ground beef and keto chili

Burgers, sides and party snacks

• Burger recipes: chicken pizza, salmon, beetroot and spiced turkey burgers
• Hot dog recipes: grilled cheese dogs, pigs in a quilt and jalapeño popper dogs
• Potato recipes: German potato salad, scalloped potatoes and potato pancakes
• Fries recipes: portobello, zucchini and avocado fries, plus french fry nachos
• Mushroom recipes: eggs en cocotte, grilled mushroom kabobs and truffle pizza
• Toasts and sandwiches for dinner: mozzarella mushrooms with garlic toast and salsa steak toasts
• Finger food recipes for parties: bacon-wrapped pineapple, stuffed mushroom caps and deviled eggs
• Easy dips and appetizers: pull-apart biscuit dip, parmesan onion dip and buffalo cauliflower
• Snacks and appetizers: an air fryer blooming onion, deviled eggs and pickle potato chips
• Ways to add bacon to your favourite dishes: bacon mac and cheese, bacon jam toast and bacon pancakes

Lunch ideas

• Healthy lunches to take to work: grilled chicken salad, Buddha bowls and steak burrito bowls
• Easy lunch recipes: chicken and black bean nachos and turkey chili
• Sunday lunch recipes: red wine risotto, shrimp and grits and stuffed portobello mushrooms
• Lunch recipes for the whole family: orecchiette with white beans and cold spiced chicken
• Lunch ideas the entire family will love: roasted salmon and Mediterranean stuffed chicken
• Healthy main-course salads: citrus chicken, skirt steak and avocado, and white bean and tuna salads
• Easy meals for every day of the week: prawn mango avocado salad and California eggs Benedict
• Meals for a healthy routine: mushroom and orzo soup, tomato-quinoa soup and cauliflower pizza
• One-pot Greek chicken and lemon rice

Frequently asked questions

What is the quickest healthy dinner to make?

Sheet pan dinners, stir-fries, omelettes and one-pot pastas are among the fastest: most take 20 to 30 minutes and need only one pan, which also means less washing up.

Looking for more? See our breakfast ideas, easy desserts and summer recipes.