The last thing you wanna do after a day of working is come home and spend an hour making dinner. The family’s hungry, they’re whining, they’re ready to eat. So what are some fast dinners we can make that aren’t too expensive?
1) Tomato Spaghetti
This is a great, fast, healthy dinner for the family, and you can add some meatballs to this if you’d like. I always have frozen meatballs in our freezer. You can use some spaghetti and cook that on the stove, add some flavoring if you’d like, or find your favorite marinara pasta sauce.
We like to put some fresh Parmesan cheese on top, and voila, dinner is ready. It’s a balanced dinner and the whole family loves it, and you can literally use any pasta shape you have in your cupboard. You could even change it up if you have a picky eater and do butter and Parmesan without the red sauce, or switch it up and do pesto. There’s so much you could do with a pasta dinner.
2) Black Bean Tacos
It always comes in handy to have some canned beans right there in your food pantry, because it’s nights like these when you’re in a hurry and you want dinner ready fast. You open that can of beans, I like black beans, but choose whatever kind you like. Grab a tortilla, any tortilla you like, I like the raw ones because they have a little less ingredients, and you just warm them up on the stove.
You could use a whole wheat tortilla for a little more fiber, a spinach tortilla, or a low carb tortilla, and add some beans to that. You could also add some lettuce or cabbage, tomatoes or salsa, avocado or guacamole, and some cilantro to make a delicious and low cost meal.
3) Chicken Salad Wraps
This is so versatile because you can use fresh chicken that you’ve just boiled, rotisserie chicken, or leftover chicken from last night’s dinner. Shred that up and combine it with mayo or yogurt for a healthy twist, and you could put some mustard in there, I like mustard in mine. You could do some diced celery for crunch, or cucumber, or diced apples.
Then just roll it up in whatever tortilla you like, a flour tortilla, low carb, whole wheat, or spinach, and there you go. I actually had a chicken Caesar salad wrap for lunch today and it’s delicious, it hits the spot. You’ve got your protein, your veggies, and your carbs all in a wrap, and you’re good to go.
4) Fried Rice
When you have leftover rice, this is a great idea, because for fried rice you actually want day old or cold rice. You’re gonna scramble up an egg on the stove there, do some diced green onions, and I like to add a little ginger and garlic with some soy sauce, then throw the rice in there. You could add some meat if you have ham or sausage or shrimp, and I usually have a little bit of frozen shrimp, like little tiny ones I can throw in.
5) Chickpea Bowls
Chickpeas, or garbanzo beans, are a great thing to have in your food pantry because they last a long time in the can and they’re so versatile. You can add a can of chickpeas with some flavorings such as cumin, paprika, and garlic, and it’s gonna be so delicious with the cucumbers, the yogurt, and some lemon on top. You could also stuff this into a pita if you’d like, and I love how much fiber and how colorful this meal is with the cucumbers.
You could add tomatoes to it too if you want a little extra color. It’s gonna be flavorful, full of fiber, and so delicious, and you could add some meat to this too if you want meat.
6) Pesto Gnocchi
Gnocchi is a great thing to have on hand. It doesn’t cost a lot of money and it’s shelf stable, and then you could add pesto sauce of your choosing. There are a number of good pesto sauces out there, I like the one from Costco because it’s large and a good price, and Trader Joe’s also has a really yummy pesto, so find one that works for you.
Gnocchi cooks super quick, it’s like five to seven minutes on the stove, you boil it, strain it, and add whatever sauce you like, pesto, red sauce, alfredo, whatever you want. You could add some meat if you have leftover chicken or salmon from the night before for a little protein. You could also pop some veggies in, chop up some leftover asparagus, add some sun-dried tomatoes if you have those, or do a side salad.
7) Tuna Quesadillas
Tuna is a great thing to have in your food pantry because in a crunch it’s there and you can make so many different things with it. I had a tuna melt sandwich this week because I had a can lying around and I was in a time crunch to eat something. So think quesadillas, grab whatever tortilla you have, heat it up, melt some cheese on it, and then put that tuna right on top, which adds some protein along with the carb from the tortilla.
You can mix mayonnaise into that tuna if you’d like for a little extra flavor, or some mustard, whatever direction you wanna take. Then I would just serve it with some sort of fruit or veggie on the side to complete the meal.
8) Sausage And Peppers
So delicious, and you could actually cook this all on one cookie sheet in the oven. You’re gonna get plenty of protein from the sausage, and beautiful colors, fiber, and nutrients from those peppers. You can throw this into a hot dog bun to make it sort of sandwich style, or if you’re going for the low carb version, you could omit the bun, and delish.
9) Soup And Grilled Cheese
It’s always great to have numerous soups on hand. If it’s a rainy day, for me it’s gotta be tomato basil soup, it just hits the spot, but you could use any soup because a grilled cheese will go with any of them. You could do chicken noodle or Italian wedding, whatever type of soup you have on hand.
You can make your grilled cheese with whatever bread you have, like a whole wheat bread would be great for adding a little fiber, but sourdough is also super yummy for grilled cheese, or even a rosemary sourdough.
10) Turkey Lettuce Cups
You’re gonna have turkey stir fry, so mix together the ground turkey, soy sauce, ginger, and garlic, and let the flavors really come together. Then that’s it, you’re gonna serve it on the lettuce cups, so it’s like a low carb, high protein option. If you want some carbs, you could definitely have some on the side, like some rice.
I would add some more veggies if you’d like, like shredded carrots or something like that, but you do also have the lettuce there, so that’s great. It’s providing you with some hydration, though lettuce typically doesn’t give you a lot of fiber.
11) Egg And Cheese Sandwiches
You could use a fried egg, or a scrambled egg, and you could use a little cottage cheese in that scrambled egg if you wanna up the protein content. You could also have some ham or whatever sort of meat you have lying around, like a chicken apple sausage would be good too, and then some cheese, I like a sharp cheddar, whatever you like. You could use an English muffin or sourdough toast.
You could add some avocado if you’d like, up it with some everything but the bagel seasoning, or if you like it spicy, you could use some hot sauce as well, and delish.
12) Sheet Pan Kielbasa
This is a great idea because you cook it right in the oven, right on the cookie sheet, and you could add a number of different items to round it out. You could put some cabbage, do hot dog buns, a side salad, or any sort of veggies that you like. This is a delicious meal.
13) Ramen Bowl
This takes me back to my college days when I didn’t have a lot of money. You’d be surprised the amount of things you can do with instant ramen. You can fry an egg and kind of make a fried rice sort of thing but with the ramen noodles, that would be good, or you can add a hard boiled egg, cut it in half, and let it float in there.
You could add any sort of meat, prosciutto or ham, whatever you have lying around, and some veggies too, to make a complete meal out of it. It’s super versatile and you could really cater it to however you like. If you’re looking for something easily ready, I like the ramen from Costco, it’s really good to have some on hand.
14) Shrimp Pasta
Shrimp is great because you can just have it in the freezer, and you can buy a big bag of the tiny little cocktail style shrimp. It’s so versatile, there’s so much you could do with it, you could put it on a salad or in this pasta dish with some garlic, butter, oil, and lemon. Then you could use whatever shape of pasta you have, I’m picturing linguine or spaghetti, but any shape will do and it’ll be super delicious.
I’d add some veggies of course, either in the pasta or on the side, maybe a side salad to go with this and make it a complete meal.
15) Burrito Bowls
So think Chipotle, right? They can do it, why can’t you? So all the things you’d normally put in a burrito, except you’re just putting them right in a bowl. You could do any sort of meat you want, pork, ground beef, turkey, or chicken, then add some beans, either black beans, kidney beans, whatever you like.
You could put some rice in there if you want, some avocado, salsa, cheese, or guacamole, and voila, you have a burrito bowl. You could even add some tortilla chips if you want to bring in a little more of that taco feeling, and you could also put some sour cream or taco seasoning on top if you wanna bring in that flavor too.
16) Peanut Noodles
You probably have some pasta at your house, right? Chances are you might have spaghetti. So whisk some peanut butter with some soy sauce and a little bit of juice or vinegar, and there you go, super easy. You could add some edamame and some whole peanuts for a delicious meal that tastes like you went out to eat.
17) Turkey Chili
This is such a great meal because I love how you can just add toppings to it and change it and customize it. You could make this in the crock pot or on the stove, use turkey or ground beef, and add veggies. I like to sneak some mushrooms into my chili because you don’t even notice them, they just take on the flavor of everything else.
You could also easily dice up carrots, onions, and celery to give you a lot more fiber, crunch, and deliciousness, and that’ll quickly cook over the stove or in the crock pot. You could add a can of crushed tomatoes, and then top it off with some sour cream or Greek yogurt, and voila.
18) Caprese Chicken
Chicken goes well with everything, right? So why not with some caprese, some tomato, mozzarella, and basil leaves all together. This is great because it’s gonna be beautiful and colorful, and the chicken’s gonna give you the protein. What a delicious meal.
19) Veggie Fajitas
You can use mushrooms to give your fajitas a different flavor, and I always use colorful bell peppers, so red, yellow, and green, all of them. Of course some onions, and I like to also shred up some carrots and put that in there. You could put this on top of any tortilla you have, a low carb, spinach, or refrigerated tortilla, and I like to put some fajita seasoning on top of all of that.
If you want to add some protein, you could do some chicken or black beans with this as well, with some cilantro and yogurt or sour cream on top, some avocado or guacamole, and some salsa.
20) Sardine Pasta
Sardines are super small little fish that actually have tiny bones in them, and when you eat them, it’s a good source of calcium as well. When you make the pasta, you can also have some breadcrumbs on top, and you’re gonna put the sardines on the stove and saute them with some garlic to give it some nice flavor. Then you can use any shape of pasta you have and just put those breadcrumbs right on top.
You’d be surprised, actually, because you might be thinking sardines are super fishy. Did you know that sardine paste is often used in Caesar salad dressing? So you’re probably eating it and you don’t even know.
Rachael’s Nutrition Note
Sardines are rich in vitamin D which supports the body’s ability to absorb calcium and promotes healthy bones. With their soft and edible bones, just one serving provides 15 to 20% of your daily value for calcium.
Rachael’s Nutrition Note
Sardines are rich in vitamin D which supports the body’s ability to absorb calcium and promotes healthy bones. With their soft and edible bones, just one serving provides 15 to 20% of your daily value for calcium.
21) Broccoli Cheddar Melts
So you’re gonna use some broccoli and some cheddar cheese, and you could use mayonnaise or yogurt, like a Greek yogurt would give you a little more protein. Spread this onto whatever kind of toasted bread you have, some whole wheat bread would be great, but you could also do pumpernickel or sourdough, whatever you have, and that’s it, delicious.
22) Sesame Chicken
You’re gonna use green beans, I love that we’re starting off with some green beans, and some chicken, and then you’re gonna have delicious flavoring with the garlic, honey, and sesame oil. I would want to add some edamame or something else for a little extra color in this meal too, and you could have some carbs on the side if you like, like some rice or pasta. You could also do some mandarin oranges, that would be pretty for some color as well.
23) Cheesy Polenta
Polenta is such a warm and cozy meal, and you can mix in some butter and some cheese. On top of this, if you wanna add some marinara and a fried egg, that would be really fun. This meal comes together so well, and it’s something so different but yet super delicious.
24) Salmon Patties
I love salmon patties, and what I do is use some leftover salmon from the night before and combine it with some breadcrumbs and scrambled eggs, some green onions, and usually I put some mustard in there as well. Then you’re gonna roll that in some breadcrumbs, flatten it out on the pan, and cook them like little salmon cakes. I like to serve mine with some veggies like asparagus, sweet potato, or a side salad, it’s super good.
25) Parmesan Tortellini
Literally ate this last night, it’s a super quick meal. Tortellini cooks in under 10 minutes and it can be served with a number of different sauces. We chose pesto last night, but you could just do butter and Parmesan, or a marinara sauce. If you wanna add some protein like we did, we got a rotisserie chicken and put that with it, with some chopped up asparagus, and now you have a complete meal.
26) Beef and Broccoli
Beef and broccoli is such a great meal because you get the iron and protein from the beef, and the vitamin C from the broccoli. The vitamin C in the broccoli is gonna help you absorb that iron from your beef even better. You could cook this in the crock pot or on the stove, and then combine it with some rice if you’d like for a complete balanced meal, brown rice or white rice.
27) Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
I am a big fan of sweet potatoes, there’s so much you could do with them and they’re so delicious. You’re gonna bake them in the oven, make sure to poke the fork around them, and I like to cover them with some avocado oil, which is a high heat oil. When they’re cooked, you’re gonna slice them open and put whatever toppings you like inside, like some cheese or butter.
If you wanna make it sweet, you can add some cinnamon, or you could do beans and salsa inside, or some broccoli. Whatever you like, it’s so delicious.
28) Greek Chicken Pitas
You could use a whole wheat pita or a regular pita for this, and you’re gonna get your seasoned chicken and add some tzatziki sauce. You can either buy it or make it, it’s like yogurt and cucumber, and if you haven’t tried tzatziki sauce, I highly recommend it, it’s so delicious. I like to always have it with chicken, and then have some diced up cucumbers and tomatoes with this as well. You can stuff this all in the pita, and it’s colorful and delicious in a complete meal.
29) Creamy Beans
You can use your white beans for this and add some garlic and rosemary for a little bit of flavor. Then you could add some spinach and throw that in, and this is such a delicious, creamy, high fiber, colorful meal, especially once you add the spinach. You could add other toppings to it as well if you’d like, some diced tomatoes or something, and this is so delicious and something you probably have on hand, a can of beans.
30) Skillet Pizza
This is such a great, quick way to make a pizza crust, and you can cover it with any toppings you like. We like to typically do Hawaiian, but you could easily do some mushrooms, zucchini, whatever pizza toppings you like, pepperoni, cheese, put that all on top. When you make it on the skillet, it’s so easy and fast.
31) Veggie Omelet
Take whatever veggies you have leftover from last night’s dinner. Maybe it’s asparagus, maybe you have some fresh spinach that’s about ready to go bad because you can’t go through the whole big bag, I hear you. Dice up some tomatoes and zucchini, pour that in with some scrambled eggs, and you could add cottage cheese to the scrambled eggs to up your protein content. Top it up with some cheese and voila, delicious, and I would serve it with a side of potatoes or toast.
32) Curry Chickpeas
If you don’t have some chickpeas or garbanzo beans in your food pantry, I highly recommend it because they’re so versatile. You’re gonna simmer those up with some curry, and if you don’t love curry, taste it, it’s so good, with some coconut milk, and that’s basically it. You could add some torn up spinach if you’d like, or some diced tomatoes.
This is high fiber and has protein in it, and you could serve it over a bed of rice if you’d like, brown rice or white rice, and such good flavoring.
33) BLT Salad
You can have whatever salad mix you’d like, like a spring mix, I like spinach and kale, and toss that together with your meat, your toppings, and then your dressing. You could add some croutons too if you’d like, but basically this is a really easy meal. You could even eat the leftover bacon for breakfast the next day if you have leftovers.
34) Cheesy Rice Skillet
You can use last night’s leftover rice and add some cheese to that, I like a sharp cheddar, sounds good. Cook some broccoli, combine the cheese, the rice, and some milk, and it’s such a great meal. If you want to add some protein or meat to this, you totally could, serve it right in the bowl or on the side to round out the meal.
35) Teriyaki Tofu Bowls
Tofu is a very low cost protein and it really takes on the flavor of whatever sauce you put with it, so if you serve it with teriyaki, it’s gonna taste like teriyaki. There are several ways to cook the tofu, you could do it in the oven or on the stove, and you can add some teriyaki sauce. You could do some carrots and broccoli with it, and serve it over rice, quinoa, or couscous, whatever you like, and delish.
36) Cacio e Pepe
This is basically a yummy pasta dish with some butter, cheese, and pepper, and you can use any shape of pasta you like for this one. You can also use some meat in there as well if you need a little extra protein.
37) Shrimp Couscous
Again, if you have any frozen shrimp, this is a great time to use a little bit of that. Couscous is great to have on hand in your pantry because it’s shelf stable and lasts for a long time. You can combine these two with some garlic and some cherry tomatoes if you have those, put some spinach inside, and bam, easy meal.
38) Sausage Soup
This one is delicious, using tortellini, some spinach, and whatever sausage you prefer, whether it’s pork or chicken, and then you make a soup out of it. It’s gonna be such a warm, comforting meal, and it’s gonna be well-rounded with the protein and the veggies in there.
39) Glazed Salmon
You may think you don’t like salmon, but you just haven’t tried it the right way yet. There are so many ways to make salmon, you could do mustard with maple syrup or honey and glaze the salmon, or you could just take some pesto and pour it on top. Then all you have to do is think about what sort of veggies and carb you want with it, like pasta, rice, quinoa, couscous, broccoli, greens, or green beans, whatever you have on hand. So easy and such a crowd pleaser.
Pantry & Tools I Reach For on Weeknights
The kit that unobtrusively does the most work during this rotation. Affiliate links: if you buy through these links, HomeViable earns a small commission at no extra cost to you.
- Kikkoman Takumi Teriyaki Sauce. Called out by name in the teriyaki tofu section.
- SKIPPY Creamy Peanut Butter. Called out by name in the peanut noodles section for the sauce whisk.
- Giovanni Rana Tortellini. Referenced as a weeknight save in two sections.
