Sunday dinner is so great around here because I actually have time to put some thought and work into dinner instead of getting off work at 5 o’clock, rushing home, and throwing something together quickly. You have a little more time, and you get some family time in as well. So if you can get the family or your spouse involved, that makes it really fun, too.
1) Classic Pot Roast
Pot roast is so delicious, and it really can be eaten year-round. You’re gonna get some delicious flavors and some protein, and you can combine it with any veggies you’d like, like mashed potatoes or halved small potatoes, and green beans or broccoli.
No matter which way you decide to cook it, I like to do mine in the crock pot. It’s gonna give you a delicious flavor and make the house smell amazing, like you’ve been cooking all day.
2) Roast Chicken
Just get a whole chicken, season it up, and you could put it on a cast-iron pan and pop it right in the oven. We also like to roast our chicken on a bed of veggies, of course, like some halved small potatoes, carrots, and celery, so all the juices and flavoring from the chicken bake down onto those veggies as they roast, and the flavor is just so great.
And you’re gonna have plenty of chicken for more than just one meal, so you can reuse it. The following day, make yourself a chicken salad sandwich for lunch or a chicken Caesar salad, and do something else with that leftover chicken as well.
3) Classic Lasagna
This is great to have on a Sunday night because it takes a little longer to put those layers together. You can do it in the crock pot if you’d like a shorter version, or right there in the oven. You could use a number of different cheeses like ricotta or mozzarella (I use cottage cheese in mine), and meat like ground turkey or ground beef, whichever one gives you protein.
Turkey will be a little lower in calories and saturated fat. And you could add a layer of veggies, of course. I like thinly sliced mushrooms and zucchini in mine just to add a little green and fiber. Then you just create the layers, making sure to put lots of pasta sauce in each one, and this is gonna make your house smell amazing.
4) Baked Ziti
This is delicious, similar to lasagna but without the layering. You’re gonna use your ziti pasta with some marinara sauce and cheese, and you could add meat if you’d like, such as sausage, ground turkey, or ground beef. And of course, I’m gonna add some veggies to mine, like spinach or zucchini.
Then you’re gonna put plenty of cheese on top and put it in the oven to bake through. If you don’t like the veggies in your baked ziti, no problem, you can have them on the side or do a side salad to make it a complete meal.
5) Chicken Parmesan
We had this this week and I absolutely love it. I did mine right in the oven, so it’s super easy. Just make sure your chicken is nice and thin, then dip it in egg and in breadcrumbs mixed with parmesan cheese, and brown it quickly on the stove on either side.
Then put it in the oven with marinara sauce on the bottom and on top, and add whatever cheese you like. I like to do mozzarella and parmesan, since the two of those really hit home with chicken parmesan.
I like to serve it with pasta, any shape, though we did spaghetti this time. And of course I’m gonna have some veggies with that, like a side salad or maybe asparagus, and that rounds out your meal with plenty of fiber, protein, veggies, and some carbs from the pasta.
6) Beef Chili
Chili is a crowd-pleaser in our house, so delicious and so versatile. You could do ground beef, ground turkey, whatever sort of meat you like, and you could make it in the slow cooker, which is how I like to do mine. It’s a really easy meal to just chop up whatever veggies you have and add them in.
Some of our favorites are mushrooms, carrots, and celery, and you could add regular potatoes, sweet potatoes, or butternut squash if you wanted, plus onions and garlic. You can make it spicy or not, and then set all your toppings out, which is really fun because everyone can cater it to how they like it. Try sour cream, cilantro, tortilla chips, cheese, and even some hot sauce at the end.
7) Sheet Pan Sausage
I love dinners where you can just plop everything down on a cookie sheet together and only have a few dishes to wash, because who has time for that when you have a whole week ahead and maybe want to relax on Sunday night? So this is a great one.
You could use whatever sort of sausage you like, then combine a bunch of veggies like bell peppers, onions, and carrots, or serve some veggies on the side. For your carbs, you could do whatever you’d like, such as rice, pasta, or potatoes to round out this meal.
8) BBQ Pulled Pork
This is gonna make your house smell so delicious, and you could use whatever cooking method you like. I usually do the crock pot because it seems so easy and comes out so perfect, and then you figure out what to serve it with. You could do a baked potato, or a little baked potato bar, or some mashed or halved roasted potatoes.
You could also make it a pulled pork sandwich with some Hawaiian sweet rolls or whatever buns you like, some coleslaw, and of course some barbecue sauce. Just combine it so you get your protein, your carb, and your veggie in there to round it out.
9) Meatballs In Marinara
This is a weekly occurrence in our house. We always have frozen meatballs, and there are so many to choose from, whether it’s beef, pork, Italian, or the appetizer style. It’s so easy because you just choose whatever sauce you like, such as marinara, put it in the pot with the meatballs, and slow cook them for about 20 to 25 minutes.
Then you could serve it however you want. You could put it into your favorite bun and make a sub sandwich with some melted cheese on top, or serve it with any shape of pasta for a spaghetti and meatball kind of night. I would also figure out what veggie you’d like to add, like a side salad or some green beans.
10) Creamy Chicken Skillet
This one’s gonna have some mushrooms, which of course I love, and they come out really nicely with the flavor of this meal. You could add some cream, cream cheese, or sour cream if you’d like, and then serve it with whatever carb you like, such as pasta, egg noodles, rice, or potatoes.
Then add some sort of veggie, whatever you think would go really well. You know what? You’ve got mushrooms in there, so you’re actually good on this one. You’ve already got your veggie, your chicken, and your carb, so there you go, an easy meal with good flavor.
11) Baked Mac And Cheese
There’s something about baked mac and cheese that’s just so delicious. When you bake it, it gets a little crispy on top, whether you use breadcrumbs or just some cheese that crisps up. It somehow takes a basic mac and cheese and makes it feel a little more fancy.
You could serve this with whatever meat you like, whether it’s chicken, salmon, steak, or pork, since it really goes with anything. Then just choose whatever veggie you’d like on the side, like asparagus, green beans, or Brussels sprouts, and that is a delicious complete meal.
12) Baked Ham
Baked ham is so good, and it’s something we don’t do on the regular, so having it on a Sunday night just feels special. The flavors of honey and mustard give you that sweet and salty combination, and you can serve it with whatever carbs you’d like, such as potatoes, plus green beans would go really well.
And with all your leftovers, you could really get creative. You could use it in breakfast the next morning in a breakfast sandwich or an omelet, put it in sandwiches when you pack lunches, or add chunks of ham to fried rice. It’s so nice to make a meal on Sunday night that sets you up for success for the next day or two.
13) Roast Salmon
This is my favorite way to make salmon, and salmon is really so versatile. A lot of people say they don’t like it because it’s too fishy, but if you play with the flavors and discover which salmon you like, I’m confident you can find one that appeals to you, whether it’s lemon butter or garlic.
You could do pesto on top, which is my favorite cheat, because you literally open the jar, pour it on the salmon, and pop it in the oven. There are also great recipes like a maple glaze or a more Asian-style teriyaki.
I usually cook my salmon at 400°F for 20 minutes, and I pop some veggies on the cookie sheet as well, usually asparagus but sometimes Brussels sprouts, which goes really well. For your carb, you could add some potatoes to that pan too, or serve it with some pasta.
14) Shrimp Scampi
Shrimp scampi just reminds me of being in a fine dining restaurant, but you can absolutely make this at home. You can serve it with whatever carb you’d like, such as some garlic bread or pasta, and your delicious garlic butter sauce will be so yummy.
And of course I’m gonna do some veggies, and I’m picturing some asparagus spears with this one. Shrimp scampi is such a crowd-pleaser, even for people who think they don’t like seafood, since shrimp is usually the way to get through to them.
15) Beef Stew
Beef stew is so great, and I always make it in the crockpot because it’s the easiest way and gives all those flavors so much time to blend together. You’ll have your beef, which you can buy already cubed up at the grocery store for some good protein.
And then, of course, you’ll have your potatoes. I like to get the small potatoes, and I usually put in some pearl onions, plus some chopped carrots or celery if you like. Serve it with some bread or garlic toast to dip in the sauce as well.
16) Chicken Pot Pie
This is what my kids request every year for their birthdays because chicken pot pie is so good, and it’s a great way to get the whole family to eat vegetables. You can use leftover turkey, since the recipe I follow is actually a Thanksgiving leftover recipe, or you could use leftover chicken, rotisserie, or what I typically do, which is make the chicken fresh, chop it up, and boil it.
Then I usually add some mashed potatoes, though you could do tiny diced potatoes if you’d like, plus some carrots, celery, and a lot of parsley. Roll out your crust, put all the filling in, top it with another crust, seal it all the way around, and bake it. Delish, chef’s kiss, the number one requested dinner item in our family.
17) Pork Chops
Pork chops are so delish, especially when you combine them with apples. I feel like it always has to go with apples, but it doesn’t have to. You could serve it with some applesauce, or even a side salad with some chopped apples on it if you like that combination.
This is a great year-round meal, and you could add whatever carbs you like, such as a potato, noodles, or whole wheat pasta if you want a little more fiber. A sweet potato would go really well too.
18) Roast Turkey Breast
It doesn’t have to be Thanksgiving to eat turkey. You could actually roast a turkey any day of the year, and you could have Thanksgiving in March if you’d like, there’s nothing wrong with that.
So you could roast a turkey with some mashed potatoes, gravy, and cranberry sauce and make it a midyear Thanksgiving meal, or you could save this for Thanksgiving, that’s fine too. But you could eat Thanksgiving any day of the year, and it’s always delicious and always gonna hit the spot.
19) Stuffed Shells
Sometimes we call these manicotti, though I think manicotti might actually be the tubes, but the stuffed shells are so delicious. You could stuff them with whatever cheese you like, and we usually do ricotta and Parmesan, plus you could put some veggies in there like chopped spinach.
You could serve it with some meat either in the shell, crumbled on top, or on the side, and I like to put some yummy marinara sauce on top. Then you just bake it, and it’s super delicious. I would do a side salad with this as well, and if you have some meat in there, you’re really gonna hit the spot with this meal.
20) Eggplant Parmesan
Eggplant Parmesan takes a little more thought going into it, because you have to let the eggplant rest for a bit before you bake it to make sure the moisture gets out. It doesn’t necessarily take a lot of time, it’s just thinking and planning, but it’s so delicious.
If you like chicken Parmesan, I highly recommend trying this, since it’s very similar in the process of dipping, coating, and baking with the marinara sauce, mozzarella, and Parmesan. Usually when I make this, I make a lot and freeze some, so I have leftovers for another night, maybe next week.
21) Chicken Enchiladas
This is a favorite in our house as well. You could shred up your chicken by boiling it and shredding it, or use rotisserie chicken, whatever you’d like. Then roll it in any sort of tortillas you like, whether that’s regular, whole wheat, or spinach tortillas.
Of course, you’re gonna put some cheese inside with some yummy sauce. I like to do a red enchilada sauce on top, but there’s green as well, so you could do that too. Then serve it with a side salad or some veggies. Enchiladas are such a crowd-pleaser, and there’s so much you could do with them.
22) Carnitas
Carnitas is so delicious, and I like to cook the pork in the crock pot, though you could also do it over the stove. Then grab whatever tortillas you like, and if you want to make tacos, you could do hard shells or soft small corn or flour tortillas, really any kind you like.
Then I’m gonna want some cilantro and onions on top, with either diced tomatoes or salsa. You could have it all splayed out and let everyone add to it if you want, with avocado and guacamole, plus usually some rice and beans on the side for a delicious meal.
23) Shepherd’s Pie
Not to be confused with chicken pot pie. Shepherd’s pie is delicious because it has veggies like peas and carrots and some meat in the bottom portion, and then a delicious biscuit-like topping, which really gives you a complete meal.
You could use whatever meat you like for this one, whether it’s beef, turkey, or lamb, and whatever veggies you like in there as well. It’s a delicious crowd-pleaser, and I love meals that have everything in them so you don’t have to make anything else on the side. This is a one-stop shop.
24) Sunday Gravy
This one sounds delicious. You could use sausage or meatballs, and you’re gonna have a delicious, flavorful tomato sauce that makes the house smell amazing. Serve it with pasta if you’d like and lots of cheese, and I would do some sort of veggies with this, whatever sounds good to you, like a side salad or some asparagus.
25) Roast Pork Loin
When you cook this, definitely make sure it stays nice and moist and you don’t overcook it so it dries out. Add lots of delicious flavorings like garlic and rosemary, which really add to the flavor and the aroma in your kitchen.
Then you could roast up some veggies and potatoes, whatever you like to combine with this. And of course, I love apples, apple-flavored anything with pork, since I feel like it goes really well.
26) Braised Chicken Thighs
Chicken thighs are so delicious and tender, and they really don’t dry out as easily as the breasts can, which makes them so forgiving. You can serve these with a garlic broth, some bread, and whatever veggies you like, and it’s gonna be so delicious and such a crowd-pleaser.
27) Beef And Broccoli Stir Fry
You can make this over the stove or in your crock pot, and it’s delicious because you’ve got the beef, high in protein, and the veggies from the broccoli. The only thing missing now is the carbs, so typically I serve this over rice, which I make in my rice cooker.
It could be brown rice or white rice, whatever you like, but the delicious flavors from the soy sauce, garlic, and ginger all come together, and you’re gonna feel like you had takeout when you were actually at home the whole time.
28) Breakfast For Dinner Frittata
Who says you can’t have breakfast for dinner? I used to do that all the time as a kid. Frittatas are really great because you can add whatever you have lying around, so leftover ham, great, throw it in, or leftover veggies from panini night, great, throw those in too.
Then scramble up some eggs with whatever veggies you feel like adding, and of course I like to add some cheese, and it’s so delicious. You can serve it with whatever carbs you like, and I feel like potatoes would go really well to round out the breakfast meal.
I like to dice up my potatoes and bake them, though you could also do them on the stove. Put some delicious seasoning on those and make some breakfast potatoes or hash browns.
