100+ Best Meal Ideas for Dinner
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Recipes for Week Night Dinners
I wouldn’t necessarily call what I do meal planning. It’s more of what else can I make with this ham, roast, chicken etc. I am always looking for easy dinner ideas, quick recipes for dinner and how I can stretch our budget. Here are the best meal ideas I’ve made for our family, to yours.
The goal is to take one meal and find ways to turn it into many meals, sometimes sandwiches down to soup. I have put in links where I have actually made the easy dinner idea. We also have a kid friendly list of food ideas as well as recipes for Summer.
For the most part, 90% of these recipes are family recipes. I don’t want to spend the day in the kitchen cooking, it needs to be an easy recipe to follow and with normal ingredients that most people have in their kitchen (though our spice options have grown to most of them).
We have open pot meal and sheet pan meal recipes as well. The categories are by meat type and there is a vegetable and filler section. Fillers are things that help you stretch your food farther.
We also have on how to shop and save on food for a year to stretch your budget.
Best Meal Ideas for Dinner Tonight
Easy Dinner Recipes
Meal Ideas With Beans
- 5 layer taco dip, (refried beans)
- Beans and Rice
- Bean soup
- Beans and rice with taco seasoning
- Cooked Beans in Instant Pot
- Fancy Beans (JAR of Northern Navy beans drained, 1/2 cup salsa and chicken broth. Sprinkle cheese and sour cream on top. Very low in fat but filling)
- Green Bean Casserole (cream of mushrooms soup and French onions in and on top on green beans)
- Ham and Bean soup
- #2 Ham & Bean Soup
- Homemade Ham Gravy
- Nachos – (cheese, chili/taco meat, sour cream, black beans, refried beans, served on tortilla chips)
- One Pot Ham & Bean Soup
- Tortillias (add bean, cheese, sour cream)
- Veggie Bean soup (beans, ham, chicken stock, salt/pepper, celery, carrot) add pasta
Best Meal Ideas for Dinner
Make Meals With Ground Beef
- Beef Stroganoff
- Bow Tie Lasagna (Bow tie noodles, Sour Cream, spaghetti sauce, Italian seasoning, Beef and Shredded cheese)
- Barbecue Short Ribs
- Cheeseburgers
- Cheddar Cheeseburgers
- Cheeseburger soup
- Chili (crock pot)
- 3 Bean Chili
- Chili, Whole Tomato and Bean
- Corned Beef & Hash
- Enchiladas
- Goulash
- Ground Beef w/Cream of mushroom soup and a little milk (over potatoes or bake it with cheese at 350, serve once cheese is melted)
- Ground Bologna
- Lasagna
- Italian Meatball Lasagna
- Lasagna Rolls
- Lasagna with Spinach
- Meatball sandwich
- Meatballs
- Meatloaf
- Mongolian Beef, slow cooked
- Pot Roast
- Spaghetti
- Spaghetti bake
- Sloppy Jo Sandwiches
- Stuffed Cheeseburgers
- Tacos
- Taco soup
Making Meals With Beef Roast
- Over potatoes (chopped beef served over mashed potatoes)
- Barbecue Beef Short Ribs (Instant Pot)
- Beef barley soup
- Beef Pot pie (chopped beef, veggies on hand, pie crust, corn starch, beef stock)
- BBQ Beef sandwiches (chopped beef, bbq sauce)
- Cabbage rolls, stuffed
- Chuck Roast Chili
- Corned Beef & Cabbage, Instant Pot
- Corned Beef & Cabbage, Slow Cooked
- Crockpot Pot Roast w/potatoes/carrots/other veggies with beef stock
- Fajitas
- German Pot Roast
- Irish Stew
- Pot Roast
- Pot Roast in Instant Pot
- Prime Rib – while expensive, bought on sale, you can make a lot with left overs.
- Stir fry
- Stuffed Bell Peppers
- Swiss Beef & Cheese Melt
- Veggie Beef Soup
Best Meal Ideas For Breakfast
- Apple Pie French Toast
- Apple French Toast Casserole
- Bacon and Egg Hashbrown Casserole
- Buttermilk Pancakes
- French Toast
- Cherry Scones
- Pumpkin Pancakes
- Pumpkin Waffles
- Tater Tot Casserole
Meatless Meals
Best Meal Ideas For Poultry/Chicken
Start with a Rotisserie Chicken
- Ala King, Chicken Ala King (chicken pot pie without crust or carrots served over potatoes)
- Asian Orange Chicken
- BBQ Chicken (crock pot)
- BBQ Chicken sandwiches (chopped chicken w/bottle of bbq)
- Buttermilk Chicken with Pickle Brine
- Cherry Barbecue Chicken
- Chicken and Pasta
- Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo
- Chicken Parmesan Smash Burgers
- Creamy Chicken Alfredo
- Easy Chicken Alfredo
- Campfire Chicken meals
- Chicken Cordon Bleu
- Chili, Chicken Chili (chopped chicken, navy beans, McCormick’s chicken chili)
- Chili, Turkey
- Enchiladas, Chicken
- Pot Pie, Chicken (chopped chicken, veggies on hand, pie crust, corn starch, chicken stock)
- Chicken & creamy mushrooms
- Chicken Kebabs
- Pita Pockets Chicken Salad
- Chicken Salad Sandwiches
- Grilled Smothered Chicken
- Creamy Tuscan Chicken
- Freezing chicken eggs
- Fried chicken
- Gnocchi, Chicken Soup
- Grind your Chicken
- Hawaiian Chicken
- Lemon garlic chicken
- Lemon Spiced Smoked Chicken
- Meatloaf, Turkey
- Sheet pan chicken dinner
- Smoked whole chicken
- soup, Chicken Soup (chicken stock, veggies on hand, chopped chicken with noodles or without)
- Smothered Chicken Breasts
- Sweet & Sour Chicken
- Turkey Casserole
- Turkey Breast – slow cooked
- Stuffing, Turkey Breast (slow cooked)
- Smoked Turkey Breast in the Smoker
Making Meals With Eggs
- 3 Layer Omlet
- Bacon Egg and Cheese Biscuit
- Bread and egg casserole
- Burritos, Breakfast
- Breakfast casserole
- Breakfast pizza
- Cheesy eggs
- Deviled Eggs
- Egg in hole
- Egg salad sandwiches
- English Muffin breakfast sandwich
- Frittata
- 5 minute hard boiled eggs
- Hard Boiled Eggs
- Ham & Cheese Quiche
- Ham & Egg Croissant
- Potato Salad
- Sausage and egg casserole
- Scrambled eggs
Fillers In Meals
- Adding the following into dishes will help stretch them further (where appropriate)
- Buttermilk Biscuits
- Crackers (in meatloaf)
- Roasted Garlic Cloves
- Pasta (added to most beef and chicken dishes will stretch them)
- Baked Cheese and Ravioli
- Baked Mac and Cheese
- Meatless Lasagna
- Noodles (added to most dishes and making a gravy are a hit)
- Veggies (will stretch dishes and are healthy)
Meals To Make With Fish
- Salmon – Place in foil, sprinkle with lemon pepper and cook in the oven until light pink & flakey.
- Lemon and Tarragon Trout
- Tuna Casserole
Making Dinner With Ham
- Bourbon Glazed Ham
- Breakfast casserole
- Broccoli, ham and cheese soup
- Brown Sugar Ham with Pineapple
- Cabbage soup with ham
- Crock pot Bean Soup (beans, ham, chicken stock, veggies (if you desire) salt/pepper)
- Cubed – soup, egg omelets, salads
- Fried sliced ham (breakfast)
- Ham Potato Frittata
- scrambled eggs with ham & cheese
- Ham
- Soup Ham and bean
- Ham and potato soup (slow cooker)
- Ham salad
- Omelettes with ham and veggies
- Omelettes with ham and cheese
- Orange Rum Glazed Ham
- pizza with ham and other toppings
- Potato Soup (slow cooker)
- Potato and ham chowder
- scalloped potatoes and ham
- Sliced ham – sandwiches
- Split pea soup with ham
- Sweet Potato Casserole
Best Meal Ideas For Pork
Watch for pork loin to go on sale. You can have it cut into slices at the store or at home and make them into pork chops (cheaper than buying pork chops and without the bone!)
- Apple Cider Pork Loin
- Bacon Egg & Cheese Sandwich
- BBQ Pork Ribs (crock pot)
- BBQ Pulled Pork Meat
- Ham Bone Ham and Bean Soup
- Pork Chops (Preheat oven to 400. cut up some potatoes, place pork chops in the pan, place sliced potatoes on top, Velveeta cheese chunks, Cream of mushroom soup and milk as needed to coat bottom of pan. Bake until potatoes are done. YUM… cook ½ hour)
- Pork Chops – throw them in the crock pot with diced up apples and some cinnamon and a little sugar. Throw in a couple spoonful’s of apple sauce as well with a little water.
- Pork chops with BBQ sauce in crock pot.
- Pork chops with Teriyaki sauce in crock pot.
- lo mein, Pork lo mein. dip in vidalia onion sauce and then panko crumbs and bake.
- Pork fried rice – minced pork with rice.
- chops, Pork chops – serve with brown gravy and rice
- Pork Chops with cream of mushroom
- Pork chops -Add layer of pork chops, ranch packet and pork chops. Sprinkle ranch packet on them. Add a can of cream of chicken soup in with them. Couple hours on high until cooked.
- Pork chops Sauteed, add cream of mushroom with can of water and simmer until cooked. Serve over rice or noodles or alone.
- Instant Pot Pulled Pork
- Sausage Patties
- Sausage, Biscuits & Gravy
- Stuffed Pork Chops
Best Potatoes Ideas
- Amish hash browns
- Au Gratin Potatoes
- Baked Potatoes
- Breakfast casserole
- Corned beef hash
- Cheesy fried potatoes
- Cheesy potatoes (chicken stock, potatoes chopped, chopped bacon, corn starch, cheese)
- French fries
- Fried potatoes
- Garlic mashed potatoes
- Ham and potato soup
- Hashbrown Casserole (cream of chicken soup, hash browns, cheddar cheese, minced onion, salt & pepper)
- One Pot Potato Soup
- Potato pancakes (from mashed potatoes)
- Mashed potatoes
- Potato Salad
- Potato Soup (slow cooker)
- Old Fashioned Potato Soup
- Potato wedges
- Roasted red potatoes
- Scalloped Potatoes and Ham
- Shepherds pie
- Smoked Baked Potatoes
- Twice baked potato skins
Meal Planning – Use Veggies
- Add into Soup/Casseroles (stretches dishes farther and healthy)
- Artichoke Hearts
- Beans – drained great for kids to eat (just like Cheerios)
- Cabbage Stew
- Canned veggies, last longer
- Carrots – Boil/steam, chopped into soups, inexpensive
- Celery , chopped, serve with peanut butter, raisins
- Eat Raw
- Frozen Veggies easy to add in as needed
- Grilled Corn on the Cob
- Roasted/Grilled on the oven
- Smoked corn on the cob
- Steamed cauliflower or broccoli served with cream of cheese soup
What are you favorite cheap recipes?
What a great list of ideas! Thanks so much for the roundup, I’m getting hungry just reading this post!
Amber Johnson
You are welcome. I hope you enjoy!