20 Quick & Easy Dinner Ideas {Real Food, Fast}

For our final post in the “Real Food, Fast” mini series, I’m giving some ideas for simple, quick and easy dinners. I hope you’ve found this series helpful and have been armed with some good, quick and easy recipes to add to your meal planning repertoire!

Real Food, Fast Re-cap

• On Monday, I reviewed Leigh Ann of Intentional by Grace’s new eBook, 20-Minute Meals: Giving Weary Chefs Grace While Keeping Families Healthy. This book includes lots of techniques for simplifying meal planning, and it gives 28 recipes for dinners that only take 20 minutes each! Leigh Ann is giving all Humbled Homemaker readers 20% off the book until July 14, using code: humbled20. And it’s not too late to try to win a copy here! (Winners who have purchased the book will be refunded their money!)
• On Tuesday, we gave ideas for some quick and easy breakfasts–from those that take barely any time at all, to breakfasts you can cook the day/night before and feed your family on all week , to crock pot breakfasts that cook while you sleep, to breakfasts that are ready in about 15-20 minutes from start-to-finish!
• On Wednesday, we looked at quick and easy lunches–my least-planned out meal. I confessed that many of my lunches are just very, simple, thrown-together snack-like plates, like my friend Creative Christian Mama also talked about yesterday. We also talked about eating leftovers for lunch and listed some 10-minute lunch ideas.

Image by Vox Efx

Now let’s move on to that one meal that you want to always be prepared for–dinner. I’ll be transparent and say that I’ve really had a hard time with meal planning while pregnant. Plan to Eat and ListPlan are both helping me get back on the ball (just in time for baby’s arrival in about 4 weeks!), but there are still nights when I look at the clock at 5, and think: “Oh, man! I need to start dinner, and I have no idea what to cook!”

Having a list of super simple, quick and easy dinners that only take 20-30 minutes to make from start-to-finish is helpful for any homemaker!

Image by Annie Mole

My 20-30-Minute Meals Collection

• Stir-Fry over rice:Hands down, this is my most favorite, easiest, quickest meal. I make it with either chicken or shrimp and either fresh or frozen veggies (fresh is my favorite, of course!). If I have pre-chopped veggies and pre-cooked shrimp, this meal is incredibly fast to whip up. (Note: You’ll want to have some pre-cooked rice on hand to make this the fastest meal ever!)
• Pasta with Spinach & Mushrooms: My second favorite easy-peasy meal only requires a few ingredients: chicken or shrimp, some type of pasta, spinach, mushrooms, garlic and cheese. After boiling the pasta, I cook everything else on the skillet. I love feeding my family healthy greens…and this is such an easy way to do it!
• Breakfast for Supper: Eggs and bacon, anyone? This is my go-to end-of-the-month meal. Not only is it fast, but it’s affordable!
• Simple Sugar Snap Pea Pasta Salad: With the use of pre-cooked shrimp, this is another one-dish meal that takes very, very little time to prepare.
• Taco/Chicken Salads: If I already have pre-chopped veggies, these meals only take as long as it takes to cook the meat! Top the salads with the meat, and you’re good to go!
• Tuna Pasta Salad: I make this with salmon, and it’s typically a longer lunch for me and the girls since my husband doesn’t care much for fish. But, really…it’s a wonderful, quick dinner that’s full of yummy omega-3s!
• Southwestern Chicken Chili Mac: Another pasta-skillet dish, this one includes white beans and shredded chicken!
• Recycled Quick Lunch Ideas: Many of my 10-minute lunches from yesterday’s post–like quesadillas or sliced-bread pizzas–also make their way to our dinner table when I’m running low on time!
• Meals from 20-Minute Meals: If it’s late, and I have no plan, I turn to this book and whip up one of her recipes–particularly the honey-orange or lemon-rosemary chicken!

Other Dinners to Try

• Cheeseburger Tortilla Skillet: Elsie’s version of homemade “Hamburger Helper” is quick, easy, and much, much healthier than the additive-laden store-bought stuff!
• Pasta with Chickpeas and Garlic Sauce: I pinned this one a while back but haven’t tried it yet. I love chickpeas and pasta…and this dish looks to take about 30 minutes to make!
• Creamy Lemon Pasta with Chicken: Another Pinterest find, this one looks to combine my love for cheese and chicken!
• Easy Summer Chicken Spaghetti: This recipe from Ramblings of a Christian Mom looks really simple–and delicious!
• Sweet Chili Lime Turkey Burgers: I love how this recipe from Inspired-Housewife includes one of my favorite fats–avocados!
• Chicken Enchiladas & Salad in 30 Minutes Flat: Natalie’s recent quick meal on Keeper of the Home looks super easy–and feeds her family of 11!
• Leigh Ann’s 20-Minute Meals Series: The author of 20-Minute Meals recently ran a series with 5 of her 20-minute meals recipes! I’m excited to try her Chicken-Caesar Wrap, Shrimp Scampi, Pork Diane, Simple Spaghetti, and Pan-Seared Curried Cod.

Resources:

• Plan to Eat: I recently started using this online meal planning service–which is also one of my July sponsors! You can sign up for a FREE 30-day trial here!
• List PlanIt: I recently won a membership to this online organizational resource and have been using their pre-made lists to also aid in my meal planning.
• Plan It, Don’t Panic: Stephanie’s book gives you all you need to get your meal planning in order.
• 20 Minute Meals: Giving Weary Chefs Grace While Keeping Families Healthy: While Leigh Ann’s book only gives dinner recipes (28 meals that only take 20 minutes!), she includes lots of great tips for making any meal of the day less stressful. You can get a copy for 20% off through July 14 using code: humbled20, or you can enter to win one in this week’s giveaway! (She’ll refund the money of any winners who have already purchased the book!)
• Real Food, Real Easy: This is an eBook I wrote with several other bloggers. The 70+ recipes included are designed for real food newbies!

What are your quick and easy dinner ideas?

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I’m linking up with: The Better Mom, The Prairie Homestead, Far Above Rubies, Growing Home, Deep Roots at Home, Time-Warp Wife, Raising Homemakers, Women Living Well

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