Need a go-to, easy dinner recipe to avoid the question "what's for dinner tonight"? If you want to skip meal prep and extra time in the kitchen, use these easy, healthy dinner recipes the whole family will love.
Simple to whip up and naturally dairy-free and gluten-free, these dinner recipes will help save your sanity on busy weeknights.
Skip the post-work stress and have a few easy dinner recipes on hand for those ultra-busy nights!
Even a Certified Nutrition Coach like myself fails at meal prepping sometimes (though here are tips to make meal prep easier). This means that having fast, healthy, and delicious recipes on hand is a lifesaver! And below are a few of my favorites!
Crucial Tips To Making Dinner EASIER
There's no doubt about it, having a few things ready and made will go a long way to making dinner ideas come together quickly.
And though you could easily cut veggies or prep rice, the only thing that I really like to have done is a Dutch Oven Roast Chicken (or two!) in the fridge.
For the vegetarian recipes listed below, if you have some chicken in the fridge, throw it on and it's a full meal. Or, pick up a cooked rotisserie chicken on the way home from work.
Keep in mind that you can also use a structured meal template for moms to help you achieve your goals and strategically use leftovers. These plans have practical, delicious foods without having to think week after week.
Easy Dinner Recipes To Curb "What's For Dinner Onight"
The following dinner recipes are all dairy-free and gluten-free. They're family favorites and delicious recipes that are quick to whip up (kind of like these gluten-free comfort food dinner recipes).
If you scroll down further, you'll find "throw-together" meals. These are meals that use up the random things in your fridge and pantry to create a healthy dinner.
So, scroll through the dinner recipes below, gain some sanity, and enjoy what you eat!
Throw Together Dinner Ideas
These easy dinner ideas don't have recipes, they're exactly how they sound. Something completely thrown together that somehow works as a satisfying meal.
Though many of them seem low-carb, I do tend to cook rice with soy sauce and quinoa noodles with them for the kids.
I drizzle the noodles in olive oil and add some nutritional yeast and salt for flavor.
In a pinch, these are some of my favorite easy dinner ideas (as are these dairy-free slow cooker recipes for busy weeknights)!
- Homemade burgers and grilled asparagus
- Inside out egg rolls
- Chicken breasts coated in barbeque sauce and roasted root vegetables
- Grilled sausages and candied Brussels sprouts
- Grilled or pan-fried steak and cauliflower rice
- Grilled chicken and grilled veggie and quinoa salad
- Taco night
- Breakfast for dinner night featuring our favorite high-protein yogurt pancakes or dairy-free breakfast casserole
- Quesadillas and sliced raw veggies
- Chicken fajitas or chicken fajita bowls
- Barbeque chicken, mashed potatoes, and frozen veggies (a classic!)
- Easy chicken stir fry with gluten-free teriyaki sauce
- Quinoa noodles, peas, chicken, and homemade coconut milk alfredo sauce
Healthy Dinners In 30 Minutes Or Less
Struggling to make dinnertime WORK for your hectic lifestyle?
If you’re looking for even more easy, healthy dinner recipes, check out The Busy Moms E-Cookbook- simple dinners for busy moms, where I’ve gathered 30 healthy dinner recipes that can be made in thirty minutes or less.
- Simple and healthy
- Dairy & gluten-free
- Real-food based that focus on nutrients not fillers
- Busy mom approved
Plus get bonus tips on how I food prep as a mom of three, how to make healthy eating simple & pantry staples to stock up on.
Frequently Asked Questions
Much of the time you can make a traditional dinner gluten-free by using some gluten-free pantry swaps. Using gluten-free pasta like quinoa or rice noodles in place of regular ones, omitting bread finding a gluten-free one, or opting for rice as the base instead of noodles.
When it comes to fast, easy dinner recipes, having cooked chicken, cooked rice, and chopped veggies in the fridge makes it easy to whip something up!
Having a few staples makes busy nights a little less stressful. Things like soy sauce, hot sauce, homemade alfredo sauce, teriyaki sauce, rice vinegar, honey, and sesame oil make it so you can easily whip something up!
Modern Home
look so tasty. I think I will try Chicken curry for tomorrow dinner. I will try your recipes
fitasamamabear
Mmmm I adore chicken curry.. all curry lol enjoy!
Shannon Burlingame
These all look SOO good!! I have to try peach and ginger chicken. That sounds really interesting. 🙂
fitasamamabear
Enjoy it! Such a random combination but really tasty!
Larissa
Okay, these recipes sound amazing! I'm always on the lookout for new meals to try, and it seems as if I've hit the jackpot. I'm not a big fan of mushrooms or of curry, so I probably won't be making those, but everything else is free game! Thanks for sharing 🙂
fitasamamabear
Hey Larissa- glad you popped by.. and that you like the post! At the very least it gives you some ideas! I got so sick of thinking up dinners I decided to just write it all down lol No mushrooms?! GASP lol most of the recipes you can omit, I just have kind of an obsession with them 😛 Check out the recipe section if you need more ideas!
Priyadarshini Rajendran
Perfect timing, I am so happy that I found this. Printing it for my week 🙂
Bailie
This is a great idea! It's hard to make big meals when there is only 2 of us. Thanks for sharing this!
fitasamamabear
No problem! Hopefully it gives you a few more ideas at least!
Sincerely Ophelia
So many meal ideas to choose from! It's making me hungry! <3 Love. Will be contemplating!
XOXO // Check out my latest post if you like 😉
SINCERELY OPHELIA | TREND ALERT: Off the Shoulder Tops Galore
fitasamamabear
Haha I know what you mean! When I was retyping the post up all I wanted to do was eat everything again 😛
Kethy
Hi Dear!
This is an amazing post and I like Chicken Jambalaya and Falafel the most. I enjoyed reading this post and will try some of these recipes soon at my home. Thanks for sharing such nice ideas for dinner.
fitasamamabear
Thanks so much Kethy! Most people get super stumped for dinner so it's nice to just have IDEAS instead of scrambling!
Anne
Looks delicious! I am going to try the steak bites tonight!
fitasamamabear
You'll love them!