Weeknight Dinners 101
Send to a mom you love
As a mom, one of my biggest challenges is figuring out what everyone will eat for every meal. It’s a huge responsibility. My kids are becoming more adventurous eaters, but it’s still on me to figure out what they’ll eat and get it on the table after a long day at work.
Some of those go-to recipes are no-recipe recipes—an egg white omelette stuffed in a pita, buttered noodles, takeout pizza from our favorite place down the street. And I use every opportunity to involve my kids in the kitchen. The more they do it now, the more they’ll love it as they grow. My oldest is starting to show a lot of intuition in the kitchen and my little one loves to peel garlic and cut carrots. These knives are the perfect size for her.
As my Mother’s Day gift to you, here are 5 weeknight meals that always make everyone at the table happy, especially me!! The criteria:
Fast. When I get home from work, I don’t want to spend more than an hour on dinner.
Nourishing. All of these meals have a protein, a grain, and a vegetable. Even if my kids don’t eat all of it, they see it on the table every night.
Crowd-Pleasing. As much as I want my kids to enjoy dinner, I also want something Adi and I will love.
One-Pot/Pan/Dish. The last thing I want to do is spend all night cleaning!!
I can’t come over to help clean your floor after dinner, but I can give you the easiest dinners you’ll keep on repeat week after week. Print them out, keep them on your fridge, send them to every mom you know. She needs help! Here’s what’s on the menu this week—we’re in this together:
Basic One-Pot Chicken with tips on how to use what’s in season and make it your own
Spatchcock Chicken plus the green chicken salad I make with the leftovers for lunch (it’s SO good)
Easy, Smooth Tomato Sauce & Pasta without the “thingies,” with meatballs if you want
The Easiest Salmon with Steamed Broccoli and three other veggies you can add
Spinach & Artichoke Dip, the dip-turned-dinner you didn’t know you needed. My 9-year-old makes it almost entirely by herself.
I want to know what your favorite weeknight meal is—the one that makes everyone around your table happy. Tell me in the comments or drop it in the chat.
Basic One-Pot Chicken
I love how simple and packed with flavor this is. I make one-pot chickens all the time and love to mix up the seasonings and vegetables to create totally different dishes. Use bone-in thighs or full chicken legs for best results—breasts will dry out too easily. I’m giving all my tips for changing up the flavor profile in the PDF!
Spatchcock Chicken
I swear I make a spatchcock chicken at LEAST once a week. (That’s why I don’t have a pic. I’m busy making dinner for my family 😂). And with whole chicken being one of the most budget-friendly proteins right now (I learned that from Caro the other day), it’s a great addition to a weekly rotation. The leftovers are incredible in green goddess chicken salad or soup, and save the bones in the freezer to make broth. Serve with a simple salad or slaw.
Easy, Smooth Tomato Sauce & Pasta
I started making this a few years ago for my littlest, who refused to eat any tomato sauce with chunks of tomato/onion/etc. She even had Adi straining it through a fine-mesh strainer for a while. We don’t have time for that!! This sauce is packed with veggies and nutrients, is super creamy, freezes well to make weeknights even easier, and pairs well with all pasta shapes. Add ground beef if you want for extra protein, or simmer meatballs in the sauce. It’s endlessly customizable and always delicious.
The Easiest Salmon with Steamed Broccoli
For how hands-off this meal is, it’s pretty impressive. Once you season the salmon, all you have to do is throw it in the oven or airfryer until it’s ready. Broccoli gets zapped in the microwave for the ultimate mom hack, and the rice is ready in minutes. It’s a great one to easily control portions with if you’re cooking for more or fewer people, or people who will eat less of one component. We like to serve it with nori, too.
Spinach & Artichoke Dinner Dip
If having dip for dinner is wrong, I don’t want to be right. This recipe is how I got my oldest to eat spinach and artichokes, and give her extra confidence cooking—a win all around. Plus an evening cheese pull will always make your week better. We like to eat it with chips, but you could use cut-up veggies (we always have sweet peppers and carrots in the fridge), and even blitz up a quick green goddess to go all in on the theme. See? Dips can be dinner.
