Easy Weeknight Meals

These easy weeknight meals rely on a lot of fridge, freezer and pantry staples so you should be able to make them fairly quickly for lunch or dinner at almost any time!

Hi friends!

I’m here with some easy weeknight meal ideas for you! Last week I shared 25 Easy Pantry and Freezer Meals and a lot of people found them helpful for quick dinner ideas so I wanted to give you some more! I’ve included a few links but for the most part these are just general recipe directions for inspiration. If you see one that sounds good and you need a more specific recipe, just search the title in red on Google or Pinterest and I’m sure lots of options will pop up!

Easy Weeknight Meals

The titles in red are NOT links…just recipes titles followed by a general description (I did include a couple of links to recipes already on the blog)

• Peanut Noodles – Roast whatever veggies you have a cook some chicken (or sub a can of white beans). Mix with cooked rice noodles or ramen noodles. Combine peanut butter, soy sauce, maple syrup, and a little broth to make a sauce and toss to coat. Add sriracha for a kick. These Instant Pot Asian Noodles are my favorite.
• Italian Beef Skillet – Cook ground beef in a skillet with garlic and Italian seasoning. Add some cooked lentils (or use all lentils if you don’t have meat. Stir in a can of diced tomatoes (including the liquid in the can) along with some fresh spinach or kale and some crumbled feta. Serve with pasta, rice, quinoa etc.
• Fajita Potato Nachos – Saute chicken, peppers, and onions in a skillet with taco seasoning. Serve over roasted potato slices and top with cheese.  Or skip the potatoes and serve over chips, or make traditional fajitas.
• Sundried Tomato Pasta – Cook chicken in a skillet with garlic and oil. Mix in cooked pasta, chopped sundried tomatoes, and some chili flakes.

• Shrimp Scampi – Saute shrimp in butter, garlic, and oregano. Serve over spaghetti or zoodles and top with fresh lemon juice! I make this Paleo Shrimp Scampi all the time!
• Sheet Pan Greek Chicken – Put chicken thighs, diced potatoes and green beans on a baking sheet. Top with greek seasoning and slices of lemon and bake at 400 F until chicken reaches 165 degrees.
• Hawaiian Chicken Sliders – Combine chicken, diced canned pineapple (plus juice), diced red pepper and some bbq sauce in the crockpot and cook on low for 6 hours. Shred chicken, put on slider buns and top with cheese.
• Hamburger Helper – Cook ground beef in a skillet with a can of Rotel, a drained can of corn and a can of ranch style beans. When beef is cooked, mix in cooked elbow noodles and serve.

• Crack Chicken – Put chicken, a block of cream cheese, a packet of ranch seasoning, some shredded cheese, some chopped bacon, and a little chicken broth in the crockpot and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Make a Mexican version with this Slow Cooker Creamy Mexican Chicken. Or for something less creamy try this Crockpot Cilantro Lime Chicken.
• Chicken Noodle Casserole – Mix cooked chicken and cooked egg noodles with a can of cream of mushroom soup, a bag of frozen veggies and a little chicken broth. Top with crushed potato chips. Bake until bubbly.
• Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls – Cook ground beef, garlic and onion in a dutch oven and drain grease. Add a bag of coleslaw or shredded cabbage, a can of tomato soup and a little water. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to simmer for 30 min or so. Stir in some cooked rice if desired.
• Fried Rice – Saute chicken and frozen veggies. Add cooked rice and soy sauce and mix. Push to the side, scramble a few eggs and mix it all together for fried rice.

• Breakfast For Dinner – Try these Egg in a Hole Breakfast Sandwiches, some Red Lentil Pancakes with fruit and yogurt or these Banana Flax Waffles.
• Dijon Salmon – Top salmon with dijon mustard or hummus and breadcrumbs (or crushed nuts) and bake. Serve with sweet potatoes or rice.
• Mexican Zucchini Boats – Slice zucchini lengthwise and scoop out the middle. Stuff with cooked ground beef and/or black beans, corn, taco seasoning, and shredded cheese and bake.
• Chicken Pot Pie – Cook garlic, chicken, potatoes and frozen mixed veggies in a skillet with butter for 10 min. Sprinkle with a couple of tablespoons of flour. Add some chicken broth, bring to a boil and then simmer until potatoes are tender. Add a cup or two of milk, pour into a baking dish, top with a sheet of puff pastry and bake. Sub chickpeas for chicken if you want!

• Chicken Tenders – Make your own chicken tenders or nuggets, or pull a batch of these Freezer Chicken Tenders from the freezer and serve with steamed veggies and mac and cheese. 
• Easy Grilled Chicken – Marinate chicken in a mixture of garlic, oil, red wine vinegar, and honey. Grill and serve with veggies and your favorite starch.
• Breakfast Loaded Potatoes – Mix scrambled eggs with black beans, salsa, and cheese and use to topped baked potatoes or sweet potatoes.
• Baked Ziti – Cook ground turkey or beef. Mix with cooked pasta and a jar of pasta sauce (and spinach if you want). Spoon into a baking dish, top with mozzarella cheese and bake until bubbly.

• Hummus Chicken Wraps – Make this shredded hummus chicken and throw it in a tortilla with any veggies you have on hand. Serve with fruit!
• Crockpot Roast Chicken – Put a whole chicken (or a pot roast) in the crockpot with carrots, potatoes and a cup of broth. Top with a packet of onion soup mix and cook on low for 6-8 hours.
• Zuppa Toscana – Cook Italian sausage, onion, garlic, diced potatoes and bacon in a dutch oven. Add broth, bring to a boil, then simmer until potatoes are tender. Add some heavy cream and fresh spinach if you have it. 
• Egg Wraps – Make these easy egg wraps and fill with cheese, turkey, avocado, leftover chicken etc. Whatever you have on hand!

So there you go! Hope this gave you some new ideas. Remember you can find more ideas in my Freezer & Pantry Meal Ideas post!

Enjoy!
–Lindsay–