What is it about busy week days that makes dinnertime come SO much faster? You know the type, the kind where you have no time to plan dinner and now need to get it on the table, fast? We’ve all been there. If you’ve got more important things to think about than what’s for dinner, let us help take some of those decisions off your plate. From meat to pasta to super-simple sheet-pan, slow-cooker, and air-fryer recipes, there’s something in here for everyone. Check out our 75 best squick dinner recipes—they’re big on convenience and flavor, and they all come together in less than an hour (and some in only 25 minutes)? Now that’s a weeknight dinner miracle.
The best thing about these recipes is that they can be made for any occasion, any night of the week. Making a quick, casual meal before heading out for the evening? Try our copycat chicken lettuce wraps (30 min.), our cheesy ground beef tacos (25 min.), our pumpkin tomato soup with grilled cheese sticks (25 min.), or our hot dog Cubans (20 min.) for easy, portable options you can take with you out the door. Looking for recipes that’ll get the whole family to the dinner table? Try a quick pasta dish, like our penne alla vodka (35 min.) our grown up SpaghettiOs & meatballs (45 min.), or our creamy sausage & peppers shells (35 min.). Really craving take-out, but know you should cook at home? Make our curried chicken & garlic golden rice (45 min.), our General Tso's chicken (35 min.), our copycat Panda Express chow mein (20 min.), or our pad Thai (25 min.). You can make them faster than it’ll take for delivery to even arrive. Want to celebrate a special occasion? Even though time is tight, you can still turn out a remarkable meal. Try our Caprese chicken saltimbocca (35 min.), our veal marsala (45 min.), or our tricolore skillet lasagna (35 min.). They all taste like labors of love, with much less work.
Need more easy dinners? Try our best cheap and easy recipes, our top 20-minute meals, and our favorite easy desserts too.
French Bread Pizza
Craving homemade pizza, but don’t want to deal with finicky pizza dough? We get it, that stuff can be tricky. Skip it altogether, and grab the nearest loaf of French bread instead. The loaf makes for a delicious pizza “crust” that will get crispy on the outside, while staying nice and soft on the inside. It’s truly the best of both worlds.
Get the French Bread Pizza recipe.
Honey-Garlic Glazed Salmon
A longtime favorite of Delish readers, this savory-sweet salmon never disappoints. Hot tip: Let the fillets cook undisturbed for a few minutes. That and super-high heat is how you get that delicious crust here.
Get the Honey-Garlic Glazed Salmon recipe.
Stuffed Pepper Casserole
This recipe begins with the ingredients you love from classic stuffed peppers: ground beef, large chunks of peppers and onion, a deep bench of seasonings, and a tomato-heavy broth. A cup of rice dives into that pool of liquid gold, the whole thing slides in the oven, and within minutes, you have a warm and hearty meal ready to feed a crowd.
Get the Stuffed Pepper Casserole recipe.
One-Pan Lemon Parm Chicken Gnocchi
There’s nothing more comforting than a creamy pasta dish, and this one-pan meal couldn’t be easier to make. It's the perfect segue from summer into fall, as it's warm and comforting, but still simple and fresh. The lemon brightens the sauce and makes this a feel-good weeknight dinner everyone will love.
Taco Spaghetti
One-pot taco spaghetti is a fast-as-can-be weeknight dinner that pairs all your favorite taco fixin’s with spaghetti rather than taco shells. It's especially perfect for those nights when you just cannot stand the thought of a sink full of dirty dishes.
Get the Taco Spaghetti recipe.
Creamy Steak Fettuccine
When we crave steak, this dish is always at the top of our list. It comes together quickly and is so full of flavor, plus the steak makes it feel extra special. It might just make you forget chicken Alfredo ever existed.
Get the Creamy Steak Fettuccine recipe.
Creamy Tuscan Chicken
When it comes to chicken breast recipes, it's hard to beat this one. The sauce is simple, but so flavorful, thanks to garlic, tomatoes, and most importantly, cream. It's a great fall dinner whether you're craving comfort food or need something to serve to guests. Just be sure to have some crusty bread on hand to sop up the killer sauce!
Get the Creamy Tuscan Chicken recipe.
Za'atar Sheet Pan Chicken
We’ve made a lot of great sheet-pan dinners, but this za’atar chicken recipe is a new favorite. Bone-in chicken thighs, baby potatoes, broccoli, and red onion are all tossed in a simple marinade, then roasted to crispy, schmaltzy perfection. And just to kick it up another notch, we’re drizzling it all in a creamy tahini sauce to finish it off. 😍
Get the Za'atar Sheet Pan Chicken recipe.
Baked Feta Pasta
Obviously roasting a block of feta with bursting tomatoes is going to be amazing. But is it good enough to break TikTok like this one did? Our answer, begrudgingly, is yes. It's genius—super easy, but fancy enough for date night. 😍
Get the Baked Feta Pasta recipe.
Salmon & Potato Skillet
While the potatoes cook, the salmon takes a quick bath in an easy marinade that will double as cooking fat in this simple dish. In just 45 minutes, you’ll have a delicious and filling meal that can be customized every time you make it.
Get the Salmon & Potato Skillet recipe.
One-Pan Creamy Chicken & Gnocchi
When everything cooks together, everyone wins. The chicken finishes cooking in the sauce with the gnocchi, making it the easiest comfort meal ever. It's what weeknight dinner dreams are made of!
Buddha Bowls
The beauty about grain bowls is that they're infinitely adaptable. And this is certainly true for Buddha bowls! You can roast just about any veggie, use any number of toppings, and it'll taste amazing in this recipe. The only thing we might insist you must keep on the bowl is the peanut dressing—it's truly incredible.
Get the Buddha Bowls recipe.
Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas
Making a whole recipe on one sheet pan is perfect for meal prepping. For these fajitas you simply toss all of the ingredients—chicken and vegetables—in an easy marinade of avocado oil and taco spices like cumin and chili powder and then bake it all together on a sheet pan for just 25 minutes. Turn them into tacos, serve them over rice, whatever you like!
Get the Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas recipe.
Caprese Chicken & Polenta Bake
Pad Thai
Any beginner cook can accomplish this recipe, but it's important to note that we did skip some traditional ingredients (such as dried shrimp, tamarind, pressed tofu, and bean sprouts) in lieu of ingredients that you can pick up at your local grocery store (and to make it faster and easier!). Absolutely necessary for our recipe, though: fish sauce. It's easy to find at nearly every grocery store, and it adds an unbeatable punch of umami goodness.
Get the Pad Thai recipe.
Feta & Herb Crusted Salmon
For this Mediterranean-inspired dish, you just arrange your salmon on a sheet tray (lined with aluminum foil for the easiest cleanup), sprinkle on the toppings, and bake it for 25 minutes. No flipping, no sticking, and no mess!
Get the Feta & Herb Crusted Salmon recipe.
Copycat California Pizza Kitchen BBQ Chicken Pizza
If you can't get enough of the flavor combo of saucy BBQ, tender chicken and creamy ranch, then you'll go crazy for this California Pizza Kitchen BBQ chicken pizza copycat. Our twist? We bake the pizza in an oven-safe skillet, resulting in an extra-crispy crust. It might seem a bit extra, but trust us—it's worth it.
Get the Copycat California Pizza Kitchen BBQ Chicken Pizza recipe.
Lemon Asparagus Chicken Pasta
The Parmesan sauce here has us returning to this 30-minute pasta dish again and again. We love using asparagus in the spring, then changing it up with zucchini, broccoli, or Brussels the rest of the year.
Get the Lemon Asparagus Chicken Pasta recipe.
If you want to spend a lot less time making dinner and a lot more time enjoying it, this ultimate guide is your delicious solution. These 75 easy ideas all utilize only ONE pan, skillet, sheet pan, etc. They offer a bigger bang for your buck and are full of flavor, so you'll be sure to please a hungry crowd no matter who (or how many you're feeding).
Copycat Chicken Lettuce Wraps
In our attempt to copy the fan favorite from PF Chang's, we flavored ground chicken with hoisin sauce (a fermented bean paste that gives the chicken the quintessential Chinese-American flavor), soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sriracha, and sesame oil. Water chestnuts add a nice crunch here too.
Get the Copycat Chicken Lettuce Wraps recipe.
Camille Lowder is the digital food producer at Delish, otherwise known as our resident queen of recipe galleries. Previously, she attended the Natural Gourmet Institute for culinary school and worked at/managed a number of New York restaurants. She loves anything vegan, foods masquerading as other foods (hello, cauliflower), and a well-used Oxford comma.
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