As much as I love to cook, I never stop needing easy dinner ideas, especially during the work week. Today I’m sharing 15 recipes you can easily make with pantry staples you already have on hand! From tacos to soups to chilis, there is something here for just about every palate. Enjoy!
Entrees + Dinner
There’s a restaurant here in our little city where they serve the most amazing portobello burger. It’s so good that it inspired me years ago to starting grilling portobello burgers at home. Today I’m teaming up with SOLA® to share what might just be the perfect summer grilling recipe – my portobello burgers topped with grilled peaches and pickled red onions!
I’m sure I’m not alone in being pretty convinced that tacos are the greatest food inventions ever. As a vegetarian I’m always playing around with different variations of veggie tacos, which I swear are better than meat-based tacos even if you’re an omnivore. Here I’ve rounded up a dozen vegetarian tacos totally worthy of your Taco Tuesday (or your Meatless Monday) dinner needs! (And since I love veggie tacos so much, you can find 15 additional veggie tacos here!)
It’s no secret that I love a good game day tailgate party! Bringing people together to share in the spirit of camaraderie while munching on good food and watching the game is never going to get old to me. Want to make your party prep super simple? Host your tailgate party as a slow cooker challenge! Today I’ve teamed up with Dixie Plates to share my tips for just how to do that and my recipe for the best slow cooker tacos perfect for your next game day get together.
This recipe is one of those party-ready recipes that has become a total go-to for me since first making it. It turns out that veggie taco tart are where it’s at, friends, and our regular weekend house crashers would whole heartedly agree! Don’t let the word “tart” intimidate you though. We’re going to jazz up store bought pie crust and whip these up in no time!
In the scope of my role as a week day solo parent, weeknight dinner ideas can be a massive stumbling block for me. Even with Em having started pre-school this year, I manage to have it together when it comes to laying out the next day’s outfit and packing lunches in advance but dinner is where it tends to fall apart. With my schedule I need something quick and easy, but we’re pretty passionate about serving our toddler healthful, nutrition-packed meals. Because of that I was really excited to team up with my friends at Walmart and Yummy Spoonfuls to whip up three toddler proof weeknight dinner ideas you can make in advance or on the fly!
If you’re reading this chances are good that you’re pretty well versed on my love for entertaining. Bringing people together over a great meal is a true passion for me, and luckily my husband agrees. The result of two people who love to cook and spend time with friends? We entertain a lot. And by “a lot,” I mean as often as a few times a month. I get asked all the time about how we do that, and the answer is that we keep it simple! Sure, there are times that we cook an intricate meal, but most of the time I’m a huge advocate of pulling together a spread that is wow-worthy without taking all day to prepare. One of my favorite entertaining ideas is any kind of “make your own” food station, in this case an awesome pasta bar that I created shopping exclusively at Walmart! The beauty of this pasta bar is how quickly it comes together, how amazingly convenient it is to pick everything up in one shopping trip and how tasty the end results are! Your friends and your kids will go crazy for this one, and the prep time is totally minimal. This is my kind of dinner party!
Is anyone else living for the weekend this week? And I know, I know it’s only Thursday but I am kind of counting the hours on this one. Plus, by Thursday at lunchtime Bob and I are usually brainstorming dinner ideas for the weekend. I generally do the majority of the weekly grocery shopping and errands on Thursdays and Fridays, so a little mini menu planning session on Thursday goes a long way.
Bob and I have this little tradition of making what we call “fancy grilled cheese sandwiches” for dinner on Friday nights. Not every Friday night (far from it actually), but for some reason a great grilled cheese sandwich and a bowl of homemade tomato soup is the perfect way to end the week when you’re too tired to want to cook up a more involved meal, but want to attempt something a bit more than delivery. This sandwich is one of our favorite variations! A grilled cheese made with caramelized onions, dill pickle, havarti and munster cheese all on inside-out ciabatta bread.
An alternative title to this post could easily be, “Best Ever Vegan Tomato Soup.” Because it is indeed the best ever and it is indeed vegan. It’s also about the easiest thing to make that there ever was, even if you wanted to make a big pot on a weeknight. The basis is a bunch of roasted tomatoes, onions and garlic. Drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper and bursting with flavor. I like a variety of tomatoes (such as tomatoes on the vine, cherry tomatoes and little heirloom tomatoes) for little extra depth of flavor, but truly you can use whichever kind of tomatoes you have on hand or that look good in the grocery store. A big bowl topped with French bread croutons makes a meal unto itself or the perfect accompaniment to a grilled cheese sandwich. (I’ll be sharing one of my favorite grilled cheese recipes next week! Yum!)
This butternut squash black bean chili features loads of delicious flavor and a little bit of heat, making it the perfect dish for a cold winter day or a great tailgate party recipe. Because I have chili on the brain this week with our Super Bowl chili cook off going down on Sunday, I have …
Give this four bean veggie chili recipe (that is also a vegan chili recipe) a try for your next tailgate party – it’s the best veggie chili recipe you’ll ever try! It’s Super Bowl week and I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m completely excited. For one, we’re hosting the festivities this weekend and I …