Family Dinner Ideas For Tonight

Published: Feb 16, 2019 · Updated: Jan 2, 2024 by Laura Fuentes · This post may contain affiliate links

Quick & Easy dinner ideas for tonight that your whole family will love. Use what you already have on hand with these easy recipes!

5 from 20 votes

If it’s 6 o’clock and you’ve stared at the fridge (and pantry) wondering “what should I make for dinner tonight,” you’re not alone.

I’ve made a list of easy recipes you can whip up in under 30 minutes with staple ingredients many of us have on hand in our fridge, pantry, and even freezer nearly all the time. Links to all the recipes are below.

Don’t want a recipe and just want t a little visual inspo? Watch this video:

Easy Dinner Ideas for Families to Make Tonight

If you forgot to thaw out chicken (again) and don’t trust the method for baking frozen chicken you still have plenty of easy dinner ideas that families love you can make tonight. In no particular order:

Baked Nachos

5 from 22 votes

Use leftovers as toppings, canned beans, or some rotisserie chicken from the grocery to make this epic sheet pan meal.Time: 8 minutes Make This Recipe Quick BLT Salad

5 from 50 votes

Your favorite sandwich, deconstructed into an epic, filling salad.Time: 10 minutes Make This Recipe 10-Minute Alfredo Sauce

5 from 25 votes

Put the pasta water to boil and make this simple recipe for alfredo sauce while it cooks. A family favorite that's made fast!Time: 10 minutes Make This Recipe Loaded Chili Tacos

5 from 11 votes

Put frozen chili or leftovers to use and turn them into tacos with this fun idea.Time: 12 minutes Make This Recipe Air Fryer Fish Sticks 

5 from 11 votes

When you're short on time, and don't want to heat up the oven, these air fryer fish sticks come to the recscue! Time: 12 minutes Make This Recipe Sweet & Spicy Mango Shrimp

4.95 from 58 votes

Turn that mango you have for smoothies and the shrimp that's in the freezer into this simple and quick meal. Use 5-minute rice and you've got a meal in minutes. time: 12 minutes Make This Recipe BBQ Chicken Tostadas

5 from 13 votes

There’s nothing better than turning a rotisserie chicken into epic weeknight meals and these BBQ chicken tostadas is how you demonstrate who’s the boss around the kitchen.Time: 13 minutes Make This Recipe Breakfast-for-Dinner Chocolate Chip Pancakes

5 from 19 votes

These fluffy chocolate chip pancakes are the perfect breakfast for dinner option.Time: 15 minutes Make This Recipe Cheesy Beef Taco Skillet

4.97 from 33 votes

These skillet beef tacos come together in a flash! They’re easy to make and full of flavor in every bite.Time: 15 minutes Make This Recipe Easy Spaghetti Carbonara

5 from 31 votes

Comfort food in all its simplicity! And that homemade Carbonara Sauce is everything you ever hoped for in a pasta recipe.Time: 18 minutes Make This Recipe Quick Salmon Pesto Pasta

5 from 37 votes

Everyone in the family is going to love the flavor of this easy Salmon Pesto Pasta!Time: 20 minutes Make This Recipe Blackened Chicken Breasts

5 from 14 votes

This classic blackened chicken recipe is pan-seared and oven-finished for a meal that's loaded with flavor and super juicy! Serve over pasta, in a bed of lettuce or with a quick side salad. Time: 20 minutes Make This Recipe Creamy Garlic Chicken Pasta

5 from 45 votes

The flavor of this Creamy Garlic Chicken Pasta proves that simple recipes can taste amazing!Time: 20 minutes Make This Recipe Pan Grilled Chicken

5 from 12 votes

Simple cooking methods like this are perfect for busy weeknights where you just need to get something tasty on the table, ASAP! Time: 20 minutes Make This Recipe Garlic-Herb Baked Salmon in Foil

5 from 42 votes

A simple recipe for baked salmon in foil that yields perfectly tender, flaky salmon coated with delicious garlic-herb sauce. Time: 20 minutes Make This Recipe Instant Pot Chili Mac

5 from 26 votes

The Instant Pot does all the work in this quick and easy chili mac dinner recipe! Grab some ground beef, a bag of pasta, and a few cans, and dinner will be on the table in no time.Time: 20 minutes Make This Recipe

You can always keep cooked ground beef in the freezer for quick meals. Use this method for cooking ground beef in the slow cooker in bulk and have it ready to go.

Pesto Chicken Pasta

5 from 40 votes

This Pesto Chicken Pasta is a fast and healthy recipe for everyone in the family to enjoy!Time: 20 minutes Make This Recipe Greek Feta Pizza Recipe

5 from 13 votes

Dress up a frozen cheese pizza with your favorite Mediterranean-inspired toppings. Time: 20 minutes Make This Recipe Cauliflower Shrimp Fried Rice

4.97 from 125 votes

Quicker than takeout, and it tastes better too! One bite and you'll be hooked. Time: 20 minutes Make This Recipe Healthy Turkey Burgers

5 from 22 votes

A quick & easy recipe for healthy burgers, that everyone will LOVE! Time: 20 minutes Make This Recipe Pancake Tacos

5 from 23 votes

Scrambled eggs and sausage stuffed in a homemade pancake and drizzled with maple syrup! Tip: Use frozen pancakes to have this meal ready in half the time.Time: 25 minutes Make This Recipe 3 Ingredient Baked Cajun Salmon

5 from 18 votes

This healthy baked salmon is perfect when you need a quick sheet pan dinner for a busy weeknight. Time: 25 minutes Make This Recipe

Need more ideas? Try these 30-minute dinners!

Stovetop Lasagna

4.75 from 141 votes

All the flavors you love from lasagna without dealing with the flat noodles, assembling, or baking. Use your favorite pasta.Time: 25 minutes Make This Recipe Baked Sheet Pan Sausage and Peppers

5 from 25 votes

A simple recipe for baked salmon in foil that yields perfectly tender, flaky salmon coated with delicious garlic-herb sauce. Time: 25 minutes Make This Recipe Chicken Caprese Salad with Avocado

5 from 49 votes

This chicken Caprese salad is built over crisp lettuce topped with blackened chicken breasts, juicy tomatoes, avocado slices, and mozzarella tossed in an epic vinaigrette.Time: 25 minutes Make This Recipe

Always finding yourself strapped for what to make for dinner tonight? Download a free sample of my weekly family meal plan here.

Family Dinner Ideas for Tonight | Baked Tacos

Laura Fuentes

Quick & Easy dinner ideas for tonight that your whole family will love. Use what you already have on hand with these easy recipes!

5 from 20 votes

Servings 6

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 12 minutes mins

Total Time 22 minutes mins

Ingredients 

• 1 ½ pounds ground beef, chicken, or black beans, seasoned and cooked
• 1 ½ cups cheese
• 1 cup fresh salsa
• 1 cup guacamole
• ½ cup sour cream
• shredded lettuce
• 12 hard taco shells

Instructions 

• Preheat your oven to 375F and position your oven rack in the middle of the oven (if it’s too high your tacos could get too toasty).

• Cook your meat or beans with homemade taco seasoning on a skillet over medium heat. Once cooked, turn off heat and set aside.

• On an oven safe baking dish, line up 12-14 hard taco shells. Stand the taco shells up so they are easier to fill. I can usually fit 14 tacos in one 9×13 inch pan. Fill with cooked meat and top with cheese.

• Place your taco platter in the oven for 10-12 minutes.

• This is where I gather the kids, get them to wash their hands, and get everything else ready for the table.

• After 10 minutes, the taco shells should be crispy and ready to be removed from the oven. Begin stuffing your tacos with the remaining ingredients assembly line style: add shredded lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, guacamole, more cheese, and sour cream. Once you stuff the remaining tacos with the toppings your family likes, take the entire platter to the table (use pot holders). Distribute tacos and enjoy your hot tacos together!

Nutrition

Serving: 2 tacosCalories: 478kcalCarbohydrates: 25gProtein: 34gFat: 27gSaturated Fat: 11gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 0.4gCholesterol: 100mgSodium: 652mgPotassium: 808mgFiber: 5gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 605IUVitamin C: 5mgCalcium: 275mgIron: 4mg

More Family Dinner Recipes for Tonight

I’m all about cooking with what you have on hand, so if you’re looking for something starting a specific ingredient, I have you covered in the posts below. Be sure to click over for the recipe you need today or pin the posts to save for the next time you are standing in front of the fridge trying to come up with a dinner idea for tonight.

Chicken Dinner ideas – Quick, easy and delicious meals using chicken breasts, thighs, drumsticks or even the whole bird!

Dinner Ideas with Ground Beef – Wondering what to make with that pound of ground beef you have thawing the fridge? Here’s a collection of family favorite recipes to try.

Shrimp Dinner Ideas – 10 amazing kid-friendly recipes made with shrimp. Plus, a few tips for cooking shrimp so they come out perfect every single time.

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