Easy and cheap dinner ideas with ingredients that you can order at your home are key when you are in a period of your life when you are so busy that you need to streamline your meals as quickly as possible.
When your time and energy are both drained and running on empty, it is a good feeling to know that you can simply place an order for delivery from the comfort of your home. But if done on a daily basis, this can drain your bank account and become rather unhealthy.
Maybe the answer to your sorrow is that you are in need of fast and affordable dinner ideas for your whole family that can be down with a reasonable list of ingredients that don’t require chef-level culinary experience and can be prepared in about 35 minutes or less such as this selection we have provided below:
Creamy Tomato and Spinach Pasta
If you are aiming for satisfaction for your family that is simple, how about some Creamy Tomato and Spinach Pasta for a fast weeknight dinner? You can kick it up a notch by adding Italian sausage or rotisserie chicken. Total Time: 25 minutes.
Beef and Cabbage Stir Fry
What is faster to fix for your family on a busy weeknight than stir fry? Beef and Cabbage Stir Fry can be made swiftly with a bag of coleslaw mix (shredded cabbage and carrots) that can be thrown in the skillet to save you some time that you would have spent chopping those carrots and that cabbage up. Total Time: 30 minutes.
Beef Taco Pasta
Treat you and your family to the best of both worlds, Mexican and Italian food merged into one meal by making Beef Taco Pasta. Just imagine this homemade version of your favorite childhood dinners brought back to life for your own family now with some southwestern flair.
Beef Taco Pasta has ground beef, pasta, a cheesy tomato sauce, green chiles, pasta, and taco seasoning, all in one tasty bowl that can be cooked in one pot. Total Time: 30 minutes.
Blackened Salmon and Zucchini
A healthy dose of herbs and spices takes this salmon to the next level! It cooks for minutes in a skillet, and then the zucchini is sautéed in the same skillet, so none of those spices go to waste. It’s fast, efficient, and has very little clean-up! Total Time: 30 minutes.
Easy Pesto Chicken and Vegetables
When you choose to cook Easy Pesto Chicken and Vegetables, you have made a decision to provide your family (and yourself) with a simple and fast meal that is healthy and hearty and comes together like a stir fry but instead gets its taste from basil pesto and Parmesan. Either eat it all by itself if you are looking for a lower-carb version or use it as a topping poured over pasta or rice. Total Time: 30 minutes.
Salmon Burgers with Red Pepper Mayo
If you are in need of something new to serve for dinner that is on a budget, go for a family-friendly choice: Salmon Burgers with Red Pepper Mayo. Instead of serving canned tuna, consider getting things started with canned salmon mixed up with mayonnaise that has been given a boost of flavor from capers, lemon juice, salt, and sweet roasted red peppers. Total Time: 30 minutes.
Southwest Chicken Skillet
Have some fun with this rotisserie chicken meal that can come to life faster than your family will finish eating it. Southwest Chicken Skillet is overflowing with flavor and only demands a few ingredients for your satisfaction. Total Time: 25 minutes.
Tuscan White Bean Pasta
With this Tuscan White Bean Pasta, you won’t have to worry about whether or not you have enough hours to thaw the meat in time. This delicious meal is jammed with protein by making use of an ingredient that doesn’t require you to store it in the freezer as meat does; you can use white beans that may already be waiting for you in your cupboard. Total Time: 30 minutes.
Tomato and Roasted Red Pepper Soup
Make your family some quick and affordable comfort food by serving Tomato and Roasted Red Pepper Soup. By adding in smoky roasted red peppers and a butter-and-flour roux to beef up the body of the tomato soup, you can have flavor and simplicity to pair with a loaf of French bread to dip in your soup bowls. Total Time: 35 minutes.
Weeknight Black Bean Chili
To end off your list of easy and cheap dinner ideas the whole family will enjoy, let’s not forget Weeknight Black Bean Chili as a classic pleaser. The beauty of preparing this meal is that you are able to have almost all of the ingredients that are needed already on hand, and you can make use of anything you might still have leftover in the refrigerator as your toppings, like shredded cheese, tortilla chips, onions, and sour cream. Total Time: 35 minutes.
