75 Easy & Fun School Night Dinner Ideas for Busy Weekdays (2024)

This easy dinner recipe for Bubble Up Pizza Casserole only needs 6 ingredients!

The biscuits ‘bubble up’ while baking to make a perfectly fluffy, soft, and pizza flavored filled casserole with two types of cheese, pizza sauce, and pepperoni.

One Pot Taco Spaghetti is an easy 30-minute dinner recipe that combines the delicious flavors of tacos and spaghetti.

The perfect alternative to traditional Taco Tuesday!

Baked chili cheese dogs are a guaranteed crowd-pleaser! When you bake chili dogs in the oven, magic happens—they taste warm, fresh, and extra delicious.

Your family will love customizing their chili cheese dogs with their own favorite toppings, and you’ll love how easy it was to put together this kid-friendly dinner.

Asian Steak Bites and Potatoes comes together in under 30 minutes, with everything cooked in just one pan.

Seared beef cubes and potatoes in a garlicky butter and soy-based sauce might actually please everyone.

Easy no-boil lasagna made with beef, marinara sauce, ricotta cheese, and super convenient oven-ready noodles.

Enjoy all the flavors of traditional Italian lasagna with minimal time and effort.

If your family loves pizza, these are for you! Handheld foods are just so fun, and you can even make these ahead and to take on the go.

Fill them with your favorite pizza toppings and watch everyone happily munch away.

Made with bone-in or boneless pork chops and seared until golden, then simmered in the most delicious 5-ingredient honey garlic sauce.

These are an incredibly easy weeknight dinner recipe that takes about 15 minutes to make.

Giant pasta shells stuffed with three kinds of cheese, on top of rich marinara and doused in creamy alfredo sauce.

It’s amazing enough for special occasions, but simple enough for any weeknight.

This rich and creamy chicken alfredo tortellini tastes just like (or even better than!) the now discontinued Panera Bread version.

Made with a homemade alfredo sauce, this easy weeknight copycat recipe is kid-friendly comfort food done right.

All you need to make this budget-friendly dinner are tortillas, shredded cheese, pizza sauce, and your favorite toppings.

You can easily keep these ingredients on hand for a quick meal any night of the week.

This crock pot spaghetti recipe is perfect for busy days when you know you aren’t going to have time to prepare dinner.

Put everything in the slow cooker and leave it simmering all day. Then, stir in the pasta before dinner and enjoy with an Italian salad and Texas toast or garlic bread.

Gooey cheese and pizza toppings make a super fun twist on the classic sandwich.

This just might be the ultimate pizza grilled cheese.

This easy Chicken Rigatoni recipe serves up tender, bite sized chicken morsels in a rich and creamy tomato sauce.

Loaded with Italian flavors and comes together so easily, it’s cheesy, hearty and guaranteed to satisfy kids and adults alike!

American Goulash is an easy, one-pot, classic comfort food made with ground beef, tomatoes, and macaroni noodles.

It’s an easy year-round dinner that’s delicious as leftovers, and is guaranteed to win over even the pickiest eaters!

These pizza sliders are a great way to enjoy everybody’s favorite food (pizza!) in a new and delicious way.

Mini buns are piled with rich pizza sauce, spicy pepperoni, and melted cheese for this tasty twist with the same classic pizza flavors we all know and love.

Make the viral Tik Tok Folded Quesadillas yourself with this easy recipe!

Fill it with chicken, corn, avocado, cheese, and beans, or your favorite quesadilla ingredients.

This recipe takes everything you love about tacos and combines it into a classic grilled cheese.

Use classic taco ingredients like seasoned ground beef, tomatoes, lettuce and of course, a lot of cheddar cheese, or swap in your personal favorites!

This 30 minute Loaded Potato Naan Pizza recipe has it all - creamy garlic herb spread and tender potatoes, plus cheddar, bacon bits, & green onions.

It’s a loaded potato; it’s a pizza; it’s the best of both worlds!

When you can’t decide between tacos or pizza, make Chicken Taco Pizza!

It’s assembled and served like a pizza topped with everything you love about tacos. The best of both worlds!

Indulge in the ultimate comfort food with this crock pot garlic parmesan chicken pasta recipe.

Slow-cooked to perfection, tender chicken is shredded in a flavorful garlic parmesan sauce, creating a mouthwatering dish that will leave you craving for more.

Convenient, versatile, and family-friendly, this easy meal is impressive with its perfect ratio of rich flavors and minimal effort.

These Texas toast pizzas make pizza night at home easy! Loved by kids and adults alike, it’s perfect for busy weeknights.

Using frozen garlic bread, you can then put your favorite pizza topics on, bake for 5 minutes and enjoy!

Make better-than-restaurant chicken tenders right in your air fryer. Kids will gobble these down, with their favorite dipping sauce of course.

The parents can eat them on a salad or wrap, if you’re not into dipping.

With just 3 ingredients, this “lazy lasagna” recipe is made using frozen ravioli for an incredibly easy hands-off dinner in the slow cooker!

If you love lasagna, you’ll love this recipe.

This cheesy, gooey, and easy Pepperoni Pasta Bake is a great dish for the whole family.

Such a great twist for pizza night, and you can’t argue with only 4 ingredients!

Dust off that Instant Pot to make his creamy Chicken Bacon Ranch Alfredo.

It’s crazy easy because everything cooks right in your pressure cooker, INCLUDING the bacon.

Plus, it doesn’t have too many ingredients, making it really affordable too.

This classic dinner recipe will be a winner with your entire family.

Chili Mac is made with elbow macaroni, ground beef, tomatoes, and topped with cheese for all those comfort food vibes we need during the week.

If you’ve been on the lookout for an easy, healthy, mostly hands-off recipe to add some spice to your weeknight dinner routine, this is for you.

These quick and simple Slow Cooker Chicken Enchiladas are made with fewer than 10 ingredients and just a few minutes of active prep time.

Taco Gnocchi Skillet has it all going on in one pan!

Taco-seasoned ground beef, plenty of vegetables, tender bites of gnocchi, melty cheese, and crushed tortilla chips. It’s bold and flavorful with a variety of fun textures in every bite.

Just like Mom used to make, this chicken and rice dish is easy enough for beginners because it’s a dump and bake casserole.

Comfort food made extremely easy!

Skillet lasagna with cottage cheese is a game changer if you're a fan of lasagna but dread the tedious process of putting it together.

You'll skip all the difficult steps of a traditional lasagna and still end up with a totally delicious one pan meal.

This chicken recipe is so easy to make and packed with flavor.

The shredded Italian cheese gives it a delicious cheesy taste, while the cornflakes add a nice crunch.

If your family loves tacos and pizza, try this easy Mexican fiestada pizza recipe for a match made in heaven!

It’s easy to customize with your favorite taco-style fixings for an easy weeknight meal the whole family will devour.

This mouthwatering dish combines juicy chicken, crispy bacon, and golden tater tots, all smothered in a rich and creamy ranch sauce.

It’ll become a family favorite with its irresistible blend of savory flavors and textures.

This meaty, creamy pasta dish is the perfect satisfying dinner your entire family will crave.

Ditch the box and learn how to make hamburger helper completely from scratch for a healthy dinner any night of the week.

This crazy easy Mexican Chicken Casserole is a super simple weeknight meal that packs in the flavor and leaves you craving more.

Made with tender shredded chicken, salsa, black beans, corn, and a special blend of spices, it takes all the best flavors and combines them into a quick and easy one-dish dinner.

A fun spin on the classic dinner dish, these Mini Meatloaves are as tasty as they are adorable!

With the sweet, tangy glaze and tender meat, this quick recipe is a great go-to option for busy nights.

Cheesy Dorito Chicken Casserole is an easy dinner for any night of the week.

This cheesy casserole is full of chicken, tomatoes, corn, black beans, and Doritos. Kids and picky husbands alike gobble this down!

This tasty and juicy burger has a savory, sweet and smoky flavor that is sure to please, thanks to the cola and french dressing.

It’s a wildly addicting twist on the regular ol’ burger.

Both kids and adults love food in a bowl! And not only is this chicken taco rice easy to make and eat, it’s packed full of delicious veggies.

Made with delicious Mexican flavors, you can even make it in advance and reheat for dinner. Plus it makes a tasty lunch the next day.

This healthy, easy stovetop chili recipe is hearty, warming, and insanely delicious.

Packed with flavor and perfect for the entire family, the prep work is simple, and everything cooks in one big pot on the stove in less than an hour.

A little sweet and a little spicy, this Air Fryer Orange Chicken is so incredibly tasty!

Serve it with rice and you are ready to enjoy a hearty dinner that is better than takeout.

If your family likes buffalo wings, or a bit of spice, they’ll love Buffalo Chicken Casserole.

It is just spicy enough and packed with bold flavors that both kids and adults alike appreciate.

Use regular or cauliflower rice, depending on your preferences.

Talk about a classic, simple, and budget-friendly recipe, these baked chicken drumsticks come out perfectly every time.

Serve them with your favorite sides, and watch everyone gobble up dinner.

Juicy, tender homemade meatballs (or frozen ones in a pinch) are simmered in a flavorful tomato sauce, then placed in a roll and topped with cheese.

The sandwiches are broiled until golden and the cheese is bubbly for a truly perfect bite.

Hearty and flavorful, this is a dish all ages can enjoy.

Layers of cornbread, taco seasoned ground beef, cheese, and your favorite toppings come together to create this easy to make and budget friendly dinner.

This easy recipe might just become a new staple in your dinner rotation!

Tender chicken thighs, coated in a sweet and salty sauce is so good with just a simple bowl of plain white rice or other easy side.

Million Dollar Chicken casserole is the definition of easy comfort food. Made with just a few simple ingredients, it comes together super quickly.

The chicken breast is topped with a creamy mixture of cheese, and crispy bacon, then baked until juicy and creamy.

Walking Tacos are the perfect quick and fun dinner.

Easy to prep and totally portable, they’re a creative take on traditional tacos using seasoned ground beef mixed into bags of Fritos or Doritos, with all the taco fixings!

The tangy and spicy flavors you love about buffalo wings, combined with enchilada staples like corn tortillas and shredded chicken and the cheesy goodness (and ease) of a casserole.

These Buffalo Chicken Enchiladas are so fun and tasty.

Homemade Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes are easy to make and quick to throw together.

The sauce and the meat slow cook to become a wonderful sweet and tangy mixture.

If your family loves tacos or quesadillas, they’re really going to love the Taco Bell dupe.

A soft tortilla packed with layers of beef & cheese and a crispy tostada shell is folded and pan-fried until crisp. It’s so fun to recreate your favorite fast food at home!

Layers of savory meat sauce, spaghetti, ricotta, and both mozzarella and parmesan cheese come together to make this bubbly, Million dollar Spaghetti Casserole.

The cream cheese added to the ricotta gives the dish its signature “million dollar” creaminess.

Pizza Sloppy Joes are a blissfully easy dinner your whole family will love! Filled with classic pizza flavors and layers of melty cheese, they’re ready in just 15 minutes.

And you can even make them ahead for meal prep or freezer meals.

Freezer friendly Cheesy Bean Burritos are the perfect way to fill up your family using budget-friendly pantry staples.

Soft flour tortillas filled with seasoned rice, veggies, beans and cheese are full of protein for a tasty and quick meatless main dish.

Taco Stuffed Shells are a great twist on classic Italian stuffed shells.

Jumbo pasta shells are filled with a creamy taco-flavored ground beef & vegetable mixture, topped with cheese, and baked.

This simple one pot sloppy joe pasta is just like the classic sandwich except instead of using hamburger buns, pasta gets stirred into a tangy tomato meat sauce.

It’s family-friendly comfort food for sure at its finest!

These easy and juicy turkey burgers on the stove are the perfect go-to dinner.

Made without egg or breadcrumbs, they're deliciously flavored with simple seasoning, and you can whip them together in less than 30 minutes.

Slow cooker hamburger hash is a decadent mash-up of ground beef and shredded potatoes covered in cheesy goodness.

This easy, budget-friendly dish is picky-eater approved and will disappear fast!

A hearty and flavorful meal that practically cooks itself, this mouth-watering Slow Cooker Rump Roast is full of tender, juicy meat and savory root veggies, for the ultimate comfort food meal.

Just throw the ingredients in the slow cooker and let it work its magic.

Crockpot Chicken Spaghetti is a hearty slow cooker dinner recipe made with chicken breasts cooked in a cream soup and cream cheese sauce, and loaded with cheddar cheese.

This is definitely a family favorite dinner that everyone will devour.

This Pork, Veggie, and Rice bowl is both nutritionally balanced and totally delicious.

The balance of flavors and textures just might get your kids to eat more vegetables. Best of all, it cooks in just one pot!

Instant Pot Sweet And Sour Chicken might be your new family favorite.

It is so easy to make and prepare in only one pot, the perfect weekday meal that will make you skip takeout. Served over rice, everyone will love this sticky sweet, and tangy chicken.

For an easy weeknight dinner that's also budget friendly and allows you to use that Instant Pot you have in the closet, this Creamy Mushroom Pork Chops recipe is for you.

The pressure cooker makes the pork chops tender and juicy, and the mushroom gravy and green beans are filled with nutrients and protein.