In the spirit of my love/hate relationship with meal planning, I thought I’d share our 10 go-to dinner recipes in case you may be in a rut as well.
Fall Vegetable Salad
This is great with or without protein so you can make it a meal or serve it as a side salad. If you’re really short on time, I can confirm that frozen sweet potato tots work as a perfect replacement to diced sweet potatoes. You can also buy the salad topper combos as well.
Creamy Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken Orzo Skillet
I haven’t made this one in awhile but love a good skillet dinner. This is one of those comforting meals at home that makes you feel like you just placed an order at a great restaurant. Half-Baked Harvest recipes usually take me more time than her site calls out but I always feel like a culinary genius when I sit down to enjoy the meal.
Grilled Chicken and Vegetable Orzo Salad
I seem to make this about once a week at this point. Here’s how I adjust the prep:
- Buy breaded chicken at your local grocery store
- Grill chicken or fry it in a cast iron pan
- Dice zucchini and use frozen corn and sauté in a pan (in EVOO + add salt and pepper)
Sticky BBQ Meatballs + Broccoli Slaw
This is a new-to-me recipe that my girlfriend Meg texted me. I made it the next day because I was so excited to try and had most of the ingredients on hand.. I now make it at least once a month, if not twice. I added sautéed green beans and sliced almonds and used a microwavable bag of quinoa.
Naan Pizzas
I always add naan flatbread to my grocery list to have in my back pocket for an easy dinner night. My other go-to is to always have Pilsbury Crescent Rolls in my fridge and you can roll up all of these ingredients and bake.
Three of my usual combinations:
- Rao’s tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese and Italian sausage
- BBQ sauce, shredded rotisserie chicken, diced onion and mozzarella cheese
- Pesto, shredded rotisserie chicken and mozzarella cheese
I bake these in the oven at 350 degrees until the cheese is melted. If you want to crisp up the bread, you could bake that first and then add the toppings. Since the kids often help me assemble these, I usually skip that step.
Chicken Pesto Tortellini
I love all of the recipes Liz shares but this is a Ritt family favorite. I love that it’s a comfort carb paired with veggies. Plus, boiling the tortellini in chicken broth adds so much flavor.
Sweet Potato Turkey Chili
This is better in the fall or winter but I love this take on chili since I don’t like beans. I also made this a lot when I was dairy free for awhile when the kids were newborns. It’s super flavorful! You can double the batch and have great leftovers for the week.
Trader Joe’s Chili Lime Chicken Burgers + Sweet Potato Fries
I now prefer these to the frozen Trader Joe’s burgers. These are a great alternative when you’re planning a burger night.
Baked Penne with Roasted Vegetables
A good family friend made us this dish after one of my mom’s hospital visits, and we asked for the recipe right away.
Arugula, Sun-Dried Tomato + Orzo Salad
During my orzo kick in 2020, I started mixing up my own recipes. This one includes sun-dried tomatoes, arugula, feta cheese, lemon juice, Olive Garden Italian dressing + a dash of red pepper flakes.
This makes a great lunch, but if I have it for dinner, I’ve combined it with crispy zucchini parm chips or added chicken.
And when I’m really in a rut, I like to place an order from Greenchef (not sponsored but would gladly take on a partnership with them ;)). Of all the meal services I’ve tried, I have found their ingredients to be incredibly fresh, and their recipes always leave me inspired to get back to cooking more regularly.