I had a reader request to share some easy week night meal ideas. My reader was a new mom and wanted meal ideas that were easy to make ahead and keep in the freezer, slow cooker meals or just quick prep time meals.
Casseroles and lasagnas are always easy to make ahead and freeze. Then at dinner time all you have to do is cook them. Add a green salad and you have a tasty weeknight meal. I also included some easy 20 minute and under meals as well. Not necessarily meals you would freeze but just meals that are easy to whip together and don't take a lot of prep time.
An easy short cut for any of the dishes that call for shredded chicken is to use a rotisserie chicken. This saves so much time plus lets be honest I don't love dealing with raw chicken. You don't have to dirty up a dish either cooking the chicken.
This seriously takes less than 10 minutes to make. You can serve this over pasta or with crusty bread. it is only a few ingredients but full of flavor.
These are super easy to make and freeze. If you want to freeze them mold them into patties and lay them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place the baking sheet in the freezer until they harden. Then you can remove them from the tray and place in a freezer ziploc bag and remove as needed. Just make the fresh relish when you are ready to serve them.
I grew up eating this casserole and still love it. It is not healthy but it is comfort food at it's finest. This is a great one to make ahead and freeze.
I know lasagnas can take a bit of effort to prepare but they are really worth it and they save so well in the freezer. You could easily divide this recipe in half and make 2 smaller lasagnas or one large one.
Leave the avocado and jalapenos off if you decide to freeze this.
If you want an easy week night dinner this one takes 5 minutes tops to toss together. So easy and delicious.
You could easily add ground beef to these if you want but they are really good without the meat. These take about 10 minutes to make.
This is one of my favorite slow cooker meals. This beef is incredible. It makes a ton so you could easily freeze some. We use it for tacos and nachos.
If you are craving Thai food this recipe was really easy to make. It takes under 20 minutes. While the noodles cook just scramble the eggs and whisk together the sauce and you have dinner!
Quiches are my new go-to week night meal. Both of my kids will gobble up a quiche, veggies and all so I consider that a winning dish. You can whip a quiche together in 20 minutes tops and there are so many options. I make up a new one every few weeks. Last night we had chicken, roasted broccoli and smoked gouda.
If you want to make a quiche and freeze it, I usually cook it part of the time until the egg solidifies about 25-30 minutes. Then you can let it cool and cover with saran wrap and foil and freeze it.
We almost prefer this to our tomato pie. The addition of the zucchini and squash is really good in it. Bake this partially and then freeze it.
I find soups are a really easy one pot weeknight meal as well. Most of these soups I made in a big pot on our stove but I am sure you could cook them in your slow cooker if you prefer. If you do the slow cooker I would wait and add the pasta at the very end so it does not get soggy.
I would love to hear any recommendation y'all have for easy week night meals!!
