What Should I Make for Dinner Tonight?

Photo from Savory Experiments

Originally Posted On: https://www.savoryexperiments.com/dinner-ideas-for-tonight/

Another day, another dinner. I love food. My whole day revolves around food. Generally speaking, I always thinking about my next meal.

But every once and a while I just can’t make up my mind. Or nothing sounds good. Have you been there? The age old question what should I make tonight for dinner?

So I came up with a fun game that gets us out of comfort zone and makes me feel less guilty about my ridiculous cookbook hoarding habit.

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Dinner Ideas for Tonight

I love the pretty pictures and trying new recipes, so I buy them with the best intentions and then…. you know how this story ends. They just collect dust on my counter or get lost in a cupboard.

1. What do I want for dinner?
2. What are you going to do with all of those cookbooks?

I call it recipe roulette. If I could have an actual wheel of dinner in my kitchen, I would. Kinda like a food and drink wheel of fortune with recipe suggestions for dinner. My family has found some of our most favorite recipes from this simple little game. Gets us out of our comfort zone and trying new things and puts a quick dinner on the table.

Several of them are also popular on the site:

• Crispy Baked Chicken
• Crab Melt
• Baked Broccolini
• Baked Cheesy Endive
• French Baked Sticky Chicken

Here is a group of easy dinner ideas for our own site. Perfect recipes for the home cook. Some are cooking from scratch and others semi-homemade, but one thing is for sure. Dinner will be ready and on the table in less than an hour from start to finish… some are even 30 minutes!

Smothered Beef Burritos

Beef is one of our favorite dinner solutions. Whether it is a juicy steak on the grill or ground beef in a casserole, it is sure to please. Learn more about beef dinner ideas and how to cook them in each of these recipes.

• Beef Stew with Vegetables
• Beef Stroganoff with Buttered Noodles
• Corned Beef from Scratch
• Traditional Beef Wellington
• Beef Short Ribs in the Instant Pot
• Beef Stir Fry with Potatoes
• Corned Beef and Cabbage
• Quick & Easy Mongolian Beef
• Roast Beef Sandwiches with Caramelized Onions
• 20 Minute Beef and Broccoli
• Beef Patties from Hamburgers
• Coffee Crusted Beef Tenderloin
• Beef Ribs
• Cube Steak with Gravy
• Salisbury Steak
• Pan Fried Steak
• BEST Steak Rub
• Truffle Burgers
• Best Ground Beef Recipes

Crispy Mexican Chicken

Chicken recipes range the gamut from easy to hard, simple to complex. The one thing we all know is that chicken can get boring. Here are just a few chicken dinner recipes to brighten up your evening from chicken breasts, to chicken thighs, drumsticks and of course, chicken wings.

• Easy Chicken Parmesan
• Chicken Salad with Grapes
• Instant Pot Chicken Paella
• Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup
• Chicken Pot Pie Casserole
• Butter Chicken Flatbread
• Buttermilk Fried Chicken
• Crispy Baked Chicken Wings
• Mushroom Chicken and Rice
• Baked Chicken Enchiladas
• Classic Chicken Piccata
• Chicken Alfredo
• Slow Cooker Orange Chicken
• Southwest Chicken Casserole
• Chicken Parmigiana
• Best Grilled Chicken Marinade
• Whole Roast Chicken
• Cowboy Chicken Tacos
• Chicken Cacciatore
• Crispy Baked Chicken Drumsticks
• Air Fryer Cornish Hens
• Fiesta Chicken Fajitas
• Crock Pot Chicken Recipes
• Shredded Chicken Tater Tot Nachos
• Sheet Pan Chicken Thighs
• Pan Fried Chicken Breasts
• Cajun Chicken Alfredo
• Blackened Chicken
• Chicken Rice Noodle Stir Fry
• Tex Mex Chicken and Rice Skillet

Garlic and Herb Pork Tenderloin

Pork comes in so many forms. The most common is probably bacon and if we were listing bacon recipes, this would be a long list. Has you have it, we really like pork and prepare it often in the form of pork chops, sausages, ribs, tenderloins and loins. Even pork butt (also known as a pork shoulder which is a whole other story….). Check out our favorite pork dinner recipes!

• Brined Pork Chops
• French Onion Pork Loin
• Crock Pot Pork Loin Roast
• Apple Spiced Pork Tenderloin
• Crock Pot Pulled Pork
• Baked Pork Chops
• Dijon Grilled Pork Chops
• BBQ Pork Ribs
• Bone-In Pork Chops
• Zesty Pork Carnitas
• Stuffed Pork Chops
• Crispy Pork Tacos
• Instant Pot Pulled Pork
• Creamy Smothered Pork Chops
• Juicy Pork Chop Recipes
• Sausage and Pepper Skillet

Artichoke and Lemon Pesto

There is nothing more comforting than a steaming bowl of pasta. Pasta recipes bring a smile to my face. Did you know that every culture has a type of pasta as part of their diet?

Simple with flour and water, sometimes egg and then other elements, this is a truly a dish that breaks across cultural barriers.

And each type of pasta, of which there are over 500 varieties, is made with a particular purpose in mind depending on size and shape. Fascinating!

• Shrimp Pasta Salad
• Stuffed Shells Chicken Pasta
• Creamed Spinach and Shrimp Pasta
• Classic Pasta Sauce
• Pasta Carbonara
• Pesto Pasta
• Sausage Pasta Alfredo
• Fra Diavolo Seafood Pasta
• Pesto Pasta Bake
• Garlicky Shrimp Scampi
• Creamy Cajun Pasta
• Hawaiian Macaroni Salad
• Creamy Lemon Pasta
• Gnocchi in Tomato Sauce
• Scallion Pesto Scallop Pasta
• Squid Ink Pasta Recipe
• Honey Walnut Shrimp

Voodoo Shrimp Creole

People tend to be intimidated to prepare seafood at home. The general scope ranges from shellfish and crustaceans to gilled fish and beyond like uni or eel. Salmon, crab, shrimp, scallops, lobster they are all good choices.

The truth is that sefood can be a healthy dinner idea and also cut down on cooking time, as they generally take less time to cook than other protiens.

The trick is to be confident on how you cook them and also where you buy them, both for freshness and price. Here are our favorite seafood recipes.

• Balsamic Steamed Shrimp
• Italian Seafood Salad
• Crab Imperial
• Pesto Baked Salmon
• Grilled Salmon
• Seafood Paella
• Grilled Lobster Tails
• Salmon Patty
• Baked Halibut
• Chorizo Steamed Mussels
• Smoked Salmon Sandwich
• Maryland Crab Cakes
• Linguine and Clam Sauce
• Stuffed Lobster Tails
• Blackened Shrimp Recipe
• Seafood Stuffed Shells
• Southern Salmon Croquettes
• Crabby Totchos
• Low Carb Scallop Recipe

Rainbow French Bread Pizza Recipe

Whether you eat vegetarian as a lifestyle or just need a recipe for meatless Monday, here are a few that are sure to please and won’t have you missing meat in any way.

• Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms
• Baked Eggplant Rollatini
• Butternut Squash Pizza on Cauliflower Pizza Crust
• Chile Relleno Monte Cristo
• Tomato Pesto Pizza
• Hearts of Palm Cakes
• Mexican Pizza
• Pesto Grilled Cheese Sandwich
• Penne alla Vodka
• Spanakopita- Spinach Pie

Lamb Stew

• Guacamole Grilled Cheese
• Creamy Asiago Chicken
• French Bread Alfredo Pizza
• Parmesan Garlic Lamb Chops
• Quick and Easy Chili
• Homemade Sloppy Joes
• Sloppy Joe Tater Tot Casserole
• Franks and Beans
• Everything Meatball Stromboli

We hope that we’ve answered your questions what should I make for dinner tonight. Recipes for tasty main dishes and more!

If you are looking for appetizers, side dishes, like this roasted baby potatoes recipe, or even desserts– click on the links for recipes!

Click on any of these links to find great recipes and even more fabulous lists of ideas for dinner tonight. And if you are still stumped, shoot me an email for some more ideas.

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How can I make cheap meals?

Look for ingredients on sale and base your recipes around those. Choose ingredients you can use in multiple recipes and for goodness sake, use coupons! Pasta, rice and potatoes are always good, filling bases that cost little.

What is good comfort food.

I think the answer to this question varies from person to person, but I think we can all agree that cheese, starches and carbohydrates all make for good comfort food.

What is the most popular meal in the world?

1. Salad. No matter what cuisine you are looking at, salad is number one.
2. Chicken. Again, a common thread through many cultures.
3. Pasta. As mentioned before, nearly all cultures have some unique form of pasta.

We hope you enjoyed our collection of easy dinners for busy weeknights and fancy weekends. Quick dinner ideas the whole family will love. We hope you found a new favorite at the dinner table and will come back to find your next delicious meal.