11 Simple Dinner Recipes

These easy dinner recipes come together quickly, are full of flavor, and can feed a crowd. Consider adding the following recipes to your weeknight dinner plans:

1. 1. Beef steak fajitas: Fajitas are a Tex-Mex classic featuring grilled, marinated meat (pork, chicken, beef, or shrimp) with bell peppers and onions. Serve the meat and veggies with tortillas, salsa, guacamole, and sour cream. (The recipe calls for beef, but you can also make it with chicken breasts, chicken thighs, boneless pork chops, or any other cut of meat you want.)
2. 2. Easy chicken tacos: There are countless ways to make chicken tacos, from shredded chicken tinga to slow cooker chicken mole. But if you're looking for a quick recipe, perhaps for a family taco Tuesday night, your best bet is simple chicken tacos. Briefly marinate boneless, skinless chicken breasts in a flavorful mix of lime juice and spices and then quickly cook them on the stovetop. Serve the chicken inside of tortillas and topped with avocado, salsa, cotija cheese, and cilantro. You can also substitute the chicken for ground beef or any other kind of protein you want.
3. 3. Chicken enchiladas: Enchiladas are a classic Mexican entrée consisting of corn tortillas stuffed with filling—typically proteins like chicken, cheese, or beef—rolled and covered in a savory sauce. This easy chicken dinner uses leftover chicken and includes instructions for a homemade enchilada sauce. Serve the enchiladas with black beans and guacamole.
   
4. 4. Lasagna: This classic Italian comfort food consists of alternating layers of long, flat pasta noodles, tomato sauce, and cheese (typically, mozzarella, parmesan, or ricotta, or a combination of all three. Lasagna may also include layers of sautéed vegetables or ground meat, like beef or lamb. The pasta is boiled before assembly, and then the entire dish is cooked further in the oven.
5. 5. Vegan alfredo: Vegan alfredo sauce is a plant-based take on traditional Italian alfredo sauce, a rich cheese sauce typically served with fettuccine pasta. This vegan version uses almond milk, vegan parmesan cheese, and nutritional yeast, but you can also make it with cashews, tofu, or cauliflower.
6. 6. Shrimp scampi: Classic shrimp scampi is an easy, buttery weeknight dinner that traditionally features fresh shrimp cooked in a sauce made with butter, garlic, olive oil, dry white wine, crushed red pepper flakes, and spritzes of lemon juice before being served on a bed of linguine or alongside some crusty bread.
7. 7. Thai basil chicken: This Thai stir fry dish uses ground chicken, red bell pepper, Thai chilis, fish sauce, soy sauce, and oyster sauce tossed together over high heat. You can follow this one-pan recipe or modify it using any protein or veggies you desire cut to a uniform shape.
8. 8. Fried rice: Fried rice is a rice dish consisting of rice fried together with aromatics, vegetables, and protein. The recipe calls for bacon, peas, and carrots, but you can make fried rice using any meat or veggies you want.
9. 9. Teriyaki salmon: This salmon recipe includes a pan-seared salmon with crispy skin, covered with a homemade teriyaki sauce—a sauce made with soy sauce, brown sugar, mirin, and sake. Serve the salmon with rice and some stir fry veggies for a meal that comes together in minutes.
10. 10. Bibimbap: Bibimbap is a Korean rice bowl served with an assortment of meat and vegetables. Bibimbap typically contains sliced meat (like marinated beef), kimchi, sauteed veggies (like greens or mushrooms), and raw veggies (like radish, bean sprouts, soybean sprouts, carrots, kale, and zucchini). The different toppings make this an easily customizable dinner.
11. 11. Barbecue chicken: Follow this barbecue chicken recipe to learn how to prepare barbecue chicken using an oven. Marinate the chicken, place the chicken pieces on a sheet pan, brush with BBQ sauce, and put the pan in the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake until it’s fully cooked. Serve the BBQ chicken with mashed potatoes, a side salad, or any other sides you desire.

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