In honor of it being Friday—the day I very rarely am motivated to plan a meal—I thought I’d finally take the time to share our master list of go-to dinners.
After posting about this concept recently, and how it can make a big difference when you’re feeling uninspired and don’t know what to cook, I wanted to dedicate a blog post to the specific dishes and recipes that we make all the time.
Everyone’s list of go-to meals will be different. I tried to limit ours to the dinners we legitimately make on a regular basis when we don’t have much time to plan or get ingredients. Most can be thrown together pretty fast (hello, brinner), while others take a little more time but I’ve gotten the system down pat, so it feels easy to me (homemade pizza FTW).
Take a look below at the food we make all the time in our house. I hope it inspires you and possibly gives you some new ideas (or reminds you of dishes you haven’t made in awhile but love)!
1. Tacos
2. Pizza (usually with my homemade pizza crust and deep dish pizza sauce)
3. Turkey burgers with potato wedges (sweet or white)
5. Baked chicken (lightly seasoned), served with a veggie
6. Brinner (e.g., Greek yogurt pancakes, cheesy egg sandwiches, egg scramble of sorts)
7. Stir fry (chicken, various veggies, random sauce concoction) or fried rice
8. Coconut Crusted Chicken Tenders
10. Spaghetti
11. Diced chicken served with a sauce (like my Asian Peanut Sauce) on rice
12. Berry and Walnut Chicken Salad
13. Jambalaya (using Zatarain’s jambalaya rice mix, frozen okra, and kielbasa)
15. Quesadillas
16. Salmon Patties
17. Tortilla filled with cheese, chicken, and avocado (heated in the oven for a few minutes)
19. Baked Salmon with Lemon, Garlic, and Butter Sauce
20. Quinoa Protein Bowl (or a similar dish)
I’m pretty bad at planning side dishes, especially, so I much prefer one-pot/pan/whatever meals. Otherwise, we tend to have a main course and the sides (if any) are thrown together last-minute and not overly impressive.
Also, I’m not about to pretend that we cook every single night. Obviously that’s the goal, but some days we are just NOT in the mood and don’t care. That’s when we revert to doing our own thing and snacking on whatever.
Here’s a little bonus list of our go-to snacking meals:
- Coconut Oil Popcorn (goes great with red wine…just saying)
- Smoothie or acai bowl
- Chips and guac
- Hummus and veggies
- Cereal (okay, this one’s just me)
- Loaded nachos baked on a sheet pan
What are some of the go-to meals you make at your house?
Any dishes you wish you made more often but always forget about?
Great idea! Those coconut chicken tenders look amazing!!!
Thank you!! We thoroughly enjoy them. 🙂