Quick & Easy Dinner Inspiration

Coming up with new ideas for quick and easy family meals that the kids will actually eat can be hard! If like me, you have the same meals on rotation every week and need some fresh inspiration for fast dinner ideas to mix it up a bit, we are here to help. We asked our community of amazing parents in our social media groups and pages to tell us what their go-to meals were that could be prepared in advance or put together quickly.

Read all the suggestions and ideas below.

Child eating pasta, broccoli and cucumber stars

A dinner platter – cucumber sticks, carrot sticks, broccoli, dip, ham and cheese toastie etc. A platter is a fun way to get kids eating at dinner time

Burgers

Stirfry

Anything in a crockpot or slow cooker! Just google ‘slow cooker meals’ and there is so much inspiration!

Macaroni cheese

Spaghetti on toast for a super fast I-need-dinner-on-the-table-now meal

Omelette – so easy to whip up using bits and pieces from the fridge

Hotdogs

Nachos

Wraps – these can be with chicken, beef strips, vege – and they are a ‘make your own’ style which is always fun

Cheese Quesadillas – TIP….you can make them ahead of time and freeze them

Fried egg on rice with vegetables

Roast – just goes in the oven until done. Easy!

Breakfast for dinner? Porridge and cereal for the really quick-win has come up a few times in the comments

Spaghetti – and you can make extra sauce at the same time and freeze so it is even easier to make for next week, when all you need to do is boil the pasta and defrost the sauce!

Childs dinner plate with chicken, fruit and vegetables

Lasagne – you can freeze some of this too

Curry with rice

Corn Fritters

Mini Filo Muffin Tin quiches – Puff Pastry into muffin tins, mix up a mix of eggs, splash of milk and any veges you have in the fridge and pour into tins and bake!

Roast Vege with Couscous

Hashbrown stack with bacon, egg and avocado

Pasta salad

Pizza night! Chop up toppings and let the little ones make their own

A help yourself night – just put lots of things out on the table – veges, nuts, seeds, breads and maybe cook some chicken tenderloins (or something) and people can just make their own little plate

Sausages and mash

Chicken Casserole – just pop in some chicken thighs or breast, mushrooms, onions, some soy/honey or seasoning of your choice and bake! Add other veges – or some canned tomatoes, so many options!

Other great websites to consider looking at for meal inspiration for little ones and the whole family are My Kids Lick The Bowl and The Kiwi Country Girl – both have fantastic websites and recipes!

Our free support groups and social pages are linked below for more help and advice from our trained experts and other parents like you in our Sleep Store community.

Take care x