These easy weeknight dinner ideas will keep your family happy, full, and eating healthy on busy days.
Now that summer is over and school has started back up again for most families, the days are getting fuller and busier. Parents are working full days, kids get home from school and have extracurricular activities to attend and homework to do. No one seems to have a lot of time during weeknights, which always makes dinner planning a hassle.
Throughout the school year, having some reliable, delicious, and easy weeknight dinner ideas to fall back on for times when the day gets away from you, you don’t have time to make a meal plan, and you’ve got a hungry family to feed.
A good easy weeknight dinner should be able to be put together from start to finish in an hour or less and made with ingredients that you have in the fridge or pantry at home, or at least a quick stop at the grocery store on your way home. Nothing too fancy, just filling and delicious food.
Randall Beans are healthy, delicious, fully cooked, and go great in so many different recipes that they make the perfect centerpiece of any easy weeknight meal. When you have a couple jars of Randall Beans stocked up in your pantry, you always have the makings for a delicious, healthy, and simple weeknight dinner ready to go.
Here are a few Randall Beans favorites for easy weeknight dinner ideas.
Creamy White Chicken Chili Mac
Chili and macaroni are one of those all-time classic combinations that is beloved almost universally. Well, the same goes for our famous white chicken chili and macaroni! This creamy, cheesy remix is ready in only about 30 minutes and is sure to please even the pickiest eaters at dinner time.
We also love this recipe for a weeknight dinner because it is so accommodating. Have a little extra time? Do it in a crock pot instead of the stove top. Need it fast? Use a rotisserie chicken from the store instead of chicken breasts. It is going to be just as delicious no matter how you prepare it!
White Bean Butternut Squash with Honey Mustard Chicken Thighs
With fall right around the corner, this is a great seasonal weeknight dinner to have in your recipe book that uses an underutilized autumn ingredient: butternut squash. When softened after being baked and mashed with beans, butternut squash can become a sweet, nutty, molasses flavored, mashed potato-like dish that is perfect alongside some simple baked chicken.
What’s really great about this recipe is that even though it looks a little fancy, the truth is that it is really just a simple sheet pan dinner! Dice up the squash, season some chicken thighs, put it all in the oven, and you are ready to eat in under an hour!
Easy, Cheesy Pinto Bean Soup
What makes a simpler weeknight meal than a delicious and warm pot of soup? You get home late, you are tired, and you don’t have a ton of time to plan. So what do you do? You toss everything in a pot, let it cook together. With only a few main ingredients, herbs, and spices, this pinto bean soup recipe couldn’t be easier.
If you have a little extra time on your hands, you can also prepare some simple garlic bread to serve alongside it! The instructions are included in the recipe here, and they are perfect for soaking up every last bit of the delicious soup broth at the bottom of your bowl.
Looking for more easy weeknight dinner ideas to help feed your family on busy evenings during the school year? Check out the Randall Beans recipe collection.
