What are your easy, go-to, quick family recipes you use regularly?

[Goldenbrowntexturelikesun]

I’ve fallen into a bit of a dull routine with our meals, tbh I don’t enjoy cooking but try to cook from scratch as much as possible.

I’m finding I am doing the same boring meals for speed and because I don’t need to give it much thought, meals such as baked chicken, turkey steaks or sausages, steamed veg and mash. DH will eat anything but my 18 and 15 year old find these foods plain and boring.

If I do fajitas, lasagna or enchiladas etc they enjoy them more but on days that I work I just want something quick and easy.

Any suggestions for quick, tasty but simple recipes for week day family dinners?

We had meatballs, tomato sauce and pasta last night. I bought the meatballs but made the sauce with pasatta, pre chopped frozen garlic, an onion and herbs.

Tomorrow we're having fried rice (micro pouch) with chicken, frozen peas, frozen sweetcorn and I'll probably add a couple of eggs scrambled for egg fried rice.

Last week we had stirfry (chicken again 🙄) with noodles.

We had macaroni cheese on Sunday. Sometimes I add fried bacon and leeks if I have.

Salmon and new potatoes, steamed veg.
Chicken, peppers and rice.
Steak and Chips with veg.
Stir try and rice/ noodles.
Baked potatoes, cheese and beans.

We do a sausage traybake which is easy & delicious. You put sausages, chunks of onion & chunks of pepper in a roasting tin with some olive oil & chilli flakes and roast at 200c for about 20 minutes. Then you add some cherry tomatoes and roast for another 5 minutes. Finally, you tear up some Foccaccia and mix half into the tray. You pop the rest of the Foccaccia on top and drizzle with a little oil. Tear up a ball of mozarella and spread it over the top, then bake for 10 minutes until the cheese has melted. This is a great favourite in our house.

We like this Chicken & Chorizo Jambalaya

It is really easy as it is just a quick soften onion/veg, brown the chicken, then stick everything else in and it is ready in 45 mins. I used to do it in a large frying pan with tinfoil lid and it worked well, but now have a cast iron shallow dish with lid that I use.

Add more veg to your taste. If money tight don't bother with the Chorizo, it never came in my Tesco delivery once and no one noticed so I don't use it now. ds likes it with a toasted pitta bread (carbs with carbs!)

I make extra and have some reheated for my lunch the next day or two (I know you are not supposed to reheat rice but it hasn't killed me yet!)

Any fish with potatoes and roasted veg and couscous
Chicken wraps with salad
Nachos with lots of toppings like shredded chicken, avocado, salsa, sweetcorn, cheese, etc.
Any stir fry
Pasta bakes
Eggs, beans, mushrooms and toast

I'm always going on about her but Sarah Rossi who runs the Taming Twins website and instagram account does family dinners that take 30 mins. More faff than binging something in the oven, but less faff than many recipe books.

Loads of cheap fast family recipes on Instagram, have a look at

Dinner at Hols
Archer Kitchen
Jades Bites
Bored of Lunch

The 18 and 15 year-olds find your cooking plain and boring? Tell them it is about time they learned to cook. Job done.

https://pin.it/1xav3rR84

Pasta sauces like this puttanesca take no longer to cook than the pasta.

I made kedgeree this evening.

This, although without the soft cheese or lemon
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/oven-baked-leek-bacon-risotto

This is also quick and easy, it was recommended by someone on here. Super fussy teen loved it and I thought he would turn his nose up at it tbh.
https://cafedelites.com/easy-oven-baked-chicken-and-rice/

Meatballs and pasta go down well here.
Fresh chicken breast seasoned with Cajun seasoning served on a burger bun with wedges.
I batch cook so have a bolognaise that I can serve or can also throw kidney beans and seasoning in to make chilli to go with rich & nachos.
Cajun topped salmon fillets with jacket and mange tout.

Why don't you get the kids to pick a meal each week.
Try using hello fresh or gousto.

Tray bakes are the way to go!
Very low effort but big on flavour.
Get hold of a copy of The Roasting Tin.

I also like batch cooking so for instance I would never make just one lasagne, always three or four at a time and then freeze a few for an easy meal in the future.

but my 18 and 15 year old find these foods plain and boring.

Then make it their responsibility to cook once a week each for the family. The person cooking gets to choose to cook an old favourite or try out something new.

Ww have soup once a week in the winter
I often do a bolongaise or chilli in with the roast at the weekend
DH does HM pizzas which arent too difficult
As others have said stir frys

The rest of the months main meals are as follows
Sunday pulled beef, roasties, sprouts and carrots
Monday broccoli and cheese quiche, saute potatoes, coleslaw
Tuesday Tuscan chicken with pasta and peas
Wednesday Mushroom risotto, salad
Thursday beef chilli and wedges
Friday baked potatoes with beans and cheese with a salad
Saturday An all day breakfast type of thing or h/m pizza
Sunday Lamb casserole roasties, cabbage,
Monday Chicken and mushroom pie with mash on top not pastry, peas carrots.

Stir fry (mix of forzens and fresh veg) with noodles or egg fried rice. Lots of soy sauce and you can spice it up with 🌶
Egg froed rice. Paella.
Soup or stew with fresh homemamde bread and butter, stick the dough on to rise before work?
Homemade pizzas if you like making dough.
Spanish omelette with chips and salad.
Curry from a kit.

Pie mash red cabbage
Chilli chips cheese
Chicken salad rice garlic bread
Fish finger paninis

The Slimming Eats One Pot Cheeseburger Pasta is our go-to quick meal at home and my 20yo has been cooking it for a few years now too. We've adapted the original recipe to what our family likes so we know what to throw in the pot without the recipe now.

As above I batch cook bologneses/chillis then freeze for use later.

I make my own chicken goujons/nuggets - dead easy, chicken breasts, flour, eggs and panko (sometimes add paprika or garlic powder to the breadcrumbs) I batch cook a load of them and freeze a few portions for dinners later on. I tend to serve them with either wraps and salad and French fries, or, I make my own egg fried rice (again super easy and much more nutritious with the fresh eggs) and serve the goujons with that and dipping/soy sauces and broccoli.

Risotto is another dinner that’s good for using stuff on the cupboard but it’s time consuming.

A popular ‘lazy’ tea here on a Friday is pre-made pizza bases then the kids add passatta/purée, grated cheese and toppings of their choice (usually peppers and ham/chorizo) and we have that with salad or corn on the cob.

Gnocchi traybake is popular too… I literally bung some chopped peppers, onions, garlic, mushrooms, aubergine (whatever else is lurking) in the oven at 200c then ten mins later add a pack of gnocchi, ten mins later add a carton of passatta and some chilli powder or paprika then ten mins later some spinach and five mins later some grated cheese and let it melt and bubble. One of my favourite dinners - so tasty and comforting.

Thanks everyone, some of these sound really lovely, will definitely give them a go.

LukeLittlerskebab if you have the code, that would be great, thanks.

And I will start following those IG recommendations too.

Honestly the best book hands down is Recipe Tin Eats. I don't say that lightly, I've owned many a cook book that I haven't opened!

www.recipetineats.com/category/quick-and-easy/

Greek chicken with lemon potatoes - all in the oven
Flatbread, load it up with smoked mackerel and crème fraise - no cooking at all
Roast gammon and frozen roast pots - all in the oven, have with frozen veg