What makes a good "Saturday night dinner" to you? Suggestions/recipes welcomed

[floofydoofy]

DH and I are in an awful habit of giving the kids a beige dinner (this probably won't change; kids love it, I'm ok with it!), then ordering a takeaway on a Saturday night every week. I'm not sure how we ended up doing so, but I'd like to change that (for the cost more than anything). I struggle to come up with meals that feel like a "treat", though. We don't drink alcohol, so the takeaway has become our way of signalling to ourselves that it's the weekend and we can have a treat/relax.

We eat pretty healthily during the week, make homemade pizzas on a Friday and a roast/slow cooked meat on a Sunday.... always struggle to come up with something for a Saturday.

Ideas please?

I would only change the routine if you enjoy cooking, otherwise I think ye have earned the treat.

I’d look for fakeaway versions of the meals you like and make those at home. Or pick a different way to signal “hey it’s the weekend!” Eg we always have pancakes for Saturday breakfast, we’d never bother in the week but it feels like a weekend treat.

Make a nice homemade pudding and eat midweek food?

Lemon syllabub
Red berry pavlova
Sticky toffee pudding
Frozen Greet yoghurt bites (dates, raspberries, yogurt, chocolate)
Homemade solaro (bag tropical fruit smoothie mix, Greek yoghurt, white chocolate)
Homemade snickers
Trifle
Lemon meringue pie
Upside down pineapple cake and custard
Chocolate concrete with pink custard
Treacle tart
Cornflake treacle tart

See I started classy and just ended up at comfort food

Fajitas, curry with sides, tacos, enchiladas, chilli with tortilla chips spicey rice and dips. Pulled pork. Nandos style fakeaway. Smash burgers (wrap in foil etc for added mum points) and sides. Burgers. Bbq.

Tacos, fajitas, curry, chilli, special pasta, lasagna, burgers, fake-a-way Chinese…

I quite often do homemade versions of takeaway - a couple of different curries with homemade chapatis/onion bhajis with daal and a cucumber, red onion and tomato salad

steak fajitas with guacamole, salsa and sour cream

Roast duck legs with a noodle stir fry

Thai red or green curry with jasmine rice and prawn crackers

Fish or prawn tacos

We do various things that have a takeaway style theme to them

• curry - but instead of just rice that I’d do mid week add popadoms, chutneys or a side such as aloo ghobi (I often batch cook and reheat) or a banjo
• Chinese - fried rice. Often if we’re doing something Sunday after I’ve shopped so the roast becomes Saturday and fried rice with leftover chicken becomes Sunday
• There’s a big oriental supermarket near us so a prepared and frozen duck and pancakes. 45 mins in the oven, with cucumber and spring onions. Whole ducks are cheaper than a quarter duck from the takeaway
• Chilli topped nacho's - usually adapted from a pot of bolognaise earlier in the week
• A decent burger and chips also goes down well here

Lots of brilliant ideas, thank you! DH and I do both enjoy cooking (less so with children around/inevitably going to moan about whatever we make), so it would be nice to have something interesting to cook!

@ItIsGreen Oooooh I haven't heard chocolate concrete mentioned in a long time...the nostalgia! *googles recipe immediately**

A lot of my families favourite Saturday night dinners seem to involve things in bread for some reason. If there’s time I make my own rolls or wraps,
Steak sandwiches
Fishfinger sandwiches
Sloppy Joes
Burritos
Burgers
Tacos

we have a set pattern to our week

Sunday - big roast
Monday - leftovers (wraps / pie / risotto)
Tuesday - basic curry or stir fry
Wednesday - jacket potatoes with homemade chilli (batch cooked and full of beans)
Thursday - some form of pasta
Friday - freezer food
Saturday - take away / eat out or…

bbq - this week we did a spatchcock chicken on Saturday and slow cooked a shoulder of pork on Sunday. We also do steak, usual stuff and kebabs and thing.
curry - homemade with lots of home made sides and breads
homemade pie
lasagne made long and slow
steak
pizza in our ooni is very common
M&S small plates type sharing bits
korean fried chicken I make from scratch

basically, longer and more complex dishes I have time to make.

We used to have a cheese fondue, when we felt like something special. The children loved it, and still do as adults! Occasionally, a meat fondue.

Sometimes DH used to cook a coconut mussel stew from a Levi Root’s recipe. Again, the children loved it and still do.

DH liked nothing better than going to the fish market and numerous supermarkets to do something unusual on a Saturday night! Once he did tapas, although cooking 4 dishes at once was a bit taxing for him!

Steak and homemade chips

Chicken Shawarma with flatbreads, salad and fries. You can buy a pan with different length spikes for around £10 on Amazon. Super easy to prep the night before/few hours before.

Or mini breaded chicken fillets in wraps and fries as above. Southern Fried ones can be like a KFC Twister.

Quick red Thai curry with tofu.

Wagamama style ramen - lots of recipes online.