Aibu to ask you for top five family dinners?

[Tempone]

So tired of cooking the same thing over and over again. I am the main cook for me dh and three boys, two are big teens and eat a lot, recently invested in a double air fryer.
We probably have a rotation of the same meals . If everyone shares their top 5 meals then there will be ideas for others.
Mine are
Fajitas,
Vietnamese style Pork with noodles and a fried egg
Pork chops in honey and soy
Carbonara
Sausage and bean casserole.
Cate to share yours?

Tuscan bean stew with smoked sausage

Souvlaki chicken wraps with sweet potato fries and corn on the cob

Prawn and pea risotto

Casseroles - varying the meat and veg depending on season

Paprika chicken and Mediterranean veg tray bake

Hearty soup

Chilli / Bolognese / Savoury mince dish

I have a meal plan diary so I don’t repeat dishes too often and try to regularly make a new dish I haven’t done before - this week I make Ratatouille with goats cheese which was delicious. I also batch cook when possible. I do struggle with cooking in the summer as most of my recipes are more wintry dishes. I would make more pasta dishes if I wasn’t diabetic!

Ours are:

Pasta with either a tomato and veg sauce or a creamy pesto veg sauce (occasionally mac and cheese)

Bean chilli and rice

‘Gravy dinner’ so maybe sausage or cauli cheese with mash, kale and another veg

Veg curry and rice (sometimes with chick peas

Noodles with stir fry (with veg and tofu) or in a miso broth

Tacos with various fillings, roasted veg, beans, tofu with salad and some kind of sauce

Sorry that’s 6 🙂

I often make enough to have twice as there is just the two of us (me and DS 16 who is a pleasure to feed) so we probably have all of these over the course of 2 weeks. Curry and pasta are definitely weekly (or twice weekly).

All vegan btw.

Quick midweek dinners:

Rack of ribs, chips, coleslaw, salad
Lamb chops, cous cous with lemon, feta, mint, and a Greek Salad
Roast chicken, new potatoes, bagged caesar
Salmon fillets, pasta with pesto and salad
Chicken thighs with garlic, lemon juice and paprika, roasted new potatoes salad.

In winter there's more batch cooked spag bol, chilli, cottage pie, casseroles. I often casserole about 24 chicken thighs with an onion, garlic, stock and then separate into 4 portions of 6 and use as a base for a quick curry or casserole with mushrooms and cream.

Pasta with lentil bolognese

Roast chicken

Curries (selection from the freezer)

Risotto verde

So bored of feeding my children. One of mine is really picky so the only things all three will eat are:

Chicken curry
Chicken wraps
Home made burgers and wedges
Chicken breast in a burger bun

When he's out then things are much much easier

Lots of great ideas here already! My usual go to recipes:

Pesto gnocchi / pasta with thin sliced potatoes and green beans

Penne arrabbiata

Saffron risotto (or any flavour) with peas

Spaghetti aglio olio

Arancini (made with leftover risotto and arrabbiata sauce to dip)

Chicken wraps (whatever flavours you like, lots of salad and sauce)

Houmous wraps with roasted veggies, sour cream and hot sauce

Japanese curry with potatoes and carrots (made with curry block so super easy) with Katsu chicken or shredded chicken.

Chicken shish with pita bread, garlic potatoes, pickled red cabbage, salad

Sausages in cider and cream
Bolognaise
Chicken tikka
Mince and tattles
Sausage white wine and cream sauce on pasta

• spaghetti with tuna and tomato sauce
• pea and paneer curry
• dhal
• macaroni cheese and salad
• peanut butter noodles with greens

Mushroom pasta with a creamy peppercorn sauce
Chilli on jackets/in wraps/with rice and leftover usually has some frozen sweetcorn added and made into Mexican style lasagne (using tortilla wraps or made into Sloppy Joes
Risotto
Sausages with onion Gravy, green veg and mash
Roast Chicken

kedgeree
roast (gammon, chicken or lamb) with roast potatoes and veg, so next day:
cold meat salad with new potatoes, tomatoes, boiled eggs and grated cheese
cottage pie
sausage and mash with buttered cabbage

Get a Gousto or Hello Fresh trial, then you'll have access to all their recipes via the app. You can narrow them down by ingredients and cooking time.

My kids like anything + salad in a wrap. It makes a good fallback option. Eg fried chicken, curry breaded prawns, lamb mince and peppers.

Bulgar pilaf is quick and tasty, mix through a bit of zhoug paste and some cooked meat or veg.

At the moment these meals are v popular at Casa Tiqtaq:

Sardine and lemon pasta
Homemade pizzas
Pork and spinach pappardelle
Risotto
Spaghetti and meatballs

Have been watching a lot of Italy based TV in my defence

Shepherd's pie
pork and onions with garlicky endive salad
Lemony Chickeny rice
stuffed peppers (pork mince)
Tabouli salad (made with finely chopped cauliflower instead of bulgur wheat) with merguez

Roast dinner - rotating meats weekly
bacon, tomato, mozzarella and chorizo pasta
honey chicken (flour the chicken pcs, shallow fry then add soy, ginger, garlic and honey) and rice
quiche, salad and baked potato
chicken Alfredo (chicken, butter, crème fraiche or cream, parmigiana) and I like to add mushrooms with pasta or rice

What we have most often :

Spaghetti bolegnese
Chilli and rice
Fajitas/Enchiladas
Tacos
Cajun chicken pasta
Pasta bake (with or without sausage)
Chicken roast dinner
Tikka masala/jalfrezi/katsu - any curry really
Sausage and mash
Meatball-stuffed garlic baguettes
Lasagne
Cottage pie

Quicker/easier/lazy day meals :

Toastie
Jacket potato
Egg wrap
Omelette
Pancakes
Hotdogs
Spaghetti hoops/cheesy beans on toast
Pitta pizzas

If all else fails, freezer favourites :

Beef/chicken burger
Fish fingers
Chicken dippers
With chips/waffles/smiley faces equivalent

@Monster80 I'd love your cheesy black bean bake recipe!

lasagne (beef or lentil, either works)
toad-in-the-hole with veg and instant gravy
slow-cooked (in red wine) stuffed lamb hearts with mash (rice for S2) veg and gravy with cooking liquid added
chickpea and cauliflower curry
pies (made with meat leftover from roasts, onions or leeks, mushrooms) with veg and gravy
home-made pizza
burgers or fish fingers, oven chips, beans
oh, and roast dinners

for lighter meals
bacon lettuce and tomato rolls
pate and crackers (we eat the whole tub between 4 of us )
felafel in pitta with lettuce cucumber and a minty cucumbery yoghurt

(I can count, I just can't make decisions)

oh, and tuna pasta bake, obviously (what am I like)

Roast chicken thighs, either as part of a traybake or as a mid-week roast dinner with stuffing, roast potatoes and veg.

Pasta carbonara or bolognese

Chilli: usually vegetable but sometimes meat, either with rice, or in wraps as burritos or enchiladas.

Shaksuka ( with a mozzarella instead of eggs for one DC) . If we don't fancy eggs for whatever reason the chunky sauce makes good 'dirty fries' with a sprinkle of feta on the top.

Vegetable curries/bhajis : I batch cook lots of different ones for the freezer so we usually have a thali at least once a fortnight. It keeps us at the table for a while so I can get news out of the DC.

pasta carbonara with extra peas or broad beans
roast chicken dinner red cabbage parsnips etc in winter broccoli etc in summer
fish, new potatoes and seasonal veg in winter probably chips or wedges
beef stroganoff with mushrooms carrots and rice
cauliflower cheese with crispy bacon

Spag bol
chicken casserole
paella
greek pork (in olive oil, garlic, lemon and oregano)
Huevos rancheros

Spag bol
Lasagne
Chilli con carne
Tuna pasta bake
Sausage & squash risotto

Spag bol/lasagne
Chilli and rice/wedges
Taco soup
Burritos
Meatball subs

On rotation :

Spag bol

Curry

Turkey Steaks with veg

Chicken noodle dish with veg

Pork loin steak with veg

Chilli

I’m not cooking for a family any more but I use the Mealime App and really wish it had been around when I was! It’s fab - you give it your diet specs and number of portions then either choose meals from its recipe selection or ask it to do it for you (you say how many so could do a. Full week like it or just some nights) and it writes the shopping list, separated into sections like meat/dairy/fruit and veg etc. I lay fro Pro now but I did well over a year on the free version. Plenty of variety and everything tasty.