7 Simple Meals that Save You Time in the Kitchen

As we get closer to the holidays our plates get more and more full with things to do, but we still only have the same amount of time in each day so something has got to give. Am I right?

So why not give yourself a break and make a plan to make more simple meals during the week. So what is a simple meal?

It’s a meal that takes very little time to make and sometimes it can mean a meal that others almost make themselves. Here are a few simple meal ideas.

7 Simple Meal Ideas for Quick Dinners

Here’s 7 of our go to simple meal ideas that I like to make when time is tight. The are not only wonderful to make during the holiday season but other busy times of the year too.

Now let’s get to the quick dinner ideas….

1. Baked Potato Bar

Bake up a bunch of potatoes, brown up some ground beef with taco seasoning or open a can of chili and let everyone make their own.

I usually include sour cream, cheese, bacon bits and green onions. Everyone gets to make one to their liking and the dinner prep is really quick.

Or we make chili baked potatoes or twice baked taco potatoes. I serve these with a side salad or some steamed vegetables and fruit.

2. Taco Bar

This is really popular at our house. All you need to do is brown up some ground beef and add in taco seasoning.

Then serve the meat with taco shells, flour tortillas, tortilla chips, refried beans, grated cheese, shredded lettuce, olives, sour cream and salsa.

Everyone gets to make their own, which is a real plus in our home. Some of us will eat anything mexican others will only eat burritos and nachos. With this meal everyone gets exactly what they want the way they want it.

We really like this taco bowl recipe too.

3. Soup and Bread

I love making soups in the fall and winter.

You don’t have to use a recipe you can just use leftovers instead. To make soup add broth with vegetables and leftover meat and simmer for an hour on the stove or all day in the crock pot.

Here’s an example of a soup I made with leftovers.

But if you are looking for a recipe for soup we have a few favorites. Here’s a few for you to try…

Chicken Pot Pie Soup | Hamburger Soup | Split Pea Soup | Bacon, Corn, and Potato Chowder

We also love having fresh french bread alongside the soup. Or if you are pressed for time try this 1 hour bread or homemade biscuits or butter dips. Adding bread to soup makes for a hearty meal.

4. Breakfast for Dinner

Making breakfast is usually quick and easy so why not have it for dinner.

Now I’m not talking about cold cereal but more along the lines of pancakes, waffles, or raspberry waffles with eggs, bacon or sausage. Omelets are also a great choice to make with some hash browns on the side.

Another favorite breakfast is to make eggs, sausage, hash browns and these blueberry biscuits. They are so good!

To make pancakes even easier to make try this homemade pancake mix or whole wheat pancake mix recipe.

5. Crock Pot Dinners

I love crock pot dinners because you can set it and forget about it until you are ready to eat.

Just load the crock pot with meat and some vegetables and in a few hours you have dinner for just a few minutes of work.

Here’s a few recipes to give a try, Garlic Pork Roast, Crock Pot Chicken Fajitas, Crock Pot Taco Soup,  Cheesy Ham and Potato Crock Pot Dish, Crock Pot Roast Beef, and Roasted Chicken.

6. Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

You can keep jars of pasta sauce and pasta to make a quick meal. Or make your own pasta sauce with just a few ingredients.

I like to stock my freezer with cooked ground beef packages to make this meal come together even faster. Keep a couple of loaves of french bread in the freezer and you can have a full quick meal easily.

7. Hoagie Roll Sandwiches

This is a really easy make your own dinner meal. I will purchase a package of hoagie rolls and then put out all the fixings to make great sandwiches.

We usually have sliced bell peppers, lettuce, olives, tomatoes, pickles, mayonnaise, mustard and cheese to add to ours.

Open a bag of chips and slice an apple or other fruit you have on hand and you have a quick and easy meal.

Or if you have meatballs on hand make these delicious meatball hoagie sandwiches. We also love to use leftover roast beef in french dip sandwiches. You can cook once and eat twice that way.

As you can see most of these meals are either make your own or quick set and forget type meals which can help you save time in the kitchen.

This frees some time in your day to do other things that need to get done. 🙂

What’s your favorite simple meal to make?

This post was originally published November 2013, It was updated in November 2022 with new content and photos.