53 Easy Dinner Ideas for Simple, Satisfying Meals

There are nights when a big, involved recipe can bring joy—when digging in and cooking through can help you relax after a long day. These easy dinner ideas are for every other night. Featuring pantry staples, easy-cooking proteins, and short prep times, these are the recipes you need when time is short and your motivation is low.

Our go-to easy recipes are jam-packed with one-pot meals like cozy Mapo Chili Mac and Gochujang Sloppy Joes. If the oven is more your speed, sheet-pan dinners provide blissful hands-off simplicity with weeknight meal ideas like sheet-pan salmon and potatoes. You’ll also find sushi- and taco-inspired rice bowls, speedy pastas (featuring mushrooms, lemons, and more), and satisfying dinner salads that double as meal-prep winners. This list has all the inspiration you need to get dinner on the table fast. So whether you’re overworked, over-hungry, or both: Welcome. Your path to a quick and easy dinner starts here. Let’s get you through to the other side.