Weeknight meal planning can be hard. When you’ve just come home from a long day of work or school, chances are you’re hungry and looking to get a delicious dinner on the table in as little time as possible.
With that in mind, here are some simple ideas to consider if you want to create a comforting dinner that’s quick, and best of all, easy.
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Try fruit-glazed fish
Fish can be a nutritious and delicious star on your dinner table, but it can also be a bit boring. Enter: a sweet, tangy glaze to elevate your fish dish. For example, you can use a classic honey or maple glaze to top off your salmon or consider going with a fruit-based glaze for a fresh take. Pomegranate molasses, for example, is a staple in Middle Eastern cuisine, popular for its sweet and tangy flavour. This pomegranate molasses glazed salmon is super quick (it’s literally ready in 20 minutes) and tasty, even when you don’t feel like cooking.
Channel celeb-inspired salads
There’s a reason why so many celebs have go-to salad recipes that they eat again and again: they’re yummy, they’re nutritious and they’re easy to make and eat when you’re busy and on the go. Sound like you on a Wednesday? Here are six celeb-fave salad ideas to try.
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Make fast fried rice
Fried rice is a super versatile option for a quick and easy dinner — and a great way to incorporate leftovers (like leftover chicken or veggies) to jazz up your meal and help prevent bits of food from going to waste (which is super important right now, with grocery prices being so high). Need some help? This Indo-Chinese, or Hakka, fried rice spices things up and only takes 15 minutes to whip up. Packed with protein, vegetables, and healthy starch, this one-pan wonder if sure to keep you feeling full.
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Create a personal charcuterie
Who says charcuterie boards are for parties and events only? Create your own personal tray of your favourite cheeses, meats and sliced veggies for a dinner that’s pretty and — best of all — easy.
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Slow-cook your supper
If you have access to a crock pot or slow cooker, pull it out to make the most of your grocery budget and make dinner that much easier. Some delicious set-it-and-forget-it dinner ideas? Think: stews (especially using more cost-effective cuts of meat like pork shoulder or beef shank), soups and pasta dishes.
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Spice up your spaghetti
Spaghetti is a low-cost and easy-to-make meal for many of us, but even the most delicious tomato sauce can get a bit boring after a while. To mix things up, look for an equally easy spin on spaghetti like spaghetti aglio e olio, which translates to “spaghetti with garlic and oil.” Swapping the tomato-based sauce is also perfect for when you don’t have tomatoes or sauce on hand but want to enjoy a yummy twirl of spaghetti. You can also customize your spaghetti dinner by adding leafy greens, herbs, and spices.
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Go for a simple skillet pizza
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Swap in soba noodles
Try more types of tacos
Not just for taco night, tacos offer lots of versatility when it comes to whipping up something quick, easy and yummy for dinner. While we may often think of tacos as being meat-based, they are also simple to make vegetarian or vegan by switching up your fillings of choice (for example, you could swap a meat filling for jackfruit). Then, for added richness, top them off with guacamole or cashew sour cream.
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Bring on breakfast for dinner
